What is Memorial Day

31 May 2021

This year (in two weeks), Memorial Day on 31 May 2021 but, what is Memorial Day? Established as the national holiday to commemorate all American soldiers killed in combat. Traditionally, family and friends gather together to barbecue and socialize. It is a holiday, after all. One long held tradition is to visit war memorials, museums, and even cemeteries. Scattered across the country, several towns and a few cities, especially the bigger cities will have parades on the weekend of Memorial Day. VFW's and local American Legions coordinate with the city and will consist of active duty personnel, veterans, and people from various veteran service organizations.

Centuries Old Practice

What is the Earliest Recorded Memorial Day

Memorials held to honor those who died in battle is a tradition that goes back for centuries and the earliest recorded Memorial day in history dates back to 431 B.C.E. In fact, it took place at the end of the first year of the Peloponnese War. One day after the burial of all the soldiers, one individual chosen by the people, spoke a few words in honor of the fallen warriors.

This particular oratory, delivered by Pericles, is the most famous and influential speech in all of history. Chiefly because it offers a stirring tribute to the culture of Athens, to democracy and freedom, and it celebrates the men who are willing to die for their city. The ancient Greeks as well as the Romans held annual days of remembrance for loved ones (including soldiers) each year, festooning their graves with flowers and holding public festivals and feasts in their honor.

The US started late 19th Century

Earliest Known US Memorial

One of the earliest known memorials took place at the after the Civil War ended. Near the end of the Civil War, thrown-together camps in Charleston, S.C., housed thousands of prisoners of war from the Union Army. One of those camps, at one time was a racetrack. The conditions were so poor that over 250 prisoners succumbed to death as result of disease or exposure. Their bodies dumped behind the grandstand in a mass grave. May 1, 1865, three weeks after the South surrendered, over 1000 recently freed slaves, several regiments of African American US troops, to include Massachusetts 54th infantry, and maybe a dozen white Charlestons arrived at the old camp to give those Union Soldiers a proper burial.

General John A. Logan

General John A. Logan was a soldier who had served in the Mexican-American War, although he never saw any action. Elected as an Illinois State Senator, Logan subsequently won a race in the house of representative. When the Civil War started, General Logan resigned as a United States congressman to resume his commission in the Union Army. After the war, he returned to politics to serve in the house and the senate and in 1884, he was the unsuccessful Republican for vice-president.

What was Decoration Day?

What exactly was Decoration Day? May 30, 1868 became the first observance of Decoration Day, or Memorial Day as it is known today. General Logan, commander-in-chief of the Northern Civil War Veterans Organization, otherwise known as the Grand Army of the Republic, issued the decree on May 1, 1868. nationwide day of commemoration for the all soldiers who lost their lives in the recently ended Civil War. Decoration Day, as Logan dubbed it, is the day when Americans should lay flowers and decorate the graves of the war dead “whose bodies now lie in almost every city,