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TechnoratiOn May 5, 1868, General Logan declared in General Order #11 that,
“The 30th [day] 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 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.”
During that first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery after which 5,000 participants helped decorate the graves of more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery.
It was not until 1971 that Congress declared Memorial Day to be a national holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May. Today, Memorial Day is celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery with a ceremony in which a small American flag is placed on each grave in Arlington Cemetery. Also, it is customary for the President or the Vice President to give a speech honoring the contributions of the dead and to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
I suspect that General Logan’s proclamation of 1868 was simply the making official of what the nation yearned for and spontaneously began to do in various communities and locations both North and South as they surveyed the horrific destruction wrought upon the nation during the Civil War. In that sharing of loss, in that honoring the sacrifices of those who made possible the lives we enjoy today, we reach across the generations and keep Memorial Day in our hearts.
I suspect that all of us—whether we realize it or not—have a connection to someone who died serving our country. It is those losses—from our revolution for independence to the current war on terrorism—which we commemorate and memorialize on Memorial Day.
The day is more often regarded now as the official beginning of summer and another occasion for department stores to have sales. A recent Gallup poll revealed only 3 percent of respondents planned to attend a formal community event to mark the day and only 28 percent of those polled knew the meaning of the date. I am hopeful the battlefield sacrifices that are memorialized on that day will survive in our consciences throughout the year and that as we look toward next year, we will commit anew to remember those who unselfishly served and died for our sake. We are of all people most blessed.
As President George W. Bush looked over our national cemetery during services held there May 28, 2007, he said,
“We receive the fallen in sorrow, and we take them to an honored place to rest. Looking across this field, we see the scale of heroism and sacrifice. All who are buried here understood their duty. All stood to protect America. And all carried with them memories of a family that they hoped to keep safe by their sacrifice.”
We are thankful to God Almighty that in His providence we have the privilege of being born in the United States of America, the greatest nation ever conceived in the mind of man, a nation that has been profoundly blessed by God. Freedom isn’t cheap; freedom isn’t free. American heroes in uniform paid the supreme sacrifice to secure that liberty. Let us never forget.
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Dr. Richard Land is president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the Southern Baptist Convention's official entity assigned to address social, moral, and ethical concerns, with particular attention to their impact on American families and their faith.
