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Upcoming Memorial Day

Ernst

Ernst

.30-06
"Philanthropist"
Observed the last Monday in May, Memorial Day honors those who lost their lives while in service to the United States during peace and war. Memorial Day is not a celebration but a solemn day to reflect on veterans and military personnel who are deceased.

Memorial Day is a day to honor members of the military who were killed in service, both during deployments overseas or in training and service in the U.S.

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Across the country, Americans spend the day visiting cemeteries, attending Memorial Day events and otherwise honoring those who lost their lives in service to the country.

Because Memorial Day is a somber day to honor those who died in service to the country, saying “Happy Memorial Day” is considered bad taste. For those who have lost family or friends through military service, the day is far from happy. If you feel the need to say something, try “Have a Meaningful Memorial Day.”

Because Memorial Day is for honoring the fallen, not the living, it is not considered appropriate to thank a veteran for his or her service on Memorial Day.

The red poppy is often worn on Memorial Day, a tradition started during World War I and inspired by Canadian soldier John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields,” written in 1915.
 
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Talked to a friend today who said they were the last in their family who took care of family graves on holidays including Memorial Day and was distresses that when they were gone who would carry on the traditions. Far to many graves of veterans go unattended and it sure would be good if communities adopted these forgotten heros.

This brings to mind a cemetery in the Netherlands where the local community has adopted everyone of the graves of American soldiers.

Why can't we do something here to remember our fallen?

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Ernst, thank you for the very informative post. Like most patriotic holidays it seems over the years the meaning gets lost. They just become another long weekend for so many.

Again, thank you for the post.
 
Washington, D.C., May 5th, 1868
Headquarters, Grand Army of The Republic

General John A. Logan's General Order 11 (Memorial Day Order)​

I. The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.
We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us, for the purpose among other things, "of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors, and marines who united to suppress the late rebellion." What can aid more to assure this result than cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foes? Their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom to a race in chains, and their deaths the tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.
If other eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us.
Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of spring-time; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from hishonor; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon a nation's gratitude, the soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan.
II. It is the purpose of the Commander-in-Chief to inaugurate this observance with the hope that it will be kept up from year to year, while a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades. He earnestly desires the public press to lend its friendly aid in bringing to the notice of comrades in all parts of the country in time for simultaneous compliance therewith.
III. Department commanders will use efforts to make this order effective.
By order of
JOHN A. LOGAN,
Commander-in-Chief
‍N.P. CHIPMAN,
Adjutant General
Official:
WM. T. COLLINS, A.A.G.
 
During many military funerals and on Memorial Day we hear the playing of Taps. Many folks have never hear the words to Taps.

Words to Taps‍​


Day is done, gone the sun,
From the hills, from the lake, from the skies.
All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.

Go to sleep, peaceful sleep, may the soldier
or sailor, God keep. On the land or the deep, Safe in sleep.

Love, good night, must thou go,
when the day, and the night need thee so?
All is well. Speedeth all To their rest.

Fades the light;
And afar Goeth day,
And the stars Shineth bright,
Fare thee well;
Day has gone, night is on.

Thanks and praise, for our days,
'Neath the sun, Neath the stars, 'Neath the sky,
As we go, this we know, God is nigh.
 
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Memorial Day Flag Etiquette and a National Moment of Remembrance

On this sacred holiday flags should be flown at half-staff from sunrise until noon. This is in memory of the dead; the somber tradition represents the nation's mourning for the lives lost in military service.

To do this properly, and to start Memorial Day off right, the U.S. flag should first be hoisted to the peak for an instant, then lowered to the half-staff position.

After 12 p.m., the flag should be raised to full-staff. This represents the resolve to continue the fight for freedom and uphold the sacrifices made by those who served.

Additionally, the National Moment of Remembrance is an annual event that asks Americans, wherever they are at 3:00 p.m. local time on Memorial Day, to pause for a duration of one minute to remember those who have died in military service to the United States.

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Ernst, thanks again for your posts. I don’t remember ever being made aware of the proper Memorial Day flag etiquette. I will do that this year proudly.

Thanks again for your posts and your service.
 
In a living tribute to those who gave their lives in service to our country, the USAA Poppy Wall of Honor has returned to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for its sixth year, providing a space for remembrance and reflection.

Originally unveiled in 2018, the 134-foot installation pays homage to the more than 600,000 U.S. military members who made the ultimate sacrifice.

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We had cloudy skies and rain off and on Memorial Say. I found it to be fitting in a way most at the lake probably would not have understood.
 
It was quite warm and sunny here. Not gloomy enough for proper mourning.

We had the traditional California back yard barbecue.
 
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