Dorothy Brush "Random Thoughts" Published May 21, 2003

Take time to remember Memorial Day

It is easy to point fingers at other countries and accuse them of being revisionists when it comes to history. Truth be told we engage in the practice too. The upcoming holiday weekend is an example. For decades May 30 was Decoration Day. The observance began at the end of the Civil War when the commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, Gen. John A. Logan, issued this order to veterans. "The 30th day of May 1868 is designated for the purpose of strewing flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land."

The general's wife had toured Southern battlefields and cemeteries shortly before this order and she had told her husband touching stories of the care the women in these communities gave to the graves of those who wore the gray and the blue.

Columbus, MS was one of those communities and each year the story of their first decoration day is retold. A group of ladies gathered flowers to place on the graves of fallen Confederates, but as they worked they thought of grieving families far away and they decorated all the soldier's graves.

Many places have claimed they were the first to observe the day but in 1966 President Johnson proclaimed Waterloo, NY as the birthplace and records show they held their first Decoration Day in 1866, two years prior to the general's order. In Waterloo the observance is held on May 30. One of the town leaders commented, "You keep Memorial Day the 30th, the same way you keep July 4 on the fourth." He added, "You don't change Christmas, and you don't change New Year's to give a three-day weekend."

But that is just what Congress did in 1968 when they took action to make the last Monday in May Memorial Day. All these years later many calendars mark the last Monday in May as Memorial Day (observed) and May 30 as Memorial Day. Two dates and two names but one purpose.

This assured a long weekend to welcome summer. But it blurred the purpose of one day to remember those who gave their all for their fellow countrymen with two names and three days filled with sports and entertainment. Public television will pay tribute to American troops and veterans on Sunday evening, May 25. This annual concert from Washington, DC leaves no doubt about the meaning of Memorial Day.

Whatever you call the day or which date you prefer, do take time to remember why it is a holiday.

· · ·
Dorothy Copus Brush is a Fairfield Glade resident and Crossville Chronicle staffwriter whose column is published each Wednesday.