Memorial Day, from Confederacy to complacency

by Denny Banister

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed shortly after the conclusion of the Civil War by General John Logan, national commander of the Army of the Republic. Memorial Day seems to have its roots in the Confederacy, however, where women’s groups organized to decorate graves of fallen Confederate soldiers, starting the tradition.

With Logan’s General Order No. 11, the first official observance of Memorial Day occurred on May 30, 1868. Perhaps it was an attempt to heal a severely wounded nation when Logan ordered flowers placed on 20,000 graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.

After World War I, Memorial Day (or Decoration Day as it was then called) was expanded to honor those who died in all American wars, not just the Civil War. Memorial Day was observed on May 30 from 1868 until 1971 when Congress passed the National Holiday Act to create three-day weekends of federal holidays, changing Memorial Day to the last Monday in May.

Wearing red poppies on Memorial Day to honor those who died dates back to 1915. The idea was conceived by Moina Michael, the first to wear a poppy for that purpose. Inspired by the poem In Flanders Fields, Michael wrote: 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.

Michael sold poppies to raise money to benefit needy servicemen. The VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) began selling artificial poppies through their Buddy Poppy Program in 1922 to raise money for the disabled veterans who made the poppies.

The Memorial Day of America’s past has a very distinguished history. Memorial Day present, which began in 1971 and continues today, has unfortunately evolved into a three-day weekend that degrades the significance of the occasion.

While we celebrate the three-day weekend with the opening of swimming pools and one of the biggest picnic and barbecue days of the season, American men and women who serve in our military are not able to share in our fun and leisure time; they are too busy putting their lives on the line for our country.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with swimming, picnicking and barbecuing on Memorial Day. As part of a three-day weekend, however, many of us use Memorial Day Monday to pack and travel home from our mini-vacation and cannot attend services. We need to return honor and dignity to Memorial Day.

Resuming the 104 year tradition of recognizing Memorial Day each May 30 would be a step in the right direction. Even better would be to designate the last Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday in May as Memorial Day to separate it from our weekend activities.

It would be a day off work where we could spend at least a little time attending services, visiting gravesites or participating in parades to honor those who gave their all for us. Let us not be complacent about their sacrifice.

(Denny Banister, of Jefferson City, is the assistant director of public affairs for the Missouri Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization.)