Memorial Day
Today is Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, a day of remembrance for those men and women who have died in the military service of the United States. It is unclear where the concept originated and over two dozen cities and towns claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. Organized women's groups in the South were decorating the graves of fallen soldiers before the end of the Civil War. In a speech given in May of 1966, President Lyndon Johnson officially declared Waterloo, New York as the birthplace of Memorial Day but according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs:
"Both Macon and Columbus, Ga., claim the title, as well as Richmond, Va.[in 1866]. The village of Boalsburg, Pa., claims it began there two years earlier. A stone in a Carbondale, Ill., cemetery carries the statement that the first Decoration Day ceremony took place there on April 29, 1866. Carbondale was the wartime home of Gen. Logan. Approximately 25 places have been named in connection with the origin of Memorial Day, many of them in the South where most of the war dead were buried."
Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, Major General John A. Logan, the head of an organization of Union veterans the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established "Decoration Day" as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Logan, who became a congressman from Illinois (and one of the men who led prosecuted the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson) declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country. The day 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), 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, poet Moina Michael raised the idea of wearing red poppies on Memorial day, in the same way that this tradition is followed in some British Commonwealth countries on Remembrance Day, as a way to honor 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. Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW became the first veterans' organization to nationally sell poppies. 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.
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. 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). In 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years.
In December 2000, Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed into law “The National Moment of Remembrance Act” creating the White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance. The commission’s charter is to “encourage the people of the United States to give something back to their country, which provides them so much freedom and opportunity” by encouraging and coordinating commemorations in the United States of Memorial Day and the National Moment of Remembrance.
The National Moment of Remembrance encourages all Americans to pause wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence to remember and honor those who have died in service to the nation.
Today President Barack Obama will lay a wreath Monday at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington. Earlier this morning, he and first lady Michelle Obama hosted a breakfast at the White House with "Gold Star" families of service members who have been killed.
During his weekly radio address, Obama asked Americans to give thanks to fallen troops this weekend, stating:
"We must make sure all our veterans have the care and benefits they've earned, and the jobs and opportunity they deserve. "We must be there for the military families whose loved ones are in harm's way - for they serve as well."
"Both Macon and Columbus, Ga., claim the title, as well as Richmond, Va.[in 1866]. The village of Boalsburg, Pa., claims it began there two years earlier. A stone in a Carbondale, Ill., cemetery carries the statement that the first Decoration Day ceremony took place there on April 29, 1866. Carbondale was the wartime home of Gen. Logan. Approximately 25 places have been named in connection with the origin of Memorial Day, many of them in the South where most of the war dead were buried."
Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, Major General John A. Logan, the head of an organization of Union veterans the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established "Decoration Day" as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Logan, who became a congressman from Illinois (and one of the men who led prosecuted the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson) declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country. The day 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), 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, poet Moina Michael raised the idea of wearing red poppies on Memorial day, in the same way that this tradition is followed in some British Commonwealth countries on Remembrance Day, as a way to honor 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. Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW became the first veterans' organization to nationally sell poppies. 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.
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. 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). In 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years.
In December 2000, Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed into law “The National Moment of Remembrance Act” creating the White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance. The commission’s charter is to “encourage the people of the United States to give something back to their country, which provides them so much freedom and opportunity” by encouraging and coordinating commemorations in the United States of Memorial Day and the National Moment of Remembrance.
The National Moment of Remembrance encourages all Americans to pause wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence to remember and honor those who have died in service to the nation.
Today President Barack Obama will lay a wreath Monday at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington. Earlier this morning, he and first lady Michelle Obama hosted a breakfast at the White House with "Gold Star" families of service members who have been killed.
During his weekly radio address, Obama asked Americans to give thanks to fallen troops this weekend, stating:
"We must make sure all our veterans have the care and benefits they've earned, and the jobs and opportunity they deserve. "We must be there for the military families whose loved ones are in harm's way - for they serve as well."