Memorial (adjective) – from the late 14th century, “remembered, committed to memory.” From the Old French memorial, “mindful of, remembering.” Directly from the Latin memoralis, “of or belonging to memory.“
When I think of Memorial Day, I remember my childhood. We had parades on Veterans Day (November 11) and Memorial Day, with the Memorial Day parade being the really big one back in Lynn, Massachusetts. I would always go to the parade and buy a balloon from the woman known as the “balloon lady.” One particular Memorial Day stands out in my mind. After the parade, later that afternoon, we saw black smoke coming from a couple of streets away. It was actually coming from the street we watched the parade from. A large apartment building burned to the ground that afternoon. My neighbor’s two adult sisters lived there together. I was a child, but I won’t ever forget that Memorial Day.
While Veterans Day is for living veterans, Memorial Day is for those who gave their lives for this country.
Originally known as Decoration Day, the holiday began in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971.
By the late 1860s, Americans in various towns and cities began to hold tributes to the countless fallen soldiers of the Civil War, decorating their graves with flowers and reciting prayers.
Some records show that one of the earliest Memorial Day commemorations was organized by a group of formerly enslaved people in Charleston, South Carolina, less than a month after the Confederacy surrendered in 1865. In 1966 the federal government declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day.
For decades, Memorial Day was observed on May 30. But in 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees. The change went into effect in 1971.
“Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay.”- Barack Obama
“Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.”- Theodore Roosevelt
“Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility.”- Eleanor Roosevelt
“Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory there would be no civilization, no future.”- Elie Wiesel
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We did not pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”– Ronald Reagan
“It’s not the voting that’s democracy; it’s the counting.” – Tom Stoppard
“A healthy democracy requires a decent society; it requires that we are honorable, generous, tolerant and respectful.” – Charles W. Pickering
“Democracy is when the people keep a government in check. – Aung San Suu Kyi
“The bedrock of our democracy is the rule of law and that means we have to have an independent judiciary, judges who can make decisions independent of the political winds that are blowing.“- Caroline Kennedy
“Democracy is messy, and it’s hard. It’s never easy.” -Robert Kennedy, Jr.
“Home of the free, because of the brave.” – Unknown
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Some additional information. There was a Union hospital near the town and the deceased were buried in the town cemetery. Some of the survivors stayed and married local girls. One great-grandfather served in the Confederate Army and the other served in the Union Army.
Lovely, respected words made meaningless by self-centered politicians. It isn’t the words, it’s the deeds.
Amen to that! I agree. Thank you for the comment.
Many years ago, we school children would march to the cemetery to place flags on the Confederate and Union soldiers’ graves on Memorial Day. It was termed Confederate Memorial Day in the South back then but the graves of both sides were honored.
Where did you live? Thank for that comment.
Summerville, SC. My comment referred to a small town in south Georgia where I spent my childhood.. I enjoy your posts!
Thank you! And thanks for the additional info!