Hello In Stitches Family!
If you’re new here, you might not realize that we are a Military Family. Mike was in the Air Force for many, many years and we are proud of his service.
Because of this, Memorial Day means a little bit more in our world. So, today, we wanted to take a minute to talk about the history of Memorial Day and honor those who have given their all for us.
Memorial Day, or Decoration Day as our grandparents called it, stems from the Civil War. The Civil War claimed more lives than any other conflict in U.S. history. It’s why we have national cemeteries. (History)
After the Civil War ended, communities began to have a springtime tribute to those who had fallen in war. By the 1890’s, every state had created a Decoration Day holiday, though there wasn’t anything for the whole country yet.
Though Decoration Day was originally a day honoring those who died in the Civil War, as the US entered other wars – World War I, World War II, The Vietnam War, The Korean War, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – the day became about all those who we had lost.
On May 30, 1868, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery where 5,000 participants decorated 20,000 Civil War soldier’s graves. The date was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.
In the 1960’s, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday act so that federal workers could have a three day weekend in May. That is why Memorial Day is now on the last Monday of May.
As we said, honoring our friends and family who have given their all for our country is important to us. We had always heard about our Great-Uncle Gem Morris who died in World War II but in cleaning out our grandma’s home, we found even more about him. We would like to take a second to honor him.
Seeing this history has reignited our need to continue to honor those who have given their lives for our Country. Do you have a relative who you honor this Memorial Day? If you’d like to, please share their story with us.
We would like to encourage all of us to do something this Memorial Day to remember those who have given their lives. Whether we go to a cemetery and decorate graves, or we take a moment to remember a loved one, it is important to remember those who gave their all.