Please join me in celebrating Memorial Day
Please join me in sharing the reason we celebrate this special day in May. Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11 , and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York, in 1873.
By 1890 it was recognized by all 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).
Memorial Day is now celebrated in almost every state on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 [P.L. 90 - 363] to ensure a three-day weekend for federal holidays). Several Southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis’s birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.
Read more and please share this wonderful history with your children, friends and family. Freedom is never free, and I honor everyone who protects my country.
God bless America.
Marsha
Marsha Petrie Sue, MBA, CSP – Professional Speaker and Author
Please join me on FACEBOOK
Bill Bowers on Fri, 28th May 2010 12:52 am
Thanks to Marsha Petrie Sue for another inspiring and informative essay.
Deborah Ferns on Fri, 28th May 2010 9:49 am
“Freedom isn’t Free” should be taught in EVERY level of school starting in kindergarten through colleges and universities! Thanks Marsha for the reminder as we all grow far too complacent!
Melita Ellington on Fri, 28th May 2010 10:47 am
If you can read Marsha’s article, thank a teacher. If you can read Marsha’s article in ENGLISH, thank a Veteran! Thanks Marsha for reminding us how important Memorial Day is, and that it’s more than just a 3 day weekend–it’s a MEMORIAL!
Tammy Ballew on Thu, 3rd Jun 2010 6:49 pm
Thanks, Marsha, for sharing that bit of history. I attended a parade on Memorial Day and was very teary-eyed as I watched the veterans pass through the streets. It was inspiring to see the crowds of people that had gathered to honor those veterans and also the ones who died fighting for our freedom.