MEMORIAL DAY
Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, 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. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan 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 first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.The ceremonies centered around the mourning-draped veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Various Washington officials, including Gen. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, presided over the ceremonies. After speeches, children from the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphan Home and members of the GAR made their way through the cemetery, strewing flowers on both Union and Confederate graves, reciting prayers and singing hymns.
The following is an excerpt from General Logan’s Orders:
HEADQUARTERS GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLICGeneral Orders No.11, WASHINGTON, D.C., May 5, 1868i. The 30th day 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 church-yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit. What can aid more to assure this result than cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foes? We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic. If other eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us. Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of spring-time; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from dishonor; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon a nation's gratitude, the soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan. It is the purpose of the Commander-in-Chief to inaugurate this observance with the hope that it will be kept up from year to year, while a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades. JOHN A. LOGAN,Commander-in-Chief THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE POPPYThis was the poem written by World War I Colonel John McCrae, a surgeon with Canada's First Brigade Artillery. It expressed McCrae's grief over the "row on row" of graves of soldiers who had died on Flanders' battlefields, located in a region of western Belgium and northern France. The poem presented a striking image of the bright red flowers blooming among the rows of white crosses and became a rallying cry to all who fought in the First World War.In Flanders FieldsBy John McCrae In Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row,That mark our place; and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, fly.Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,Loved, and were loved, and now we lieIn Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from failing hands we throwThe torch; be yours to hold it high.If ye break faith with us who dieWe shall not sleep, though poppies growIn Flanders fields.
A TRIBUTE TO THE VIET NAM WAR SOLDIERS“REMEMBER”, BY AMALIA BROOME, 2000
There's nothing different about the manas he passes you on the streeta few lines have formed along his browand he's slower on his feet
He smiles at children as they playfrowns at tattoes on a young teenan ordinary man you think?but you don't know what he as seen
jungle wet with rain and sweatrivers of mud and enemy bloodEyes in pain no loss or gainArms held back in mass attack
He won't tell you what he knowsnor why it haunts his dreamshe keeps it within, this secret pastthat hides behind silent screams
jungle wet with rain and sweatrivers of mud and enemy bloodEyes in pain no loss or gainArms held back in mass attack
Don't dare to say he never gavewhat his country asked him to givedon't tell him that you hate this placehis friends died so you could live
jungle wet with rain and sweatrivers of mud and enemy bloodEyes in pain no loss or gainArms held back in mass attack
A flag waves in bright sunlightBy soldier right, he should be proudBut he walks on by, no saluteHis patriotism is not allowed
jungle wet with rain and sweatrivers of mud and enemy bloodEyes in pain no loss or gainArms held back in mass attack
And when you come to understandThe freedom he fought to keepPerhaps it will be you my friendThat dreams the dream of soldier's sleep.
MEMORIAL DAY 1999From the US Army Memorial Day is the time for Americans to reconnect with their history and core values by honoring those who gave their lives for the ideals we cherish. Each person who died during those conflicts was a loved one cherished by family and friends. Each was a loss to the community and the nation.
The observance of this day was born of compassion and empathy in 1863. As the Civil War raged, grieving mothers, wives, daughters, sisters, and other loved ones were cleaning confederate soldiers' graves in Columbus, Mississippi, placing flowers on them. They noticed nearby the union soldiers' graves, dusty, overgrown with weeds. Grieving for their own fallen soldiers, the confederate women understood that the dead union soldiers buried nearby were the cherished loved ones of families and communities far away. They cleared the tangled brush and mud from those graves as well as their own soldiers' graves and laid flowers on them too.
Soon the tradition of a "Decoration Day" for the graves of fallen soldiers spread. On May 5,1866, when the Civil War was over, Henry Welles of Waterloo, New York, closed his drugstore and suggested that all other shops in town also close up for a day to honor all soldiers killed in the Civil War, union and confederate alike. It was a gesture of healing and reconciliation in a land ripped apart by conflict.
Sixteen years later, in 1882, the nation observed its first official Memorial Day, a day set aside to remember and honor the sacrifice of those who died in all our nation's wars.
For decades, Memorial Day was a day in our nation when stores closed and communities gathered together for a day of parades and other celebrations with a patriotic theme. Memorial Day meant ceremonies at cemeteries around the country, speeches honoring those who gave their lives, the laying of wreaths, the playing of Taps.
As Margaret Mead once said so well, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
You are doing an important thing, making a difference, by being here today. You are not forgetting the sacrifices of our soldiers. We in this country owe a great debt of gratitude to those who sacrificed their lives so that we could live free. We can start to pay that debt by not forgetting, by remembering what they did and what they stood for.
Listen to these words by Charles M. Province:
"It is the Soldier, not the reporter, Who has given us Freedom of the Press. It is the Soldier, not the poet, Who has given us Freedom of Speech. It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer, Who has given us the Freedom to demonstrate. It is the Soldier, not the lawyer, Who has given us the right to a fair trial; And it is the Soldier--who salutes the flag, Who serves the flag, and Whose coffin is draped by the flag-- Who allows the protester to burn the flag."
Please join me in a moment of silence as we all remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Taps -(Note: there are no "official" words to Taps below are the most popular.)
Day is done,gone the sun,From the hills,from the lake,From the skies.All is well,safely rest,God is nigh. Go to sleep,peaceful sleep,May the soldieror sailor,God keep.On the landor the deep,Safe in sleep. Love, good night,Must thou go,When the day,And the nightNeed thee so?All is well.Speedeth allTo their rest. Fades the light;And afarGoeth day,And the starsShineth bright,Fare thee well;Day has gone,Night is on. Thanks and praise,For our days,'Neath the sun,Neath the stars,'Neath the sky,As we go,This we know,God is nigh.
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