In the United States, Memorial Day is tomorrow. First, a memory.
In 2002, my spouse, son, and I were on our way from our home in New York State to the Black Hills of South Dakota. We stopped off in Iowa City, where
one of my aunts (now deceased) then lived. It was the Memorial Day weekend.
Just after we crossed into the city limits, we passed a cemetery. It
was decorated in a sea of American flags. I could not believe how many flags
there were.
It showed that the residents of Iowa City had not
completely forgotten the meaning of Memorial Day, a special day for residents of the United States.
In 2010, I blogged about a GI love story for Memorial Day. In other years, I've repeated posts about our Memorial Day in the United States. This year, I'd like to blog once again about the origin of this
holiday, which is tied up with our Civil War, 1861-1865.
Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day. It was first observed in 1868 with laying of flowers on the graves of both Union and Confederate troops at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
 |
| "Sam the Bear" honors the village of Waterloo, New York - Empire State Carousel |
My home state, New York, was the first to adopt Decoration Day as a holiday. The village of Waterloo considers itself the birthplace of Memorial Day, and has a museum devoted to the holiday.
After World War I, Decoration Day became a holiday (Memorial Day) to honor the dead of all wars.
I can remember, growing up, when Memorial Day was observed on May 30, no
matter what day of the week it was. In 1971, I believe, it was changed
to the current "last Monday in May" so that it could become part of
several three day weekends being created. Many people think that
celebrating Memorial Day more as a "first day of summer" blowout
beach/BBQ/shopping day has been recent, but apparently even in the early
20th century the day was already starting to drift away from its
original meeting.
Another ceremony connected with this holiday is the playing of Taps.
Taps originated during the Civil War, composed by a member of the Army
of the Potomac to serve as a "lights out" signal. Research I've done
indicates that it didn't take long for Taps to be adopted by both
Federal and Confederate armies. It is so well suited to military
burials that, again, its true origin is somewhat buried.
At 3pm, all over the United States, the 24 notes of Taps will be played as part of a commemoration called Taps Across America. Each musician has his or her reason for playing.
My late father was a disabled non-combat veteran of World War
II. The war he served in, World War II, took the lives of millions of both civilians and military. This is a list of the casualties by country.
There is now an official National World War II museum in New Orleans, Louisiana. I hope to visit it one day.
And that is the true meaning of Memorial Day - to honor our war dead and, yes, their loved ones.
Today, tomorrow, and perhaps on all days, let us take a moment to honor the veterans of all wars who gave their lives. They are our reminders that the price of freedom is sometimes a very steep one for those who pay it on our behalf.
Let us not dishonor them.
My dad served in WW II as well.
ReplyDelete...my father was a combat veteran of WWII and he never talked about the war.
ReplyDeleteI still know the lyrics to "Taps". At least, if those we sang in Girl Scouts were original.
ReplyDeleteMy father was a WWII veteran and I grew up listening to his stories of that time. Over the years, he stayed in touch with several of the men he served with.
ReplyDeleteI hope the true meaning of Memorial Day will not be lost. We still have a nationwide two minute silence on Remembrance Sunday - everything stops. It's very poignant.
ReplyDelete