All of us a certain age, still celebrate Memorial Day as the beginning of SUMMER, as the Friday before was our last day of school (you know back when you went back to school AFTER Labor Day...SIGH), but it has a much greater significance that frequently gets overlooked in all the summer hoopla!
" Formerly known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. Many communities set aside a day to mark the end of The War (that would be the Civil War to you Yankees), or as a memorial to those who had died. These observances coalesced around Decoration Day, honoring the Union dead, and the several Confederate Memorial Days. According to Professor David Blight of the Yale University History Department, the first official Memorial Day was observed by formerly enslaved black people at the Washington Race Course (today the location of Hampton Park) in Charleston, South Carolina.
Some of the places creating an early memorial day include Sharpsburg, Maryland, located near Antietam Battlefield; Charleston, South Carolina; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; Petersburg, Virginia; Carbondale, Illinois; Columbus, Mississippi; many communities in Vermont; and some two dozen other cities and towns.Many of the states of the U.S. South refused to celebrate Decoration Day, due to lingering hostility towards the Union Army and also because there were relatively few veterans of the Union Army who were buried in the South. A notable exception was Columbus, Mississippi, which on April 25, 1866, at its Decoration Day commemorated both the Union and Confederate casualties buried in its cemetery.
The alternative name of "Memorial Day" was first used in 1882. It did
not become more common until after World
War II, and was not declared the official name by Federal law until
1967 "
Many people observe this holiday by visiting cemeteries
and memorials.
A national moment of remembrance takes place at 3 p.m. local time.
Another tradition is to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff
from dawn until noon local time. Volunteers often place American flags
on each grave site at National Cemeteries.
While the official holiday is May 30th, it isn't formally observed til May 31st this year.
Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars take donations for poppies in the days leading up to Memorial Day; the poppy's significance to Memorial Day is the result of the John McCrae poem
"In Flanders Fields."
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
So go buy a poppy and say a prayer of thanks and remember all the soldiers who gave the ultimate
sacrifice for their country and loved ones!
Thanks to Wikipedia for the great info and picture of the National Cemetary!
Check out CJ's great Memorial Day Linky!
" Formerly known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. Many communities set aside a day to mark the end of The War (that would be the Civil War to you Yankees), or as a memorial to those who had died. These observances coalesced around Decoration Day, honoring the Union dead, and the several Confederate Memorial Days. According to Professor David Blight of the Yale University History Department, the first official Memorial Day was observed by formerly enslaved black people at the Washington Race Course (today the location of Hampton Park) in Charleston, South Carolina.
Some of the places creating an early memorial day include Sharpsburg, Maryland, located near Antietam Battlefield; Charleston, South Carolina; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; Petersburg, Virginia; Carbondale, Illinois; Columbus, Mississippi; many communities in Vermont; and some two dozen other cities and towns.Many of the states of the U.S. South refused to celebrate Decoration Day, due to lingering hostility towards the Union Army and also because there were relatively few veterans of the Union Army who were buried in the South. A notable exception was Columbus, Mississippi, which on April 25, 1866, at its Decoration Day commemorated both the Union and Confederate casualties buried in its cemetery.
While the official holiday is May 30th, it isn't formally observed til May 31st this year.
Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars take donations for poppies in the days leading up to Memorial Day; the poppy's significance to Memorial Day is the result of the John McCrae poem
"In Flanders Fields."
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
So go buy a poppy and say a prayer of thanks and remember all the soldiers who gave the ultimate
sacrifice for their country and loved ones!
Thanks to Wikipedia for the great info and picture of the National Cemetary!
Check out CJ's great Memorial Day Linky!