A Time to Honor Our Fallen Soldiers - Memorial Day
Memorial Day here in America is a day that people all across the country will visit cemeteries, and put flowers on graves, and flags on the graves of veterans. It is a day filled with picnics, prayers, and political speeches. It is a day to honor those who gave their lives in the service of this country.
Memorial Day differs from Veterans day in a few key points. Veterans Day honors all people who have served in the US Armed Services. Memorial Day honors specifically those who died while in that service. Veterans Day arose out of a holiday that was called Armistice Day; a day to commemorate the veterans of World War I. Right after World War II, veteran Raymond Weeks and General Dwight Eisenhower pushed to have the observance to include all veterans. During his administration in 1954, then President Eisenhower signed the bill to enact Veterans Day, to honor all veterans. Memorial Day began as a holiday called Decoration Day. People decorated the graves of soldiers who had died while in service in US conflicts.
The custom of decorating the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers goes back to very ancient times. In the US the custom took on new energy during and after the Civil War. On June 3 1861, in Warrenton, Virginia a public observance was made and the graves of fallen soldiers were decorated. In 1862 it is well documented that the women of Savannah Georgia observed a day of memorium for fallen soldiers of the war. Memorial observance was made at the dedication of Gettysburg National Cemetery in 1863, and there was a prominent memorial service for fallen soldiers as part of the July 4th celebrations in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania in 1864.
After the war there were many and various annual memorial observances in various places for those who died in the Civil War. This was due to the somber statistics of the Civil War. Over 600,000 soldiers lost their lives in this conflict. These "Decoration Days" would take place on dates ranging from April 24 to July 4. For the first few years afterward, these observances were exclusive. They either honored the dead Union soldiers without any consideration for the fallen Confederate soldiers, or vice versa. National Cemeteries such as Arlington National Cemetery and Gettysburg National Cemetery were created initially for fallen Union soldiers only. In 1868 a National Decoration Day was enacted by Union General John Logan to honor the fallen Union Soldiers. May 30th was the day chosen, because that would be the day that the most flowers would be available.
In 1866 the women of Columbus Mississippi laid flowers on the graves of Confederate and Union Soldiers alike. It was this event that General Logan used as a model for his "Decoration Day." For years, the North and the South each had their own versions of the day. It first became more of a true national event after the Memorial Day event of July 1913. There were four days of parades, picnics, reenactments, and speeches honoring the soldiers of both sides of the conflict.
There's nothing so unifying to a populace as a war. After the US involvement in World War I "Decoration Day" became a time to also honor the fallen soldiers from the trenches of France. The holiday didn't take on the full meaning of honoring ALL fallen US soldiers though until after World War II.
Although the name "Memorial Day" was first used in 1882, that name for the holiday wasn't used by very many people until after the second World War. The name of the holiday was changed officially by Federal law in 1967. My grandparents continued to call it Decoration Day for their whole lives.
Official observance of the holiday includes raising the flag quickly to the top, then solemnly lowering it to half staff to honor the dead. The flag is left at half staff until noon, when it is raised up to full staff. This is symbolic of the living raising up the memory of their fallen comrades and resolving that their sacrifices were not in vain, and vowing to rise up in their places to continue the fight for liberty and justice.
Other elements of celebration include parades, and an annual nationally televised concert on the West Lawn of the White House. Unofficial traditions include picnics and barbeques, and auto races the day before. The Formula racers have held the Indianapolis 500 on that day since 1911, and NASCAR has held the Coca-Cola 600 in honor of the holiday since 1961 (and last night's race was amazing - it was an exciting race, and went so late I couldn't write today's post until this morning - many of the racers deserve credit for their skill, and congratulations to Kevin Harvick for an excellent finish and a first place trophy).
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