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Memorial Day is a federal holiday where the sacrifices
of American service members are honored and remembered.
The observance takes place on the last Monday of May, a
tradition that originated just after the Civil War when veterans,
their families, and the public started to hold observances
honoring the many Americans that died during that
bloody conflict.
Before Memorial Day was a federal holiday, it was
known as Decoration Day, owing to the the tradition of
decorating the graves with flowers. photographs, and
keepsakes. Communities held observances on various days
during the spring each year and it wasn’t until May 5, 1868,
that Gen. John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic,
an organization of former Union sailors and soldiers, rallied
for a unified nationwide day of remembrance.
In his plea, Gen. Logan said, “The 30th of May 1868,
is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or
otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in
defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose
bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet
churchyard in the land.”
And indeed, just over three weeks later, former Union
General and Ohio Congressman James A. Garfield gave
a speech at Arlington National Cemetery in front of 5,000
people, where he said, “We do not know one promise these
men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but
we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme
act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For the love of
country, they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts,
and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.”
After the speech, the audience decorated over 20,000
graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers buried at
Arlington. Following this first Decoration Day, many Northern
states adopted the tradition making it an official state
holiday. Southern states, however, continued to hold their
own observances on different days for numerous years.
Decoration Day remained focused on honoring
the fallen service members of the Civil War until 1918
and the end of World War I, when it evolved to honor the
sacrifice of all Americans that died for their country no
matter what war. Over the years, the term Decoration Day
gradually transformed into Memorial Day, which is how it is
known today.
In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday
Act, which moved the dates of some holidays to create
standard three-day weekends for federal offices. Memorial
Day was changed from May 30 to the last Monday in May
and officially made a federal holiday.
Today, people on Memorial Day still follow the tradition
of decorating graves with flowers and flags but has grown
to include barbecues, weekend family trips, county fairs, and
civic parades. Some of the biggest Memorial Day parades
happen in Washington D.C., Chicago and New York, though
many hundreds of smaller parades take place in cities and
towns all across the country. The holiday has evolved in many
ways over the years, but the love and respect Americans give
to those who have sacrificed everything for their country
remains unchanged.
| Date Taken: | 05.01.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 12.29.2022 10:03 |
| Story ID: | 436028 |
| Location: | FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 28 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, A Brief History of Memorial Day, by PO2 Zachary Pearson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
