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TimeLines of Liberty
American Holidays |
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Memorial Day
Last updated July 2006. |
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Taps -
Decorating; flowers, flags - Celebrations;
ceremonies, parades - The Poppy |
Decoration Day
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Memorial Day
Arlington National Cemetery |
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"Taps" plays just once. |
Memorial Day
Last Monday
in May. |
Memorial Day is to
honor Americans who have passed on in the service of their
country or have survived and now are gone. From the fist
American Veterans, the founding fathers, to those of this day,
who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of freedom,
it is our duty to honor. To maintain liberty, peace and
tranquility at home, the enemy must be fought. It is those we
honor on Memorial Day. |
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Ancient Honors |
The honoring of war dead began in ancient times. The Greek
honored their war heroes by chaplets of Laurel and flowers.
Athenian leader Pericles offered a tribute to the fallen of the
Peloponnesian War, 2400 years ago. Pericles' tribute could
aptly be stated today in tribute to our heroes, "Not only are
they commemorated by columns and inscriptions, but there dwells
also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in
the hearts of men." |
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Origins
Unknown |
Originally, Memorial Day was called Decoration Day in
remembrance of those fallen in the service of our nation during
the Civil War. More
than a couple dozen cities lay claim to the origin of Memorial
Day with just as many stories telling how it began. There is
evidence that Women's Groups began decorating the graves of the
fallen prior to the end of the Civil War. The Official Birth
Place was declared, by President
Lyndon B. Johnson in May of 1966, to be
Waterloo New York. However,
the origins of the day has not been conclusively proven. Most
likely there were, in actuality, several beginnings as
individual communities during the 1860's organized events out of
the general need to celebrate the lives of each honored dead.
What ever the origin, Memorial Day was established not to divide
but to reconcile, gathering to honor those who sacrificed their
all.
- The events leading to the Official declaration
begin in 1865. |
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1862 |
Taps |
In July 1862 After the Seven Days battles at Harrison's Landing
(near Richmond,
Virginia)
General Daniel Butterfield (the Commander of the 3rd Brigade,
1st Division, V Army of the Potomac) was wounded. Thinking the
regular call (Signal for Extinguish Lights) for Lights Out was
too formal, with his bugler, Oliver Willcox North, they worked
out "Scott Tattoo" to create a new bugle call, "Taps." "Lights
Out" had originated with the French. The call of "Taps" first
sounded on an evening in July, 1862. "Taps" was adopted
throughout the Army of the Potomac, eventually being confirmed
by official orders. Other Union units began using the new call
with even a few Confederate units picking up on it. Taps
was written without words, however the most popular words of "Taps"
are linked below. |
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1862 |
Taps |
The first use of Taps in a
military funeral was during the Peninsular Campaign of 1862 when
a soldier of Tidball's Battery A of the 2nd Artillery was
buried. Concealed by the woods while occupying an advanced
position in close proximity of the enemy, it was unsafe to fire
the customary three volleys over the grave. Captain Tidball
thought the sounding of "Taps" would be a fitting tribute and
the most appropriate substitute. After the Civil War
Taps became an official bugle call. |
|
1863 |
Lincoln
Gettysburg
Address |
On November 19, 1863 with
the fear that he would be the last president,
President Abraham Lincoln
gives the short but powerful
Gettysburg Address, "a great civil war..testing whether that
nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long
endure." The Gettysburg Address has been called the first
observance of Memorial Day. Lincoln's intent was to dedicate a
portion of the battlefield as a cemetery for the thousands of
men, living and dead who consecrated the soil with their blood
in the battle. Within the speech he says, "That from these
honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause which they
gave the last full measure of devotion...that this nation, under
God, shall have a new birth of freedom..." |
|
1864 |
War ends |
The official end of the Civil War. |
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1864 |
Common
Grief |
Boalsburg, Pennsylvania claims Memorial Day
began in its village in 1864. In October Emma Hunter, a young
teen-age girl, accompanied by a friend gathered flowers to place
on her father's grave. He was a Union Army Soldier who had died
shortly before. The same day Mrs. Elizabeth Meyer laid out
flowers over the grave of her son, Amos who was a private who
had fallen the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg.
Each placed flowers on the grave of the other's loved one. They
knelt together in a common bond of grief in a little burial
ground eternally guarded by Mount Nittany in Central
Pennsylvania.
The full Story - Next Boalsburg
entry
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1865 |
Decorate
Waterloo |
Henry C. Welles, a
druggist in Waterloo, New York at a social gathering in 1865,
presents the idea of paying honor to the Civil War dead, by
decorating each grave. The Idea takes form the
next year. |
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1865 |
Decorate |
Women's Auxiliaries of the
North and South had been providing relief efforts to families
and soldiers on their respective sides. In the spring of
1865 with the Civil War coming to a close, the focus of these
women's groups began joining efforts to preserve and decorate
the graves of the fallen from both sides of the conflict. |
|
1865 |
May 30
Ceremony |
Leader of the
Virginia women's movement,
Cassandra Oliver Moncure, of French descent, coordinated
activities of several groups into a combined ceremony on May 30.
It has been said that she chose May 30 because it is the day
France celebrates the Day of Ashes; a solemn occasion
celebrating the return of the remains of Napoleon Bonaparte from
St. Helena to France. |
|
1865 |
First Parade
Charleston |
The race track in Charleston became the site of an early
Decoration Day observance in 1865, when thousands of freed
blacks and Union soldiers gathered to parade followed by a
picnic and patriotic songs. The site had been a Confederate
prison camp and mass grave of Union soldiers who had dies as
captives. |
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1865 |
July
Early
Observance |
In Boalsburg, Pennsylvania what was to be an informal event of
two women honoring fallen veterans became an impromptu
observance as friends, family and acquaintances converged on
July 4, 1865 at the little burial ground of Boalsburg. Dr.
George Hall preached a sermon as every grave in the cemetery was
decorated with flags and flowers.
The full Story - Prior Boalsburg
entry
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|
1866 |
Spring
Decorate
Waterloo |
With the idea of
decorating the graves of the Civil War dead, Henry C. Welles, a
druggist in Waterloo, New York
gains the support of Seneca County Clerk, General John B.
Murray, in the spring of 1866. A committee was formed to promote
the idea to the community. Wholly supported by the
townspeople, wreaths, crosses and bouquets were constructed for
placement on each veteran's grave. The date of the event was set
for May 5, 1866. |
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1866 |
April
Decorate |
On April 25, 1866 a group of women in Columbus, Mississippi,
visited a cemetery to decorate the graves of Confederate
soldiers who had fallen at Shiloh. Disturbed by the neglected
graves of Union soldiers (the enemy) they placed some of their
flowers, decorating those also. This act inspired the poem "The
Blue and the Grey" by Francis Miles Finch and published in the
Atlantic Monthly. The generosity and reconciliation prompted an
editorial printed by Horace Greeley's New York Tribune. The
practice of laying flowers at soldiers graves quickly became an
American tradition. |
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1866 |
May
Parade
Decorate
Ceremony
Waterloo |
On May 5 1866, the village
of Waterloo, New York was
decorated with flags at half-staff, evergreen boughs and mourning
black streamers. Businesses closed with residents also flying
flags at half-staff. War veterans led, joined by other civic
societies, a march, to martial music in processions to each of
three cemeteries. The graves of veterans were decorated and
speeches were made by General John B. Murray and local
clergymen. Waterloo,
New York was declared the official birthplace of Memorial
Day in 1966 by
President Johnson.
Waterloo lays claim to the first observance saying that earlier
observances were informal, one-time events, or not community
wide. The ceremony is again held the next year. |
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1866 |
May
Ceremony |
Major General John A. Logan helped to organize the first
organized veterans memorial services
Illinois, at Woodlawn Cemetery
in Carbondale in 1866. Logan was the first to officially
recognize Decoration Day (Memorial Day) in 1868. |
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1867 |
May
Ceremony
Waterloo |
Waterloo,
New York again honors the
fallen of the Civil War on May 5th, 1967, by repeating the
celebrations and ceremonies that were held the
year before. Waterloo lays claim to the first community wide
and yearly observance of Decoration Day, (Memorial Day) and will
join with other communities the next year to hold the ceremonies
on May 30th. |
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1867 |
Song |
"Kneel Where Our Loves are
Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet (published in 1867) carried the
dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the
Graves of the Confederate Dead" (
Song Information ) |
|
1868 |
May
Ceremony |
Waterloo,
New York held its third annual
Decoration (Memorial) Day Celebrations, joining with other
communities around the nation in holding them on May 30th.
Origin of Waterloo's ceremony.
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|
1868 |
May
Decoration
Day
Proclaim |
The Civil War had been over for three years when on May 5th,
1868, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a Union Veteran
organization, establishes Decoration Day.
Major General John A. Logan, Commander-in-Chief of the GAR,
in General Order No. 11, on May 5, 1868, makes the first
known/recorded official proclamation to honor those fallen in
the Civil War.
"Let
us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred
remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with
the choicest flowers of spring-time; let us raise above them
the dear old flag they saved from dishonor; let us in this
solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those
whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon a nation's
gratitude, the soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan."
-
Major General John A. Logan; excerpted from
General Order No. 11 |
|
1868 |
May
Ceremony |
The first observance at
Arlington National Cemetery is conducted in May of 1868. General
James Garfield gives a
speech just prior to 5000 volunteers decorating with flowers,
over 20,000 graves of Union and Confederate soldiers. |
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1868 |
Ceremony |
The first Memorial
ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery was inspired by the
varied memorial observances across America that had taken place
since the Civil War. Several Northern and Southern cities lay
claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. Among those are
Waterloo, New York; Columbus, Mississippi;
Macon,
Georgia; Richmond,
Virginia;
Boalsburg,
Pennsylvania;
and Carbondale,
Illinois. |
|
1873 |
States |
In 1873,
New York is the first state to
officially recognize the holiday, Decoration Day. All of
the northern states recognized the holiday by 1890. |
|
1885 |
Taps |
Taps is unique to the United States Military. The British
Army has a Call used for the same purpose known as "Last Post"
that has sounded over soldier's graves since 1885. "Taps" was
still officially called Extinguish Lights (Lights Out), although
most soldiers called it by "Taps," eventually the name of the
call was changed to "Taps." |
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1890 |
States |
All of the Northern states
have officially recognized Decoration Day by 1890. The
Southern States refused to honor the day, to honor the
Confederate dead on different days. |
|
1899 |
Observance |
By the end of the 1800's ceremonies in observance of Decoration
Day were being held throughout the country on May 30th.
State legislatures passed proclamations to designate the day.
The Army and Navy established regulations for proper observances
at their facilities. |
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The Poppy |
Many American dead were
buried in cemeteries all over Europe. The sites were usually
fields where red poppies grew wild. Some have taken the red
poppy to symbolize the blood that was spilt by the fallen.
John McCrae's in his poem "In Flander's Fields," he
immortalizes the fallen in the
image of the poppy.
"In Flanders fields
the poppies blow,
Between the crosses, row on row."
In Flander's Fields
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|
1911 |
Taps |
An Officer's Manual by Col. James A. Moss is published in 1911.
In the manual it give as account of the first use of "Taps" in a
military funeral. -
The Account |
|
1915 |
Poppy |
Moina Michael replies to
the poem "In Flanders Fields," in 1915 with:
We cherish too, the
Poppy red,
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies"
That blood of heroes never dies.
It was after writing
the above words that Moina Michael thought of the idea to wear
red poppies, to honor those who died in the service of their
country, on Memorial Day. Moina Michael was the first to wear a
poppy selling others to friends and co-workers then passing the
money along to help servicemen in need of help. |
Late
1910s |
Poppy |
Madam Guerin, visiting
America from France, learned of the new custom that began with
Moina Michael. Making and then selling artificial red poppies
she raised money for war orphaned and widowed women. The
tradition spread to other countries. |
|
1920s |
States |
After World War I (The
Great War) the meaning of the Decoration Day changed from
honoring Civil War dead to honoring all Americans in any war.
The holiday name also became "Memorial Day." The Southern States
begin to recognized the day. Many southern states maintain
a separate day (Confederate Memorial Day), to honor the
Confederate war dead. Alabama, forth Monday in April; Florida
and Georgia in April 26; Mississippi, last Monday in April;
North Carolina and South Carolina, May 10; Louisiana and
Tennessee on June 3rd, Jefferson Davis' birthday; Texas
(Confederate Heroes Day), January 19; and Virginia, last Monday
in May. |
|
1921 |
Poppy |
In America, in 1921,
Poppies were sold nationally by the Franco-American Children's
League to raise money for the war orphans of France and Belgium. |
|
1922 |
Poppy |
The Franco-American
Children's League disbanded in 1922 and Madam Guerin solicited
help from the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). The VFW became the
first Veterans Organization to sell poppies nationally. |
|
1923 |
Poppy |
The designation of "Buddy Poppy" and the plan, "Buddy
Poppy Program," to manufacture and hire disabled veterans to
help them financially, was adopted at the VFW's 1923 encampment. |
|
1924 |
Feb.
Poppy |
VFW applies for the registration of the name "Buddy Poppy," with
the U.S. Patent Office. |
|
1924 |
May
Poppy |
All trademark rights are issued to the VFW on May 20, 1924
for the name of "Buddy"; classification: artificial flowers. The
VFW has since made the trademark a guarantee that all poppies
with the the name "Buddy" and the VFW label are genuinely
assembled by disabled veterans in need. Disabled Veterans
assemble artificial poppies at The Buddy Poppy factory in
Pittsburgh and are paid as a means of financial assistance. |
|
1951 |
Flags |
In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began
placing flags at 150,000 grave markers in 1951, at Jefferson
Barracks National Cemetery, a practice that continues to this
day. |
Late
1950's |
Flags |
Beginning in the late 50's on the Thursday prior to Memorial
Day, 1,200 soldiers of the 3s U.S. Infantry place small American
flags at each of the more than 160,000 grave markers at
Arlington National Cemetery. This is a tradition that has
spread among military and veteran groups across America. |
|
1958 |
Taps |
A Stained Glass Window, commemorating the first sounding of Taps
at a military funeral, was installed and dedicated in 1958 at
the Chapel of the Centurion (Old Post Chapel) at Fort Monroe,
Virginia. The Stained
Glass Window depicts a bugler and a flag at half staff. A
drummer boy stands besides the bugler. |
|
1965 |
Centennial
Ceremony |
Plans for the Centennial Celebration of Memorial Day is began by
community leaders of Waterloo,
New York in 1965. Goals were
to seek national recognition of Waterloo being the birthplace of
Memorial Day through congressional action and to organize a
proper celebration of a centennial observance. |
|
1966 |
May
Birthplace |
The Official Birthplace
was declared, by President
Lyndon B. Johnson in May of 1966, to be Waterloo,
New York just in time for
Waterloo's Centennial Celebration. Memorial Day was first
observed in Waterloo, New York,
on May 5, 1866. However, the exact
origin of Memorial day has not been conclusively proven. |
|
1966 |
May
Centennial
Ceremony |
With the long awaited Government recognition of the official
birthplace, Waterloo,
New York hold its Centennial
Observance of Memorial Day on May 30th. The 1966 Centennial
Celebration was attended by dignitaries from government,
military, Veteran's organizations and descendants of the
original founders of Decoration Day in Waterloo,
New York. Other cities may
claim earlier observances but no other celebration compares with
the well planned events and continuity of observance that
Waterloo lays claim. |
|
Waterloo Museum |
Once a luxurious home, on Main Street in Waterloo,
New York, a house was
purchased from the county and restored to house the Memorial Day
Museum to house artifacts of early Decoration Day and of the
Civil War. |
|
1968 |
June
Holiday |
The Uniform Holidays Bill passed the United States Congress on
June 28, 1968. The bill moved four holidays from the traditional
date to a specified Monday. Memorial Day was moved to the last
Monday in May. The effective date was designated to be
1971. |
|
1969 |
July
Taps |
The Virginia American Legion dedicated a monument to Taps, July
4, 1969, on Berkeley Plantation where Harrisons Landing is
located (The site where Taps was born.) The grandson of the
drummer boy had purchased the Berkeley Plantation. Rich in
History, the Harrisons of Berkeley Plantation includes Benjamin
Harrison, signer of the Declaration of Independence; and father
and grandfather of two presidents;
President Benjamin
Harrison; and
President William Henry Harrison. |
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1971 |
Holiday |
By congressional act Memorial Day was declared a National
Holiday in 1971. It was also designated to be observed on the
last Monday in May, as other holidays also were similarly moved
to a Monday. Memorial Day was also expanded to honor all
who have died in American wars. A few States continued to
observe Memorial Day on May 30th. |
|
1998 |
May
Decorate |
The Boy Scouts and Girl
Scouts began in 1998 to place a candle, the Saturday before
Memorial Day, at each of over 15,000 memorial markers of
soldiers interred at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National
Military Park at Marye's Heights in Virginia.
see the
Luminaria Program |
|
2000 |
Dec.
Observance |
The “The National Moment
of Remembrance Act,” P.L. 106-579 was passed in Congress on
December of 2000. the White House Commission on the National
Moment of Remembrance was created with the charter to "encourage
the people of the United States to give something back to their
country, which provides them so much freedom and opportunity.”
The charter also encourages coordination of commemorations in
the United States of Memorial Day and the National Moment of
Remembrance. It is asked that at 3 p.m. on Memorial Day all
Americans, "... voluntarily and informally observe in their own
way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever
they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to Taps."
Carmella LaSpada, Moment of Remembrance founder says, “It’s a
way we can all help put the memorial back in Memorial Day.” |
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2004 |
Memorial |
On Saturday, May 29th, 2004 the National World War II Memorial
was dedicated in Washington, D.C., honoring the 16 million
Americans who served in the armed forces and the 400,000
soldiers who died in the war. 200,000 people attended the
dedication; half of the were veterans. The National World War II
Memorial sits between the Washington and Lincoln memorials in
the National Mall. The size of a football field, the monument
contains arches, pillars, wall of stars, fountains, a pool and
many inscriptions; among them:
"Here in the presence of Washington and
Lincoln, one the Eighteenth-Century father and the other the
Nineteenth-Century preserver of our nation, we honor those
Twentieth-Century Americans who took up the struggle during
the Second World War and made the sacrifices to perpetuate
the gift our forefathers entrusted to us: a nation conceived
in liberty and justice."
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|
2004 |
May
Parade |
In 2004, Washington D.C. held the first Memorial Day parade in
over 60 years. |
|
2004 |
May
Decorate |
The students of Tahoma
High School in Kent,
Washington
placed flags at each marker at the Tahoma National Cemetery in
2004. Ceremonies are held at most National Cemeteries on
Veterans Day and Memorial Day. |
|
Poppy |
Poppies are still
assembled, in the Buddy Poppy program, by veterans in VA
hospitals across the nation. The VFW Buddy Poppy program, today
provides financial assistance in maintaining veterans'
rehabilitation and service programs and aids in the support of
the VFW National Home for orphans and widows of our nation's
veterans. |
Flander's
Field |
In Flander's Field
by John McCrae
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow,
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky,
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead.
Short days ago, we lived,
Felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved and now we lie,
In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you, from failing hands, we throw,
The torch, be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us, who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow,
In Flanders Fields. |
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Words to Taps |
Words to Taps
(Note: there are no
"official" words to Taps
These are the most popular.)
Day is done, gone the sun,
From the hills, from the lake,
From the skies.
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh.
Go to sleep, peaceful sleep,
May the soldier or sailor,
God keep.
On the land or the deep,
Safe in sleep.
Love, good night, must thou go,
When the day and the night,
Need thee so?
All is well, speedeth all
to their rest.
|
Fades the light; and afar
Goeth day, and the stars
Shineth bright,
fare thee well;
Day has gone, night is on.
Thanks and praise, for our days,
'Neath the sun, neath the stars,
'Neath the sky,
As we go, this we know,
God is nigh.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another version is simply,
Go to sleep, go to sleep,
Go to sleep, go to sleep.
Go to sleep.
Go to sleep, go to sleep,
Go to sleep. |
|
Words to Taps,
by the
PoetPatriot
|
|
Nation's Son
by Roger W Hancock |
Young the son, oh so young,
From mother, from father,
Now away.
Becomes man; honored one;
Nation's son. |
Boy to man, oh so brave,
learn to march, learn to fight,
soldier boy.
Day is done, honored one;
Nation's son. |
|
© July 15, 2006,
Roger W Hancock,
www.PoetPatriot.com
|
|
Above and below can be sung to the tune of the bugle
call, Taps.
|
|
Nation's
Girl
by Roger W Hancock |
Young daughter, oh so young,
From mother, from father,
Now away.
Now woman; honored one;
Nation's girl. |
Girl, woman, oh so brave,
learn to march, learn to fight,
soldier girl.
Day is done; honored one;
Nation's girl. |
|
© July 15, 2006,
Roger W Hancock,
www.PoetPatriot.com
|
|
Memorial Day
Last Monday
in May. |
The survivors, who know only too well the horrors of war,
that have since passed on, we pay tribute. The Blood of Brave
men spilt to liberate the oppressed ensuring freedom for the
American citizen and future generations, we honor. Blood spilt
on American soil and foreign lands were the sacrifices made by
the fallen American war veteran. To these we pay tribute and
honor on Memorial Day. |
|
|
|
© Copyright 2006
Roger W Hancock www.PoetPatriot.com |
Memorial Day Links
|
- Military Poetry
Sources:
http://www.usmemorialday.org/taps.html -
http://www.west-point.org/taps/Taps.html -
http://www1.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/index.asp -
http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html
-
http://www.twilightbridge.com/hobbies/festivals/memorial/history.htm
-
http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=cmty.levelc&cid=127 -
http://www1.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/history.asp#hist -
http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacentre/memory.htm -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day -
http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/memorial -
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyseneca/memorial.htm -
http://www.jal.cc.il.us/johnlogan.html -
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may30.html -
http://www.factmonster.com/spot/ww2memorial.html -
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