Your turn: Memorial Day ... Never forget
Memorial Day commemorates the men and women who died while in the military service of their country, particularly those who died in battle or as a result of the wounds sustained in battle.
In other words, the purpose of Memorial Day is to memorialize the veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
The National Moment of Remembrance is an annual event that asks Americans, wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day, to pause for a duration of one minute to remember those who have died in military service to the United States.
The time 3 p.m., “The Moment,” was first proclaimed in May 2000 for Memorial Day that year and was put into law by the United States Congress in December 2000.
Who first suggested the “Minute of Silence”? Edward George Honey, a Melbourne journalist and World War I veteran, was living in London in 1919. Honey wrote a letter that was published in the London Evening News. He suggested that the commemoration on Armistice Day should be a brief but solemn ceremony, including a pause of silence for 5 minutes.
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Our history with the honoring of the men and women giving the ultimate sacrifice began with love and no doubt tears shed for the dead in 1865, even before the Civil War ended.
The first national celebration of the holiday took place May 30, 1868, at Arlington National Cemetery, where both confederate and Union soldiers were buried.
Records show that by 1865, Mississippi, Virginia, and South Carolina all had precedents for Memorial Day. Southern women had begun decorating the graves of soldiers even before the Civil War ended. A women’s memorial association in Columbus, Mississippi, caught the attention of the nation when on April 25, 1866, the association decorated the graves of both Confederate and Union soldiers.
The custom of honoring ancestors by cleaning cemeteries and decorating graves is an ancient and worldwide tradition, but the specific origin of Memorial Day — or Decoration Day, as it was first known — is unclear.
In early rural America, this practice had become a part of family reunions. After the Civil War, America’s need for a secular, patriotic ceremony to honor its military dead became obvious.
Monuments to fallen soldiers were erected and ceremonies centering on the decoration of soldiers’ graves were held throughout the nation. Following World War I, the day expanded to honor those who have died in all American wars.
The name "Memorial Day", which was first attested in 1882, gradually became more common than "Decoration Day" after World War II but was not declared the official name by federal law until 1967.
In 1971, Memorial Day became a national holiday by an act of Congress. It is now celebrated annually on the last Monday in May.
Remember those who gave all. Then, celebrate the lives we lead, knowing the cost was ultimate sacrifices.
George B Graham Jr. is a Rockford resident. He is past president of the Kishwaukee Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, lifetime associate member of the Korean War Veterans Association and member of the Macon Historical Society, Macon, Missouri.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Your turn: Memorial Day ... Never forget
