An update from Rep. Ingraham
As Memorial Day draws closer, we will again have the opportunity to gather together within our communities, whether at an event, around one’s kitchen table, beside a loved one’s grave or upon our knees in grateful prayer, to commemorate the memory of United States men and women who have died in military service to their country. Memorial Day is about remembering our unsung heroes, least we should forget that it was these men and women who were on the forefront of defending, guarding and protecting our traditions of liberty and freedom. It is also about remembering that even Memorial Day itself has a past and will continue to have a future as long as there are men and women answering the call of “Duty, Honor and Country!”
Memorial Day’s origin began with the honoring of Union soldiers who died during the American Civil War. According to Professor David Blight of the Yale University History Department, the first Memorial Day was observed in 1865 by liberated slaves at the historic racetrack in Charleston. The site was a former Confederate prison camp as well as a mass grave for Union soldiers who had died while in captivity.
The official birthplace of Memorial Day is Waterloo, New York. The village is credited with being the birthplace because it observed the day on May 5, 1866. General John A. Logan was impressed by the way the South honored their dead with a special day and decided the Union needed a similar day to honor their heroes with chaplets of laurel and flowers. He intended to issue an order designating a day for decorating the grave of every soldier in the land. On May 5, 1868, in his capacity as Commander In Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, a Veterans Organization, General Logan issued a proclamation that “Decoration Day” be observed nationwide. It was observed for the first time on May 30, 1868. The date was chosen because it was not the anniversary of a battle. The tombs of fallen Union soldiers were decorated in remembrance on this day.
Many southern states of the United States refused to celebrate Decoration Day due to lingering hostility towards the Union Army and because there were very few veterans of the Union Army who lived in the South. Memorial Day first replaced the term Decoration Day in 1882, but did not become more common until after World War II. In 1967, Memorial Day was declared the official name by Federal Law.
Whether it was those in the blue and gray of the Civil War or the olive drab and brown khaki of today’s soldiers, it has been, and shall always be, that their public service is founded on a commitment to Duty, Honor, and Country. They stand as our Nation’s war guardians - defending, guarding, and protecting our traditions of liberty and freedom, of civil rights and of justice for all. These men and woman have known sacrifice, long separations from loved ones and the scars of war. They are indeed worthy of remembrance and honor from those they have served so faithfully.
As you celebrate Memorial Day on the 26th of May, or on May 30th the day many of our uniformed services still honor as the official day of celebration, please remember those men and women who have died in military service and those still rising to meet the call of Duty, Honor and Country on our behalf. Remember them with grateful hearts and words of thanksgiving, not only for today but for all the tomorrows yet to be.
Now it’s your turn to “Keep in Touch” by contacting me regarding your questions, concerns, or comments. I can be reached via e-mail at pathd13@blackfoot.net, or call me at 827-4652 or by mail at P.O. Box 1151, Thompson Falls, Montana 59873.