The men and women that serve our country and protect our freedom.  Memorial Day edition.

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We are bombarded but these terms with the intensity amped up around the major holidays on just how much money we can all save when we buy something, somewhere.  We have become so overwhelmed about the media messages as well as our hectic everyday lives we have lost sight of the true meaning of Memorial Day.  It is to celebrate the men and women that have given us the freedom to live in the most prosperous nation in the world; the United States of America.

Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. By the 20th century, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died while in the military service.

Take a moment to honor America and our heroes with this rendition of God Bless America by Ronan Tynan;

Following President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in April 1865, there were a variety of events of commemoration. The first well-known observance of a Memorial Day-type observance after the Civil War was in Charleston, South Carolina on May 1, 1865. During the war, Union soldiers who were prisoners of war had been held at the Charleston Race Course; at least 257 Union prisoners died there and were hastily buried in unmarked graves. Together with teachers and missionaries, black residents of Charleston organized a May Day ceremony in 1865. The freedmen cleaned up and landscaped the burial ground, building an enclosure and an arch labeled, “Martyrs of the Race Course.” Nearly ten thousand people, mostly freedmen, gathered on May 1 to commemorate the war dead. Involved were about 3,000 school children newly enrolled in freedmen’s schools, mutual aid societies, Union troops, black ministers, and white northern missionaries. Most brought flowers to lay on the burial field. Today the site is used as Hampton Park. Years later, the celebration would come to be called the “First Decoration Day” in the North.

On May 5, 1868, in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, the veterans’ organization for Union Civil War veterans, General John A. Logan issued a proclamation calling for “Decoration Day” to be observed annually and nationwide. It was observed for the first time that year on May 30; the date was chosen because it was not the anniversary of any particular battle.  According to the White House, the May 30 date was chosen as the optimal date for flowers to be in bloom.

To learn more about the history of Memorial Day, here is the link to the wikipedia page used to source the information – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day

I hope that you enjoyed your day and value the true meaning of Memorial Day.

Webman