June 2, 2005

Land of the free remembers its heroes

The evolution of Memorial Day

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

For many, Memorial Day represents a three-day weekend. Others celebrate the beginning of summer with pool parties and barbecues. Some remember the true significance and bring flowers and flags to cemeteries to place on fallen heroes’ graves. But how did the holiday begin?

Flags fly year round along Almaden Road in New Almaden in honor of Pat Tillman who was killed in Afghanistan in April of 2004. Pictured are flags displayed at New Almaden’s Casa Grande, which houses the Quicksilver Museum built in 1854. Photo by Jeanne Carbone Lewis.

There are many stories about who came up with the original idea, with more than two dozen cities and towns laying claim to the birthplace of Memorial Day.

In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson proclaimed Waterloo, N.Y., the birthplace of the holiday. He claimed that the people of Waterloo first observed Memorial Day on May 5, 1866, to honor soldiers killed in the Civil War. And, Boalsburg, Pa. contested they delivered flowers to gravesites two years prior as did women in Columbus, Miss.

But most historians believe the day originated when Maj. Gen. John A. Logan named May 30, 1868 a special day to honor the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington Cemetery three years after the Civil War ended. He served as commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans of the Civil War, who organized Memorial Day celebrations in the northern states for years as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. The American Legion took over after World War I. The holiday evolved to honor all those who died in any war while serving in the U.S. military.

The legal holiday was made a federal holiday by law in 1971 and to ensure a three-day weekend. It is celebrated by most states on the last Monday in May. Texas, Alabama, Florida Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Louisiana and Tennessee have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate deceased.

Army Sgt. Adam Estep’s father Ken addressed a Memorial Day crowd in Campbell that included flags flown at half-staff, the display by an ROTC color guard and the playing of taps. Adam Estep was killed in Iraq in April of 2004. Photos by Julie Davis Berry.

On Memorial Day, flowers and flags are placed on graves of military personnel. Many organizations including the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and fraternal groups march in parades and take part in special programs. Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” is often read. Military programs are held at Gettysburg National Military Park and at the National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. Since the end of World War I, Memorial Day has also been called “Poppy Day.”

On Dec. 28, 2000, President Bill Clinton signed the National Moment of Remembrance Act, which recognized 3 p.m. as a voluntary observance of commemoration and respect for a moment of silence.

“Each Memorial Day, the nation honors those Americans who died while defending our nation and its values,” said Clinton. “While these heroes should be honored every day for their profound contribution to securing our nation’s freedom, they and their families should be especially honored on Memorial Day….to commemorate our history and the struggle to protect our freedoms.”

More than one million soldiers have died in service to the United States.