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HEADQUARTERS GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC

Washington D.C. May 5, 1868

General Orders No. 11

I. The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or other 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 churchyard 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 by cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead? 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 pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no 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 and 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 in us.

Let us, then, at the time appointed, gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with choicest flowers of springtime; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledge to aid and to assist those whom they have left among us as a sacred charge upon the 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 call attention to this Order, and lend its friendly aid in bringing it to the notice of comrades in all parts of the country in time for simultaneous compliance therewith.

Department Commanders will use every effort to make this Order effective. By Command of:

N.P. Chipman John A. Logan Adjutant General Commander-in-Chief

Your silent tents of green
We deck with fragrant flowers;
Yours has the suffering been
The memory shall be ours

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day." -- VFW 2002 Memorial Day address

Memorial Day used to be a solemn day of mourning, a sacred day of remembrance to honor those who paid the ultimate price for our freedoms. Businesses closed for the day. Towns held parades honoring the fallen, the parade routes often times ending at a local cemetery, where Memorial Day speeches were given and prayers offered up. People took the time that day to clean and decorate with flowers and flags the graves of those the fell in service to their country.

Unfortunately, when Congress made Memorial day into a mandatory three-day weekend in with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 - 363), it made it all the easier for us to be distracted from the spirit and meaning of the day.

The 30th day of May, 1868

The yankees were late getting on board. The first memorial day was celebrated in Georgia in 1866. I'll dig around a bit.

When I first started teaching in 1972, the Memorial Day assignment was for the students to memorize and recite “In Flanders Fields”. It was a wonderful assignment; one that they remembered for years after wards (the former students told me this). Today, I’m not sure they would allow this to be done.

Thanks for the post, Snippy. Hope all is well with you and Sam.

This Memorial Day was bittersweet for me. We have many fallen heroes from the war we are fighting today to honor in addition to those from past wars.

On the other hand, the MSM just seemed a little over anxious to publicize our honored dead to press their political agenda that this war is "lost." How ironic that this holiday was born in the aftermath of the Civil War, when a population a mere fraction of today's suffered truly horrific casualties. Facts our present day history-deprived generation is unaware of.

God Bless those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for this great nation.

Here’s a good book I’m reading now.

Ship of Ghosts
The story of the USS Houston CA-30

A few excerpts:
This captivating saga chronicles the ordeal of the lost cruiser USS Houston and the fate of its 1,168 men — a grim tale that was then a mystery and largely untold in historical accounts of WWII naval warfare in the Pacific.
Hornfischer provides an intimate history of FDR’s favorite pre-war ship, its crew and the desperate sea battle in 1942 off the coast of Java that sunk the Houston, the U.S. fleet’s flagship in Asia.

The bulk of Ship of Ghosts follows what happened to the third of Houston’s crew that survived the sea battle only to face shark-infested waters, hostile nearby islanders, and — for those lucky or unlucky enough to get that far —years of hardship and struggle to stay alive as prisoners of war. This is the part of the story that David Lean told in his classic film The Bridge on the River Kwai — about horror-filled POW camps in the impassable jungles of Burma and Thailand, where merciless Japanese guards forced Houston survivors suffering from starvation and deadly tropical diseases to build bridges and railroads by hand.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/reviews/2006-12-13-ship-ghosts-review_x.htm

http://www.randomhouse.com/bantamdell/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780553803907

http://www.randomhouse.com/audio/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780739311431

Authors sight (nice Memorial on it)
http://www.jameshornfischer.com/

It’s deserving of a movie Or a Foxhole thread. The battles it was in is something else

Thank you!

Good to see you, hope all is well with you two.

Wow! My grandfather fought in World War I, down in the trenches. My mother was a member of VFW and I remember as a girl helping her sell poppies to raise money for the VFW.

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