1st Decoration Day at Arlington Cemetery

“What other spot so fitting for their last resting place as this under the shadow of the Capitol saved by their valor? Here, where the grim edge of battle joined; here, where all the hope and fear and agony of their country centered; here let them rest, asleep on the Nation’s heart, entombed in the Nation’s love!”

Those are the words of James A Garfield on May 30^th, 1868, spoken to a crowd of 5,000 gathered at Arlington National Cemetery for the first Decoration Day.  Garfield, then an Ohio Congressman, a past Major General in the Civil War and a future President, spoke of the inability of putting into words the sacrifices of the men who forfeited their lives for the cause of The Nation.

Three years after the Civil War ended, in May 5, 1868, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), an organization of Union veterans, issued General Orders No. 11, otherwise known as the Memorial Day Act.” This issuance formally established “Decoration Day”, May 30^th, a day on which the country would remember their war dead by the placement of flowers on their graves. The ceremonial observation was set in May 30^th to ensure availability of “the choicest flowers of springtime.”

On that first formal Decoration Day, 11,250 White and Black Union soldiers were buried along with approximately 350 Confederate soldiers, more than half of which were “unknowns”. Decoration Day originally honored only those lost while fighting in the Civil War. After World War I, in which our country lost more than 100,000 soldiers, Decoration Day was expanded to honor all those who had died while fighting for our country. Congress made “Decoration Day” an official holiday in 1971 with the passage of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act and designated the last Monday in May as “Memorial Day”, creating a long 3 day weekend.

According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, the origins of special services to honor those who die in war can be found in antiquity. The Athenian leader, Pericles, offered a tribute to the fallen heroes of the Peloponnesian War over 24 centuries ago that could be applied today to the 1.1 million Americans who have died in the nation’s wars: “Not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions, but there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men.”

Today, Memorial Day unofficially marks the beginning of summer with parties and barbeques. However, the holiday was not meant to be jubilant. Official etiquette calls for flags to be flown at half staff until noon, then full staff until sundown. In 2010, the American Legion called for a more serious observance of Memorial Day and restoring Memorial Day to May 30^th. “The majority of Americans view Memorial Day as a time for relaxation and leisure recreation rather than a solemn occasion.”

In that regard, the late Hawaii Senator, Daniel Inouye, a World War II veteran, had several times introduced legislation that would move Memorial Day back to May 30^th, without success. Today, many groups of people hold a moment of remembrance at 3:00 PM local time and across the country, in many towns, one can hear the tolling of bells to honor our fallen soldiers.