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SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
LT NATHAN GANN CHAPTER
P.O. BOX G LUFKIN, TEXAS 75902-6701
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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" (Source: Duke
University's Historic
American Sheet
Music, 1850-1920). 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.
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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."
On January 19, 1999 Senator Inouye introduced bill S 189 to the Senate which proposes to restore the traditional day of observance of Memorial Day back to May 30th instead of "the last Monday in May". On April 19, 1999 Representative Gibbons introduced the bill to the House (H.R. 1474). The bills were referred the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Government Reform.
in support of bill S 189 |
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To date, there has been no further developments on the bill.
Please write your Representative
and your Senators,
urging them to support
these bills.
To see what day Memorial Day falls on for the next 10 years, visit the Memorial
Day Calendar page.
Sources and related links:
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Page Originated 5/11/2005
Last updated 2/12/2013
Web Master Fred
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