Memorial Day has lost much of it relevance since 1971 when the date was changed to the last Monday in the month of May to accommodate a three day weekend for people to celebrate rather than a date in history where one pauses to reflect and remember those who have given their lives in the service of this nation.
Originally, the day was called Decoration Day though changed along the way to Memorial Day. Many cities and towns lay claim to being the birthplace of this national holiday and organized women's groups were decorating the graves of fallen Civil War soldiers after the war. No one really knows where it started but in 1966 then President Lyndon Johnson officially declared the birth place of Memorial Day to be Waterloo, New York.
Originally proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, National Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic as a day of remembrance, the first observed day was May 30, 1868. Flowers were placed on both union & confederate grave sites in Arlington National Cemetery and the first state to recognize Memorial Day was New York in 1873. by 1890, Memorial Day was recognized by all the Northern states but the South chose to honor their solders on a different day and continued to do so until after World War I when the day was changed from only honoring Civil War Veterans who had died to all soldiers who gave up their lives during war.
John McCrae wrote the famous poem, " In Flanders Field" in 1915.
"In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields."
Moina Michael added her own poem to this one with:
"We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies."
Ms. Michael was the first to start wearing the poppy flower on Memorial Day. Madam Guerin, visiting from France took that idea back to France and came up with the artificial red poppy one sees today being handed out for donations for disabled veterans. Her charity gave away the artificial poppy to help collect donations for the orphans and widows, and this spread to England and eventually to the United States where we see them being handed out on Memorial Day and Veteran's Day.
Let us pause in our holiday weekend festivities, no matter what one's feeling is on war, and remember those who gave of their lives for their fellow man and their nation in a moment of remembrance.
14 comments:
Beautiful post, Butch. It's easy to forget in our busy lives, with all the talk of "war for oil" and untrustworthy governments, that people have given their lives to protect our freedom to have cars, or keep blogs or plant seeds in odd patterns in the garden...and all the other things that make our lives what they are. And that they do so regardless of their own political beliefs.
Sunday saw the addition of a few small flags to the garden for just this remembrance.
Thank you for *your* service!
Greg: Many thanks, for your comment. I think if there were a quiz for children in school or young adults living in the US regarding the significance of Memorial Day, I would be terribly disappointed in the answers. When the date was moved to make a three day weekend, it became just another holiday to party etc., and I have signed a petition recently to try and get it moved back to May 30th where it belongs regardless of whether it falls on or near a weekend.
I haven't been to your blog yet this morning, but I hope you took some pictures of your additions to your garden. That was a nice thought.
Thanks again, for your kind words at the end of your comment.
May their sacrifice be remembered and honored always... and may the valor of those to come be never abused.
Somewhere Joe: Well said, and thanks for your comment.
Actually, weather and exposures being what they are, I haven't yet captured my additions well enough to share. But they'll be there throughout the summer, assuming Mother Nature agrees.
Memorial Day has always been special to me, initially because it meant a marching opportunity with the band, but through participation all those years, it came to mean much more.
Greg: I remember being the high school marching band where I played the tuba (sousaphone actually) and marching with that thing resting on my shoulder for the length of the parade was always a problem. I learned to roll up a towel and place it under my band uniform jacket so the sousaphone would rest on it first causing less pain to my shoulder.
I assume you played an instrument, which one was it?
Butch
Well said! I completely agree. Put down the grilling tongs and the budweiser for five minutes and meditate or state your thanks to all those who have endured hell, or been engulfed by it for your way of life. A special thanks to you Butch, I thought of you this weekend.
Tater: Many thanks for your kind words. It's the least we can do to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
As I mentioned in one of the previous comments, I found a petition and signed it that would revert back from the 1971 change, to the original Memorial Day remembrance day of May 30th. We'll see, eh?!
Clarinet and alto clarinet were my instruments in high school. Once we'd moved to our small Adirondack town with its low enrollment, graduated alumni who were home for the weekend were invited to participate (to fill out the ranks), too...and as such, I also had the chance to also play drums and cymbals (always a challenge keeping the latter quiet whilst swatting blackflies at the cemetary!!).
I always imagined marching with the sousaphone was a bit punishing...at least as far as band service goes!
Greg: Loved your comment about trying to swat the black flies. (in rhythm hopefully) ;-)
I don't know why the majority of my instruments I have played are big?!
I too, marched with a bass drum before I moved to sousaphone. There was also, string bass, and I even have an harp now. ;-)
( Don't go there, I know you're thinking, "Size Queen!" ) ha!
nice post, I actually learned something new. Thanks, Butch
My mom used to call it "doing the graves". "Next saturday we'll do the graves". While my mother and her sister weeded and planted flowers, my cousin and I sat in the grass, or in the back seat of the car, and ate peanut butter sandwiches. I recall specifically the year she taught me to tie my shoes. Those graves haven't been done in years. I should go do my mom's, now that I think of it.
It's interesting how viewing something through a personal lens can add clarity. Your rich descriptions here add a new dimension to how I will view that day. Thank you.
Al: Many thanks for your kind thoughts.
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