The History of Memorial Day
By Brian Ward
The year was 1865, when druggist Henry C. Welles of Waterloo, New York gathered some members of the community to start what became known as Decoration Day. Decoration Day was to be a day of remembrance of those who gave their lives in the great civil war. Local townspeople would go to the cemeteries and decorate the graves of soldiers with wreaths, flowers, and plants to honor those who fought so valiantly in the war. The villages were decorated with flags at half staff, and ribbons of red white and blue were strewn from house to house. Veterans, ministers, and local politicians used this day to give great oratory speeches about the past and present and the hopes of the future. It was a day of great American exceptionalism.
In, 1866, Gen. John B. Murray listened to the vision of Henry C. Welles to honor those who died for their cause, and agreed that something should be done to honor the fallen. He formed a committee and the celebration was repeated again in 1867. The first official order came from Gen. John A. Logan in General Order 11 which declared May 30th to be the day of remembrance, and it asked that future generations continue this celebration each year. This date was agreed to since no battle was fought on that day in the Civil War which would undoubtedly lead to bitter feelings and not a national celebration of war heroes.
Although the above is the primary reason Decoration Day become a national movement, it is historically accurate to credit the beginnings of the movement to black Americans who decorated the grave sites of union soldiers in Charleston, S.C. Their movement surely influenced others to engage in similar activities across the country.
When the sun comes over the horizon and flags are raised at our military bases, churches, and local governments on Memorial Day, they will be raised only half way. This is to honor those who have fallen in their fight to protect that which we all enjoy today in our great country. What many Americans don’t know is that precisely at noon local time the U.S. flag, our great symbol of liberty, is then raised all the way to the top. This is to symbolize that we, The American People who are still alive will continue the fight to defend our nation’s heritage, thus ensuring past generations’ sacrifices will not have been made in vain.
The name Decoration Day was eventually changed by Congress in 1967 to Memorial Day in honor of those that had died for their country in all wars – not just one in particular.
When, in our own country, schools will observe homosexual day by allowing students to go silent all day yet deny a 9-year-old boy the right to have a flag on his bike, let us remember those that fought and died for our liberties that we still enjoy by standing tall and carrying on the battle to preserve our freedoms for us and our children. In doing so we will honor the sacrifices of those that have gone before us.
We bow our hearts in honor of the following heroes who died or were wounded in battle:
Revolutionary War: 50,000
War of 1812: 25,000
Mexican-American War: 17,000
Civil War: 645,000
Spanish-American War: 4,000
Philippine-American War: 7,000
Word War I: 320,000
World War II: 1,076,000
Korean War: 128,000
Vietnam War: 211,000
Gulf War: 1,231
Afghanistan War: 12,035
Iraq War: 36,395
AND COUNTING!
Brian Ward, is the author of No More Secrets, a quick book to use as a tool to educate Americans on what good government economic policy should be. This book is nothing more than ammunition to help guarantee the rights of all Americans’ financial liberty by denying politicians cover from economic ignorance. “No More Secrets” exposes what those in power so desperately try to keep under lock and key. Full color, illustrated, and written in story form, “No More Secrets” will prompt your family, friends, and co-workers to rethink for whom they will vote in 2012.
