Memorial Day is the day chosen to set aside some time to reflect on those who served our country we cherish, and died in the conflict. Originally called "Decoration Day", it was officially established on May 5th, 1868 by General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic to decorate the graves of the 620,000 soldiers who died in the Civil War. The 1st major observance of Decoration Day was at Arlington National Cemetery on May 30th, 1868.
The earliest recorded tradition, often cited as the first, was held by freed enslaved people in Charleston, South Carolina. A memorial service was held on May 1st, 1865 for Union soldiers who were buried in a mass grave. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson, along with Congress recognized Waterloo, New York as the official birthplace of Decoration Day as businesses closed in observance of those who never returned. Their graves were decorated, and a service was held in their honor.
The southern tradition was started by women who decorated the graves of Confederate Soldiers, such as the April 25th event held in Columbus Ohio, which inspired the famous poem, The Blue and the Gray, by Francis Miles Finch. This poem portrays a post-Civil War landscape Where the Union (Blue) and the Confederate (Gray) soldiers lay side by side, emphasizing shared death and the quiet passage of time rather than continued conflict.
It was called Decoration Day because of the decoration of the graves, but the name was changed to Memorial Day after World War 1 to honor all service members.
In 1868, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, establishing Memorial Day as the last Monday in May. It became an official holiday in 1871.
A quote by Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Edmund B. Whitman stated, "The nation that respects and honors its dead shall ever be respected and honored itself." The modern proclamation calls on Americans "to observe Memorial Day by praying, according to their individual religious faith, for permanent peace." It is in this tradition that the Wanamingo Veterans are assembling on May 25th for a parade, speeches, prayers and decorating the graves of our own community members who deserve this recognition,
