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    Memorial Day was first called Decoration Day, when the women of Columbus, Miss., decorated the graves of fallen Confederate soldiers, many of whom had been killed at nearby Shiloh Church in the first great blood-letting of our Civil War. Union wives and mothers soon followed the example, many to sing of kneeling "Where Our Loves are Sleeping."     For generations schoolchildren learned as a Memorial Day recitation the lines written by Col. John McRae, a Canadian doctor, as he took a break at a field hospital beside a cemetery at the Ypres salient in 1915: "In Flanders fields the poppies blow/between...

The Confederate flag is rising again in Missouri, and an NAACP leader is vowing a "drastic" response. Republican Gov. Matt Blunt has ordered the Confederate flag to fly Sunday at the Confederate Memorial State Historic Site in Higginsville, where an afternoon graveside service is planned to mark Confederate Memorial Day. The flag will fly for only one day, but a Blunt spokesman said Friday the governor also supports a scholarly review of whether it would be appropriate to again fly the Confederate flag regularly at the historic site. Mary Ratliff, president of the Missouri State Conference of the National Association...

Decoration Day is now what we refer to as Memorial Day, it first began as a way to honor our Civil War dead by decorating their graves. Many places claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day but the earliest documented record of this celebration dates to May 1866 in Waterloo, NY. In May 1966, Congress and President Johnson proclaimed Waterloo, NY the "Birthplace of Memorial Day". We now remember the dead of all our wars on this day. These cards are part of Raphael Tuck & Sons Decoration Day Post Card series. One card was produced in Germany, the...

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead" (Source:...

They said it couldn't be done ... and Rev. Friend proved them wrong! Click on the link for pictures and video of last Monday's outstanding Memorial Day Parade!

We are here today both to remember and to honor our Confederate forefathers. We remember and honor them, first of all, because they are OURS. They made us what we are. To honor one's forebears is a deep and universal human inclination. General Lee, in his farewell address to his men, told them that their four-year struggle for freedom had been marked by "unsurpassed courage and fortitude" and that their "valor and devotion" had endeared them to their countrymen. Our Confederate forefathers' "valor and devotion" did more than make for themselves a place in the hearts of future generations of...

click Click Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the...

<p>Alexandria public schools administrators have scrapped the Memorial Day holiday this year to make up for class days missed in the winter. The decision upset many teachers, several of whom are veterans or spouses of veterans, especially with service members fighting in Iraq. "It's about people who give their lives for our country. This is about people in wheelchairs," said Hilari Hinnant, a first-grade teacher at John Adams Elementary School whose husband served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. "It's a serious holiday, especially given what our country has been through." Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who died in military service. Its roots are disputed, but it was first officially observed May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at the Arlington National Cemetery. Jacqualyne Evans Mcrae, a teacher at John Adams school, was part of an Air Force unit stationed in Aviano, Italy, during the 1991 Persian Gulf war, and the traditional holiday holds special meaning for her. But this Memorial Day, May 26, she will be working, while her counterparts in other area school districts will take time off to honor America's war dead. Ms. Evans Mcrae conceded that the day honoring troops may not be much more than a time to hit the pools and parks for some children, but added that the operations in Iraq make it more likely that parents would take the time this year to remind their children about the U.S.-led war efforts and the people involved in the same. "There is the chance for a more open reflection and acknowledgment, and a lot of parents want their children to experience and know about it," she said. "I think more parents would go down to the memorials and monuments." The decision to use Memorial Day as make-up day was made by administrators before the campaign in Iraq started, said Barbara Hunter, executive director of information and outreach. She said a few parents have complained, but added that while the school district respects their arguments, "I don't think there's any chance it will change." She said the schools could have a barbecue or similar event in celebration of troop efforts and many plan to talk to students about the significance of Memorial Day. "I suspect that many [students] miss the point of Memorial Day and don't realize how important what U.S. soldiers are doing is," Ms. Hunter said. "We're looking at this as really a way to teach them." Some teachers said they would rather tack on a school day at the end of the year than come to school on Memorial Day to meet the number of student-teacher contact days required. But Ms. Hunter said that wasn't done because students in grades seven through 12 are using those days to prepare for the Standards of Learning tests being held at the end of the school year. Kimberly Brooks, a speech pathologist at John Adams school, said she disagrees with the decision to have school that day but will try to educate students on the holiday by having them write letters, watch videos or discuss current events. "Even though I'm not a veteran, it's kind of deplorable because of where we live," Ms. Brooks said, referring to the school's proximity to the nation's capital and the Pentagon.</p>

latest update: Friday, April 18, 2003 at 08:36 AM EDT click photo to enlarge   A Confederate flag adorns a memorial marker placed in remembrance of Isaac Papino, an African American soldier who served in the Confederate army.By MATT MAY, Staff Confederate Memorial Day will honor soldiers who sided against the Union By PETER GUINTA Senior Writer   Most Civil War histories usually ignore the more than 70,000 African-Americans who served with Confederate armies. People know little about them, but in 1861, noted black abolitionist Frederick Douglass said, "There are many colored men in the Confederate Army as real soldiers,...

In Flanders FieldBy: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)Canadian ArmyIN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row,That mark our place, and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below.We are the Dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,Loved and were loved, and now we lieIn Flanders fields.Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from failing hands we throwThe torch; be yours to hold it high.If ye break faith with us who dieWe shall not sleep, though poppies growIn Flanders fields. McCrae's "In Flanders Fields" remains to this...