Parshall Partners

Janet's Weekly Commentary

Remembering the Fallen

         Memorial Day weekend is often considered the opening weekend of summer. But beyond the picnics and family gatherings, lies a deeper meaning to an important day of remembrance.

         Memorial Day is an official federal holiday established in 1971 to remember the men and women of the armed forces who lost their lives while serving their country. The holiday used to be called “Decoration Day” and was originally set after the civil war to commemorate both union and confederate soldiers who had died during that conflict.

         It was May 5, 1868, when the leader of a Union Civil War veterans group called for a nationwide day of remembrance later that same month. General John A. Logan is reported to have said, “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” He called the date Decoration Day because the veterans would be remembered without focusing on any particular battle.

         Gen. Logan’s order for his posts to decorate graves in 1868 “with the choicest flowers of springtime” urged: “We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance . . . Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.”

         General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery on the first Decoration Day, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there. By 1890, each of the Northern states had made Decoration Day an official state holiday. However, many Southern states honored the fallen on separate days until after World War I. In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, establishing Memorial Day as the last Monday in May.

         For years, Memorial Day traditions have included parades, decorating the graves of the fallen with American flags, and a moment of silent remembrance at 3:00 pm local time—a way of putting “the memorial back in Memorial Day.”

         This Memorial Day, let’s display our flags. But let’s also consider practical ways to support our military families. Identify them in your Church or neighborhood and offer to babysit, cut their grass or bring over a covered dish. Listen when they need somebody to talk to—or just be there when words fail to describe the pain of what they have seen. Let’s support our troops now and not only memorialize them when they are gone.

         G. K. Chesterton eloquently reminded us of the choice our fallen heroes had to make—a choice that ultimately defined their true character. "Courage,” he said, “is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die."

          Let’s enjoy the start of summer this weekend. But somewhere in the midst of our celebrating, may we all take a moment to remember those who poured out that “last full measure of devotion.”

Those are my thoughts. I’m Janet Parshall.