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Sunday, May 19, 2024 |
Memorial Day 2005  
Date: Sent Sunday, May 29, 2005
Category: Inspirational | Rating: 4.29/5 (139 votes)
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May 30, 2005 is Memorial Day in America. We are sending this in honor of the men and women that sacrificed their lives for our freedom and in honor of
their loved ones.
--- The Origins of Memorial Day ---
From http://www1.va.gov/visns/visn03/kids/memorialday.htm
Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans - the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) -
established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared it should be
May 30. It is believed the date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country. The first large observance was held that year at
Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.
The ceremonies centered on the mourning-draped veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of General Robert E. Lee. General and Mrs. Ulysses S.
Grant and other Washington officials presided. After speeches, children from the Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphan Home and members of the GAR made their
way through the cemetery, strewing flowers on both Union and Confederate graves, reciting prayers and singing hymns.
Local springtime tributes to the Civil War dead already had been held in various places. One of the first occurred in Columbus, Miss., April 25, 1866,
when a group of women visited a cemetery to decorate the graves of Confederate soldiers who had fallen in battle at Shiloh. Nearby were the graves of
Union soldiers, neglected because they were the enemy. Disturbed at the sight of the bare graves, the women placed some of their flowers on those
graves as well.
Today, cities in the North and the South claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day in 1866. Both Macon and Columbus, Ga., claim the title, as well as
Richmond, Va. The village of Boalsburg, Pa., claims it began there two years earlier. A stone in a Carbondale, Ill., cemetery carries the statement
that the first Decoration Day ceremony took place there on April 29, 1866. Carbondale was the wartime home of General Logan. Approximately 25 places
have been named in connection with the origin of Memorial Day, many of them in the South where most of the war dead were buried.
In 1966, Congress and President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, N.Y., the "birthplace" of Memorial Day. There, a ceremony on May 5, 1866, honored
local veterans who had fought in the Civil War. Businesses closed and residents flew flags at half-staff. Supporters of Waterloo's claim say earlier
observances in other places were informal, not community-wide or one-time events.
--- The Need for Memorial Day ---
Notes from a sermon on May 29, 2005 by Steve Lacy, Pastor of The Brook Church, Madison, Alabama (http://www.thebrookchurch.com)
1. So we will never forget the great cost of liberty
We freely enjoy our liberty, but just because it is free to us does not mean it came to us at no cost.
In the Revolutionary War 25,324 soldiers died; in the War of 1812 2,260 soldiers died; in the Mexican War 13,283 perished; during the Civil War
863,153 men died; in the Spanish-American War 2,446 died; in World War I 116,516 U.S. soldiers gave their lives; in World War II 405,399 died; in the
Korean War 54,246 soldiers perished; during the Vietnam War 56,244 of our men died; in the Panama Invation 23 died; in the Gulf War there were 148;
and in the War in Iraq there have been over 2,000 deaths. (reference http://hnn.us/articles/1381.html; these numbers were corrected from the original
mailing.) A total of these figures reveals that there have been over 1,541,042 U.S. soldiers who have died over the past two centuries fighting for
our country's freedom and liberty.
"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13 (NIV)
2. So we do not take for granted the benefits of liberty
We have what so few in the world will every have, yet we take it for granted. Like a fish in water, we don't realize we are surrounded with it till it
is removed from us.
"Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:20 (NIV)
3. So we will honor those who have paid the ultimate price of liberty and say thank you to their families.
"When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 'Where have you laid
him?' he asked. 'Come and see, Lord,' they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, 'See how he loved him!'" John 11:33-36 (NIV)
4. So we will be willing to pay the price for our liberty in the future
If we dishonor the past, if we devalue the price that has been paid, then we should not be surprised when the day comes and no one is will to go to
fight for our liberties and freedoms.
"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'" Isaiah 6:8 (NIV)
Please take the time to thank any Veterans you encounter during this Memorial holiday!
Other related links:
Suggested Memorial Day speech by the U.S. Army, 1999
http://www.usmemorialday.org/speeches/other/army1999.htm
Help Restore the Traditional Day of Observance of Memorial Day
http://www.usmemorialday.org/act.html
The Origins of Memorial Day
http://www1.va.gov/visns/visn03/kids/memorialday.htm
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