Message:23282 In: TODAY.WW
From: KF5JRVDate: Sat, 30 May 26 09:48:00 Z
Newsgroups: TODAY.WW
Subject: Today in History - May 30
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By proclamation of Major General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, a Union Army veterans group, the first widesp
read Decoration Day is held to honor those who died “in defense of their country during the late rebellion.” Logan’s decl
aration lays the groundwork for what would become the federal holiday of Memorial Day.
On May 30, 1868, mourners honored the Civil War dead by decorating their graves with flowers. This practice inspired the observ
ance’s name. Also that day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participan
ts help to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Civil War soldiers buried there.
The first Decoration Day celebration was inspired by local observances that had taken place in various locations in the three y
ears since the end of the Civil War. In fact, several cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, including Columbus, Mi
ssissippi; Macon, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; and Carbondale, Illinois.
In 1966, the federal government, under the direction of President Lyndon B. Johnson, declared Waterloo, New York, the official
birthplace of Memorial Day. They chose Waterloo—which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866—because the town had made
the observance an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers
with flowers and flags.
By the late 19th century, many communities across the country had begun to celebrate Memorial Day, as Decoration Day was increa
singly becoming known. States, especially in the North, declared it a state holiday. After World War I, observers began to hono
r the dead of all of America’s wars, not just fallen Civil War soldiers as outlined by Logan’s 1868 proclamation. Memorial
Day eventually became a nationwide tradition, but it wasn’t until 1971 that Congress declared Memorial Day a federal holiday
to be celebrated the last Monday in May, instead of May 30.
Today, Memorial Day is celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery with a ceremony in which a small American flag is placed on ea
ch grave. It is customary for the president or vice president to give a speech honoring the contributions of the dead and to la
y a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. More than 5,000 people attend the ceremony annually. Some Southern states set as
ide a special day for honoring the Confederate dead, which is usually called Confederate Memorial Day.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
Email KF5JRV@gmail.com
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