Memorial day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving, while Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans. The practice of decorating soldiers' graves with flowers is an ancient custom. Soldiers' graves were decorated in the U.S. before and during the American Civil War. Some believe that an annual cemetery decoration practice began before the American Civil War and thus may reflect the real origin of the "memorial day" idea.[7] Annual Decoration Days for particular cemeteries are still held on a Sunday in late spring or early summer in some rural areas of the American South, notably in the mountain areas. In cases involving a family graveyard where remote ancestors as well as those who were deceased more recently are buried, this may take on the character of an extended family reunion to which some people travel hundreds of miles. People gather on the designated day and put flowers on graves and renew contacts with relatives and others. There often is a religious service and a picnic-like "dinner on the grounds," the traditional term for a poltluck meal at a church. Following President Abraham Lincolns Assassination in April 1865, commemorations were ubiquitous. The sheer number of soldiers of both sides who died in the Civil War (more than 600,000) meant that burial and memorialization took on new cultural significance. Under the leadership of women during the war, an increasingly formal practice of decorating graves had taken shape. In 1865, the federal government began creating national military cemeteries for the Union war dead. The Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper claimed in 1906 that Warrenton, Virginia, was the location of the first Civil War soldier's grave ever to be decorated; the date cited was June 3, 1861. There is also documentation that women in Savannah, Georgia, decorated Confederate soldiers' graves in 1862. The 1863 cemetery dedication at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was, of course, a ceremony of commemoration at the graves of dead soldiers. In addition, local historians in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, claim that ladies there decorated soldiers' graves on July 4, 1864, and Boalsburg promotes itself as the birthplace of Memorial Day. Historian David W. Blight, citing an observance after the end of the Civil War in Charleston, South Carolina, on May 1, 1865, has claimed that "African Americans invented Memorial Day in Charleston, South Carolina," based on accounts in the Charleston Daily Courier and coverage by the New York Tribune. But in 2012 Blight stated that he "has no evidence" that the event in Charleston inspired the establishment of Memorial Day across the country. The Federal Government has designated an "official" birthplace of the holiday. On May 26, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the presidential proclamation naming Waterloo, New York, as the holder of the title. This action followed House Concurrent Resolution 587, in which the 89th Congress had officially recognized that the patriotic tradition of observing Memorial Day had begun one hundred years prior in Waterloo, New York. There is no dispute that the holiday gained national recognition after the American Civil War in 1868, when General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans founded in Decatur, Illinois, established it as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the Union war dead with flowers. By the 20th century, various Union and Confederate memorial traditions, celebrated on different days, merged, and Memorial Day eventually extended to honor all Americans who died while in the military service. In the North The Tomb of the Unknowns located in Arlington National Cemetery. Copying a practice that began in the Southern states, on May 5, 1868, in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, the veterans' organization for Union Civil War veterans, General John A. Logan issued a proclamation calling for "Decoration Day" to be observed annually and nationwide. It was observed for the first time that year on Saturday May 30; the date was chosen because it was not the anniversary of any particular battle. According to the White House, the May 30 date was chosen as the optimal date for flowers to be in bloom. Memorial Day, Boston by Henry SandhamMemorial events were held in 183 cemeteries in 27 states in 1868, and 336 in 1869. The northern states quickly adopted the holiday. Michigan made "Decoration Day" an official state holiday in 1871 and by 1890, every northern state had followed suit. The ceremonies were sponsored by the Women's Relief Corps, the women's auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), which had 100,000 members. By 1870, the remains of nearly 300,000 Union dead had been re-interred in 73 national cemeteries, located near major battlefields and thus mainly in the South. The most famous are Gettysburg National Cemetery in Pennsylvania and Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. Memorial Day speeches became an occasion for veterans, politicians, and ministers to commemorate the War and, at first, to rehash the "atrocities" of the enemy. They mixed religion and celebratory nationalism and provided a means for the people to make sense of their history in terms of sacrifice for a better nation. People of all religious beliefs joined together and the point was often made that the German and Irish soldiers had become true Americans in the "baptism of blood" on the battlefield. Ironton, Ohio, lays claim to the nation's oldest continuously running Memorial Day parade. Its first parade was held May 5, 1868, and the town has held it every year since; however, the Memorial Day parade in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, predates Ironton's by one year. In the South Confederate Memorial Monument in Montgomery, AlabamaA Memorial Day holiday was in practice in the South since 1866. The U.S. National Park Service, as well as numerous scholars, attribute its beginning to the ladies of Columbus, Georgia. Originally called "Memorial Day," the Southern commemoration appended the label "Confederate" to the title when northerners co-opted the holiday in 1868. The tradition of observances which emerged in the South were linked to the "Lost Cause" and, they served as the prototype for the national day of memory embraced by the nation in 1868. Specifically, on April 25, 1866, women in Columbus, Mississippi laid flowers on the graves of both the Union and Confederate dead in the city's cemetery. The early Confederate Memorial Day celebrations were simple, somber occasions for veterans and their families to honor the dead and tend to local cemeteries. By 1890, there was a shift from the emphasis on honoring specific soldiers to a public commemoration of the lost Confederate cause. Changes in the ceremony's hymns and speeches reflect an evolution of the ritual into a symbol of cultural renewal and conservatism in the South. By 1913, Blight argues, the theme of American nationalism shared equal time with the Lost Cause. Historians acknowledge the Ladies Memorial Association played a key role in these rituals of preservation of Confederate "memory." Various dates ranging from April 25 to mid-June were adopted in different Southern states. Across the South, associations were founded, many by women, to establish and care for permanent cemeteries for the Confederate dead, organize commemorative ceremonies, and sponsor appropriate monuments as a permanent way of remembering the Confederate dead. The most important of these was the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which grew from 17,000 members in 1900 to nearly 100,000 women by World War I. They were "strikingly successful at raising money to build Confederate monuments, lobbying legislatures and Congress for the reburial of Confederate dead, and working to shape the content of history textbooks." Memorial Day is a day to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. To remember those who have given it all here are a compiled list of some of the men and women who we remember today....
Senior Chief Petty Officer Kyle Milliken 1st Lt. Weston C Lee Sgt. Joshua P Rodgers Sgt. Cameron H Thomas Staff Sgt. Mark R De Alencar Staff Sgt. Austin Bieren Air Force Staff Sgt. Alexandria M Morrow Sgt. 1st Class Robert R Boniface Pfc. Brian P. Odiorne Chief Petty Officer William "Ryan" Owens Army Spc. John P Rodriguez Lt. Col. Flando E. Jackson 1st Lt. Anais A. Tobar Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan D. Burris Air Force Maj. Adrianna M. Vorderbruggen Air Force Airman 1st Kcey E. Ruiz Marine Staff Sgt. David H. Stewart Army Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler Sgt. Joshua P Rodgers Pfc. Tyler R. Iubelt Air Force Staff Sgt. Michael A. Cinco Marine Sgt. Thomas Z. Spitzer Marine Staff Sgt. David H. Stewart Navy Boatswain’s Mate Seaman Yeshabel Villot-Carrasco Army Pfc. Jacob H. Wykstra Army Sgt. 1st Class Roberto C. Skelt Wyoming Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 3 Andrew L. McAdams Air Force Capt. David I. Lyon Navy Construction Mechanic 1st Class James L. Smith These are just a few of the names on a list of over 6,000 U.S. Men and Women who gave their lives for our Country. Remember them today.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Dee F.With over 8 years of Photography experience, Dee treats every client as if they are family. She strives to make every client feel special during their session time together Archives
August 2017
Categories |