Memorial Day

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New Fish
Observed on the last Monday of May, Memorial Day is an American holiday that honors men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War.

At a Memorial Day ceremony in 1868 at Arlington National Cemetery, future president and Union Army General James A. Garfield said, “For love of country they accepted death.”

Following two world wars in the 20th century, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all service members who died while serving our country. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in local parades.

Years ago, people would gather with family members (some who would travel long distances) on the Memorial Day and place flowers on graves of our fallen heroes. It was common to hold a religious service with "dinner on the ground," the traditional term for a potluck meal. People would spread the dishes out on sheets or tablecloths on the grass.

On June 28, 1968, the Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which moved four holidays, including Memorial Day, from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend. The change moved Memorial Day from its traditional May 30 date to the last Monday in May. The law took effect at the federal level in 1971.

Memorial Day is not to be confused with Veterans Day; Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving this great nation, while Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans.

Poet Thomas Campbell wrote, “The patriot’s blood is the seed of Freedom’s tree.”

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” ~ John F. Kennedy, January 20, 1961

"On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in the audience here today -- our sense of patriotism is particularly strong." ~ Barack Obama

Now bring on the bar-b-que fuckers!
 
Not the classiest description of Memorial Day. Here's a better one:

Memorial Day
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Page semi-protected
This article is about a holiday in The United States. For other uses, see Memorial Day (disambiguation).
Memorial Day
Graves at Arlington on Memorial Day.JPG
The gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery are decorated by U.S. flags on Memorial Day weekend.
Observed by United States
Type National
Observances Remembrance of American war dead
Date Last Monday in May
2013 date May 27
2014 date May 26
2015 date May 25
2016 date May 30
Frequency annual
Memorial Day is a US federal holiday wherein the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces are remembered.[1] The holiday, which is celebrated every year on the final Monday of May,[2] was formerly known as Decoration Day and 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.[3] It typically marks the start of the summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks its end.

Many people visit cemeteries and memorials, particularly to honor those who have died in military service. Many volunteers place an American flag on each grave in national cemeteries.

Annual Decoration Days for particular cemeteries are held on a Sunday in late spring or early summer in some rural areas of the American South, notably in the mountains. In cases involving a family graveyard where remote ancestors as well as those who were deceased more recently are buried, this may take on the character of an extended family reunion to which some people travel hundreds of miles. People gather on the designated day and put flowers on graves and renew contacts with kinfolk and others. There often is a religious service and a "dinner on the ground," the traditional term for a potluck meal in which people used to spread the dishes out on sheets or tablecloths on the grass. It is believed that this practice began before the American Civil War and thus may reflect the real origin of the "memorial day" idea.[4]

Memorial Day is not to be confused with Veterans Day; Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving, while Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans.[5]

Civil War Veterans in Ortonville, Minnesota, on the Fourth of July, 1880 - also called "Decoration Day" prior to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act almost a century later.
Contents [hide]
1 History of the holiday
1.1 In the North
1.2 In the South
1.3 At Gettysburg
2 Name and date
3 Traditional observance
4 Interpretations
5 In literature and music
6 See also
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links
History of the holiday
The practice of decorating soldiers' graves with flowers is an ancient custom.[6] Soldiers' graves were decorated in the U.S. before[7] and during the American Civil War. A claim was made in 1906 that the first Civil War soldier's grave ever decorated was in Warrenton, Virginia, on June 3, 1861, implying the first Memorial Day occurred there.[8] Though not for Union soldiers, there is authentic documentation that women in Savannah, Georgia, decorated Confederate soldiers' graves in 1862.[9] In 1863, the cemetery dedication at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was a ceremony of commemoration at the graves of dead soldiers. Local historians in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, claim that ladies there decorated soldiers' graves on July 4, 1864.[10] As a result, Boalsburg promotes itself as the birthplace of Memorial Day.[11]

Following President Abraham Lincoln's assassination in April 1865, there were a variety of events of commemoration. The sheer number of soldiers of both sides who died in the Civil War, more than 600,000, meant that burial and memorialization took on new cultural significance. Under the leadership of women during the war, an increasingly formal practice of decorating graves had taken shape. In 1865, the federal government began creating national military cemeteries for the Union war dead.[12]

The first widely publicized 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.[13] Together with teachers and missionaries, black residents of Charleston organized a May Day ceremony in 1865, which was covered by the New York Tribune and other national papers. 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.[14] Years later, the celebration would come to be called the "First Decoration Day" in the North.

David W. Blight described the day:

"This was the first Memorial Day. African Americans invented Memorial Day in Charleston, South Carolina. What you have there is black Americans recently freed from slavery announcing to the world with their flowers, their feet, and their songs what the war had been about. What they basically were creating was the Independence Day of a Second American Revolution.”[15]

However, Blight stated he "has no evidence" that this event in Charleston inspired the establishment of Memorial Day across the country.[16]

On May 26, 1966, President Johnson signed a presidential proclamation naming Waterloo, New York, as the birthplace of Memorial Day. Earlier, the 89th Congress adopted House Concurrent Resolution 587, which officially recognized that the patriotic tradition of observing Memorial Day began one hundred years prior in Waterloo, New York.[17] According to legend, in the summer of 1865 a local druggist Henry Welles, while talking to friends, suggested that it might be good to remember those soldiers who did not make it home from the Civil War.[citation needed] Not much came of it until he mentioned it to General John B. Murray, a Civil War hero, who gathered support from other surviving veterans.[citation needed] On May 5, 1866, they marched to the three local cemeteries and decorated the graves of fallen soldiers.[citation needed] It is believed that Murray, who knew General Logan, told Logan about the observance and that led to Logan issuing Logan's Order in 1868 calling for a national observance.[citation needed]

In the North

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2013)

The Tomb of the Unknowns located in Arlington National Cemetery
Copying an earlier holiday that had been established in the Southern states,[18] 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.[19] It was observed for the first time that year on Saturday May 30; the date was chosen because it was not the anniversary of any particular battle.[20] According to the White House, the May 30 date was chosen as the optimal date for flowers to be in bloom.[21]

Memorial Day, Boston by Henry Sandham
Memorial events were held in 183 cemeteries in 27 states in 1868, and 336 in 1869.[citation needed] The northern states quickly adopted the holiday. Michigan made "Decoration Day" an official state holiday in 1871 and by 1890, every northern state had followed suit. The ceremonies were sponsored by the Women's Relief Corps, the women's auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), which had 100,000 members. By 1870, the remains of nearly 300,000 Union dead had been reinterred in 73 national cemeteries, located near major battlefields and thus mainly in the South. The most famous are Gettysburg National Cemetery in Pennsylvania and Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C.[citation needed]

Memorial Day speeches became an occasion for veterans, politicians, and ministers to commemorate the War and, at first, to rehash the "atrocities" of the enemy. They mixed religion and celebratory nationalism and provided a means for the people to make sense of their history in terms of sacrifice for a better nation. People of all religious beliefs joined together and the point was often made that the German and Irish soldiers had become true Americans in the "baptism of blood" on the battlefield.[citation needed] By the end of the 1870s, much of the war-time rancor was gone, and the speeches usually praised the brave soldiers, both Blue and Gray.[citation needed] By the 1950s, the theme was American exceptionalism and duty to uphold freedom in the world.[citation needed]

Ironton, Ohio, lays claim to the nation's oldest continuously running Memorial Day parade. Its first parade was held May 5, 1868, and the town has held it every year since; however, the Memorial Day parade in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, predates Ironton's by one year.[22]

In the South

Confederate Memorial Monument in Montgomery, Alabama
Evidence exists that shows General Logan had adopted and adapted for the North the annual Confederate Memorial Day custom that had been in practice in the South since 1866.[23][24] The U.S. National Park Service attributes the beginning to the ladies of Columbus, Georgia.[25] The separate tradition of Memorial Day observance which had emerged earlier in the South was linked to the Lost Cause and served as the prototype for the national day of memory.[25][26] Historians acknowledge the Ladies Memorial Association played a key role in its development.[27] Various dates ranging from April 25 to mid-June were adopted in different Southern states. Across the South, associations were founded, many by women, to establish and care for permanent cemeteries for the Confederate dead, organize commemorative ceremonies, and sponsor appropriate monuments as a permanent way of remembering the Confederate cause and sacrifice. The most important was the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which grew from 17,000 members in 1900 to nearly 100,000 women by World War I. They were "strikingly successful at raising money to build Confederate monuments, lobbying legislatures and Congress for the reburial of Confederate dead, and working to shape the content of history textbooks."[28]

On April 25, 1866, women in Columbus, Mississippi laid flowers on the graves of both the Union and Confederate dead in the city's cemetery.[29] The early Confederate Memorial Day celebrations were simple, somber occasions for veterans and their families to honor the dead and tend to local cemeteries. By 1890, there was a shift from the emphasis on honoring specific soldiers to a public commemoration of the lost Confederate cause.[30] Changes in the ceremony's hymns and speeches reflect an evolution of the ritual into a symbol of cultural renewal and conservatism in the South. By 1913, Blight argues, the theme of American nationalism shared equal time with the Lost Cause.[31]

At Gettysburg

Soldiers National Monument at the center of Gettysburg National Cemetery.
The ceremonies and Memorial Day address at Gettysburg National Park became nationally well known, starting in 1868. In July 1913, veterans of the United States and Confederate armies gathered in Gettysburg to commemorate the fifty-year anniversary of the Civil War's bloodiest and most famous battle.[32]

The four-day "Blue-Gray Reunion" featured parades, re-enactments, and speeches from a host of dignitaries, including President Woodrow Wilson, the first Southerner elected to the White House after the War. James Heflin of Alabama gave the main address. Heflin was a noted orator; two of his best-known speeches were an endorsement of the Lincoln Memorial and his call to make Mother's Day a holiday. His choice as Memorial Day speaker was criticized, as he was opposed for his support of segregation; however, his speech was moderate in tone and stressed national unity and goodwill, gaining him praise from newspapers.

Since the cemetery dedication at Gettysburg occurred on November 19, that day (or the closest weekend) has been designated as their own local memorial day that is referred to as Remembrance Day.[33]

Name and date

"On Decoration Day" Political cartoon c 1900. Caption: "You bet I'm goin' to be a soldier, too, like my Uncle David, when I grow up."
The preferred name for the holiday gradually changed from "Decoration Day" to "Memorial Day", which was first used in 1882.[34] It did not become more common until after World War II, and was not declared the official name by Federal law until 1967.[35] On June 28, 1968, the Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which moved four holidays, including Memorial Day, from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend.[36] The change moved Memorial Day from its traditional May 30 date to the last Monday in May. The law took effect at the federal level in 1971.[36] After some initial confusion and unwillingness to comply, all 50 states adopted Congress' change of date within a few years.

Memorial Day endures as a holiday which most businesses observe because it marks the unofficial beginning of summer. The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) advocate returning to the original date, although the significance of the date is tenuous. The VFW stated in a 2002 Memorial Day Address:

Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed a lot to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.[37]

Starting in 1987 Hawaii's Senator Daniel Inouye, a World War II veteran, introduced a measure to return Memorial Day to its traditional date. Inouye continued introducing the resolution until his death in 2012.[38]

 
Not the classiest description of Memorial Day. Here's a better one:

Memorial Day
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Page semi-protected
This article is about a holiday in The United States. For other uses, see Memorial Day (disambiguation).
Memorial Day
Graves at Arlington on Memorial Day.JPG
The gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery are decorated by U.S. flags on Memorial Day weekend.
Observed by United States
Type National
Observances Remembrance of American war dead
Date Last Monday in May
2013 date May 27
2014 date May 26
2015 date May 25
2016 date May 30
Frequency annual
Memorial Day is a US federal holiday wherein the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces are remembered.[1] The holiday, which is celebrated every year on the final Monday of May,[2] was formerly known as Decoration Day and 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.[3] It typically marks the start of the summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks its end.

Many people visit cemeteries and memorials, particularly to honor those who have died in military service. Many volunteers place an American flag on each grave in national cemeteries.

Annual Decoration Days for particular cemeteries are held on a Sunday in late spring or early summer in some rural areas of the American South, notably in the mountains. In cases involving a family graveyard where remote ancestors as well as those who were deceased more recently are buried, this may take on the character of an extended family reunion to which some people travel hundreds of miles. People gather on the designated day and put flowers on graves and renew contacts with kinfolk and others. There often is a religious service and a "dinner on the ground," the traditional term for a potluck meal in which people used to spread the dishes out on sheets or tablecloths on the grass. It is believed that this practice began before the American Civil War and thus may reflect the real origin of the "memorial day" idea.[4]

Memorial Day is not to be confused with Veterans Day; Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving, while Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans.[5]

Civil War Veterans in Ortonville, Minnesota, on the Fourth of July, 1880 - also called "Decoration Day" prior to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act almost a century later.
Contents [hide]
1 History of the holiday
1.1 In the North
1.2 In the South
1.3 At Gettysburg
2 Name and date
3 Traditional observance
4 Interpretations
5 In literature and music
6 See also
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links
History of the holiday
The practice of decorating soldiers' graves with flowers is an ancient custom.[6] Soldiers' graves were decorated in the U.S. before[7] and during the American Civil War. A claim was made in 1906 that the first Civil War soldier's grave ever decorated was in Warrenton, Virginia, on June 3, 1861, implying the first Memorial Day occurred there.[8] Though not for Union soldiers, there is authentic documentation that women in Savannah, Georgia, decorated Confederate soldiers' graves in 1862.[9] In 1863, the cemetery dedication at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was a ceremony of commemoration at the graves of dead soldiers. Local historians in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, claim that ladies there decorated soldiers' graves on July 4, 1864.[10] As a result, Boalsburg promotes itself as the birthplace of Memorial Day.[11]

Following President Abraham Lincoln's assassination in April 1865, there were a variety of events of commemoration. The sheer number of soldiers of both sides who died in the Civil War, more than 600,000, meant that burial and memorialization took on new cultural significance. Under the leadership of women during the war, an increasingly formal practice of decorating graves had taken shape. In 1865, the federal government began creating national military cemeteries for the Union war dead.[12]

The first widely publicized 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.[13] Together with teachers and missionaries, black residents of Charleston organized a May Day ceremony in 1865, which was covered by the New York Tribune and other national papers. 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.[14] Years later, the celebration would come to be called the "First Decoration Day" in the North.

David W. Blight described the day:

"This was the first Memorial Day. African Americans invented Memorial Day in Charleston, South Carolina. What you have there is black Americans recently freed from slavery announcing to the world with their flowers, their feet, and their songs what the war had been about. What they basically were creating was the Independence Day of a Second American Revolution.”[15]

However, Blight stated he "has no evidence" that this event in Charleston inspired the establishment of Memorial Day across the country.[16]

On May 26, 1966, President Johnson signed a presidential proclamation naming Waterloo, New York, as the birthplace of Memorial Day. Earlier, the 89th Congress adopted House Concurrent Resolution 587, which officially recognized that the patriotic tradition of observing Memorial Day began one hundred years prior in Waterloo, New York.[17] According to legend, in the summer of 1865 a local druggist Henry Welles, while talking to friends, suggested that it might be good to remember those soldiers who did not make it home from the Civil War.[citation needed] Not much came of it until he mentioned it to General John B. Murray, a Civil War hero, who gathered support from other surviving veterans.[citation needed] On May 5, 1866, they marched to the three local cemeteries and decorated the graves of fallen soldiers.[citation needed] It is believed that Murray, who knew General Logan, told Logan about the observance and that led to Logan issuing Logan's Order in 1868 calling for a national observance.[citation needed]

In the North

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2013)

The Tomb of the Unknowns located in Arlington National Cemetery
Copying an earlier holiday that had been established in the Southern states,[18] 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.[19] It was observed for the first time that year on Saturday May 30; the date was chosen because it was not the anniversary of any particular battle.[20] According to the White House, the May 30 date was chosen as the optimal date for flowers to be in bloom.[21]

Memorial Day, Boston by Henry Sandham
Memorial events were held in 183 cemeteries in 27 states in 1868, and 336 in 1869.[citation needed] The northern states quickly adopted the holiday. Michigan made "Decoration Day" an official state holiday in 1871 and by 1890, every northern state had followed suit. The ceremonies were sponsored by the Women's Relief Corps, the women's auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), which had 100,000 members. By 1870, the remains of nearly 300,000 Union dead had been reinterred in 73 national cemeteries, located near major battlefields and thus mainly in the South. The most famous are Gettysburg National Cemetery in Pennsylvania and Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C.[citation needed]

Memorial Day speeches became an occasion for veterans, politicians, and ministers to commemorate the War and, at first, to rehash the "atrocities" of the enemy. They mixed religion and celebratory nationalism and provided a means for the people to make sense of their history in terms of sacrifice for a better nation. People of all religious beliefs joined together and the point was often made that the German and Irish soldiers had become true Americans in the "baptism of blood" on the battlefield.[citation needed] By the end of the 1870s, much of the war-time rancor was gone, and the speeches usually praised the brave soldiers, both Blue and Gray.[citation needed] By the 1950s, the theme was American exceptionalism and duty to uphold freedom in the world.[citation needed]

Ironton, Ohio, lays claim to the nation's oldest continuously running Memorial Day parade. Its first parade was held May 5, 1868, and the town has held it every year since; however, the Memorial Day parade in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, predates Ironton's by one year.[22]

In the South

Confederate Memorial Monument in Montgomery, Alabama
Evidence exists that shows General Logan had adopted and adapted for the North the annual Confederate Memorial Day custom that had been in practice in the South since 1866.[23][24] The U.S. National Park Service attributes the beginning to the ladies of Columbus, Georgia.[25] The separate tradition of Memorial Day observance which had emerged earlier in the South was linked to the Lost Cause and served as the prototype for the national day of memory.[25][26] Historians acknowledge the Ladies Memorial Association played a key role in its development.[27] Various dates ranging from April 25 to mid-June were adopted in different Southern states. Across the South, associations were founded, many by women, to establish and care for permanent cemeteries for the Confederate dead, organize commemorative ceremonies, and sponsor appropriate monuments as a permanent way of remembering the Confederate cause and sacrifice. The most important was the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which grew from 17,000 members in 1900 to nearly 100,000 women by World War I. They were "strikingly successful at raising money to build Confederate monuments, lobbying legislatures and Congress for the reburial of Confederate dead, and working to shape the content of history textbooks."[28]

On April 25, 1866, women in Columbus, Mississippi laid flowers on the graves of both the Union and Confederate dead in the city's cemetery.[29] The early Confederate Memorial Day celebrations were simple, somber occasions for veterans and their families to honor the dead and tend to local cemeteries. By 1890, there was a shift from the emphasis on honoring specific soldiers to a public commemoration of the lost Confederate cause.[30] Changes in the ceremony's hymns and speeches reflect an evolution of the ritual into a symbol of cultural renewal and conservatism in the South. By 1913, Blight argues, the theme of American nationalism shared equal time with the Lost Cause.[31]

At Gettysburg

Soldiers National Monument at the center of Gettysburg National Cemetery.
The ceremonies and Memorial Day address at Gettysburg National Park became nationally well known, starting in 1868. In July 1913, veterans of the United States and Confederate armies gathered in Gettysburg to commemorate the fifty-year anniversary of the Civil War's bloodiest and most famous battle.[32]

The four-day "Blue-Gray Reunion" featured parades, re-enactments, and speeches from a host of dignitaries, including President Woodrow Wilson, the first Southerner elected to the White House after the War. James Heflin of Alabama gave the main address. Heflin was a noted orator; two of his best-known speeches were an endorsement of the Lincoln Memorial and his call to make Mother's Day a holiday. His choice as Memorial Day speaker was criticized, as he was opposed for his support of segregation; however, his speech was moderate in tone and stressed national unity and goodwill, gaining him praise from newspapers.

Since the cemetery dedication at Gettysburg occurred on November 19, that day (or the closest weekend) has been designated as their own local memorial day that is referred to as Remembrance Day.[33]

Name and date

"On Decoration Day" Political cartoon c 1900. Caption: "You bet I'm goin' to be a soldier, too, like my Uncle David, when I grow up."
The preferred name for the holiday gradually changed from "Decoration Day" to "Memorial Day", which was first used in 1882.[34] It did not become more common until after World War II, and was not declared the official name by Federal law until 1967.[35] On June 28, 1968, the Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which moved four holidays, including Memorial Day, from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend.[36] The change moved Memorial Day from its traditional May 30 date to the last Monday in May. The law took effect at the federal level in 1971.[36] After some initial confusion and unwillingness to comply, all 50 states adopted Congress' change of date within a few years.

Memorial Day endures as a holiday which most businesses observe because it marks the unofficial beginning of summer. The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) advocate returning to the original date, although the significance of the date is tenuous. The VFW stated in a 2002 Memorial Day Address:

Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed a lot to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.[37]

Starting in 1987 Hawaii's Senator Daniel Inouye, a World War II veteran, introduced a measure to return Memorial Day to its traditional date. Inouye continued introducing the resolution until his death in 2012.[38]
Click to expand...

Disagree.

I like classier versions. I do that.
 
Last edited:
Piemiņas diena
No Wikipedia , brīvā enciklopēdija
Page daļēji aizsargāts
Šis raksts ir par brīvdienām , Amerikas Savienotajās Valstīs . Citām vajadzībām , sk Memorial Day ( disambiguation ) .
Piemiņas diena
Graves pie Arlington uz piemiņas Day.JPG
Kapakmeņu pie Arlington National Cemetery ir rotātas ar ASV karogiem par Memorial Day weekend .
Novēroja ASV
tipa National
Piemiņas Atceres Amerikas karā kritušajiem
Datums Pēdējā maija pirmdiena
2013 datums 27 maijs
26 2014 datums maijs
25 2015 datums maijs
30 2016 datums maijs
biežums gadā
Piemiņas diena irASV valsts svētki , kur vīrieši un sievietes, kas gāja bojā , bet dienē ASV bruņotie spēki atceras . [ 1 ]svētki , kas tiek svinēta katru gadu pēdējā pirmdienā maijā [ 2 ], kas agrāk bija pazīstama kā apdares diena un radās pēc tam, kadAmerikas pilsoņu karš , lai atzīmētu Eiropas Savienības un līdzdalībnieks karavīri , kuri gāja bojā Pilsoņu kara . Līdz 20.gs. , piemiņas diena tika paplašināta, lai godinātu visu amerikāņu, kas ir miruši , bet militārajā dienestā . [ 3 ] Tas parasti iezīmē sākumu vasaras atvaļinājumu sezonai , bet darba diena iezīmē tās beigām .

Daudzi cilvēki apmeklē kapsētas un piemiņas vietas , jo īpaši, lai godinātu tos, kas gājuši bojā militārajā dienestā . Daudzi brīvprātīgie vieta amerikāņu karogu par katru kapa valsts kapsētās .

Gada Apdares dienas konkrētiem kapsētās notiek svētdienā vēlā pavasarī vai vasaras sākumā dažos lauku rajonos Amerikas dienvidos , īpaši kalnos . Gadījumos, kas saistīti ar ģimenes kapsēta , kur tālvadības senči , kā arī tie, kuri bija miruši nesen ir apglabāts , tas var uzņemties raksturu pagarināts ģimenes atkalapvienošanos, kas dažiem cilvēkiem ceļot simtiem jūdžu . Cilvēki pulcējas uz norādītajā dienā un nolika ziedus uz kapiem un atjaunot kontaktus ar kinfolk un citi. Tur bieži vienreliģisko pakalpojumu un" vakariņas uz zemes , "tradicionālais termins potluck maltīti , kurā cilvēki izmanto, lai izplatītu ēdienus , kas uz lapām vai galdauti uz zāli . Tiek uzskatīts, ka šī prakse sākās pirms Amerikas pilsoņu kara , un tādējādi , iespējams, atspoguļo patieso izcelsmi " piemiņas dienu " idejai . [ 4 ]

Piemiņas diena ir nedrīkst jaukt ar veterānu diena ; Piemiņas diena irdiena atcerēties vīriešiem un sievietēm, kas nomira , bet kalpo , bet veterānu Day svin visu ASV militāro veterānu pakalpojumu . [ 5 ]

Pilsoņu kara veterānu , kas Ortonville , Minnesota , par ceturtā gada jūlijā , 1880 - saukta arī par " Apdares Diena" pirms Vienotā pirmdiena Holiday akta gandrīzgadsimtu vēlāk .
Saturs [ hide ]
1 vēsture brīvdienu
1.1 Ziemeļos
1.2 Dienvidos
1.3 At Gettysburg
2 nosaukums un datums
3 Tradicionālā ievērošana
4 interpretācijas
5 literatūrā un mūzikā
6 Skatīt arī
7 Atsauces
8 Papildu informācija
9 Ārējās saites
Vēsture brīvdienu
Dekoratīva karavīru prakse " kapiem ar ziediem irsena paraža . [ 6 ] karavīru kapi tika iekārtota ASV pirms [ 7 ], un tā laikā Amerikas pilsoņu kara . Prasība tika veikts 1906.gadā , ka pirmās pilsoņu karš karavīra kapa jebkad rotā bija Warrenton , Virdžīnija, 3.jūnijā 1861 nozīmēpirmā piemiņas diena notika tur . [ 8] Lai gan nav par Savienības karavīriem , ir autentiski dokumenti , ka sievietes Savannah , Gruzija , dekorēts līdzdalībnieks karavīru kapi 1862. [ 9] 1863,kapsēta veltījums pie Gettysburg , Pennsylvania, bijaceremonija atceres pie kapiem mirušo karavīru . Vietējie vēsturnieki Boalsburg , Pensilvānija, apgalvo, ka dāmas ir iekārtota karavīru kapus 4.jūlijā 1864. [ 10 ] Tā rezultātā , Boalsburg veicina sevi kā dzimtene piemiņas diena . [ 11 ]

Pēc prezidenta Abrahama Linkolna slepkavības 1865 gada aprīlī bijadažādi notikumu atceres . Milzīgais skaits karavīru abu pušu kurš nomira Pilsoņu kara , vairāk nekā 600,000 , nozīmēja, ka apbedīšanas un memorialization ieguva jaunu kultūras nozīmi . Vadībā sievietēm kara laikā ,arvien vairāk formāla prakse apdares kapiem bija izveidojusies . 1865 ,federālā valdība sāka veidot valsts militāro kapsētu , lai Savienības karā kritušajiem . [ 12 ]

Pirmā plaši publiskota ievērošana ir piemiņas diena tipa ievērošanu pēc Pilsoņu kara bija Charleston , South Carolina, Maijs 1, 1865 kara laikā Savienības karavīri, kas bija kara gūstekņi tika rīkotas Charleston Race Course . ; vismaz 257 Union ieslodzītie nomira un tika steidzīgi apglabāti nemarķētās kapiem. [ 13 ] kopā ar skolotājiem un misionāriem , melna iedzīvotāji Charleston organizēja May Day ceremonijā 1865 , kurā tika ietvertas New York Tribune un citām valsts dokumentiem . Šā freedmen sakopta un labiekārtota ar senkapi , veidojot kamerā un arku ar norādi , "mocekļi no sacensību laikā . " Gandrīz desmit tūkstoši cilvēku , galvenokārt freedmen , pulcējās 1.maijā , lai pieminētu karā kritušajiem . Iesaistīts bija apmēram 3000 skolēni no jauna uzņemti freedmen skolās , savstarpējās palīdzības biedrībām , Savienības karaspēks , melna ministri un baltās ziemeļu misionāriem . Lielākā daļa celta ziedus likt uz apbedīšanas jomā . Šodienvietā tiek izmantots kā Hampton Park . [ 14 ] Gadus vēlāk ,svinības nāks saukt"First Apdares diena" ziemeļos .

David W. Blight aprakstīja dienu :

"Šī bijapirmā piemiņas diena . Āfrikas amerikāņi izgudroja Memorial Day in Charleston , South Carolina . Kas jums ir melnā amerikāņi nesen atbrīvots no verdzības paziņojot pasaulei ar saviem ziediem , kājām , un viņu dziesmas , kokarš ir bijis par . Ko viņi būtībā bija radīt bijaNeatkarības diena Otro Amerikas revolūcijas ". [ 15 ]

Tomēr , Blight paziņoja viņš " nav pierādījumu ", ka šis notikums Charleston iedvesmoja izveidot piemiņas diena visā valstī . [ 16 ]

Maijs 26, 1966 prezidents Džonsons parakstīja prezidenta proklamēšanas nosaucot Waterloo , New York, kā dzimtene piemiņas diena . Agrāk ,89 Kongress pieņēma House Vienlaicīga Rezolūciju 587 , kurā oficiāli atzīts , kapatriotiska tradīcija vērojot piemiņas diena sākās simts gadus pirms Waterloo , New York. [ 17 ] Saskaņā ar leģendu , vasarā 1865vietējo aptiekārs Henry Welles , bet runājot ar draugiem , liecina, ka tas varētu būt labs, lai atcerēties tos karavīrus, kas nav padarīt to mājās no Pilsoņu kara . [ nepieciešama atsauce ] nav daudz nāca no tā , kamēr viņš minēja to General John B. Murray , pilsoņu karš, varonis , kas savākta atbalstu no citiem izdzīvojušajiem veterāniem. [ nepieciešama atsauce] , Maijs 5, 1866 viņi devās uz trīs vietējās kapsētas un dekorēts kapu kritušajiem karavīriem . [ nepieciešama atsauce ] tiek uzskatīts, ka Marejs , kurš zināja General Logan , pastāstīja Logan par ievērošanu un kas noveda pie Logan izsniegšanu Logan rīkojumu 1868.gadā aicinot valsts ievērošanu . [ nepieciešama atsauce ]

Ziemeļos

Šī sadaļa ir vajadzīga papildu citāti pārbaudei . Lūdzu palīdziet uzlabot šo rakstu , pievienojot citātus uzticamiem avotiem . Unsourced materiāls var tikt apstrīdēti un izņemt . ( Maijs 2013 )

Par nezināmo , kas atrodas Arlington National Cemetery Tomb
Kopējot iepriekšējo atvaļinājumu , kas tika izveidota dienvidu valstīs [18], Maijs 5, 1868, kas rīkojas kā komandieris -in - galvenais Lielās armijas Republikas ,veterānu organizāciju par Savienības pilsoņu kara veterāni , ģenerāldirektors John A. Logan izdeva proklamēšanas aicinot " Apdares diena ", lai katru gadu , un visā valstī novēroto [ 19 ] Tā tika novērota pirmo reizi , kas gadu sestdien 30.maijam. ; diena tika izvēlēta, jo tā nebijagadadiena kādu konkrētu kaujas . [ 20 ] Saskaņā ar Baltā nama ,30 maijs datums tika izvēlēts par optimālo datumu ziedi būs Bloom. [ 21 ]

Memorial Day , Boston Henry Sandham
Piemiņas pasākumi notika 183 kapsētās 27 valstīs 1868.gadā , un 336 1869 . [ Nepieciešama atsauce ] Ziemeļu valstis ātri pieņēma brīvdienas . Michigan izgatavots " Apdares dienu"oficiālā valsts svētku 1871 un 1890 katrs ziemeļu valstij bija sekoja. Ceremonijas tika sponsorētSieviešu palīdzības korpusu ,sieviešu papildinoša Grand armijas Republikas ( GAR ) , kas bija 100000 biedru . Līdz 1870 , paliekas gandrīz 300,000 Savienības mirušajiem bija reinterred 73 valsts kapsētu , kas atrodas netālu no galvenajām kaujas , un līdz ar to galvenokārt dienvidos . Slavenākais ir Gettysburg National Cemetery Pensilvānijā un Arlington National Cemetery , netālu Washington , DC [ nepieciešama atsauce ]

Memorial Day uzstāšanās kļuvabrīdis, lai veterāni, politiķiem un ministriem , lai pieminētu kara , un sākumā , rehash " zvērības " no ienaidnieka . Viņi sajauc reliģiju un svētku nacionālismu un nodrošināja līdzekļus, lai cilvēki , lai jēgas no savas vēstures ziņā upuri labāku tauta . Cilvēki visu reliģisko pārliecību savienoti kopā unpunkts bieži vien tika darīta , ka Vācijas un Īrijas karavīri bija kļuvusi patiesi amerikāņi ir " kristību asinis " uz kaujas laukā . [ Nepieciešama atsauce ] Līdz 1870 , daudz kara - laiks niknums bija aizgājuši , un runas parasti slavēja drosmīgos karavīrus , gan Blue un Gray . [ nepieciešama atsauce ] līdz 1950 ,tēma bija amerikāņu Ārkārtas stāvoklis un pienākums aizstāvēt brīvību pasaulē . [ nepieciešama atsauce ]

Ironton , Ohio , mājo nācijas vecākā nepārtraukti darbojas piemiņas dienas parādē . Tās pirmais parāde notika 5 maijs 1868 , unpilsēta ir atzinusi to katru gadu kopš ; Tomēr ,Memorial Day parāde Doylestown , Pennsylvania, jau pirms Ironton ir par vienu gadu [ 22 ] .

Dienvidos

Līdzdalībnieks Piemiņas Piemineklis Montgomery , Alabama
Pierādījumi, kas parāda General Logan pieņēma un pielāgots ziemeļosikgadējā līdzdalībnieks Memorial Day pasūtījuma ka būtu bijis praksē dienvidos kopš 1866 . [ 23 ] [ 24 ]ASV National Park Service atribūtus sākuma līdz dāmām Columbus , Gruzija . [ 25 ]atsevišķi tradīcija piemiņas diena ievērošanu , kas bija izveidojušās iepriekš dienvidos bija saistīts ar zaudējis cēlonis , un kalpoja kā prototips nacionālā dienu atmiņas . [ 25 ] [ 26 ] Vēsturnieki atzīst,Ladies Memorial asociācija spēlēja galvenā loma tās attīstībā . [ 27 ] dažādos datumos , sākot no 25 aprīļa līdz jūnija vidum tika pieņemti dažādās dienvidu valstīs . Visā dienvidos , asociācijas tika dibināta , daudzi sievietes, izveidot un rūpēties par pastāvīgiem kapsētu parlīdzdalībnieks mirušajiem , organizēt piemiņas ceremonijas , un sponsoru piemērotus pieminekļus kā pastāvīgu veidu atcerēties līdzdalībnieks cēloni un upuri . Svarīgākais bija Apvienoto meitas konfederācijas , kas pieauga no 17000 dalībniekiem 1900 līdz gandrīz 100,000 sievietēm, Pasaules kara I. Tie bija " pārsteidzoši veiksmīgi ir paaugstināt naudas, lai izveidotu līdzdalībnieks pieminekļus , lobēšanas likumdevējiem un kongress par reburial par līdzdalībnieks miris , un strādā, lai veidotu saturu vēstures mācību grāmatu . " [ 28 ]

25.aprīlī 1866 sievietes Columbus , Misisipi nolika ziedus uz kapiem gan Savienības, gan līdzdalībnieks miris pilsētas kapsētā. [ 29 ] Sākumā līdzdalībnieks Memorial Day svinībās bija vienkārši , drūms reizes uz veterāniem un viņu ģimenēm par godu miris un mēdz vietējiem kapsētu . Līdz 1890 bijapāreja no uzsverot godinot īpašus karavīrus publisku piemiņas zaudēto līdzdalībnieks cēloni . [ 30 ] Izmaiņas ceremonijas ir dziesmas un runas atspoguļo attīstību rituāla par simbolu kultūras atjaunošanu un konservatīvisms dienvidiem . Līdz 1913 Blight apgalvo ,tēma amerikāņu nacionālisma kopīgi vienāds laiks ar zaudējis cēlonis . [ 31 ]

at Gettysburg

Karavīri National Monument centrā Gettysburg National Cemetery .
Ceremonijas un piemiņas diena adresi Gettysburg National Park kļuva nacionāli labi zināms , sākot ar 1868. 1913 jūlijā veterāni ASV un līdzdalībnieks armijas pulcējās Gettysburg , lai pieminētu piecdesmit gadu jubileju pilsoņu karā ir asiņainākajām un slavenākajiem kaujas . [ 32 ]

Četru dienu " Blue - Gray Reunion " Featured gājieni , atkārtoti akti , un runas no daudzām amatpersonu , tostarp prezidents Woodrow Wilson , pirmā dienvidnieks ievēlēts Baltajā namā pēc kara . James Heflin Alabamas deva galveno adresi . Heflin bijaatzīmēts orators ; divi no viņa pazīstamākajiem runas bijaapstiprinājums no Linkolna memoriāls un viņa aicinājumu , lai Mātes dienabrīvdienu . Viņa izvēle, kā piemiņas diena runātājs tika kritizēta , jo viņš bija nevis par viņa atbalstu segregācijas ; Tomēr , viņa runa bija mērena tonis un uzsvēra nacionālo vienotību un nemateriālo vērtību , iegūstot viņu slavēt no laikrakstiem .

Jokapsēta veltījums pie Gettysburg notika 19.novembrī , šī diena (vaituvāko nedēļas nogalē ), ir noteiktas kā savu vietējo piemiņas dienu , kas tiek minēta kā piemiņas diena [ 33 ] .

Nosaukums un datums

. " Par Apdares diena " Politiskā karikatūra c 1900 Paraksts: " Jūs bet es esmu goin ' būtkaravīrs , arī, piemēram, mans tēvocis Dāvidam , kad izaugšu . "
Vēlamais nosaukums brīvdienu pakāpeniski maina no " Apdares dienas" uz " Memorial Day ", kas pirmo reizi tika izmantots 1882 . [ 34 ] Tas nav kļuvusi izplatīta tikai pēc Otrā pasaules kara , un netika atzīts par oficiālo nosaukumu, federālās likums līdz 1967 . [ 35 ] gada 28 1968kongress pieņēma Vienoto pirmdiena Holiday aktu, kas pārvietots četras brīvdienas , tostarp piemiņas diena , no saviem tradicionālajiem datumiem uz norādīto pirmdien , lai izveidotu ērtu trīs dienu nedēļas nogali . [ 36 ]izmaiņas pārcēlās piemiņas diena no sava tradicionālā maijs 30 dienas, pēdējā maija pirmdiena . Likums stājās spēkā federālā līmenī 1971 . [ 36 ] Pēc sākotnējās neskaidrības un nevēlēšanos ievērot visas 50 valstis pieņēma kongresā mainīt datumu dažu tuvāko gadu laikā .

Memorial Day pacieš kā brīvdienu , ko lielākā daļa uzņēmumu ievēro , jo tas iezīmē neoficiālo vasaras sākumā . Ārlietu Wars veterānu ( VFW ) un Dēli Savienības veterānu no Civil War ( SUVCW ) advokāta atgriežoties pie sākotnējā datuma , lai gannozīme datumam ir niecīga. VFW norādīja, 2002 Memorial Day Adrese :

Mainot datumu, tikai , lai izveidotu trīs dienu nedēļas nogalēs ir apdraudēta pašu nozīmi dienā. Nav šaubu, tas ir veicinājusi daudz plašākai sabiedrībai ir vienaldzīgāki ievērošanu piemiņas diena . [ 37 ]

Sākot no 1987 Hawaii senators Daniel Inouye ,II pasaules kara veterāns , ieviesa pasākumu, lai atgrieztos Memorial Day tās tradicionālo datumu . Inouye turpināja ieviest izšķirtspēju līdz pat savai nāvei 2012. [ 38 ]
 
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