In Memoriam

"No one has greater love than to lay down

his own life for his friends."

John 15:13

The origins of what is now observed as Memorial Day

in the United States of America began in the post-Civil War South

when ladies in Columbus, Georgia placed flower arrangements on

the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers buried in

the city's cemetery.  This observance was later called

Decoration Day and in the years to follow, became a

special observance in many communities across America.

 In 1968,  Congress passed the Uniform Monday Act.

This legislation, which went into effect in 1971, 

officially moved this commemoration to be

observed on the last Monday in May, thus

creating a three day extended weekend.

Daisies gathered for Decoration Day

May 30, 1899

Today Memorial Day weekend is often called,

" the unofficial start of summer"  with many people

heading for the beach, or attending a parade or  

 celebrating with backyard barbecues.  

 I think all the commercialized hype on display in

raucous parades with stores and car dealerships

 promoting their "holiday weekend super sales" 

 should be held off at least until the 4th of July.

Memorial Day should be a time of more solemn reflection,

to remember those American men and women who

gave their lives for my freedom.

ODE FOR DECORATION DAY

Sleep sweetly in your humbled graves,

Sleep, martyrs of a fallen cause;

Though yet no marble column craves

The pilgrim here to pause.

In seeds of laurel to the earth

The blossom of your fame is blown,

And somewhere, waiting for its birth,

The shaft is in the stone!

Meanwhile, behalf the tardy years

Which keep in trust your storied tombs,

Behold! your sisters bring their tears,

And these memorial blooms.

Small tributes! but your shades will smile

More proudly on these wreaths to-day

Than when some cannon-moulded pile

Shall overlook this bay.

Stoop, angels, hither from the skies!

There is no holier spot of ground

Than where defeated valor lies,

By mourning beauty crowned!

Graves of Union and Confederate Soldiers
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

"Ode For Decoration Day"

Henry Timrod

(1829-1867)

Poet Laureate for the Confederacy

His poem was first sung during Decoration Day 1866

at the Magnolia Cemetery Charleston, South Carolina