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[[File:MemorialDay.jpg|right|300px]]

[[File:MemorialDay.jpg|right|300px]]

'''Memorial Day''' previously called ''Decoration Day'' is a day of remembrance for those who have died while serving in the military of the [[United States]]. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday by an act of [[Congress]] and the date to observe the holiday was set as the last Monday in May.<ref>http://www1.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/history.asp#hist</ref>  

'''Memorial Day''', previously called ''Decoration Day'', is a day of remembrance for those who have died while serving in the military of the [[United States]]. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday by an act of [[Congress]] and the date to observe the holiday was set as the last Monday in May.<ref>[https://www.cem.va.gov/history/Memorial-Day-history.asp National Cemetery Administration. Memorial Day history]. At ''VA''</ref><br />

{{cquote|'''Today is the day we put aside to remember fallen heroes and to pray that no heroes will ever have to die for us again. It's a day of thanks for the valor of others, a day to remember the splendor of America and those of her children who rest in this cemetery and others. It's a day to be with the family and remember.''' <small>-- Ronald Reagan</small>}}

'''{{before on after|2024|05|27|Memorial Day will next be observed on Monday, May 27, 2024.|Memorial Day is being observed today, May 27, 2024.|{{before on after|2025|05|26|Memorial Day will be next observed on Monday, May 26, 2025.|Memorial Day is observed today, May 26, 2025.|{{before on after|2026|05|25|Memorial Day will be next observed on Monday, May 25, 2026.|Memorial Day is observed today, May 25, 2026.|{{before on after|2027|05|31|Memorial Day will be next observed on Monday, May 31, 2027.|Memorial Day is observed today, May 31, 2027.| }}}}}}}}'''

 

{{cquote|Today is the day we put aside to remember fallen heroes and to pray that no heroes will ever have to die for us again. It's a day of thanks for the valor of others, a day to remember the splendor of America and those of her children who rest in this cemetery and others. It's a day to be with the family and remember. <small>-- Ronald Reagan</small>}}

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==Origins and practice==

==Origins and practice==

By 1865 the practice of decorating soldiers' graves had become widespread in the North. General [[John Logan]], National Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic—the society of Union Army veterans—called for all GAR posts to celebrate a "Decoration Day" on May 30, 1868. There were events 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 followed suit. The ceremonies were sponsored by the Women's Relief Corps, with 100,000 members.

By 1865 the practice of decorating soldiers' graves had become widespread in the North. General [[John Logan]], National Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic—the society of Union Army veterans—called for all GAR posts to celebrate a "Decoration Day" on May 30, 1868. There were events 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 followed suit. The ceremonies were sponsored by the Women's Relief Corps, with 100,000 members.

The preferred name gradually changed to "Memorial Day"; in 1971 the date was moved by Congress to the last Monday in May in order to ensure a three-day weekend.  It marks the start of summer, just as Labor Day marks the end.

The preferred name gradually changed to "Memorial Day"; in 1971 the date was moved by Congress to the last Monday in May in order to ensure a three-day weekend.  It marks the start of summer, just as Labor Day marks the end.

The large cities paid much less attention; their populations did not much remember the Civil War since they grew primarily from European immigration after 1865. Memorial Day was observed primarily by the towns and small cities of the North as a sacred day when the war dead are mourned, the spirit of redemptive sacrifice is extolled and pledges to American ideals are renewed.

The large cities paid much less attention; their populations did not much remember the Civil War since they grew primarily from European immigration after 1865. Memorial Day was observed primarily by the towns and small cities of the North as a sacred day when the war dead are mourned, the spirit of redemptive sacrifice is extolled and pledges to American ideals are renewed.

The golden era of Memorial Day was the early 20th century, when aged veterans of the Civil War (who had been born about 1840) paraded through small towns and villages in a day of remembrance. Northern celebrations often included both black and white participants. Memorial Day and other celebratory events attended by black and white veterans frequently pointed to emancipation as a worthy result of the war.  

The golden era of Memorial Day was the early 20th century, when aged veterans of the Civil War (who had been born about 1840) paraded through small towns and villages in a day of remembrance. Northern celebrations often included both black and white participants. Memorial Day and other celebratory events attended by black and white veterans frequently pointed to emancipation as a worthy result of the war.  

Conservatives revived the practice of honoring Memorial Day in the 1980s, under the leadership especially of President [[Ronald Reagan]].

Conservatives revived the practice of honoring Memorial Day in the 1980s, under the leadership especially of President [[Ronald Reagan]].

===South===

===South===

African Americans had their own separate Memorial Days, beginning with a major celebration on May 1, 1865 in Charleston, South Carolina. It was the nation's first Memorial Day.

African Americans had their own separate Memorial Days, beginning with a major celebration on May 1, 1865 in Charleston, [[South Carolina]]. It was the nation's first Memorial Day.

Beginning in 1866 the Southern states had their own Memorial Day, ranging from April 26 to mid June. The birthday of Confederate President [[Jefferson Davis]], June 3, became a state holiday in 10 states by 1916.

Beginning in 1866 the Southern states had their own Memorial Day, ranging from April 26 to mid June. The birthday of Confederate President [[Jefferson Davis]], June 3, became a state holiday in 10 states by 1916.

:Since the late 50's on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn, a practice that continues to this day. More recently, beginning in 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye's Heights (the Luminaria Program). And in 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years.  

:Since the late 50's on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn, a practice that continues to this day. More recently, beginning in 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye's Heights (the Luminaria Program). And in 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years.  

[[File:Reagan large 4.jpg|right|200px]]

 

''Remarks at a Memorial Day Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia May 26, 1986:''

All of these men were different, but they shared this in common: They loved America very much. There was nothing they wouldn't do for her. And they loved with the sureness of the young. It's hard not to think of the young in a place like this, for it's the young who do the fighting and dying when a peace fails and a war begins. Not far from here is the statue of the three servicemen -- the three fighting boys of Vietnam. It, too, has majesty and more. Perhaps you've seen it -- three rough boys walking together, looking ahead with a steady gaze. There's something wounded about them, a kind of resigned toughness. But there's an unexpected tenderness, too. At first you don't really notice, but then you see it. The three are touching each other, as if they're supporting each other, helping each other on.

{{cquote|<big>'''Today is the day we put aside to remember fallen heroes and to pray that no heroes will ever have to die for us again. It's a day of thanks for the valor of others, a day to remember the splendor of America and those of her children who rest in this cemetery and others. It's a day to be with the family and remember.'''</big>

 

I know that many veterans of Vietnam will gather today, some of them perhaps by the wall. And they're still helping each other on. They were quite a group, the boys of Vietnam -- boys who fought a terrible and vicious war without enough support from home, boys who were dodging bullets while we debated the efficacy of the battle. It was often our poor who fought in that war; it was the unpampered boys of the working class who picked up the rifles and went on the march. They learned not to rely on us; they learned to rely on each other. And they were special in another way: They chose to be faithful. They chose to reject the fashionable skepticism of their time. They chose to believe and answer the call of duty. They had the wild, wild courage of youth. They seized certainty from the heart of an ambivalent age; they stood for something.

 

And we owe them something, those boys. We owe them first a promise: That just as they did not forget their missing comrades, neither, ever, will we. And there are other promises. We must always remember that peace is a fragile thing that needs constant vigilance. We owe them a promise to look at the world with a steady gaze and, perhaps, a resigned toughness, knowing that we have adversaries in the world and challenges and the only way to meet them and maintain the peace is by staying strong.

 

That, of course, is the lesson of this century, a lesson learned in the Sudetenland, in Poland, in Hungary, in Czechoslovakia, in Cambodia. If we really care about peace, we must stay strong. If we really care about peace, we must, through our strength, demonstrate our unwillingness to accept an ending of the peace. We must be strong enough to create peace where it does not exist and strong enough to protect it where it does. That's the lesson of this century and, I think, of this day. And that's all I wanted to say. The rest of my contribution is to leave this great place to its peace, a peace it has earned.

'''I was thinking this morning that across the country children and their parents will be going to the town parade and the young ones will sit on the sidewalks and wave their flags as the band goes by. Later, maybe, they'll have a cookout or a day at the beach. And that's good, because today is a day to be with the family and to remember.'''

Thank all of you, and God bless you, and have a day full of memories.'''<ref>[http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/regan-052686.htm Reagan remarks at a Memorial Day Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia May 26, 1986]</ref>}}

'''Here in Arlington rests a sharecropper's son who became a hero to a lonely people. Joe Louis came from nowhere, but he knew how to fight. And he galvanized a nation in the days after Pearl Harbor when he put on the uniform of his country and said, "I know we'll win because we're on God's side." Audie Murphy is here, Audie Murphy of the wild, wild courage. For what else would you call it when a man bounds to the top of a disabled tank, stops an enemy advance, saves lives, and rallies his men, and all of it singlehandedly. When he radioed for artillery support and was asked how close the enemy was to his position, he said, "Wait a minute and I'll let you speak to them." [Laughter]'''

It is the veteran, not the [[clergy|preacher]], who has given us [[freedom of religion]].'''<br />

'''Michael Smith is here, and Dick Scobee, both of the space shuttle Challenger. Their courage wasn't wild, but thoughtful, the mature and measured courage of career professionals who took prudent risks for great reward -- in their case, to advance the sum total of knowledge in the world. They're only the latest to rest here; they join other great explorers with names like Grissom and Chaffee.'''

It is the veteran, not the [[reporter]], who has given us [[freedom of the press]].'''<br />

'''Oliver Wendell Holmes is here, the great jurist and fighter for the right. A poet searching for an image of true majesty could not rest until he seized on "Holmes dissenting in a sordid age." Young Holmes served in the Civil War. He might have been thinking of the crosses and stars of Arlington when he wrote: "At the grave of a hero we end, not with sorrow at the inevitable loss, but with the contagion of his courage; and with a kind of desperate joy we go back to the fight."'''

It is the veteran, not the [[poet]], who has given us [[freedom of speech]].'''<br />

'''All of these men were different, but they shared this in common: They loved America very much. There was nothing they wouldn't do for her. And they loved with the sureness of the young. It's hard not to think of the young in a place like this, for it's the young who do the fighting and dying when a peace fails and a war begins. Not far from here is the statue of the three servicemen -- the three fighting boys of Vietnam. It, too, has majesty and more. Perhaps you've seen it -- three rough boys walking together, looking ahead with a steady gaze. There's something wounded about them, a kind of resigned toughness. But there's an unexpected tenderness, too. At first you don't really notice, but then you see it. The three are touching each other, as if they're supporting each other, helping each other on.'''

It is the veteran, not the [[community organizer|campus organizer]], who has given us [[First Amendment|freedom to assemble]].'''<br />

'''I know that many veterans of Vietnam will gather today, some of them perhaps by the wall. And they're still helping each other on. They were quite a group, the boys of Vietnam -- boys who fought a terrible and vicious war without enough support from home, boys who were dodging bullets while we debated the efficacy of the battle. It was often our poor who fought in that war; it was the unpampered boys of the working class who picked up the rifles and went on the march. They learned not to rely on us; they learned to rely on each other. And they were special in another way: They chose to be faithful. They chose to reject the fashionable skepticism of their time. They chose to believe and answer the call of duty. They had the wild, wild courage of youth. They seized certainty from the heart of an ambivalent age; they stood for something.'''

It is the veteran, not the [[lawyer]], who has given us the right to a fair [[trial]].'''<br />

'''And we owe them something, those boys. We owe them first a promise: That just as they did not forget their missing comrades, neither, ever, will we. And there are other promises. We must always remember that peace is a fragile thing that needs constant vigilance. We owe them a promise to look at the world with a steady gaze and, perhaps, a resigned toughness, knowing that we have adversaries in the world and challenges and the only way to meet them and maintain the peace is by staying strong.'''

It is the veteran, not the [[politician]], Who has given us the right to [[vote]].'''<br />

'''''That, of course, is the lesson of this century, a lesson learned in the Sudetenland, in Poland, in Hungary, in Czechoslovakia, in Cambodia. If we really care about peace, we must stay strong. If we really care about peace, we must, through our strength, demonstrate our unwillingness to accept an ending of the peace. We must be strong enough to create peace where it does not exist and strong enough to protect it where it does. That's the lesson of this century and, I think, of this day. And that's all I wanted to say. The rest of my contribution is to leave this great place to its peace, a peace it has earned.'''''

It is the veteran who [[salute]]s the [[Flag]]<br />

'''Thank all of you, and God bless you, and have a day full of memories.'''<ref>[http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/regan-052686.htm Reagan remarks at a Memorial Day Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia May 26, 1986]</ref>}}

It is the veteran who [[Oath Keepers|serves ''under'' the Flag]]....<br />

== What The Veteran Has Given Us ==

== Garfield's speech ==

 

'''It is the VETERAN, not the [[clergy|preacher]], who has given us [[freedom of religion]].'''<br />

I know of nothing more appropriate on this occasion than to inquire what brought these men here; what high motive led them to condense life into an hour, and to crown that hour by joyfully welcoming death? Let us consider.

'''It is the VETERAN, not the [[reporter]], who has given us [[freedom of the press]].'''<br />

Eight years ago this was the most unwarlike nation of the earth. For nearly fifty years no spot in any of these states had been the scene of battle. Thirty millions of people had an army of less than ten thousand men. The faith of our people in the stability and permanence of their institutions was like their faith in the eternal course of nature. Peace, liberty, and personal security were blessings as common and universal as sunshine and showers and fruitful seasons; and all sprang from a single source, the old American principle that all owe due submission and obedience to the lawfully expressed will of the majority. This is not one of the doctrines of our political system—it is the system itself. It is our political firmament, in which all other truths are set, as stars in Heaven. It is the encasing air, the breath of the Nation’s life. Against this principle the whole weight of the rebellion was thrown. Its overthrow would have brought such ruin as might follow in the physical universe, if the power of gravitation were destroyed and

'''It is the VETERAN, not the [[poet]], who has given us [[freedom of speech]].'''<br />

Among the constellations war were sprung,

Of fiercest opposition, in mid-sky

Should combat, and their jarring spheres confound.” (From Milton’s Paradise Lost)

'''It is the VETERAN, not the [[community organizer|campus organizer]], who has given us [[First Amendment|freedom to assemble]].'''<br />

The Nation was summoned to arms by every high motive which can inspire men. Two centuries of freedom had made its people unfit for despotism. They must save their Government or miserably perish.

'''It is the VETERAN, not the [[lawyer]], who has given us the right to a fair [[trial]].'''<br />

As a flash of lightning in a midnight tempest reveals the abysmal horrors of the sea, so did the flash of the first gun disclose the awful abyss into which rebellion was ready to plunge us. In a moment the fire was lighted in twenty million hearts. In a moment we were the most warlike Nation on the earth. In a moment we were not merely a people with an army—we were a people in arms. The Nation was in column—not all at the front, but all in the array.

'''It is the VETERAN, not the [[politician]], Who has given us the right to [[vote]].'''<br />

I love to believe that no heroic sacrifice is ever lost; that the characters of men are molded and inspired by what their fathers have done; that treasured up in American souls are all the unconscious influences of the great deeds of the Anglo-Saxon race, from Agincourt to Bunker Hill. It was such an influence that led a young Greek, two thousand years ago, when musing on the battle of Marathon, to exclaim, “the trophies of Miltiades will not let me sleep!” Could these men be silent in 1861; these, whose ancestors had felt the inspiration of battle on every field where civilization had fought in the last thousand years? Read their answer in this green turf. Each for himself gathered up the cherished purposes of life—its aims and ambitions, its dearest affections—and flung all, with life itself, into the scale of battle.

'''It is the VETERAN who [[salute]]s the [[Flag]]<br />

And now consider this silent assembly of the dead. What does it represent? Nay, rather, what does it not represent? It is an epitome of the war. Here are sheaves reaped in the harvest of death, from every battlefield of Virginia. If each grave had a voice to tell us what its silent tenant last saw and heard on earth, we might stand, with uncovered heads, and hear the whole story of the war. We should hear that one perished when the first great drops of the crimson shower began to fall, when the darkness of that first disaster at Manassas fell like an eclipse on the Nation; that another died of disease while wearily waiting for winter to end; that this one fell on the field, in sight of the spires of Richmond, little dreaming that the flag must be carried through three more years of blood before it should be planted in that citadel of treason; and that one fell when the tide of war had swept us back till the roar of rebel guns shook the dome of yonder Capitol, and re-echoed in the chambers of the Executive Mansion. We should hear mingled voices from the Rappahannock, the Rapidan, the Chickahominy, and the James; solemn voices from the Wilderness, and triumphant shouts from the Shenandoah, from Petersburg, and the Five Forks, mingled with the wild acclaim of victory and the sweet chorus of returning peace. The voices of these dead will forever fill the land like holy benedictions.

'''It is the VETERAN who [[Oath Keepers|serves ''under'' the Flag]]....<br />

What other spot so fitting for their last resting place as this under the shadow of the Capitol saved by their valor? Here, where the grim edge of battle joined; here, where all the hope and fear and agony of their country centered; here let them rest, asleep on the Nation’s heart, entombed in the Nation’s love!}}

[[File:Serving under the flag.jpg|left|225px]]

{{clear}}

==See also==

==See also==

* Bellah, Robert N. "Civil Religion in America." ''Daedalus'' 1967 96(1): 1-21. [http://www.questia.com/read/5012186009?title=Civil%20Religion%20in%20America online edition]

* Bellah, Robert N. "Civil Religion in America." ''Daedalus'' 1967 96(1): 1-21. [http://www.questia.com/read/5012186009?title=Civil%20Religion%20in%20America online edition]

* Blight, David W.  "Decoration Day: The Origins of Memorial Day in North and South" in Alice Fahs and Joan Waugh, eds. ''The Memory of the Civil War in American Culture'' (2004), [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst;jsessionid=L6pd2pVHvN4hNrwFhL4rdT3RWpyp8wJMS676zdVQdVhd8Wc0YGTn!-64009190?a=o&d=113423562 online edition] pp 94–129; the standard scholarly history

* Blight, David W.  "Decoration Day: The Origins of Memorial Day in North and South" in Alice Fahs and Joan Waugh, eds. ''The Memory of the Civil War in American Culture'' (2004), [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst;jsessionid=L6pd2pVHvN4hNrwFhL4rdT3RWpyp8wJMS676zdVQdVhd8Wc0YGTn!-64009190?a=o&d=113423562 online edition] pp 94–129; the standard scholarly history

** Blight, David W.  ''Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory'' (2000) ch. 3, "Decorations" [http://www.amazon.com/Race-Reunion-Civil-American-Memory/dp/0674008197/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243164970&sr=1-5 excerpt and text search]

** Blight, David W.  ''Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory'' (2000) ch. 3, "Decorations" [https://www.amazon.com/Race-Reunion-Civil-American-Memory/dp/0674008197/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243164970&sr=1-5 excerpt and text search]

* Buck, Paul H. ''The Road to Reunion, 1865-1900'' (1937)

* Buck, Paul H. ''The Road to Reunion, 1865-1900'' (1937)

* Cherry, Conrad. "Two American Sacred Ceremonies: Their Implications for the Study of Religion in America," ''American Quarterly'', Vol. 21, No. 4 (Winter, 1969), pp.&nbsp;739–754 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2711606 in JSTOR]  

* Cherry, Conrad. "Two American Sacred Ceremonies: Their Implications for the Study of Religion in America," ''American Quarterly'', Vol. 21, No. 4 (Winter, 1969), pp.&nbsp;739–754 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2711606 in JSTOR]  

*[http://www.usmemorialday.org/ Memorial Day]

*[http://www.usmemorialday.org/ Memorial Day]

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