Decoration Day…Memorial Day…

And “The Ripple Effect”…how far can it go?

Memorial Day is America’s most solemn holiday.

Memorial Day is officially celebrated the last Monday of May.

Memorial Day was initially known as Decoration Day.

Memorial Day in the United States officially originated in the aftermath of the Civil War (which ended in the spring of 1865).

Memorial Day was born in the former Confederate States in 1866, and adopted by the United States in 1868 as an annual commemoration of the Civil War fallen soldiers.

The Civil War claimed more lives than any (and all combined) conflicts in U. S. History up to that point.

Memorial Day has a long history.  The details of the first formal National “Decoration Day” celebration was a Memorial Day Order issued by General John A. Logan in 1868.  He was the Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, which was a fraternal organization of Civil War Union Veterans.

Our modern-day American Memorial Day is the day for honoring those who have fallen in battle.  (The practice of honoring the fallen in battle dates back thousands of years with the ancient Greeks and Romans holding annual days of remembrance for all loved ones, including soldiers, each year.)

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Cities in the North, and the South claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day in 1866.

Richmond, Virginia and the village of Boalsburg, Pennsylvania claim it began there two years earlier.

Others claim the first celebration was in Charleston, South Carolina on May 1, 1865.

A stone in a Carbondale, Illinois cemetery carries the statement that the first Decoration Day ceremony took place there on April 29, 1866.  Carbondale was the wartime home of General Logan.

Approximately 25 places have been named in connection with the origin of Memorial Day, many of them in the South we’re most of the war dead were buried.

Macon, Georgia, and two cities named Columbus have also staked their claim to being the first to celebrate the Memorial Day, in Mississippi and in Georgia.  Some people believe the evidence is on the side of Columbus, Georgia.

The first year of the annual observances in the South were in 1866 according to Richard Gardiner in his book A History of Memorial Day. In his book, he suggests unequivocal evidence showing that it began in Columbus, Georgia, when a group of women visited a cemetery to decorate the graves of Confederate soldiers who had fallen in battle at Shiloh.

Nearby were the graves of the Union soldiers, neglected because they were the enemy.  The sight of the bare graves disturbed the women, and showing compassion, they unexpectedly placed flowers on the graves of the former enemies who fought for the union, as well.  This was April 25, 1866.

One newspaper wrote, “The action of the ladies on this occasion, in burying whatever animosities or ill-feeling may have been engendered in the late war towards those who fought against them, is worthy of all praise and commendation.”  Other newspapers wrote similar statements.

As a result of the newspaper reports about the Union Soldiers’ graves being decorated and cared for, Francis Miles Finch, a Northern judge, wrote a poem titled “The Blue and the Gray” which included these words:

“They banish our anger forever when they laurel the graves of our dead”

Of writing the poem, Finch said “It struck me that the South was holding out a friendly hand, and that it was our duty, not only as conquerors, but as men and their fellow citizens of the nation, to grasp it.”

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The origins of Memorial Day are open for debate, however, the Federal Government (Congress and President Lyndon Johnson) declared Waterloo, New York the official birthplace of Memorial Day, first celebrating the day on May 5, 1866.

Businesses closed; residents flew flags at half-staff.

The first large observance was held in 1868 at Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. with politicians including General and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant presiding over the ceremonies, followed by flowers being strewn on both Union and Confederate graves, and prayers and hymns being recited.

Instructions from General John A. Logan, on May 5, 1868:

“May 30, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in the defense of their country during the Civil War, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city and churchyard in the land.”

By the end of the 19th century, Memorial Day ceremonies were being held on May 30 throughout the nation.

After World War I, that day was expanded to honor, in addition to Civil War soldiers, to include those who have died in ALL American wars.

In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday by an act of Congress (though many people still use the term Decoration Day).  It was at that time it was placed instead of May 30, it would be the last Monday in May, as some other federal holidays.

This ensured a 3-day weekend for Federal holidays.

Some southern states wanting to keep the special day for the Confederate dead separate from the soldiers who died in other conflicts, adopted their own days for honor in the confederates:

Mississippi celebrates Confederate Memorial Day the last Monday in April.

Alabama, on the fourth Monday of April;

Georgia, on April 26.

North and South Carolina observe it on May 10;

Louisiana on June 3;

Tennessee calls that date Confederate Decoration Day.

Texas celebrates Confederate Heroes Day January 19, and

Virginia calls the last Monday in May “Confederate Memorial Day”.

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 In remembering the fallen soldiers, General 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 the 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.”

Did you know on Memorial Day there is a National Moment of Remembrance that takes place at 3 p.m. local time?

To ensure that the sacrifices of America’s fallen heroes are never forgotten, in December, 2000, U. S. Congress passed “The National Moment of Remembrance Act”.  The commission’s charter is to “encourage the people of the United States to give something back to their country, which provides them so much freedom and opportunity”.

This Act encourages all Americans to pause wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence to remember and honor those who have died in service to the Nation.

How great it would be if this was encouraged in workplaces and in the media, and anywhere it could be encouraged.

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What about the Red Poppies?

The poem, “Flanders Fields” written by Lt. Colonel John McCrae during World War I, was in reference to the red poppies that grew over the graves of the fallen soldiers.

The Remembrance Poppy is one of the world’s most recognized memorial symbols for soldiers who have died in conflict.  The author’s close friend was killed in battle; he buried him, performing the ceremony himself.  He noticed how poppies quickly grew around the graves.  He wrote the poem the next day.

Later this poem inspired Molina Michael to write a poem

“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.”

She then conceived an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial Day in honor of those who died serving our nation during war.  She sold the poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need.

Next time you see someone standing outside a business selling the red poppies, remember, and appreciate the sacrifice of those who “gave all”.

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Please join me in remembering the fallen soldiers who are no longer with us this weekend.

And I think it’s life-encouraging to know that as war is so violent, it is good for us to realize that this whole holiday of “Memorial Day” that we’ve been celebrating as a country since the 19th century, actually stemmed from the compassion and empathy of a small group of women.

What a message for us…small decisions, even decisions made on the spur of the moment, make such a big difference—in this case the decision these women made “in a moment” made a difference in the framework of America, in addition to being such a great example for us as to how to make decisions in our personal lives.

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“Decoration Day” Tradition

Because I live in the South on this Memorial Day, I must tell you the uniquely southern traditions of remembering family and loved ones who have died.  We call it Decoration Day.

The United States Memorial Day tradition is focused on honoring the military dead.  In some parts of the southern United States, practices of decorating the graves of loved ones take place in many areas.

“Decoration Day” is an annual honoring of the dead at many Southern graveyards during which families gather, to clean up and decorate the graveyard, reconnect with family and honor the memories of their ancestors, and decorate their graves.  These unique traditions began in the 19th century.  Many times a memorial service is held.

The “Decoration” practices are local, and can be different as to individual families, cemeteries or communities.  These traditions pre-date the United States Memorial Day holiday (which was once also officially known as Decoration Day), and are believed to be the inspiration for Memorial Day as we know it today.

Traditionally this has involved singing and in some cases, dinner on the ground, in the cemetery.  These Decoration Days for particular cemeteries are held on Sundays in late spring or early summer. 

It has the character of an extended family reunion, and people may travel hundreds of miles to clean and decorate the graves, as well as to renew contacts with relatives and others.

The local cemetery where some of my own ancestors are buried, Concord Cemetery, celebrates “Decoration Day” the third Sunday in May each year.  That was last Sunday.

People come locally and from long distances to visit the cemetery on that day.  Local people support the cemetery management, and most people support financially, both locally and from far away.

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 Enjoy Memorial Day however you celebrate.  Enjoy family and friends.

Remember the fallen soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom…

And also Remember…

          The good you do passes on as ripples of water to other people, and other places.  It makes changes in lives, and some of those changes can change the world to be a better place.

          Have compassion.

          Leave a good mark on this world.

Look what these few ladies’ acts of compassion and empathy grew to be…in the aftermath of a terribly violent war that had tremendous casualties.

Thank you for reading.

There is still time to start one-on-one coaching with me at the reduced price.  Let me know if you are interested.

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Sharon