FredGrams: A History of Memorial Day

The American Civil War was the central event of our history, testing, in Lincoln’s immortal words, whether our  “new nation [or any nation], conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal…can long endure.”

We did endure, survive, prevail as a nation, but the cost in human life, Americans killing Americans, was beyond comprehension or precedent: 600,000 Americans and one U.S. President. It was this carnage that impelled Americans in small towns throughout the land to begin ritual observances honoring the war dead. There are records of ceremonies during the War (as early as 1861), but Decoration Day, May 30, 1868 was the first official national observance. On that day General John A. Logan issued a proclamation declaring Decoration Day to be “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.”

On that same day, General (& future President) James Garfield addressed 5000 attendees in what would become a traditional ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery: “We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.”

As our involvement in wars carried over into the 20th century, Decoration Day would become an occasion to honor ALL American war dead, and after WWII, Decoration Day would become Memorial Day, officially declared a federal holiday in 1971. As of then, the last Monday of May would be Memorial Day to allow a 3 day weekend holiday for federal employees. The controversy still rages over retaining the original May 30 commemoration out of respect for the day’s gravity over deference to a long holiday weekend.

Among the most essential Memorial Day traditions is raising the flat to full mast, then lowering it to half mast until noon. At 3 PM, there is a moment of silent observance and the playing of “Taps.”

Waterloo, New York, site of one of the earliest observances (1866) is now considered the birthplace of Decoration/Memorial Day. Doylestown, Pennsylvania claims to have the longest unbroken history of annual parades (since 1868 although Rochester, Wisconsin claims to have  begun their own parades one year earlier.

What matters is the respectful observance, the contemplation of the cost, the sacrifice that has accompanied the unimaginable wonders and blessings of the American story of which we are so fortunate to be a part.

Nothing expresses human emotion and embeds history in our psyches like music, and FredGrams offers most or many of the greatest song treasures associated with all branches of our military services and the brave Americans who have graced them. Please visit and enjoy the great songs commemorating our war dead at this page on this site and at FredGrams where you can send out these vintage musical greeting cards.