Monday was a federal holiday we now call Memorial Day. It is observed to honor the men and women who died while serving in the country’s armed forces. The holiday is celebrated every year on the last Monday of May. It was formerly known as Decoration Day and seems to have originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Unionand Confederate soldiers who died in the war.
By the 20th century, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died while in the military service.
It typically marks the start of the summer vacation season.
When I was a kid my grandmother was the Red Cross lady in Abilene and Decoration Day was a big deal especially with the purchase of Poppy’s.
Memorial Day should not to be confused with Veterans Day, a day that celebrates the service of all U.S.military veterans.
The practice of decorating soldiers’ graves with flowers is an ancient custom. Soldiers’ graves were decorated in the U.S. before and during the Civil War.
The first widely publicized observance of a Memorial Day-type observance after the Civil War was inCharleston, South Carolina in 1865.
During the war, Union soldiers who were prisoners of war had been held at the Charleston Race Course; at least 257 Union prisoners died there and were hastily buried in unmarked graves. Together with teachers and missionaries, black residents of Charleston organized a May Day ceremony in 1865, which was covered by national papers. The freedmen cleaned up and landscaped the burial ground, building an enclosure and an arch labeled, “Martyrs of the Race Course.” Nearly ten thousand people, mostly freedmen, gathered on May 1 to commemorate the war dead.
David W. Blight wrote that African Americans invented Memorial Day. What you have there is black Americans recently freed from slavery announcing to the world with their flowers, their feet, and their songs what the war had been about.
However, Blight stated he “has no evidence” that this event inCharleston inspired the establishment of Memorial Day across the country.
So who did invent or discover Memorial Day?
On May 26, 1966, President Johnson signed a presidential proclamation naming Waterloo, New York, as the birthplace of Memorial Day.
In 1868 General John A. Logan, from the Grand Army of the Republic declared Decoration Day be observed annually in May to honor fallen soldiers. He chose May because the flowers would be in full bloom.
There are lots of stories and what’s important is we do observe Memorial Day. We can be proud of the observances we hold annually here and in surrounding communities.
Wikipedia obviously provided me with lots of information..
Thanks to all who are serving, those who have served and especially to those who gave all.
