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From: pifox <>
Subject: [US-OBITS] MEMORIAL DAY HISTORY-GENEALOGY & RESEARCH LINKS UPDATED
Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 14:38:41 -0400

Celebrate! Holidays In The U.S.A.

Memorial Day
(Last Monday in May)




It was 1866 and the United States was recovering from the
long and bloody Civil War
between the North and the South. Surviving soldiers came
home, some with missing limbs,
and all with stories to tell. Henry Welles, a drugstore
owner in Waterloo, New York, heard
the stories and had an idea. He suggested that all the
shops in town close for one day to
honor the soldiers who were killed in the Civil War and
were buried in the Waterloo
cemetery. On the morning of May 5, the townspeople placed
flowers, wreaths and crosses
on the graves of the Northern soldiers in the cemetery. At
about the same time, Retired
Major General Jonathan A. Logan planned another ceremony,
this time for the soldiers who
survived the war. He led the veterans through town to the
cemetery to decorate their
comrades' graves with flags. It was not a happy
celebration, but a memorial. The
townspeople called it Decoration Day.

In Retired Major General Logan's proclamation of
Memorial Day, he
declared:
"The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose
of strewing with
flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades
who died in defense
of their country and during the late rebellion, and
whose bodies now lie in
almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the
land. In this
observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts
and comrades will in
their own way arrange such fitting services and
testimonials of respect as
circumstances may permit."


The two ceremonies were joined in 1868, and northern states
commemorated the day on
May 30. The southern states commemorated their war dead on
different days. Children read
poems and sang civil war songs and veterans came to school
wearing their medals and
uniforms to tell students about the Civil War. Then the
veterans marched through their home
towns followed by the townspeople to the cemetery. They
decorated graves and took
photographs of soldiers next to American flags. Rifles were
shot in the air as a salute to the
northern soldiers who had given their lives to keep the
United States together.

In 1882, the name was changed to Memorial Day and soldiers
who had died in previous
wars were honored as well. In the northern United States,
it was designated a public holiday.
In 1971, along with other holidays, President Richard Nixon
declared Memorial Day a
federal holiday on the last Monday in May.

Cities all around the United States hold their own
ceremonies on the last Monday in May* to
pay respect to the men and women who have died in wars or
in the service of their country.

Memorial Day is not limited to honor only those Americans
from the armed forces. It is also
a day for personal remembrance. Families and individuals
honor the memories of their loved
ones who have died. Church services, visits to the
cemetery, flowers on graves or even silent
tribute mark the day with dignity and solemnity. It is a
day of reflection. However, to many
Americans the day also signals the beginning of summer with
a three-day weekend to spend
at the beach, in the mountains or at home relaxing.

In Waterloo, New York, the origin has not been lost and in
fact the meaning has become even
more special. President Lyndon Johnson proclaimed Waterloo
the birthplace of Memorial
Day in 1966, 100 years after the first commemoration. Every
May 30, townspeople still walk
to the cemeteries and hold memorial services. They decorate
the graves with flags and
flowers. Then they walk back to the park in the middle of
town. In the middle of the park,
near a monument dedicated to soldiers, sailors and marines,
the Gettysburg address is read,
followed by Retired Major General Logan's Order # 11
designating Decoration Day. The
village choirs sing patriotic songs. In the evening, school
children take part in a parade.

Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia is the nation's
largest national cemetery. Not only are
members of the armed forces buried here; astronauts,
explorers and other distinguished
Americans have all been honored with a special place here.
President John F. Kennedy is
buried in a spot overlooking Washington, D.C..

Here in the early hours of the Friday morning before
Memorial Day, soldiers of the Third
U.S. infantry walk along the rows of headstones. Each
soldier stops at a headstone, reaches
to a bundle of flags he is carrying, pulls one out and
pushes it into the ground. These soldiers
are part of a special regiment. the Old Guard. Most
consider it a privilege to place flags on
the more than two hundred thousand graves of soldiers who
served in the wars or who died
in them. "They have done their job," said one soldier,
"and now it's my turn to do mine."


It is an equal honor to guard the Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier all year. There are actually
four soldiers buried in this spot: the unknown soldiers of
the two World Wars, the Korean
conflict, and the Vietnam War. Each soldier represents all
of those who gave their lives in the
modern wars. Soldiers from the Army's Third Infantry guard
the tomb twenty-four hours a
day. Wreath-laying ceremonies take place all through the
year and people from all over the
world come to watch the changing of the guard. On another
hill of Arlington Cemetery there is
a mass grave of unidentified soldiers from the Civil War.

On Memorial Day, the President or Vice President of the
United States gives a speech and
lays a wreath on the tombs. Members of the armed forces
shoot a rifle salute in the air.
Veterans and families come to lay their own wreaths and say
prayers. There is a chance that
one of the soldiers buried here is a father, son, brother
or friend.

*Some southern states continue to celebrate Memorial Day on
various days, i.e. June
3rd in Louisiona and Tennessee called "Confederate Memorial
Day" and on May 10th
in North and South Carolina.

PLEASE ENJOY THIS DAY AND DRIVE SAFE

--

Deborah L. Fox from,N.E.Phila,Pa to Fairfax,Va.to Front Royal,Va.
GENEALOGY & RESEARCH LINKS-UPDATED MAY 25,2001
http://sites.netscape.net/INVESTIGATORFOX/homepage
ALSO SEARCH WITH GOOGLE AND PICO
FOR FREE GROCERIES-COUPONS
http://www.valupage.com/Entry.pst?From=AFF002909

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