Happy almost Memorial Day. As a former-but-sort’ve-still history teacher, I understand the significance of celebrating Memorial Day. My great-grandfather fought in WWI. My grandfather was a merchant marine during WW2. My father fought in Vietnam. I’ve met several WW2 vets who were once very cordial to me by granting me an hour or two to interview them for a research paper when I was an undergrad. I have supported the troops with yellow ribbons and flag stickers/pins.
But, why and when did we start celebrating Memorial Day?
Well, according to USmemorialday.org, a website dedicated to… Memorial Day…
“Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 – 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis’ birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee. “
So, while I have the upmost respect for those who have and do fight for our honor, liberty, and the freedom of others… I have set up the following memorial for Memorial Day.
Confederate dead after battle of Chancellorsville (MD)
Dead at Antietam, the bloodiest battle of the Civil War
Dead at Gettysburg
U.S. soldiers in a trench near Manila, Phil., during the Spanish-American War, 1898.
Graves of dead Rough Riders; Spanish-American War; after San Juan Hill.
Dead soldiers remain on the battlefield after the battle of the Marne in September 1914. After this battle, the opposing armies in World War I began digging defensive trenches across from each other. This defensive strategy, known as trench warfare, characterized the rest of the war.
Trench warfare during WWI
Sinking of USS Arizona by Japanese; Pearl Harbor; Dec. 7, 1941
Three young Russian women and a little girl recently liberated from a slave-labor camp by the 13th Armored Division of the 1st U.S. Army lay flowers at the feet of four slain American soldiers April 18, 1945, Hilden, Germany. A Russian witness said a German officer killed three of the Americans after they surrendered. (AP Photo/US Army Signal Corps)
Fighting in Seoul. Marines advance cautiously through South Korea’s capital city in the 1950 campaign that routed the North Koreans.
Soldiers of the 1st Cav in Vietnam move slain comrade to helicopter. AP photo/Peter Arnett.
A wounded paratrooper of the 101st Airborne guides a medical evacuation helicopter through the jungle foliage to pick up casualties during a five-day patrol of Hue, South Vietnam, in 1968.
In the wake of the First Persian Gulf War (1991), cars, trucks, buses, and materiel litter the “Highway of Death,” the road from Kuwait City to Basra in southern Iraq.
Soldiers on patrol; War in Iraq
So, you see… for as much as we hate war, war has become a part of our national identity… because it is now expected that the U.S. whether we like it or not, has some historial responsibility towards protecting independence, preventing the spread of despotism/communism/nazism/evil-isms from taking over the world… and therefore, perhaps we feel that it’s our destiny. Perhaps it is not. Regardless of how you feel about this current debacle in Iraq, what holds true is that our military history and those who participated deserve our respect… mostly for doing something that most of us would not.
Posted by twisterjester on May 26, 2008 at 12:32 am
Thanks for the reminder on Memorial Day. I only wish the rest of the world still respected us.
Oh yeah – they did until GW Bush put his foot (and us) in Iraq. After 9/11 we had the sympathy of the world. All it took was a President who started a war for oil and pretended it was about terrorism.
Posted by summerfever on May 26, 2008 at 12:34 am
I was thinking this myself earlier, without the gruesome death pics. We have a long history of war, and I daresay they were all unpopular with some group or another to some extent. There were plenty of people who were angry that we went to war with Britain in the war for independence. Good thing nobody took them seriously. My opinion
My son is studying the Civil War right now and remarked the other day about what a waste it was, having finally gotten a handle on it. How stupid it was. I suppose that can be said for all wars. And yet, all wars have an inevitability about them.
And personally, I am proud that we have been the nation to take on the fight against evil in its many forms. Despite the huge personal sacrifices that has necessitated. And like you, I salute those sacrifices.
Posted by patti on May 26, 2008 at 1:54 am
I always wonder why people say “HAPPY” Memorial Day-is it really a happy day? Its a day to remember the dead-im glad we have this day to pay or respects for those who died!
can you email me and i will give you my password if you still want it~Patti
pals4ever84@yahoo.com
Posted by boXx on May 26, 2008 at 7:51 am
ALL killing is wrong. period.
Posted by l'empress on May 26, 2008 at 9:01 am
When I was a kid, it was Decoration Day, and it was on May 30, not on whatever Monday was convenient. It had a whole different flavor about it then.
I would rather we respected the individuals who serve(d) and not the jacki who sent us into some of these conflicts. And I will decry forever the inability of our leaders to learn from past mistakes and make them over and over.
Posted by herstory07 on May 26, 2008 at 11:57 am
I call history “cyclical,” whether people agree with me or not… because, in believing this, I feel that because people do not learn from past mistakes (us, them, and the bigger picture) that we are doomed to repeat it. Consider it like a big fat ole “Ground Hog Day” moment in which we just do the same day over and over again until we get it right. Maybe there is no afterlife, but one day we live over and over again until we right the wrong. Or, something like that.
Posted by yankeechick on May 26, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Oh, Sweetie! This was an awesome post. Nice job. you presented perfectly what Memorial Day is all about. It’s not about killing or Abe Lincoln or JFK or George Bush. As Summerfever so eloquently put it, it is about honoring those who were willing to make a sacrifice to defend this great nation that we have the privilege to call our home.
This is a lovely tribute.
Posted by G on May 26, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Thanks, YC.
Posted by SSG C on April 1, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Speaking as a 2 time Operation Iraqi Freedom vet, I can say Memorial Day has a profound meaning to me and I do say Happy due to the fact that it is a day to remember the battle buddies that I have lost in the last 2 tours. I am preparing to go back for my 3rd time and I hope and pray that I only have to remember the fallen from the previous 2. You have captured the true meaning of the holiday and I thank you for it. Thank you. Please if anyone that is reading this thank a vet they have sacrificed themselves and had buddies make the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we enjoy today.
Posted by herstory07 on April 2, 2009 at 11:05 am
SSG C… I appreciate you posting here. Vets are always welcome. Good luck on your next tour and be safe!
Posted by Joyce Crotchett on April 8, 2009 at 9:18 am
This is an inquiry about an image of a wounded comrade being carried 4 soldiers in front of a helicopter. I have written a song in connection with the Vietnam war and preparing a slide show to support the song. It will be put on Lt. Dan’s Band website and YouTube. There is no commercial intent for the slide show. I notice Peter Arnett was credited for this photograph and wonder if this would be all I would need to do to use the same image in my slide show.
Please help if you can.
Thanks.
Joyce
Posted by herstory07 on May 28, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Well Joyce, I just took it off of the internet.. and truth be told (it wasn’t copyrighted, I don’t believe), I don’t remember where I found it. In all honesty, it would be best to find the original photographer and get his/her permission. I’m sorry this is so late, I just saw the comment. Hope that helps.
Posted by andrzej on May 23, 2009 at 2:20 pm
brakuje mi zdjęć z dominikany i grenady, a i z panamy by się przydały, ale ogolnie it’s quite good