Memorial Day: What Is It?
Memorial Day, which is observed on the final Monday of May, pays tribute to those who died while serving their country in times of both peace and conflict.
Monday, May 27, 2024, is Memorial Day.
Memorial Day is a somber day to remember veterans and fallen service members rather than a festive occasion.
Whom Does Memorial Day Honor?
In addition to honoring the Civil War dead, Memorial Day is today observed in remembrance of all veterans and active duty personnel who lost their lives while serving their country in times of peace or conflict. This covers not only other conflicts but also the 12 main wars that the United States has fought.
The origins of Memorial Day
Although it was originally known as Decoration Day, particularly in the South, the holiday was also widely recognized as “Memorial Day” from its inception in the 1860s.
Newspaper articles from the 1865 Memorial Day celebration in Charleston, South Carolina, state that it was one of the first, if not the first, to be planned by former slaves. That was at least a year before comparable gatherings were held in other American cities.
But it wasn’t until May 1868, three years later, that the celebration was really launched. It was dubbed “Decoration Day” because it was customary to adorn the graves of men who lost their lives fighting in the Civil War with spring flowers.
May 30, 1868, was the first official Decoration Day observed outside of the nation’s capital. Thousands of people gathered at Arlington Cemetery to witness the placing of flowers on the graves of Union troops. For the occasion, churchgoers had spent days crafting wreaths, crosses, and bouquets out of the buds. The veranda’s pillars were draped with black flags to commemorate the sorrowful occasion.
The end of May was proposed by John A. Logan, a former general in the Civil War who oversaw an organization for veterans of the Northern Civil War, maybe because flowers would be in bloom almost everywhere in the United States at that time of year.
By the late 1800s, Decoration Day was celebrated across the nation, with events held in most major cities. Typically, parades, speeches, and other activities honoring the Civil War fallen were part of these celebrations.
Newspaper editorials in 1919–20, following World War I, demanded that Decoration Day honor not only the dead of the Civil War but also those who died in this Great War. Naturally, the day was expanded to honor all veterans and fallen service personnel.
A growing number of people began referring to Decoration Day as Memorial Day in the early 1900s. However, the name change wasn’t formally adopted until the 1960s.
President Lyndon B. Johnson officially proclaimed “Memorial Day” in Waterloo, New York, in 1966, marking the official origin of the yearly celebration.
Because a pharmacist in Waterloo is recognized as the first person to propose the idea of a formal day to remember the war dead, Waterloo was selected as the genesis of the day. In 1865, when the country was still in shock over the enormous toll the Civil War had taken, Henry Welles proposed the concept. Approximately 2% of the country’s entire population, or 600,000–800,000 Union and Confederate deaths, were endured.
A new federal statute was passed in 2000 designating Memorial Day at 3 p.m. local time as the “National Moment of Remembrance,” during which time the public is urged to observe a minute of silence in remembrance of the service personnel and veterans who have passed away.
Customs for Memorial Day
Every year at Arlington National Cemetery, the US president delivers a speech during an event held in the Amphitheater. Services are also provided by numerous governmental and military institutions.
The American Veterans Center is the host of the National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C., which takes place down Constitution Avenue on Monday afternoon and is televised live on all major networks.
There’s a wreath-laying ceremony and other activities at The Wall as part of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Annual Observance.
This year’s National Memorial Day Concert is scheduled for Sunday, May 28th evening, and it will be webcast live on PBS. Live coverage of the 2022 event was provided from the US Capitol’s west front.
Every year, Memorial Day is celebrated in thousands of cities and towns around the country, not only in the Washington, D.C., region. Speakers, flyovers, wreath presentations, color guards, musical acts with taps played, “flags in” ceremonies, and more are frequently featured at these occasions.
Some city buildings fly their flags at half mast, while individual homes frequently display bouquets and wreaths.
Unofficially, most people believe that Memorial Day weekend marks the official beginning of summer.
Why Do People Wear Red Poppies on Memorial Day?
Because of the Canadian surgeon soldier John McCrae’s war memorial poem “In Flanders Field,” the red poppies became a symbol of warrior sacrifice during World War I.
In 1918, a woman from Athens, Georgia named Moina Michael was inspired to make the red poppies a symbol for commemorating the men who died in World War I after reading “In Flanders Field” in the Ladies Home Journal magazine.
The concept gained traction, and the red poppy was chosen as the memorial flower by the American Legion during its convention in Cleveland in the fall of 1920.
What Significance Does the Red Poppy Have?
Herbs and plants were utilized by healers to treat patients prior to the development of modern medicine. Because poppy seeds contain small amounts of both codeine and morphine, they were frequently consumed as a pain reliever.
Popping poppies became a symbol of all those who lost their lives in World War I and, later, other wars, as the poem “In Flanders Field” conjured up images of them swaying.
The meaning of the poppies expanded to encompass all forms of military service.