Decoration Day

Last week’s holiday made me do a little research, which I don’t ordinarily do. Even with all of our present-day methods of finding answers to questions, I was unable to establish when Memorial Day expanded; becoming a day that we remember all of our deceased loved ones, not just Veterans. Understand, I personally think remembering our loved ones on Memorial Day is great! Some of us remember calling this day “Decoration Day.” I did find that this custom started as far back as the Civil War and expanded to include other battles. The 30th of May was the day designated rather than the anniversary of any particular battle in which soldiers were lost.

The day set aside to honor veterans who lost their lives in battle was changed to the last Monday of May, making it a three-day holiday. I am not sure on my facts, but I think the change was made in 1971 with legislative action called National Holiday Uniform Monday Holiday Act. Keep in mind this is not a history lesson and I may be wrong, and I am only guessing that Decoration Day became Memorial Day at the same time. It is nice to have a three-day weekend for beginning our summer season with camping, BBQs, fishing, etc. It is also refreshing to make a trip to the cemetery at this time. The grounds are freshly mowed, all of the flowers, fresh and artificial, the flags at all of the headstones of our Vets make this a peaceful trip.

Veteran headstones bring another question to mind. When and how did this come about? I bet that one of our VFW members could tell me, and save me research time. Feel free to give me a call. Just a reminder, make a trip to your local cemetery, spend a little time, enjoy the old sections of cemeteries, the variety of tombstones and the memories that are triggered if you are local and remember those deceased and the history they could share.