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HISTORY >> MEMORIAL DAY
MEMORIAL DAY
History of the Fallen A Historic Look at America’s National Day of Remembrance W RIT TE N BY C A MERON COBB
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elebrated on the last Monday in May, Memorial Day honors the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the United States military. But how did it all begin? Check out several facts and figures about both Memorial Day and Florida’s military history.
Memorial Day History Prior to any official “Memorial Day,” Americans still participated in the activity of honoring service members, beginning with the establishment of the country’s first national cemeteries, according to history.com. During the late 1860s, following the devastation of the Civil War, Americans all over the country honored fallen soldiers by delivering prayers and flowers to their graves, such as in the village of Waterloo, New York. The Waterloo community paid their respects to deceased military members during an annual event first held on May 5, 1866, where businesses closed and village residents brought flowers and flags to decorate the graves of service 74 |
OUR TOWN MAGAZINE
May/June 2019
members. Following 100 years after the village’s first annual dedication day, Waterloo was declared “the official birthplace of Memorial Day” by the federal government in 1966. Beyond just the community of Waterloo’s celebration, the popularity of honoring service members continued to expand all across the country. In 1868, General John A. Logan (leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans) called for a nationwide day of remembrance for the 30th of May, which like Waterloo, would honor the lives of fallen soldiers and be known as “Decoration Day.” On the first Decoration Day, General Logan gave a speech at Arlington National Cemetery in PHOTOGRAPHY: VMBFOTO