Personally, I don't think the whole day needs to be spent in gloom and doom, or Memorial Day, or Veteran's day, or Pearl Harbor Day. I feel that it is appropriate to have some sort of memorial activity AND enjoy life and celebrate the freedoms our heroes have died for.
I think it is a much better practice to at least take a few moments EVERY DAY to remember those we honor on those days, rather than relegate it to a few isolated days a year.