A Solemn Day

“Four score and seven years ago ...”

The words, known to most school children and their parents, are the opening words of the Gettysburg Address, probably the best know speech by any American. The world will long remember them.

Fewer of the children and adults know that they were uttered by President Abraham Lincoln
on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Pennsylvania. The battlefield was filled with the graves of “who here gave their lives that that nation might live.” A year later, on July 4^th, 1864, those graves were decorated with flowers by local women, and that practice was later adopted in the form of a national holiday, Decoration Day – which we now observe as “Memorial Day,” although the character of the holiday has changed completely.

The decoration of graves by family members is an ancient custom, although the practice originated to memorialize single individuals. There is dispute about the origin of its observance as a recollection of the deaths of the numerous soldiers lost during the Civil War, but the practice certainly began in several locations before the Commander-in Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic (the GAR, an organization of Union Army veterans), General John Logan, called for the establishment of a national holiday – Decoration Day – to commemorate the sacrifices made by so many. In that form it was first held on May 30^th in 1868.ⁱ Although the practice was not at that time an official holiday, it was taken up by localities and states and, soon, the Federal Government.

The observances varied from time to time. Decoration of the graves was an important feature, as were the speeches that recalled the sacrifices of the dead and the atrocities of those who had opposed whichever side was favored by the speaker. The flag was lowered to half-staff and memorials were held for the fallen. In some locations parades were held.

Subsequently, as national military cemeteries were established, and as more died in other wars, military observances became more formalized and more ritualized and, in 1967, the name of the holiday was changed to Memorial Day. Although the name had been adopted in some locations earlier, it was changed under Federal law at that time. As both the old and the new names testify, it was as solemn day – one of remembrance and appreciation.

Things changed, however, the following year with the passage of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act which changed Memorial Day, along with Washington's Birthday, Columbus Day, and Veterans Day,ⁱⁱ into Monday holidays near their original dates. This created three-day weekends for Federal workers, and soon for others as well. And those holidays, memorials of our history, became joyous celebrations, accompanied by paid leave and barbecues. In the case of Decoration/Memorial Day, what had been a solemn day, a day to remember those who died preserving our freedom, became a time of celebration, picnics, automobile races, and the unofficial beginning of summer. The politicians, primarily for PR purposes, continued to pay lip-service to the original intent, but it was clear that the day had as little meaning for them as it did for most Americans. The only ones who cared about the meaning of the holiday were those who had lost friends or family members. Most of the rest of us viewed it as a day off with pay.

But whenever we observe the day we must remember that it originated as a day to decorate the graves of those who fought and died for us, and became a day of memorial for them. They may not have fought willingly, they may have opposed the wars in which they were called upon to take part, but because of them are free and we are alive. Perhaps we, too, questioned some of the choices our government made, and would have preferred another form of conflict resolution, but we chose the government and authorized it to make decisions for us. We are responsible, and we owe our heroes our respect.

We can't go back. We are alive and they are dead. We can argue about whether those deaths were necessary, but we cannot change the facts. We cannot bring them back. We may take a day off from work and celebrate, we may have a barbecue or go on a picnic. But if we forget that they didn't get a day off, and their action was no picnic, then we deny our own history. We deny our national goals, converting patriotism to frivolity, and the sacrifice of others to a day off for us.

We have an obligation: we must continue to be dedicated to the great task remaining before us. We must remember. For if we do not, our entire raison d'être perishes from the earth.

 

 

 

 

I        May 30^th was chosen, according to government sources, because that corresponds to a time when many flowers are in bloom and can be used for the purpose. The date does not commemorate any specific event.

ii       By 1975, in response to veterans' pressure groups, Veterans Day observance was returned to November 11^th, the day of the armistice that ended the First World War. Even so, some communities observe it on other dates and irrespective of the day of the week that November 11^th falls, a day off from work is arranged for Federal employees, and some others. For many of them the meaning of the holiday is less significant than the time off.