The
History of Memorial Day
Memorial
Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for
those who have died in service of the United States of America. Over
two dozen cities and towns claim to be the birthplace of Memorial
Day. While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of
Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it’s
difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day.
Regardless
of the exact date or location of its origins, one thing is clear –
Memorial Day was borne out of the Civil War and a desire to honor our
dead. It 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.
“The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing
with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died
in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose
bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in
the land,” he proclaimed. The date of Decoration Day, as he called
it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular
battle.
On
the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at
Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the
graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there.
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 observed in almost every state on the last Monday in May with
Congressional passage of the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 –
363).
Wear Red Poppies
In
1915, inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields,” Moina Michael
replied with her own 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.
Moina Michael
visited Europe in June and July 1914. She was in Germany when the
First World War broke out in August 1914, and traveled to Rome to
return home to the US. In Rome, she assisted around 12,000 US
tourists to seek passage back across the Atlantic. She returned to
the US on the RMS Carpathia and
returned to teaching at Normal School in Athens, Georgia. She
was a professor at the University
of Georgia when
the U.S. entered World War I in April 1917. She took a leave of
absence from her work and volunteered to assist in the New York-based
training headquarters for overseas YWCA workers.
On
9 November 1918, inspired by the Canadian John
McCrae battlefront-theme
poem In
Flanders Fields,
she wrote a poem in response called We
Shall Keep the Faith. In
tribute to the opening lines of McCrae's poem -- "In Flanders
fields the poppies blow / Between the crosses row on row," --
Michael vowed to always wear a red poppy as a symbol of remembrance
for those who served in the war.
After
the war was over, Michael returned to the University of Georgia and
taught a class of disabled servicemen. Realizing the need to provide
financial and occupational support for these servicemen, she pursued
the idea of selling silk poppies as a means of raising funds to
assist disabled veterans. In 1921, her efforts resulted in the poppy
being adopted as a symbol of remembrance for war veterans by
the American
Legion Auxiliary,
and by Earl
Haig's
British Legion Appeal Fund (later The
Royal British Legion)
later that year.
Known
as the "Poppy Lady" for her humanitarian efforts, Michael
received numerous awards during her lifetime. She retired from the
University of Georgia in 1934, and published an autobiography in
1941, "The Miracle Flower: The Story of the Flanders Fields
Memorial Poppy".
In 1948 the US Post Office honored Ms. Michael for
her role in founding the National Poppy movement by issuing a red 3
cent postage stamp with her likeness on it.
PRESIDENT
CLINTON:
CALLING ON ALL AMERICANS TO JOIN IN A NATIONAL MOMENT OF REMEMBRANCE
CALLING ON ALL AMERICANS TO JOIN IN A NATIONAL MOMENT OF REMEMBRANCE
"As
we contemplate the comforts and blessings of our lives and the
well-being of our nation, I ask you to pause just for a moment to
remember those who gave their lives to protect the values that give
meaning to our lives."
President
Bill Clinton
May 31, 1999
May 31, 1999
The
National Moment of Remembrance program was established to remind
Americans of the sacrifices made by members of the Armed Forces as
well as others who have died as a result of service to this nation.
Americans around the world should pause and remember these heroes in
a symbolic act of unity.
Objectives:
- To raise Americans' awareness of the honorable contributions made by those who died while defending our nation.
- To encourage all Americans to honor those who died as a result of service to this nation by pausing for one minute at 3:00 p.m. (local time) on Memorial Day.
We will Never Forget You.
You will be Forever in our Prayers.
