Memorial Day History
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General
John A. Logan |
Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act, P.L. 90 - 363, in 1971 to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis' birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.
In 1915, inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields” Moina Michael replied with her own poem:
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We cherish too, the
Poppy red |
She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honor of
those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and
sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit
servicemen in need. Later a Madam Guerin from France was visiting the United
States and learned of this new custom started by Ms.Michael and when she
returned to France, made artificial red poppies to raise money for war orphaned
children and widowed women. This tradition spread to other countries. In 1921,
the Franco-American Children's League sold poppies nationally to benefit war
orphans of France and Belgium. The League disbanded a year later and Madam
Guerin approached the VFW for help. Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW
became the first veterans' organization to nationally sell poppies. Two years
later their "Buddy"
Poppy program was selling artificial poppies made by disabled veterans.
Since the late 50's on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing.
And since 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye's Heights (the Luminaria Program).
But most Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day.
To help Americans re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps." Additionally, on January 19, 1999 Senator Inouye introduced bill S 189 to the Senate which proposes to restore the traditional day of observance of Memorial Day back to May 30th instead of "the last Monday in May". On April 19, 1999 Representative Gibbons introduced the bill to the House (H.R. 1474). The bills were referred the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Government Reform.
To
date, there have been no further developments on the bill. Please write your Representative
and your Senators, urging them to support these bills.
To see what day Memorial Day falls on for the next 10 years, visit the Memorial
Day Calendar page.
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Sources and related links:
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Those
Now Gone
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Public
Memorials and War Casualty Files: Individual / Personal Memorial Day Sites Other sites dedicated to Memorial Day
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For a complete listing of Memorial Day Site Tributes.. |
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