The Forgotten Meaning of Memorial Day

What does Memorial Day mean to you? I've noticed that to many, it's the kickoff of the summer. Americans go to the lake; they get drunk and barbeque and enjoy swimming for the first time of the summer. After all, it's a three day weekend.

Although stores furnish floral remembrance decorations for graves, I do wonder how sales are going for these items. If you ask, many people might recognize that Memorial Day is a holiday set aside to honor the dead, (maybe the name of the day is a good tip off) but do they realize that it was set in place specifically to honor fallen service men and women? Perhaps in light of current events, now is a good time to remember.

It was first announced as holiday by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, on May 5th, 1868 and first celebrated that May 30th. At Arlington National Cemetery flowers were placed on the graves. Originally this holiday was put in place to honor Civil War soldiers, so many Southerners decided not to celebrate the day. In later years, after the end of World War I, it was changed to include those who had died that had served in any American War. It did not become a federally recognized holiday until much later, when it was passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 - 363). The date of Memorial Day was changed to become not necessarily May 30th, but "the last Monday in May." It then guaranteed recognition by all states and a three day weekend from work.

The traditional red poppy of Memorial Day came about as the result of a poem written by Moina Michael, "In Flanders Fields." The author spoke of the red poppies that grew in old battle fields. She had the idea to wear a red poppy in honor of the fallen, and began to sell them to offer monetary assistance to servicemen. The idea caught on in France after the visit of a French woman to the states, and later the VFW began to raise money from the sale of artificial red poppies, which had been made by disabled vets.

In 2004, Washington D.C. held the first Memorial Day Parade that has been held in several years.

In 2000, the "National Movement of Remembrance" asked that all Americans stop for a moment of reflection at three o'clock P.M. (local time) to remember fallen servicemen, and observe a moment of silence or listen to "Taps."

Source: http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html