 Origin And Birthplace Of
Memorial Day On May 5, 1868, the Grand Army of the Republic established Memorial Day or Decoration Day as the national day
to decorate the graves of the Civil War soldiers with flowers. Major General John A. Logan appointed May 30 as the day to
be observed. Arlington National Cemetery had the first observance of the day on a grand scale. The place was appropriate as
it already housed graves of over 20,000 Union dead and several hundred Confederate dead. Gen. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant presided
the meeting and the center point of these Memorial Day ceremonies was the mourning-draped veranda of the Arlington mansion.
Speeches were followed by a march of soldiers' children and orphans and members of the GAR through the cemetery strewing flowers
on both Union and Confederate graves. They also recited prayers and sang hymns for the dead. Even before this declaration,
local observances for these war dead were being held at various places. In Columbus, Miss., a group of women visited a cemetery
on April 25 1866, to decorate the graves of Confederate soldiers and the Union soldiers whop fell at the battle of Siloh.
Many cities in the North and the South claim to be the first to celebrate Memorial Day in 1866 but Congress and President
Lyndon Johnson officially declared Waterloo in New York as the 'birthplace' of Memorial Day in 1966. It was said that on May
5, 1866, a ceremony was held here to honor local soldiers and sailors who fought in the Civil War, businesses were closed
for the day and residents furled flags at half-mast. It was said to be the first formal, community-wide and regular event.
In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday by the Congress, who designated the last Monday in May as the day for
its observance. Many states observe separate Confederate Memorial Days. Mississippi observes it on the last Monday of April,
Alabama on the fourth Monday of April, Georgia on April 26, North and South Carolina on May 10 and Louisiana and Tennessee
on June 3. In Tennessee, the day is named as 'Confederate Decorations Day' while Texas observes 'Confederate Heroes Day' on
January 19. In Virginia, Memorial Day is better known as 'May Confederate Memorial Day.'
I watched the flag pass by one day. It fluttered in the breeze. A young Marine saluted it, and
then he stood at ease. I looked at him in uniform So young, so tall, so proud, He'd stand
out in any crowd. I thought how many men like him Had fallen through the years. How many
died on foreign soil? How many mothers' tears? How many pilots' planes shot down? How many
died at sea? How many foxholes were soldiers' graves? No, freedom isn't free. I heard the
sound of TAPS one night, When everything was still I listened to the bugler play And felt
a sudden chill. I wondered just how many times That TAPS had meant "Amen," When
a flag had draped a coffin Of a brother or a friend. I thought of all the children, Of the
mothers and the wives, Of fathers, sons and husbands With interrupted lives. I thought about
a graveyard At the bottom of the sea Of unmarked graves in Arlington. No, freedom isn't free.
PLEASE REMEMBER ME
by Walt Dixon, Korean War vet, Shriner, FORR supporter,
and brother
Remember me, America, for I was once your son
I fought and died at Valley Forge with George
Washington
I was there at Gettysburg on that tragic, tragic day
When brother fought against brother, ---The
blue against the gray
I road with Teddy Roosevelt on the charge up San Juan Hill
Some came back to fight
again, but I must lie there still.
I went to France with the A E F, to bring the peace to you
I was twenty
one and full of fun --- I never saw twenty two.
I'm still at Pearl Harbor, Since Dec 7, a day of infamy
Lying silently with my shipmates on the Arizona at the bottom of the sea
D Day June 6th 1944, We hit the beaches
of Normandy, we faught uphill all the way
We routed the Germans and hurled them back, but what a terrible price we had
to pay.
I served on a US submarine, the bravest of the brave
Until a German depth charge gave us a watery
grave
I bombed the Ploesti oil fields, and they blew with one hell of a roar,
But in the attack we were
hit with flack, ---I'll never bomb anymore
In Korea I heard the CO shout "we'll make it and I am
sure that we will"
I lost my life trying to take a spot called "Pork Chop Hill"
Viet Nam
Viet Nam! When will we ever learn
I'm one of the six thousand who will never return
I left my town,
my wife and kids, my home so cozy and warm
I was killed in a scud attack, in a war they called Desert Storm
I was working in the WTC on that bright and sunny day
Two planes slammed into the towers and thousands had to pay
I was sent to a war called Iraqi freedom to rid the world of Saddam Hussein and his terrorist acts. But we were
hit with a suicide bomb and I won't be coming back
Now those responsible and their terrorist packs
Will
face the wrath of America and I call that payback
So in my eternity, my thoughts are all for thee
I'll
never forget my beloved America,
I pray she remembers me
GOD BLESS AMERICA
TAPS Day
is done... Gone the sun From the lake... From the hills... From the sky. All is well...
Safely rest God is nigh. Fading light.... Dims the sight And a star.... Gems the
sky.... Gleaming bright From afar.... Drawing nigh Falls the night.
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