Memorial Day- History and Remembrance

On the counter in the entryway of my church sits a box of plastic army men.

Unlike the other little toys, books and crayons hanging nearby in “busy bags,” these aren’t meant for the children of the congregation.

We have a significant number of military families, and seeing a need, some of our members got together a group to actively try to find ways to support them. The little green men are part of that effort.

A sign hangs above the box, encouraging everyone to take one of these plastic people home, to place him in a noticeable spot, and, when we see him, to take a moment to pray for those who serve.

I know we had one in our house. I suspect that one of the smaller Clares may have filched him and sent him on a special mission to the sandbox outside.

With Memorial Day this weekend, it seemed high time to bring in a replacement.

Memorial Day may not be a familiar holiday to some of my international readers. Even after observing it all of my life, a little research revealed that I knew little about its roots.

Memorial Day’s history reaches back to just after the American Civil War. From 1861 to 1865, between 600,000 and 700,000 Americans from the North and South died- around two percent of the country’s population, making it the deadliest war in American history.

The cessation of hostilities did not end the suffering of the families, nearly all of whom had losses to mourn. Scattered towns independently established their own days to memorialize the fallen. Businesses closed, and people decorated graves with flowers and flags.

General John A. Logan made the first call for a nationwide day of remembrance on May 5, 1868. The holiday, named Decoration Day, was to be held on May 30th.

While many states chose to celebrate Decoration Day, it took World War I to bring it to new prominence and lead to it becoming the Memorial Day we observe. The meaning of the day expanded to include all the American fallen of all wars.

Around this time, the red poppy also became a familiar part of Memorial Day  observances (as well as November’s Veteran’s Day, or Remembrance Day for some of you.) This was thanks to John McCrae’s famous WWI poem “In Flanders Fields” and a professor named Moina Michael.

Inspired by McCrae’s poem, Michael penned a poetic response, “We Shall Keep the Faith.” She campaigned for poppies to be an official symbol of remembrance, and was involved in setting up the sale of artificial poppies to support veterans.

We still see evidence of her efforts today, as poppies grace many memorials. A wall of more than 645,000 red poppies will be on display at the National Mall in Washington D.C. this Memorial Day- one poppy for every known American battle casualty from the Great War through the present day.

Memorial Day finally became a federal holiday in 1971, and with the passing of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, it was permanently fixed on the last Monday in May.

While the day has largely become a celebration of the beginning of summer, a time for rest and barbeque, there have been recent efforts to keep the focus on the day’s original meaning.

In 2000, Congress passed the National Moment of Remembrance Act, calling for a moment of silence at 3pm on Memorial Day each year.

Our Memorial Day will be a quiet one, the graves of our family a thousand miles too far away for us to pay our respects, but while the little man I brought home today is just a small thing, an inexpensive toy, I wanted to share him with you and invite you to join me.

Join in taking a moment away from today’s hectic whirl of activity to stop-

Remember-

And be thankful.

Thanks for visiting.

If you’d like more information on Memorial Day and its history, feel free to check out some of my sources:

https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/memorial-day-history

http://www.pbs.org/national-memorial-day-concert/memorial-day/history/

On Moina Michael: http://www.greatwar.co.uk/people/moina-belle-michael.htm

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/04/05/poppy-symbolizes-world-war-i/100074450/