Monday marked the unofficial beginning of summer and many people enjoyed a day off work.
But Memorial Day is much more than just a day for cookouts, vacations, and retail sales. It is the day we honor the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military, protecting our country and its values.
Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day and was first celebrated as a way to remember the men who died fighting in the Civil War. On the first Decoration Day in 1868, 5,000 people decorated the graves of 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
In 1915, Moina Michael came up with the idea to wear red poppies on Memorial Day to honor those who died in World War I. She sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to soldiers in need. Michael had been inspired by the poem “In Flanders Field” and wrote a poem “We Shall Keep the Faith,” which includes the lines:
“We cherish too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies . . .”
In 1971, Memorial Day was designated as a federal holiday to be celebrated on the last Monday of May.
The “National Moment of Remembrance,” first observed in May 2000, asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans “To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to ‘Taps.’”
Memorial Day Ceremony
American Legion Post 370 put on a ceremony fitting of such an important day. Every year the Post outdoes itself by showing its collective appreciation for the men and women of our military that made the ultimate sacrifice. Commander Ed McCloskey and all of the Post 370 members who volunteer to make the ceremony a success deserve a tip of the cap.