Memorial Day - More than a Long Weekend

Bailey's is open regular hours today (Noon-8PM) and tomorrow (10-10). As always, we offer a 10% discount to all current members of the Armed Forces and Veterans. Today's Post takes a look at Memorial Day (origianlly Decoration Day), a day when our nation honors the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military.

The practice of strewing flowers on graves has been documented from Classical Roman times to western Europe in the nineteenth century. On May 5, 1868 Major General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), issued General Orders No. 11 establishing a Decoration Day on which the nation would remember its war dead and decorate their graves with flowers.

During the first national commemoration, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery. After his speech, 5,000 participants helped decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there. Today, a small American flag is placed on each grave at Arlington. Also, it is tradition for the President or Vice President to lay a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day.

Decoration Day originally honored only those lost while fighting in the Civil War. Since World War I the holiday has evolved to commemorate American military personnel who died in all wars. For decades, Memorial Day was observed on May 30, the date General Logan had selected for the first Decoration Day. In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May. This change went into effect in 1971 when Memorial Day became a federal holiday.

For more details and/or history of Memorial Day, check these sites - PBS, VA, History, Arlington, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.