| MAY 30, 2011 -- By many accounts, the Memorial Day tradition of honoring our war dead reaches back to the Confederate wives and daughters who decorated the graves of Southern soldiers. But visit the town of Waterloo in New York's Finger Lakes region, and they will tell you that Memorial Day began there, in 1866 at the suggestion of local druggist Henry C. Welles.
Others say Memorial Day began on May 30, 1868. That is the day Gen. John A. Logan, commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, the nation's largest association of Union war veterans, ordered that flowers be laid on graves in soldiers' cemeteries across the country.
Nearly a century and a half later, what matters more than Memorial Day's birthplace is the fact that it still is "altogether fitting and proper that we should do this," as Abraham Lincoln said during another occasion to honor Civil War graves, on Nov. 19, 1863 in Gettysburg, Pa.
Editorials about this day often begin by saying Memorial Day is not about backyard barbecues or trips to the beach. But that's not really true. Those things are exactly what it is about: the freedom to be with family and friends, to go where we please, to say what we want while there.
But today should be the day we don't just do those things, it should be the day we consider them, the day we don't take them for granted. Today is the day we reflect on what precious gifts those things are.
Most important, today is the day we give thanks to the men and women who gave us those gifts.
Some of us will do that by taking part in or attending a parade, a wreath-laying ceremony or religious service. Some will make sure to spend time with a veteran.
And yes, some will enjoy the day off from work or school without a second thought to the multitudes who sacrificed their lives for us, to those who are dying still. If that's you, we might suggest using the day to brush up on your history.
When he ordered that soldiers' graves be decorated, Gen. Logan explained it was to glorify "our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foe."
Of the millions of words spoken in ceremonies across the country today, we doubt any will illuminate the sacrifices made on our behalf better than the general's. As we consider them, it becomes clear that finding a way to honor those sacrifices is the very least that we can do. It is indeed altogether fitting and proper. |
