Unofficially representing the start of summer, Memorial Day has come to mean barbeques, family gatherings, parties and vacations. However, the true meaning of the holiday has nothing to do with these things.
The Civil War claimed more soldiers’ lives than any other war in U.S. history. It seemed no town was left untouched by either war damage or loss of the lives of citizens of that town. Americans wishing to honor the fallen dead began honoring the fallen soldiers in various townships and cities across the U.S. by the late 1860s.
Although many areas held memorial gatherings, Waterloo, New York, was declared the official birthplace of Memorial Day in 1966.
Waterloo first celebrated a day to memorialize fallen soldiers, on May 5, 1866. Businesses closed down to honor Civil War casualties, and friends and family members decorated the graves with flowers, wreaths and flags. Two years later, the leader of an organization honoring Northern Civil War veterans, General John A. Logan, pushed to instate a nationwide day of remembrance. He felt May 30 would be the best date, as it was not the date of any major battle.
On that first official Decoration Day in 1868, five thousand people decorated graves at Arlington National Cemetery, and General James Garfield gave a speech, honoring the fallen Civil War soldiers.
“We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue. For the noblest man that lives, there still remains a conflict. He must still withstand the assaults of time and fortune, must still be assailed with temptations, before which lofty natures have fallen; but with these the conflict ended, the victory was won, when death stamped on them the great seal of heroic character, and closed a record which years can never blot.”
By 1890, every northern state had accepted May 5 as the official date of Decoration Day, although southern states continued to celebrate on differing days until after World War I. In the wake of that horrific war, Decoration Day expanded to include any American soldier who died in any war.
Decoration Day continued to be the name given to the date, although by 1882, the name Memorial Day had come into limited use. It slowly gained ground, overtaking the original name after World War II, and it was officially declared the holiday’s name by Federal law in 1967. When Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1968, Memorial Day was moved from May 30 to the last Monday in May. The law took full effect in 1971, and within a few years, all 50 states had accepted the change.
Still a date to honor fallen war heroes, Memorial Day is commemorated with military parades and visits to cemeteries to decorate graves. In Washington, D.C., the flag of the United States is raised to the top of the staff, then slowly lowered to half-staff, where it remains until noon before being fully raised again.
Whether attending a military event or spending the day out taking advantage of the day’s many sales, people across the nation remember those who have fallen in battle, honoring their sacrifice.
