The True Meaning of Memorial Day Has Been Lost: Lets Get it Back

Did you know that Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day. It is a day of remembrance for the ones that died in our nation's service. But do you know how it got its start?

There are several stories as to its beginning, two dozen cities say they are the birthplace of Memorial Day and an organized women's group from the South was decorating graves before the Civil War ended saying they started it. It is difficult to pin point the original location but President Lyndon B. Johnson officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day in Waterloo, NY in May of 1966. What is more important is that it was established.

Memorial Day is about people coming together to honor those who gave they're all!

On May 5, 1868, General John Logan officially proclaimed Memorial Day. He was the commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. Memorial Day was first observed on May 30, 1868 as flowers were placed on graves of Union and Confederate soldiers in the Arlington National Cemetery. But the first state that officially recognizes Memorial Day was New York in 1873. All the northern states recognized Memorial Day by 1890. The South refused to acknowledge the day; they honored their dead on separate days until after World War 1.

After World War 1, Memorial Day changed not to just honoring the dead of the Civil War to honoring the Americans who died fighting in any war.

Memorial Day is celebrated in almost every state on the last Monday in May. In 1971, congress passed it to be a National Holiday and to make it a three-day weekend for Federal Government.

There are several southern states that have added an additional day for honoring their Confederate war soldiers: April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; January 19 in Texas, May 10th in South Carolina; and June 3 in Louisiana and Tennessee. This is also Jefferson Davis' birthday.

The tradition of observing Memorial Day has been diminishing over the years. Many Americans have forgotten the true meaning and traditions. In many cemeteries, the graves of our fallen have been ignored and neglected. There are still cities and towns that do hold a Memorial Day parade, but many have not held a parade in decades. Many people can't even remember the proper etiquette for our nations flag for the day. Some people even believe that Memorial Day is a day to honor any and all dead relatives and friends and not just those that have fallen in service for our country.

There are a few exceptions to this and need to be recognized. The 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags on more than 260,000 graves at the Arlington National Cemetery. They have been doing this since the late 1950's. After all the flags have been properly placed the cemetery is patrolled 24 hours a day during the weekend to make sure each flag remains standing. The Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts in St. Louis place flags on 150,000 graves at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. They have been doing this since 1951. In 1998 the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts started putting candles at each of the approximately 15,300 gravesites of soldiers that are buried in the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. This is done the Saturday before Memorial weekend. It had been over 60 years since Washington D.C. had had a parade so in 2004 a Memorial Day Parade was held.

In returning to the true meaning of the day, Americans need to learn why Memorial Day was created and what the day is for. Americans need to fully return to the original day of observance that was set aside to come together and remember, honor and reflect those young men and women that gave their lives for your and their country.

In order for the true spirit of Memorial Day to return, it needs to be taken back to the traditional day that was set aside. Many people feel that when Congress made the day part of a three-day weekend, that's where people started to become distracted with other activities so the meaning has been lost.

The traditions that were to be observed are:

Visiting cemeteries and placing flags or flowers on the graves of our fallen heroes.

Visiting memorials.

Flying the U.S. Flag at half-staff until noon.

Flying the POW/MIA Flag

Participating in the National Moment of Remembrance: 3:00 pm pause and think upon the true meaning of the day and for Taps to be played.

Renewing a pledge to aid the widows, widowers, and orphans of our fallen dead, and to aid the disabled veterans.