Not all holidays involve gifts and partying. Memorial Day is one of those exceptions. While it unofficially kicks off summer, with most schools out and many families heading to pools and other places for vacations, there are those who will honor and mourn the ones who died serving in the U.S. military.
The day was created 163 years ago to honor those who died during the Civil War. The loss of military personnel on both sides of that war was the greatest in U.S. history. As the country was trying to heal from the years of devastation, the first national cemeteries were established in the spring of 1865. Over time, towns started holding activities to commemorate the dead and to help those grieving.
In 1868, Gen. John Logan called for a national day of remembrance, saying, “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.” Called Decoration Day, the first one had 5,000 people decorating the graves of 20,000 Civil War soldiers buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Future President/Ohio Congressman James A. Garfield addressed the people at the cemetery, including this excerpt:
“We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know that they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens.For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.”
Eventually, the day’s coming-together became even more poignant as the country suffered more losses among military personnel in other conflicts like the two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and others around the world.
In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act establishing Memorial Day and declaring it to be a federal holiday to take place on the final Monday of May. It was done with the plan to give federal employees a three-day holiday. The change took effect in 1971.
So, as you pass by a cemetery this weekend, you might notice American flags at the graves of the men and women who honored that flag with their lives.