Monday-Monday A Day of Remembrance
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Are you headed to the lake, lawn chairs, grill, and ice chest ready for the holiday? Perhaps your having friends over to cook out in the back yard. These are wonderful times with family and friends. Please be careful if you are, be sure to stay safe and use sunscreen!
But also take a moment to remember why we celebrate today.
This holiday was established to honor those who’d died in the Civil War. In fact, it was originally called Decoration Day.
General John A. Logan, called for a nationwide day of remembrance. May 30th, 1868 was selected because it was not the anniversary of any particular battle. To honor the fallen, soldiers decorated graves with flowers, flags and wreaths. Hence Decoration Day.
The title wouldn’t change to Memorial Day until 1967.
Each year, on the Thursday before the holiday, 1,200 soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing.
The “National Moment of Remembrance” resolution was passed on Dec 2000, which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans “To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to ‘Taps.”
So for all of soldiers, past, present, and future, let’s take time to say…Thank You!
Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/05/28/7-things-you-didnt-know-about-memorial-day/#ixzz2U9OjN7Jl
Read more: http://History.com
Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com
Read more: http://usmemorialday.org
