Memorial Day

North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial
Tunis, Tunisia (ca 2007)
photograph by
Office of US Senator Ted Stevens

Decoration Day
The Civil War was the bloodiest conflict ever fought by these United States. In five short years, at battles such as Gettysburg, The Wilderness, Stones River, and many others, Soldiers died by the tens of thousands, while the conditions at P.O.W. camps, such as Elmira, New York, and Andersonville, Georgia, killed thousands through starvation and exposure. Death also stalked Soldiers, by ones and twos, during encampments, travel, and in accidents. Either way, these Soldiers on both sides of the conflict and the tens of thousands of Civilians were remembered by their surviving kin.

According to one source, Freedmen and Freedwomen of Charleston, South Caroline were the first to honor our fallen Soldiers, in 1865, with over 10,000 people participating in a parade, singing songs, and remembering their liberators, in a local event.

Over the years and throughout the country, communities and the Nation, at first, only recognized the fallen from the Civil War.

But, ...

As these United States took part in other conflicts, especially WW I, a National need was recognized to honor the fallen, so in 1971, Memorial Day became a Federal Holiday to be observed on May 30th. 


Memorial Day
Several years later, the date was changed to the last Monday in May to remember our fallen in service to the Nation, such as Maj. William J. Vinopal, Spc. Nicholas C. Panipinto, the Soldiers on Arrow Air-Flight 1285, Master Sgt. Michael B. Riley, SFC. Antonio Rey Rodriguez, and many others

So, ...

Put down your beers, put your arms around the people you love, lower your heads, and remember, ...

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

    That mark our place; and in the sky

    The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

    Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

        In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

    The torch; be yours to hold it high.

    If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

        In Flanders fields.

by

John McCrae

Link:

Battlefields.org - Q. How many soldiers died in the Civil War?
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/civil-war-facts#How%20many%20soldiers%20died%20in%20the%20Civil%20War?

Battlefields.org -  Q. What happened to prisoners?
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/civil-war-facts#What%20happened%20to%20prisoners?

Civil War Talk - Civilian Deaths- Civil War
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/civilian-deaths-civil-war.23466/ 

History.com - One of the Earliest Memorial Day Ceremonies Was Held by Freed Slaves
https://www.history.com/news/memorial-day-civil-war-slavery-charleston

Air Force Times - The Real History of Memorial Day
https://www.airforcetimes.com/veterans/military-history/2019/05/27/the-real-history-of-memorial-day/

Histroy.com - Memorial Day
https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/memorial-day-history

Poetry Foundation - John McCrae
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/john-mccrae