This coming Monday is Memorial Day, the day we set aside to remember the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. These veterans made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
We observe Memorial Day by attending parades, visiting cemeteries and memorials and perhaps observing a moment of silence with our fellow Americans at 3 pm. We can wear a red poppy in remembrance, a tradition that began with a World War I poem.
As a history buff, allow me to share this about the holiday:
In May 1868, General John A. Logan, commander-in-chief of a Union veterans’ group, issued a decree that May 30 should become a nationwide day of commemoration for the more than 620,000 soldiers killed in the recently ended Civil War. On Decoration Day, he said, Americans should lay flowers and decorate the graves of the war dead “whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land.”
Logan chose May 30 because it was a rare day that didn’t fall on the anniversary of a Civil War battle, though some historians believe the date was selected to ensure that flowers across the country would be in full bloom. Such a beautiful image.
After World War I, Decoration Day included all fallen soldiers, not just those from the Civil War, and we started using the words “Memorial Day.” In 1971, Memorial Day became a national holiday by an act of Congress. That same year, the country also started to commemorate the holiday on the last Monday in May.
In remembering those who have died for our country, we also honor their loved ones, wives, husbands, children, parents. We live in gratitude each and every day for the precious gift they have given us.
As we embark on our weekends, I wish you, my Genesis10 family, all the best. I live in gratitude too for all that you do for one another.
Have a safe and meaningful Memorial Day weekend.
