I urge all to remember this weekend is more than just cookouts and barbecues. Memorial Day is a day of remembrance and tribute to all those who lost their lives defending the freedom and honor of the United States of America. I would now like to present a brief history of Memorial Day.
The act of performing memorial rites and ceremonies for the victims of war can be found in Greek antiquity. It was customary for a public burial to be given for those slain in battle. For recovered remains, a cedar box was taken outside the walls of the city and buried. For those whose remains were not recovered, an empty bed covered by a pall – a dark fabric – was used instead. Pericles, an Athenian general and statesman from the 5th Century BC, is known to have offered a funeral oration to those who perished in the Peloponnesian War. As you can see it was – and still is – quite common. With that said, let’s take a look at similar displays in the context of modern times.
There are many accounts and claims of who exactly conducted some of the first memorial observances for fallen Civil War soldiers. However, the first official declaration is made on May 5, 1868 by Major General John A. Logan, a Master Mason from Mitchell Lodge #85 in Pinckneyville, Illinois. Acting in his role as the national commander of a fraternal organization of Union soldiers — the Grand Army of the Republic — he designated May 30th as the day for decorating the graves of fallen soldiers of the Civil War. Allow me to quote from General Orders #11, a statement the Major General made to inaugurate Decoration Day:
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.
Over the years, Decoration Day grew, many states passed proclamations recognizing the special day and it slowly became known as Memorial Day. Regulations for proper observance were adopted by the both the Army and the Navy. After World War I, the day was expanded to honor all those who died in the service of our country, no longer limited to just the Civil War. In 1966, President Lyndon Banes Johnson and the US Congress declared Waterloo, New York to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. One hundred years prior, on May 5, 1866, local businesses closed and flags were flown at half-staff in remembrance of those who died. Later in 1971, the US congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday and placed its designated date as the last Monday in May.
