Memorial Pearls

Over the book of time, Memorial Day changed. Did you know that originally it was known as Decoration Day? The day was set aside on May 30, 1868, to honor sacrifices of Civil War soldiers according to a proclamation by General John A. Logan who represented Union soldiers.

When World War I took over public consciousness, the focus shifted from commemorating those killed on Civil War battlefields to all men and women who died while fighting for the United States. In 1971 the day became a national holiday and the date switched to the last Monday in May.

But I find the earlier switching from the original “Declaration Day” to be the stories worth noting. It turns out that General Logan was aware of an annual memorial time in the South that began in 1866 by the Ladies Memorial Association. Four women in Columbus, Mississippi (a burial site for both Union and Confederate soldiers) decorated the graves of the dead. “…one of the women spontaneously suggested that they decorate the graves of the Union as well as the Confederate dead, as each grave contained someone’s father, brother or son. A lawyer in Ithaca, New York, Francis Miles Finch, read about this reconciliatory gesture and wrote a poem about the ceremony in Columbus, ‘The Blue and the Gray,’ which The Atlantic Monthly published in 1867…From the silence of sorrowful hours / The desolate mourners go / Lovingly laden with flowers / Alike for the friend and the foe….”  

A more poignant story predates the dear Ladies. A friend corrected my first version of this post. Actually, the earliest tribute was held May 1, 1965, by thousands of freed slaves in Charleston, South Carolina. Adults and children paid tribute to 257 deceased Union soldiers who were buried in a mass grave. The fact that this story is not a part of our collective knowledge about Memorial Day is troubling.  

Yes, every life represents someone’s grandfather, father, brother, son–or someone’s grandmother, mother, sister, daughter. We are family, all of us on the planet, including those who support Russian or Ukrainian soldiers. Sorrowful hours accompany far too many of us these days.

Reconciliation is what we need more of in these turbulent times. Today, Confederate soldiers in Arlington Cemetery are given respect just like the Union soldiers. All 228,000 graves receive an American flag on Memorial (Decoration) Day in the tradition known as “Flags In.”

Let’s use the inclusive “Flags In” as a rallying call for our country. It is time that we come together. When we have to decorate commemorative killing sites at grocery stores, churches, and elementary schools for innocent victims of war-style weapons, it is time to make big changes in our beloved country.

We all must take a stand this time. I applaud Steve Kerr, NBA coach and gun-violence survivor, as well as Fred Guttenberg, father of a slain high school student in Parkland Fl, for using their national platforms to make a difference. I have joined Kerr and Guttenberg in supporting the non-profit Brady: United Against Gun Violence.

Our bodymind health is on the line, yours and mine. If we do not promote gun safety this time, whose family will be next in line to decorate a grave?

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz:

86. Whose grave site(s) do you commemorate this Memorial Day?

87. What will you do to foster change in America?