“We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance… Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic. – Grand Army of the Republic and Civil War Officer Maj. Gen. John A. Logan
Major General Logan is credited with instructing his fellow veterans to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers on 30 May 1868, marking the first official observance of Memorial Day. Thankfully the tradition he and his officers planted during the post-civil wars took root and has persisted these 146 years since.
As a child growing up in West Texas in the 60s we attended town and county hosted Memorial Day parades in our little burg of 6,000, where the flag was displayed with pride and fallen soldiers remembered with somber dignity. (Strangely, today’s Seattle metro, population 3.5 million and change, can’t muster a city or county sponsored service, parade or memorial.)
Back in that day teachers could still teach about Memorial Day, what it meant, and the vital roll that unselfish men and women had played in fighting for their country and defending freedoms in other lands.
Team Chi Wulff joins those today remembering with deep appreciation those who have served and fallen in the service of their country. And here’s a great post from Brandon at One Bug is Fake – he’s doing something pretty unique today.
Image: Congressional Portrait Collection, Library of Congress
