Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who died in service to our nation and about coming together to honor those who gave all. Originally it was called Decoration Day.
On May 5, 1868, Memorial Day was officially proclaimed by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11. The first time this day was observed was May 30 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. New York was the first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873.
By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war)
It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 – 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis’ birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.
Traditional observance of Memorial day has diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored, neglected. Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day. While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all dead, and not just those fallen in service to our country.
Since the late 50’s on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing.
In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn, a practice that continues to this day. More recently, beginning in 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye’s Heights (the Luminaria Program). And in 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years.
To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the “National Moment of Remembrance” resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans “To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to ‘Taps.”
On January 19, 1999 Senator Inouye introduced bill S 189 to the Senate which proposes to restore the traditional day of observance of Memorial Day back to May 30th instead of “the last Monday in May”. On April 19, 1999 Representative Gibbons introduced the bill to the House (H.R. 1474). The bills were referred the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Government Reform.
Article source: Memorial Day History website: http://www.usmemorialday.org
Let us remember and honor those service men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. Amen.
The Troops Project began in 2005 when Marlene Summers spoke to a young man just before he was about to be deployed to Iraq. He reminded her of her own son. She met his family and started sending him notes and cookies. She received an email from this soldier saying the morale was getting low and troops were feeling forgotten. He also let Marlene know that the cookies she sent really helped to boost morale amongst the troops. She thought about what she could do to support the troops while they were so far away from home.
Marlene owned a chocolate chip cookie company – so why why not send chocolate chip cookies to the troops as a way to boost morale and thanking the brave heros who serve and protect a grateful nation.
She wanted to send a million hugs to the troops! That is how this project started. She started baking cookies, not just any cookies, but HUGE cookies!
As of July 2009, they shipped over 90,000 cookies to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a non-profit organization, Grammy’s Cookie Convoy, Inc. focuses on making our troops feel right at home.
Without the support of volunteers and contributors they would not be able to send their appreciation to Our Troops. It takes over $10,000 to send a shipment of cookies overseas to Iraq and Afghanistan. Donations help pay for the shipping costs to get the large quantity of chocolate chip cookies to our troops.
The Troops Project is recognized by the IRS as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit project.
Great job Marlene Summers! HOOAH!
To learn more about The Troops project or how you can help, visit on the Web: http://troopsproject.com/
This video is a little dated but will give you a great idea about how Grammy’s Cookie Convoy got started!
Thank you Cynthia Gibb for this lovely poem.
They’re full of pride and love, though their words are often few.
Their thoughts may only be spoken through the actions that they do.
They go about their daily tasks but are constantly aware;
And at the sight of their worried mother, a silent hug they’ll share.
They, too, bear the cost of freedom and feel the pain as well
The many fears carried deep inside they truly long to quell.
They may not march or shoulder a gun or stand in uniform,
But the sight of one who does causes their hearts to warm.
If you happen to fall behind them in a traffic line one day
You may read their signs that they so proudly display.
And when passing other heroes going down the interstate
A big “thumbs up” and whoop they give because they can relate.
They wave their flags high and march beside this Blue Star mother
I so dearly love them, too – my soldier’s sister and brother!
© Cynthia Gibbs
The Army Experience Center (AEC), located in Philadelphia, PA, provides a unique interactive experience and insight into the life of a Soldier. No surprise that is was designed and built by the world’s premier land force—the United States Army! HOOAH!
The Army Experience Center is the world’s one and only interactive Army facility where you can “test drive” the Army! You’ll find interesting mission simulators– Apache helicopter, Black Hawk helicopter, and
Come test drive the Army in the world’s first and only interactive Army facility. The Army Experience Center is includes three mission simulators—the Apache, the Black Hawk and the HMMWV (Humvee)—touch-screen Career Navigators, a Gaming Arena with Xbox 360 and PC stations, a Tactical Operations Center, and the Global Base Locator, a touch-screen that lets visitors explore Army bases around the world.
The simulators look very cool! You can volunteer for a mission and be part of the action. You get a briefing by a Soldier before climbing into one of the three mission simulators. Then you get to take part in an authentic battle scenario with equipment modeled after real Army vehicles, aircraft, and weapons. Once the mission is done, you can even see how well your team performed!
That is just one of many ways to learn about the U.S. Army and the jobs that Soldiers perform. You can visit the Career Navigators, Gaming Arena, Global Base Locator, Tactical Operations Center, and of course, the Lounge where you can take a break from all the activity and get access to WiFi Internet!
Why did the U.S. Army create the Army Experience Center? The U.S. Army needed an innovative way to communicate its mission, values, resources and career opportunities to a new generation of Americans on a local level. The Army Experience Center (AEC) now serves as a twenty-first century destination for people to get accurate information about the Army directly from the source. Conceived and built over a ten-month period in the Franklin Mills Mall in Philadelphia, the 14,500-square-foot technology and education center is fast becoming a model for Army recruiting nationwide. Touch screen kiosks, state-of-the-art presentation facilities, community events and high-action simulators are just a few of the AEC features helping to shatter outdated stereotypes and start new career conversations.
The AEC is open to the public and admission is free. To participate in AEC activities like the mission simulators and games, visitors must be at least 13 years old and register using basic contact information.
Even if you can’t get to Philadelphia, the website is a super cool experience too! Be sure to explore and uncover the many fun things to learn about the U.S. Army!
Visit: http://www.thearmyexperience.com
