05/29/21 Weekend Grif.Net - 10 Facts often Overlooked this Weekend
Robert Griffin
MEMORIAL DAY is much more than just a three-day weekend and a chance to get the year’s first sunburn. It’s a time to remember the men and women who sacrificed their lives for their country. Here are some facts to give the holiday a better perspective.
1. MEMORIAL DAY BEGAN AS A RESPONSE TO THE CIVIL WAR.
Memorial Day was a response to the unprecedented carnage of the Civil War, in which a total of some 640,000 American soldiers died. The loss of life and its effect on communities throughout the country led to several spontaneous commemorations of the dead. In many locations, north and south, women put flowers on the graves of their fallen soldiers. In Richmond, newly-freed Blacks gathered at the main cemetery. Confederate widows followed suit and this impressed Union hero John A. Logan watching this fitting tribute
2. MAJOR GENERAL JOHN A. LOGAN MADE THE DAY OFFICIAL.
Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic (organization of Union veterans) General Logan, speaking at a Carbondale (Illinois) gathering on May 5, 1868, issued General Order No. 11, which set aside May 30, 1868, “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.” His prayer was that such an event be “kept up from year to year while a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades.”
3. MEMORIAL DAY WAS ORIGINALLY KNOWN AS DECORATION DAY.
The holiday was long known as Decoration Day for the practice of decorating graves with flowers, wreaths, and flags. The name “Memorial Day” goes back to 1882, but the older name didn’t disappear until after World War II. In 1967 a federal law mandated “Memorial Day” the official name.
4. MEMORIAL DAY IS MORE OF A FRANCHISE THAN A NATIONAL HOLIDAY.
Calling Memorial Day a “national holiday” is a bit of a misnomer. While there have been 10 federal holidays created by Congress—including Memorial Day—they apply only to federal employees and the District of Columbia. Federal Memorial Day, established in 1888, allowed Civil War veterans, many of whom were drawing a government paycheck, to honor their fallen comrades without being docked a day’s pay. For the rest of us, our holidays were enacted state by state. It was broadened to include those who died in all the country’s wars, not just the Late, Great Unpleasantness.
5. MEMORIAL DAY WAS INCLUDED IN A 3-DAY WEEKEND HOLDAY ACT.
In 1971, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act shifted Memorial Day from May 30 to the last Monday in May, varying from year to year..
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6. NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CEREMONIES BEGAIN IN 1868.
On May 30, 1868, President Ulysses S. Grant presided over the first Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. This was the home and plantation of famous Confederate General Robert E. Lee confiscated and turned into a cemetery so Lee’s family could never use it. 5000 people attended in sweltering heat. Future president James A. Garfield, a Civil War general and Republican congressman from Ohio, said, “If silence is ever golden, it must be beside the graves of fifteen-thousand men, whose lives were more significant than speech, and whose death was a poem the music of which can never be sung.” Sadly, the speech lasted almost two hours.
7. MEMORIAL DAY BRINGS RENEWED FOCUS ON THE “UNKNOWN SOLDIERS”.
“Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.” That is the inscription on the Tomb of the Unknowns, established at Arlington National Cemetery to inter the remains of the first unknown soldier, a World War I fighter, on November 11, 1921. Unknown soldiers from World War II and the Korean War were subsequently interred in the tomb on Memorial Day 1958.
8. MEMORIAL DAY IS HONORED BY A MOTORCYCLE “ROLLING THUNDER” RIDE
On Memorial Day weekend in 1988, 2500 motorcyclists rode into Washington, D.C. for the first Rolling Thunder rally in order to draw attention to Vietnam War soldiers still missing in action and prisoners of war. Numbers have increased to more than 500,000 and riders during 2020 covid-quarantine time tracked and shared their “22 miles” in a virtual rolling thunder.
Traveling 22 miles is significant, because in addition to raising awareness for soldiers missing in action and prisoners of war, it brings attention to the average 22 veterans who die by suicide every DAY.
9. SOME STATES STILL CELEBRATE A CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL DAY.
Several Southern states continue to set aside a day for honoring the Confederate dead, which is usually called Confederate Memorial Day. It’s on the fourth Monday in April in Alabama and the last Monday in April in Mississippi, while states like Texas and Tennessee observe Confederate Heroes Day on January 19 and Confederate Decoration Day on June 3, respectively. Some are even declared as state holidays.
10. MEMORIAL DAY HAS ITS OWN SET OF CUSTOMS.
General Order No. 11 stated that “in this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed,” but over time, several customs and symbols became associated with the holiday. Most notably, it is customary on Memorial Day to fly the flag at half-staff until noon, and then raise it to the top of the staff until sunset. The World War I poem “In Flanders Fields” inspired the Memorial Day custom of wearing red artificial poppies.
Memorial Day is a solemn event, but don’t feel too guilty about doing something frivolous (like hosting a barbecue) over the weekend. All Americans are asked to observe a “National Moment of Remembrance” to pause for one minute at 3 p.m. in an act of national unity. The time was chosen because 3 p.m. “is the time when most Americans are enjoying their freedoms on the national holiday.”
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Dr Bob Griffin
"Jesus Knows Me, This I Love!"