Chaplains and religious affairs specialists from across the National Capital Region gather May 23, 2024, on Chaplains Hill, where they honored the fallen buried in Section 2 of Arlington National Cemetery, by placing flags at their gravesites ahead of the Memorial Day weekend, in a tradition known as ‘Flags In.’ (Photo Credit: Lauren Simpson)
Today is Memorial Day. Enjoy your day off and summer kickoff cookout but do not forget what this day is actually about. Remembering those who lost their lives in defense of this nation.
What we now celebrate as Memorial day started as Decoration day following the Civil War. There are a few cities that lay claim to having held the first Decoration day ceremonies, but Waterloo NY is the official first, holding a town-wide remembrance ceremony on 5 May 1866.
In 1868, the commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, general John Logan, established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. He chose the end of May because flowers would be in bloom all across the country. Gen. Logan’s order for his posts to decorate graves in 1868 “with the choicest flowers of springtime” urged: “We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. … Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no 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.”
By the end of the 19th century, Memorial Day ceremonies were being held on May 30 throughout the nation. State legislatures passed proclamations designating the day, and the Army and Navy adopted regulations for proper observance at their facilities.
It wasn’t until 1971 that Memorial Day became a federal holiday. It was placed on the last monday of May.
Pericles offered a tribute to the fallen heroes of the Peloponnesian War over 24 centuries ago that could be applied today to the 1.1 million Americans who have died in the nation’s wars:
Not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions, but there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men.
So while you’re eating that burger fresh off the grill and drinking that ice cold drink, take a moment and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.