Posted on 05/26/2006 4:15:47 PM PDT by snugs
The Official Weekend Single's Thread ---May 26 -29 (Memorial Weekend US - Spring Bank Holiday Weekend UK)
Posted by Snugs;proud_yank
This weekend in America is Memorial Weekend a time when Americans honour their military dead.
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Ist :)
In Before the Ping!!
Good evening
Damn!!
Off by five seconds.
Oh, hey Snugs!
What's new?
In reality, the holiday is observed in honor of the nation's armed service personnel who were killed in wartime (in the UK this is the 11th November – Remembrance Day at which on the 11th hour of the 11th month we have a minutes silence all over the Britain).
The custom of honoring the graves of the war dead began prior to the end of the Civil War, but the national Memorial Day holiday (or "Decoration Day," as it was originally named) was first observed on May 30, 1868, on the order of General John Alexander Logan for the purpose of decorating the graves of the American Civil War dead. With the passage of time, Memorial Day was extended to honor all those who died in service, from the Revolutionary War to the present. It continued to be observed on May 30th until 1971, when most states changed to a newly established federal schedule of holiday observance.
Confederate Memorial Day, once a legal holiday in many southern states, is still observed on the fourth Monday in April in Alabama, and the last Monday in April in Mississippi and Georgia. A National Moment of Remembrance
May of 1997 saw the start of what is becoming an American tradition recognized by the President and Members of Congress -- to put the "memorial" back in Memorial Day. The idea of a National Moment of Remembrance was born a year earlier when children touring Lafayette Park in Washington, DC were asked what Memorial Day meant and they responded, "That's the day the pools open!"
The "Moment" was initiated by No Greater Love, a Washington, DC-based national humanitarian organization. For the first time in U.S. history, on Memorial Day 1997 "Taps" was played at 3 p.m. in many locations and at events throughout America. This effort was repeated again in subsequent years.
The objective of the "Moment" is to raise Americans' awareness of the honorable contributions made by those who died while defending our nation and to encourage all Americans to honor those who died as a result of service to this nation by pausing for one minute at 3:00 p.m. (local time) on Memorial Day.
There is also a 21 gun salute at 12.00 noon which is a Salute to the Nation
Yay!
I actually have the night off!
Hey, snugs. How are you?
Awww...poor thing ;)
Sadly nowadays many Americans now think of this weekend as purely the start of summer and BBQ season and an opportunity to hit the stores to grab a few sale bargains.
Not a lot
Slow reflexes strike AGAIN!!! ;)
Enjoy
Hi ya
Good to hear...8^)
What is the origin of the 21-gun salute?
The use of gun salutes for military occasions is traced to early warriors who demonstrated their peaceful intentions by placing their weapons in a position that rendered them ineffective. Apparently this custom was universal, with the specific act varying with time and place, depending on the weapons being used. A North African tribe, for example, trailed the points of their spears on the ground to indicate that they did not mean to be hostile.
The 21-gun salute became the highest honor a nation rendered. Varying customs among the maritime powers led to confusion in saluting and return of salutes. Great Britain, the world's preeminent seapower in the 18th and 19th centuries, compelled weaker nations to salute first, and for a time monarchies received more guns than did republics. Eventually, by agreement, the international salute was established at 21 guns, although the United States did not agree on this procedure until August 1875.
Click here for further details
Today, the national salute of 21 guns is fired in honor of a national flag, the soverign or chief of state of a foreign nation, a member of a reigning royal family, and the President, ex-President, and President-elect of the United States. It is also fired at noon of the day of the funeral of a President, ex-President, or President-elect, on Washington's Birthday, Presidents Day, and the Fourth of July. On Memorial Day, a salute of 21 minute guns is fired at noon while the flag is flown at half mast. Click here for further information
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