I was reading at Country Living online and came across an article on Memorial Day and it's history. Today, I want to recount the article here. I found it to be so interesting!
Amid the barbecuing, beach-going, blockbuster movie releases, and other unofficial-start-of-summer hoopla, it can be easy to forget what Memorial Day is actually all about. Observed on the last Monday of May, you're probably aware that the holiday honors the men and women who have died while serving in the U.S. military. But how much do you actually know about the holiday and its origins?
Here, we've rounded up a few Memorial Day facts that you might not have known:
1. The observance, which began in the years following the Civil War, was originally known as Decoration Day. By the late 1860s, many Americans had begun hosting tributes to the war's fallen soldiers by decorating their graves and with flowers and flags. It gradually came to be known as Memorial Day over the years.
2. It was Union General John A. Logan who called for an official nationwide day of remembrance on May 30, 1868, a date chosen because it wasn't the anniversary of a particular battle. Meant to honor those lost in the Civil War, the southern states originally observed a different day to honor the Confederate soldiers who died. In the aftermath of World War I, the holiday evolved to commemorate fallen military personnel in all wars. Currently, 11 states still set an official day to honor those who lost their lives fighting for the Confederacy—Virginia is the only one that observes Confederate Memorial Day on the same day as Memorial Day.
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4. President Bill Clinton signed the National Moment of Remembrance Act in 2000, which asks Americans to pause and observe a National Moment of Remembrance at 3:00 p.m. local time. A number of organizations throughout the country observe this moment, including Amtrak (whose trains blast their whistles), Major League Baseball, and NASCAR.
5. Cities across the country host Memorial Day parades, but some of the largest parades take place in Chicago, New York, and, of course, Washington D.C., where the National Memorial Day Parade hosts an audience exceeding 250,000, who watches as marching bands, active duty and retired military units, youth groups, veterans, and floats head down Constitution Avenue.
6. The President requests that all governors of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico direct the flag to be flown at half-staff until noon on Memorial Day on all buildings, grounds, and naval vessels, and that U.S. citizens display the flag at half-staff from their homes before noon, as well.
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At our home, we always fly flags on Memorial Day. This year I will at that at 3:00 PM we will be stopping to remember in a time of silence--or a horn blast. Or both!
Happy Memorial Day Y'all! We Remember!
