Thirteen Things about Memorial Day
1. Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day.
2. It's a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service.
3. Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery
4. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873 (Waterloo NY was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins.)
5. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war).
6. It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May, though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: 1/19 in Texas, 4/26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; 5/10 in South Carolina; and 6/3 (Jefferson Davis' birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.
7. On the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing.
8. Beginning in 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
9. To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed in December 2000; this asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans to voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to "Taps."
10. A woman named Moina Michael conceived of the idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honor of those who died; the money went to benefit servicemen in need.
11. She also wrote a poem: We cherish too, the Poppy red/That grows on fields where valor led,/It seems to signal to the skies/That blood of heroes never dies.
12. Many feel that when Congress made the day into a three-day weekend in with the National Holiday Act of 1971, it made it all the easier for people to be distracted from the spirit and meaning of the day. As the VFW stated in its 2002 Memorial Day address: "Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day."
13. When I was a child, I looked forward to the parade on Memorial Day; I even marched in it a few times.
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Comments
How much of that did you know before you posted? Me, not much. Very nice to learn something. I didnt even know #1. Yikes. :)
Fabulous! That was a great an informative TT. Thank you for sharing. :)
I'm up.
WOW!!!!! History buff?
The thing is these days, Memorial Day has 'turned into' a day that all deaths of loved ones and friends are remembered, not just veterans. How, I don't know.
And I admire the vets actually observing on THE proper day instead of the Monday holiday!!!
Come see if you can guess my T-13 word puzzles.
Uh oh, I screwed up. I accidentally added my name to the Thirteen list and didn't mean to. Oops!
Great info on Mem Day. I always enjoy history.
Here via Michele's. Hello!
Nice Wolf TT header, there. :) I like Memorial Day because it's a day off. :) And I remember the gift that those soldiers gave to me!
So...I feel pretty dumb now cause I knew none of that! But now that I've learned something new am I done working for the day? Now there's a thought!
Great list and very educational. I didn't know most of that. Thanks!
Interesting. I live in Florida but had no idea about the 4/26 date.
Happy Thursday!
I love love your banner. Hahah too funny!
Interesting facts about memorial day, I didn't know anything about it at all. I have marched in the memorial day parade though when I was in high school.
Sometimes people avoid what is sad and hard to face. For me, I feel sad realizing how little progress we've made in avoiding war and how easier and easier it gets to kill masses of civilians along with enemies.
Wow, great info. Janet. I enjoyed reading.
Thanks for the reminder of what it's all about!
You learn something new every day!
Happy Thursday and thanks for stopping my by blog! :)
I didn't know that it originated from the Civil War, that is very interesting. Thanks for this holiday T13!
and thank you for visiting me today
Thanks for the info on Memorial Day...It gives me more info to give the kids.
That was really interesting! Most of that stuff I didn't know... like Texas has a day (1/19) for honoring the Confederate war dead? I didn't know that.
How interesting! I didn't know those things about Memorial Day! Happy TT!
Thanks for posting that info. I didn't know much about Memorial Day.
That is great information! How much research did you do???
Thanks for visiting my TT!
That is great information! How much research did you do???
Thanks for visiting my TT!
What a beautiful list!
Wow, I didn't know any of those things! I should have, and I am glad I know now. Especially the fact about the Civil War. My husband has got me very interested in the era of the Civil War. Thanks for stopping by my TT
I've always worn a poppy on remembrance day, however not since I moved across the pond to The Netherlands. I've never seen any poppies here! :)
Wow, I learned something. Really great post!
Happy Thursday!
That was really interesting for me, I didn't know ANYTHING about the memorial day before, so now I know :-)
That is so great that they patrol the cemetery to make sure no one takes the flags! The poem by Moina Michael gave me the chills!
What a wonderful & informative list. :-)
Have an awesome afternoon.
A very informative reminder of this day. Thank you.
Are you a teacher? Thanks for the Memorial Day info. I bought a new flag in honor of the day.
I learn something new everyday. I'm good with history but half of the things on your list I didn't know. Thanks for the interesting facts and thanks for visiting my TT. Have a wonderful evening. Take-Care...
I love blogging because I always learn new things. Thanks for such informative post. Happy TT!
Wow, that's definitely way more than I knew about Memorial Day -- thanks for the edification! :)
I'm Canadian so I never knew all of this stuff about Memorial Day. I found your list very interesting and informative. My TT is up.
Very interesting and educational TT! Thanks for stopping by :)
Cool list. I love learning the history behind holidays and special occasions. :) Thanks for sharing (and stopping by)!
ps-have a great long weekend!
Being Canadian, I really didn't know much about Memorial Day.. Very Informative!! :)
Great list. I love history and learned a few things today.
Interesting stuff! I didn't know about half of it.
Thanks for visiting my T13!
That is a great informative list! I didn't know many of those facts. Thanks for a great list! My dad is from the south and they still call it decoration day. Also, thanks for visiting my list. :)
I had no idea on some of that! Thanks for the great TT!
Interesting bit of history. Thanks for sharing!
i'm in canada, we had our long weekend last weekend, victoria day and i did my "tribute" last week on my blog. mine was sort of based around a case of beer though, you certainly have alot more history on yours.
have a safe and wonderful memorial day weekend.
Great post. I would like the tea you suggested. Are you located anywhere near Wenhem? My daughter is there at Gordon College. Be Blessed and thanks for stopping by.
Wow! An educational 13! I didn't know much of that at all so thanks! And thanks too for stopping by my blog. I've really widened my blog horizons from participating!
Have a great MemDay Weekend.
Thanks for the education. We have a lot of soldiers in our family (including DH) so its an important day around here.
And I agree that congress messed up by making it a 3-day weekend because so many have no idea what its for.
My dad was a vetran and every year when the VFW sold poppies for the war vetrans he would always buy one and hang it on the mirror of his car. When I see the card tables set up in the front of stores selling the red paper poppies, I always donate and get one for my car for the Vetrans and of course my dad. Thanks
the best post I saw all day. :)
Absolutely wonderful list!
My TT is up.
~Mary
Thank you for that one! We often forget the true meaning behind the "holiday."
You mean, it's not just another day for a beer-soaked BBQ and lots of trips to Home Depot?
Thank for the education on Memorial Day. As a German I didn't know all the history behind it. But under #4 you propably ment May 1866 and not 1966 - correct?
Thanks for stopping by.
What a wonderful list in honor of Memorial Day! I remember being in church and seeing my dad stand up when it was time for the officers to be recognized...I was sooooo proud!
I love your list! How very educational!
Thanks for stopping by!
Great information. I leraned a lot of new things abour Memorial Day today.
Happy Memorial Day weekend! Thanks for visiting me yesterday!
Great list! I didn't know some of that ... but I'm Canadian, what do you expect. :)
I've never in my life known so much about the day as I do now. Thanks :D
Thanks for that, very informative. I'd never heard of Memorial Day until this year and even then I didn't know what it meant. In Australia we have something similar called ANZAC Day, thraditionally to honour the Austarlian and New Zealand Army Corps that served in WWI, the spirit of the day has been extended to all servicemen I think.
What an awesome and insightful TT! Thank you!
Kelly
always wondered why those little red flowers are given away every year
what a powerful poem assoc with them
Thanks for the history!
Its not celebrated in the UK (obviously) so although blog friends have mentioned it I was completely in the dark
