Here’s a story that was sent out by a Scoutmaster I work with to his Troop members. I thought it was rather fitting to pass on with the upcoming weekdend and our trip to Washington, D.C. Here it is:
Each year, Americans welcome Memorial Day as part of a three-day weekend that initiates the summer season. Many do not take the time to consider the purpose of Memorial Day.
One story of how Memorial day began credits four southern women from Columbus, Mississippi. On April 26, 1866, these young ladies went to decorate their soldiers’ graves. Four years earlier, the bloody Civil War battle of Shiloh took place on this site. At the Friendship Cemetery, where about 1,500 Confederate and 100 Union soldiers were buried, the woman proceeded to scatter flowers over the graves of soldiers of both sides.
Although the war was over, there was still an intense feeling of hatred between North and South. The news of the decoration reached the North. An article in the New York Tribune cited the ladies for their unselfish act. The idea that Southern ladies would mark the graves of Union soldiers with flowers was met with surprise. This kindly act touched the hearts of many.
As years went by and men of both the North and South fought side by side in the U.S. Armed Forces, Memorial Day became a time to honor all who had lost their lives in our nation’s conflicts. The conflicts and casualties of the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Beirut, Grenada, Panama and Desert Storm, have replaced the Civil War as the focus of Memorial Day.
Please don’t forget the purpose of Memorial Day. Don’t forget the countless numbers of Americans that have sacrificed their most precious possession, their life, so that we might enjoy the benefit of freedom. Don’t take it for granted
Happy Memorial Day.
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