Why Do We Celebrate Memorial Day?

With Memorial Day upon us I wonder how many of us know the true history behind this day? You know it isn’t really just the start of the summer barbecue season and a reason to party. It really is so much more and many Americans either don’t know it or have forgotten exactly why this is a National Holiday.

Believe it or not Memorial Day dates all the way back to the ending of the Civil war, all the way back to 1866 when it was called Dedication Day. Never heard that one before, right! After the Civil War the people of this country felt it was the least they could do to honor the fallen soldiers of perhaps one of the bloodiest wars ever to take place on American soil. Funny though even on this they couldn’t seem to agree on who or which state was the first to celebrate Dedication Day.

The Civil War ended in 1865 during the spring. So many soldiers lost their lives in order to fight for what they believed in, their country. This war claimed more lives than any other in United States history. That being said, this was the reason our first national cemeteries were established. Between the North and the South combined there were more than 600,000 soldiers who died in battle.

There is documentation that women in Savannah, Georgia decorated Confederate soldiers’ graves as early as 1862 to honor their fallen. There were others to follow with one in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in 1863 with a ceremony commemorating the graves and still there were others who picked one day or another to pay tribute to their fallen heroes throughout the North and South.

In the south the practice of decorating the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers started in 1866. It is attributed to the women of Columbus, Mississippi that on April 25, 1866 they laid flowers on both the Union and Confederate soldiers’ graves in the city’s cemetery. In the south it became known as Confederate Memorial Day where veterans and their families honored the dead by visiting the local cemeteries and placing flowers on the graves and taking a moment to pray.

Historians have said the Ladies Memorial Association played a key role in these rituals to preserve the Confederate memory. It wasn’t just one day and everyone in the south took the time to observe. They had various dates that began April 25 and didn’t end till mid-June. All across the south organizations were formed mostly by women in order to care for the cemeteries of the Confederate soldiers. One of the most important organizations formed was the United Daughters of the Confederacy which grew from 17,000 members in the 1900 to almost 100,000 women by World War I. They worked hard organizing commemorative ceremonies, raised money to sponsor monuments as a permanent way of remembering the Confederate soldiers who gave their life fighting for their cause. These women were strong and fought hard lobbying legislatures and Congress for the reburial of Confederate soldiers and worked to shape the content of history textbooks.

How do we honor these Confederate soldiers who are a big part of the United States of America’s history today? We mock them, by removing every symbol of their existence starting with the Confederate Battle Flag and working their way towards these monuments so many struggled so hard to raise money for in order to pay tribute to the fallen of this war that claimed so many lives and helped shape the history of this great nation. What gives the few big mouths the right to erase a part of American history when every soldier North and South should be honored?

In the North they heard of the men and women in the South taking a day to celebrate their fallen and so they copied the practice and started on May 5^th, 1868 when General John A. Logan issued a proclamation calling for “Dedication Day” to be observed nationwide. That year it was agreed it would be celebrated on May 30^th because it was not the anniversary of any particular battle of the Civil War. In the North there was the Women’s Relief Corps and the women’s auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic who sponsored these ceremonies. There were nearly 300,000 Union Soldiers whose remains were moved from the battlefields in the south and re-interred in 73 national cemeteries in the north. The most famous being Gettysburg National Cemetery and of course Arlington National Cemetery.

So for decades people around the country celebrated Dedication Day in honor of the fallen soldiers who gave their all so we can have our freedoms. It was a time to stop and remember those who sacrificed without giving a second thought in order to keep their families and values safe.

“Dedication Day” wasn’t an official holiday but the states celebrated it all the same and gradually it became known as “Memorial Day” around 1882, which was fitting seeing as it was meant to remember those who served and gave their all. After WWII it became more common to celebrate it as “Memorial Day” but it wasn’t officially named “Memorial Day” and made into an official national holiday until President Lyndon B. Johnson signed legislation in 1967. Memorial Day a holiday set aside for the express purpose of remembering not only those who served and sacrificed so much during the Civil War, which more than 150 years later remains the bloodiest conflict in United States history, but also all who fought in the wars and conflicts that followed. Each soul lost paid the ultimate price for our safety and freedoms and deserved our thanks. A day set aside dedicated to remembering them was a little gesture of thanks from the people of the United States of America.

So when did it suddenly become the day to start the summer games, playing in the pool, hopping down the shore, barbecuing in the back yard, and forgetting all those who gave up so much so we can have fun in the sun? For decades this holiday was celebrated the last day of May but in their infinite wisdom, Congress, whom we all know I feel needs a complete over haul, made the decision to change a date picked more than a hundred years ago. It was in 1971 Congress decided Memorial Day needed to be fixed. Of course we never thought it was broken but for some reason they saw fit to turn it into a 3 day weekend instead of a day set aside to thank those who gave their all. Now it was to be celebrated the last Monday in May giving everyone a long weekend.

Over the years the American people downplayed the holiday and started looking at it more as the start of their summer season and a reason to take a long weekend away with the family. It became an American tradition to the point of more than 36 million people take road trips on this holiday weekend. Some just hit the road with no major plan in mind other than to relax and enjoy themselves. Many families have the tradition of family gatherings and barbecues but how many actually take the time to say thank you to those who served and gave their all?

You see when Congress changed the date to create a three-day weekend it undermined the very reason this day was set aside in the first place. It changed the outlook of the holiday to many and instead of taking a the time to say a prayer for those who served this country and gave their lives for our safety and freedoms it became a nonchalant observance with a parade here or there as if to say “we didn’t forget so before we party we will have a parade to show our appreciation.”

A tradition to commemorate “Memorial Day” is the raising of the United States flag which is raised briskly to the top of the staff and then solemnly lowered to half-staff where it will remain till noon before it is once again raised to full-staff for the remainder of the day. Why half-staff? That is to remember the more than one million men and women who served this country and gave the ultimate sacrifice. Why raise it to full-staff at noon? Well that one is easy to figure out, raising it back to full-staff at noon it is their memory being raised by the living, those who promise not to let their sacrifice be in vain but to take the charge and continue the fight for liberty and justice for all Americans.

There are different traditions going on around the country that weekend and some still hold a ceremony on May 30^th just to remind us this is the original date of “Memorial Day.” The National American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars are out selling Remembrance Poppies for you to hang from your review mirror so every time you look at it you will remember the lives given so you can have your freedom.

In 1987 Hawaii’s Senator Daniel Inouye introduced a measure to return Memorial Day to its traditional date of May 30^th. Senator Inouye was a veteran of World War II who fought besides those who gave their all. He understood why setting this special day aside and bringing it back to its original day was so important. Try as he might he was unable to turn Congress around introducing resolution after resolution until his death in 2012.

Somewhere in the middle of Senator Inouye introducing his resolution to change Memorial Day back to May 30^Th Congress decided to pass the National Moment of Remembrance Act in 2000.  This act asked people all around the country to stop whatever they are doing at 3:00 PM to remember those who served this country. In my opinion this is a joke because there is no way this act can even be enforced and to just nonchalantly ask the people to stop chewing their burger or surfing in the water at 3:00 PM for a second to remember those who served is a laugh and a half.

I am happy my parents never left things like this up to the government regulations or view of what is important or not in our lives. They instilled in us the importance of all those who served this country and the respect we need to show those who served and returned home and the thanks we need to show those who served and never made it home to be with their families again.

I had some amazing role models who gave to this country no questions asked. They served this country and never asked for anything in return. They served with pride and honor as did their families because for each solider who didn’t return home there was a broken family who this country owes a debt. So this Memorial Day when you are sitting with your family at your destination of choice take a moment to bow your heads and say thank you. If you have memories of family members or friends who served this country with honor and dedication why not share their stories with your family so they can see what an amazing family tree they have.

This country was started by people with a vision and their vision carries on in the eyes of all Americans today. Their vision is for a better life and pride in their country. We may not all agree on every aspect of what we expect from those who serve in a political position in this country and that’s ok because that is our God given right to think freely and speak our mind however, to all those who served and will serve this country we all have to agree we owe them our deepest gratitude and respect.

I bow my head in prayer as I thank all those who gave their lives so I can live in the land of free and the home of the brave. I give thanks to all those families who have sacrificed so much so we can thrive as a country. You have my deepest gratitude. May God watch over all those who serve and their families and see to it they are protected and cared for in the arms of the Lord.

May God Bless America and on this Memorial Day may we all take a moment to remember the true meaning of this holiday and say a prayer of thanks to all those who served and gave their all. May they R.I.P. and honor.