A history of Memorial Day
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead". While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860's tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.
Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan,
national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No.
11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the
graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The
first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it
was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge
the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the
holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to
honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in almost
every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National
Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 - 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal
holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for
honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama,
Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3
(Jefferson Davis' birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.
In 1915, inspired by the poem "In Flanders Fields," Moina Michael replied with
her own poem:
We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.
She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honor of
those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and
sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit
servicemen in need. Later a Madam Guerin from France was visiting the United
States and learned of this new custom started by Ms.Michael and when she
returned to France, made artificial red poppies to raise money for war orphaned
children and widowed women. This tradition spread to other countries. In 1921,
the Franco-American Children's League sold poppies nationally to benefit war
orphans of France and Belgium. The League disbanded a year later and Madam
Guerin approached the VFW for help. Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW
became the first veterans' organization to nationally sell poppies. Two years
later their "Buddy" Poppy program was selling artificial poppies made by
disabled veterans. In 1948 the US Post Office honored Ms Michael for her role in
founding the National Poppy movement by issuing a red 3 cent postage stamp with
her likeness on it.
Traditional observance of Memorial day has diminished over the years. Many
Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At
many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored, neglected.
Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day. While
there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not
held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all
dead, and not just those fallen in service to our country.
There are a few notable exceptions. Since the late 50's on the Thursday before
Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American
flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National
Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each
flag remains standing. In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began
placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as
an annual Good Turn, a practice that continues to this day. More recently,
beginning in 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the
Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave
sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military
Park on Marye's Heights (the Luminaria Program). And in 2004, Washington D.C.
held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years.
To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the
"National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks
that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and informally
observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from
whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps."
The Moment of Remembrance is a step in the right direction to returning the
meaning back to the day. What is needed is a full return to the original day of
observance. Set aside one day out of the year for the nation to get together to
remember, reflect and honor those who have given their all in service to their
country.
But what may be needed to return the solemn, and even sacred, spirit back to
Memorial Day is for a return to its traditional day of observance. Many feel
that when Congress made the day into a three-day weekend in with the National
Holiday Act of 1971, it made it all the easier for people to be distracted from
the spirit and meaning of the day. As the VFW stated in its 2002 Memorial Day
address: "Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined
the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the
general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day."