Decoration Day To Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day, the day we remember those who died while serving in the military,  It is a time of remembrance.  The actual celebration began just after the Civil War.

When the Civil War ended in 1865, more people had died while fighting than in any previous war.  This lead to the government establishing the first national cemeteries.

In the spring, people would go place flowers on graves and say a quick prayer to remember the fallen soldier.  As for where Memorial Day originated? That is lost in the mists of time because many places held ceremonies but nothing nationally recognized as such until 1966.

There is a reference to a group of freed slaves who held a celebration in Charleston, South Carolina as being the first celebration.  Records indicate that on May 1, 1865, over 1000 freed slaves, members of the U.S. Colored Troops, and several locals gathered to consecrated a burial site for those who died.  They sang songs, read things, and passed out flowers.

On the other hand, if you visit Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, they have a sign claiming they were the first to celebrate Decoration Day in October of 1864 when three women decorated the graves of three men who had fallen.  However, the federal government decided in 1966 that Waterloo, Iowa was the home of decoration day because they held an annual community wide celebration beginning on May 5, 1866.  The stores and business closed down so people could place flags and flowers on soldier's graves.

Two years later, on May 5 1868, General John A Logan who lead the Union veterans group the Grand Army of the Republic, decreed that May 30, 1868 should be the day the nation remembered the 620,000 soldiers who died during the conflict.  He stated that Americans should lay flowers on the graves to decorate them.  It is said that he suggested this date as it was not associated with any particular battle fought during the Civil War but some believe he chose it because the flowers would be in bloom.  When he died in 1884, his body was laid in state at the United States Capital's Rotonda.  He was only one of 33 who have been given that honor.

There are records that women in the South, even before the war ended, gathered to decorate the graves of those who died.  Many women gathered once a year to celebrate the fallen but this happened on different days across the south.  This tradition has continued even to today with an official Confederate Memorial Day in nine Southern States.

Records indicate that at least 27 states celebrated Decoration Day on that first May 30th including 5000 people who decorated the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who are buried there.  Over the intervening years between the end of the Civil War and 1890, Northern states established their own official Decoration Day holiday.

Then in World War I, more Americans died and it was decided that Decoration Day should recognize all who died in any war.  This continued through World War II, the Korean War, and during the time of the Vietnam War, the holiday was officially changed from Decoration Day to Memorial Day around 1964.

 For years, Memorial Day was celebrated on May 30th as proposed by General Logan but in 1968, the government passed a law to make holidays more uniform and in 1971, Memorial Day became the fourth Monday in May so workers could have a three day holiday weekend.  There are many veterans who are fighting to get it returned to May 30th because they fear people will associate the holiday with a long weekend rather than a chance to remember those who gave their lives in service.

In 2000, the government passed legislation declaring that the nation should observe a moment of silence at 3:00 pm to remember the fallen.  So if you get a moment at 3 this afternoon, stop and remember those who died.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.