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MEMORIAL DAY
Why do we
Celebrate
Memorial
Day?
Memorial Day
• Originally called Decoration Day, it is a day of
remembrance for those who have died in our
nation's service.
•More than two dozen cities and towns claim to be
the birthplace of Memorial Day.
•There is evidence that organized women's groups
in the South were decorating graves before the end
of the Civil War.
•Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared
the birthplace of Memorial Day by
President Lyndon Johnson in May, 1966.
•Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on
May 5, 1868 by General John Logan,
national commander of the Grand Army of
the Republic
•His General Order No. 11, was first observed on
May 30,1868, when flowers were
placed on the graves of Union
and Confederate soldiers at
Arlington National Cemetery.
•By 1890, it was recognized by all of
the northern states.
•The South refused to acknowledge
the day, honoring their dead on
separate days until after World War I
(when the holiday changed from
honoring just those who died fighting
in the Civil War to honoring Americans
who died fighting in any war).
•It is now celebrated in almost every state on the last
Monday in May (passed by Congress with the
National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 - 363) to
ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays).
Interesting Fact!
•Several southern states have an additional separate
day for honoring the Confederate War dead:
January 19th in Texas
April 26th in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi
May 10th in South Carolina
June 3rd in Louisiana and Tennessee.
Where do the Red Poppies
Come From?
We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.
- Moina Michael
•Moina then decided to wear red poppies on
Memorial Day in honor of those who died
serving the nation during war.
•She was the first to wear one, and sold
poppies to her friends and co-workers with the
money going to benefit servicemen in need.
•Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922, the VFW
became the first veterans' organization to
nationally sell poppies.
•Two years later their “Buddy” Poppy Program
was selling artificial poppies made by disabled
veterans.
What has happened to the meaning of
Memorial Day?
•Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning
and traditions of Memorial Day.
•Most people no longer remember the proper flag
etiquette for the day.
Raising the Flag
Unless the flag is flown in a properly lighted 24-hour display, raise it in the
morning. Bring it to the top of the staff in a brisk manner, and then lower it to the halfstaff position. At noon, raise the flag to the top of the staff.
Lowering the Flag
At dusk, lower the flag slowly and reverently. Take care to prevent the flag from
touching the ground. Maintain a dignified and respectful demeanor while folding the flag.
Cemetery Display
Place a small flag, displayed on an appropriately sized pole or stick, on the grave
of deceased military personnel. Do not allow the flag to touch the ground or rest against
a gravestone.
In a Parade
Traditional Memorial Day parades include flag units. In a group of flags, the
American flag should lead and be held slightly higher than all other flags. If you are
observing, stand at attention as the American flag goes by. Members of the military in
uniform should salute the flag as it passes.
http://www.ehow.com/way_5924279_proper-flag-etiquette-memorial-day.html
•Some people think the day is for honoring any
and all dead, and not just those fallen in service
to our country.
•In 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial
Day parade in over 60 years.
•The “National Moment of Remembrance”
resolution was passed in December, 2000.
•It asks that at 3 p.m. local time, all Americans
should "voluntarily and informally observe in their
own way a moment of remembrance and
respect, pausing from whatever they are doing
for a moment of silence or listening to “Taps.”
•Taps video
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Memorial Day
Edgar Guest
The finest tribute we can pay
Unto our hero dead today,
Is not a rose wreath, white and red,
In memory of the blood they shed;
It is to stand beside each mound,
Each couch of consecrated ground,
And pledge ourselves as warriors true
Unto the work they died to do.
Into God's valleys where they lie
At rest, beneath the open sky,
Triumphant now o'er every foe,
As living tributes let us go.
No wreath of rose or immortelles
Or spoken word or tolling bells
Will do to-day, unless we give
Our pledge that liberty shall live.
Our hearts must be the roses red
We place above our hero dead;
Today beside their graves we must
Renew allegiance to their trust;
Must bare our heads and humbly say
We hold the Flag as dear as they,
And stand, as once they stood, to die
To keep the Stars and Stripes on high.
The finest tribute we can pay
Unto our hero dead today
Is not of speech or roses red,
But living, throbbing hearts instead,
That shall renew the pledge they sealed
With death upon the battlefield:
That freedom's flag shall bear no stain
And free men wear no tyrant's chain.
My Hero
Senior Airman Jimmy Hansen
Music Video