Posted on 05/28/2021 9:22:52 PM PDT by ammodotcom
Memorial Day is more than just the “unofficial start of summer.” It was originally a celebration of the lives sacrificed on both sides during the War Between the States. Not an official federal holiday until 1971, the history of Memorial Day is one of controversy. This guide traces the origins of this American day dedicated to remembering and honoring those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
Early Celebrations: Annual Decoration Days
While the day was eventually codified as a Civil War-centric holiday, people had laid flowers on the graves of fallen soldiers for decades before there was such a thing as Memorial Day, or “Decoration Day” as it is sometimes called. Annual decoration days were most common in the American South. Because the American South was more rural and agrarian based, it was not uncommon to have a family cemetery. It was here that families would gather for picnics and grave decorations.
The early celebrations were not about remembering the fallen from the war. They were effectively extended family reunions, a sort of folk ancestor worship specifically developed out of the folkways of the American South. A religious service typically accompanied the meal.
A Richmond Times-Dispatch article from 1906 documents a June 3, 1861, Warrenton, Virginia, celebration as the first time a Civil War veteran’s grave was decorated. In 1862, there is another recorded example of an early Civil War grave decoration which occurred in Savannah, Georgia. In 1863, there was a decoration of soldiers’ graves in Gettysburg.
Decoration of graves became widespread after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in 1865. There were, at this point, over 600,000 American soldiers in the ground. This gave what was a previously existing informal ritual a new significance. It was this year that the federal government began making a national cemetery for the Union war dead.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammo.com ...
When I was on Facebook, it used to drive me to distraction that people would use Memorial for shout-outs to active duty members or veterans. There are other days to honor those (Armed Forces Day and Veterans Day). Memorial Day is solely for honoring and remembering those who have given the ultimate sacrifice of their lives in the service of this country.
As a VA rated disabled veteran if anything @’s me, thanks me in person, or online for Memorial Day I tend to ask when did I die and why wasn’t I told?
Well if even one racist Confederate is honored then we ought to scrap the whole thing. Perhaps it should become Memorial to Our Racist Sins Day, instead.
Please, for the love of God don’t give them any ideas. I’m still sick over what they’re doing to Columbus Day.
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