Good afternoon everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery
Blog.
What is Memorial Day? Memorial Day is a day off from work, barbeques,
mad dashes to the mall to snag those Memorial Day sales, but most importantly,
a time to honor those who serve and have served for our nation.
Originally titled ‘Decoration Day’, it was officially
declared in General Logan’s
General Order No. 11 speech that on the 30th of every May people
would honor those who have fallen in the Civil War. People were to decorate the
graves of comrades with flowers, wreaths, and anything of important significance.
This proclamation was made on May 5th, 1868 and May 30th
was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any combat.
On the first ‘Decoration Day’ General Garfield
gave a speech at Arlington Cemetery wherein thousands of participants gathered
to adorn the graves of over twenty thousand Union and Confederate soldiers.
New York was the first state to officially recognize this
holiday in 1873, followed by the other northern states. The South refused to
celebrate this day because they had different days for honoring their dead. After
World War I, ‘Decoration Day’ changed to honoring all who had passed in any war
and not just the Civil War. This holiday was passed through Congress with the
National Holiday Act of 1971 which ensured a three day weekend for Federal holidays
– Memorial Day included.
To this day, we honor soldiers and loved ones whose lives
were lost in battle and for their sacrifice we cannot thank them enough. We
honor them for preserving our lives in our nation, we praise them for their
dutiful service until the very end of the line, and we thank them with every
fiber of gratitude we have. We wear ribbons and red poppies for them and should
we ever see them, dead or alive, we should thank them not only today, but for
as long as we live. For they have encountered horrors we could never dream of
or experience and should be revered with honor and respect.
Thank you for reading today’s entry. If you enjoyed it, feel
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So tell me, what are you doing for Memorial day?
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