Memorial Day 2001

Long before bargain basement sales and the Indianapolis 500 diluted Memorial Day’s true meaning, there was Gen. John Alexander Logan, a man of the hour destined to change the course of history.

Turning grim Civil War battle experiences into something lasting and positive, Gen. Logan set aside May 30, 1868, “for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion.”

Residents of Waterloo, N.Y., and Columbus, Miss., claim the holiday was first observed in their towns in 1866, but it took Logan’s big heart and clout as commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, which he helped found, to issue a general order designating the first Memorial Day, also known as Decoration Day.

Because the South lost the war, and because Gen. Logan helped Ulysses S. Grant capture the prized riverport of Vicksburg, Miss., on July 4, 1863, nine Southern states celebrated their own Confederate memorial days – on April 26, May 10 and June 3 – well into the 20th century.

Since 1971, most of the rest of the nation, and its territories, have observed the last Monday of every May with parades and patriotic orations honoring all U.S. citizens who have died in war. Many also decorate the graves of family members who might not have served in any war.

Memorial Day has long been a time to reflect on words spoken during past holidays, to assess America’s status as a world power and the prospects for a lasting peace, surely to take on new significance today as America contemplates its possible roles in ending the chronic specter of war throughout the world.

Have the words spoken changed over the past 133 years? Historians may ponder these words from earlier holidays, culled from newspaper files. They date from the first Memorial Day in 1868 to the early days of World War II:

. “Let our mottoes be truth, justice, and equality, and the heroes who died for us will never have been disgraced.” – Hon. John Peters, Bangor, May 30, 1868

. “We have never been a bully among nations, although we are strong enough to have played that role with good chance of success.” – The Rev. Herbert E. Ross, Bangor, May 30, 1898

. “Today we are one people, forgotten are all racial bitterness, partisan bigotry and sectional differences.” – The Rev. H.E. Dunnack, Orrington, May 30, 1917

. “To [democracy’s] defenders, who are among its finest expressions, we must make no promises which we cannot or will not perform.” – Bangor Daily News editorial, May 30, 1941

Enjoy the hot dogs and parades this Memorial Day, but also take time to sit down with an aged aunt or grandparent and find out what this day used to be about. The experience may surprise you.