The Story
The War Between the States took a hard emotional toll on America. But one event emerged from these troubled times as a national gesture of gratitude.
According to legend, many towns around the country were setting aside days to remember the fallen soldiers. On these days, the men’s graves were decorated with flowers.
One of the first of these informal ceremonies may have been on April 25, 1866, in Columbus, Mississippi. According to VA.gov, a group of women went to a local cemetery to put flowers on the graves of Confederate soldiers. The women noticed that nearby graves of Union soldiers lay bare and decorated those as well.
These events drew the attention of significant figures. According to The Encyclopedia of American Facts and Dates, one of them was Major General John A. Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, a group of Union veterans. Logan proposed May 30, 1868 as the first national observance of Decoration Day. A spring date was chosen so flowers would be in bloom all over the country.
The ceremony was held at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. President-to-be Ulysses S. Grant presided with his wife. Speeches were given and graves decorated.
By the 20th century, competing Union and Confederate observances, held on different days, merged into what became known as Memorial Day. However, it is still known as Decoration Day in some places.
Recent Memorial Day History
Many towns claim to have held the original Memorial Day event. But on May 5, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared Waterloo, New York the birthplace of Memorial Day, as an official observance had been held there on May 5, 1866. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday by an act of Congress, to be observed on the last Monday in May.
Today
Veteran Energy honors the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country. We offer our thoughts and prayers to those who are still down range and serving today.
