Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. There is evidence that women’s groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War in remembrance of the Confederate Dead.
Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5,1868 and first observed May 30,1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.
Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson, of Johnson City, Texas May 1966.
In 1915, inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields” Moina Michael replied with her poem:
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.
She then conceived an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial Day in honor of those who died serving our nation during war.
The official flower of the American Legion is the poppy, in their recondition of those who gave all to their country.
Traditional observance of Memorial Day has diminished over the years. Many Americans have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. It is not just the start of summer or a 3 day holiday, which was created by Congress in 1971; when they moved Memorial Day from May 30th to the last Monday of May.
It is the day set aside for honoring those who have fallen in service of their country!
A “National Moment of Remembrance” resolution was passed in December of 2000 which asks that at 3:00 pm local time, that all Americans “Voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of Remembrance and respect, by pausing and giving a moment of silence or a listening of Tap’s”.
We at American Legion Post 352 of Blanco County would ask that each of you, this Memorial Day give a Moment of Remembrance and Respect to those that have given all for their country and for your Personal Freedom!
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