The Public Safety Forum (SAFETY)

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In Remembrance Of Memorial (Decoration) Day



How To Observe Memorial Day

This information is from the USMemorialDay Web site from their page on How To Observe Memorial Day at: www.usmemorialday.org. We share some of observance guidelines so more citizens will become familiar with the proper way to observe this holiday when we remember and honor "our ancestors, our family members, our loved ones, our neighbors, and our friends who have given the ultimate sacrifice". Please visit www.USMemorialDay.com for a wealth of information about this important day of remembrance.
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Memorial Day should be observed:
· by visiting cemeteries and placing flags or flowers on the graves of our fallen heroes.
· by visiting memorials.
· by flying the US Flag at half-staff until noon.
· by flying the 'POW/MIA Flag' as well (Section 1082 of the 1998 Defense Authorization Act).
· by participating in a "National Moment of Remembrance": at 3 p.m. to pause and think upon the true meaning of the day, and for Taps to be played.
· by renewing a pledge to aid the widows, widowers, and orphans of our fallen dead, and to aid the disabled veterans.
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History of Memorial Day

Historic New York - Memorial Day

On May 5, 1866, the residents of Waterloo held the first complete, community-wide observance of Memorial Day. They dedicated the entire day to honoring the Civil War dead in a solemn and patriotic manner. Throughout the village, flags, draped in mourning, flew at half mast. Ladies prepared wreaths and bouquets for each veteran's grave. Businesses closed, and veterans, civic organizations and townspeople marched to the strains of martial music to the village cemeteries. There, with reverent prayers and patriotic ceremonies, the tradition of Memorial Day was born.

Henry C. Welles, a prominent citizen, first proposed the idea for a day completely devoted to honoring the Civil War dead. General John B. Murray, the Seneca County Clerk, who had commanded the 148th New York Infantry Regiment in the war, quickly advanced the thought and marshaled community support. Since that year, Waterloo has annually observed Memorial Day. New York, in 1873, became the first state to proclaim Memorial Day, or Decoration Day, as it was originally called, a public holiday.

In May, 1966, a joint resolution by the United States Congress and a proclamation by President Lyndon B. Johnson officially recognized Waterloo as the birthplace of Memorial Day.
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More History of Memorial Day

Memorial Day was originally known as "Decoration Day" because it was a time set aside to honor the nation's Civil War dead by decorating their graves. It was instituted in 1868 to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers and has since grown to honor all those who have given their lives in services to their country.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan and was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states.
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Quotes For Memorial Day

"Your silent tents of green
We deck with fragrant flowers;
Yours has the suffering been,
The memory shall be ours."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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"A thoughtful mind, when it sees a Nation's flag, sees not the flag only, but the Nation itself; and whatever may be its symbols, its insignia, he reads chiefly in the flag the Government, the principles, the truths, the history which belongs to the Nation which belongs to the Nation that sets it forth."

Henry Ward Beecher, from " The American Flag"
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"Yesterday, the greatest question was decided which ever was debated in America; and a greater perhaps never was, nor will be, decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, that those United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States."

John Adams - Letter to Mrs. Adams, July 3, 1776
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"Soldier, rest! Thy warfare o'er,
Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking,
Dream of battled fields no more.
Days of danger, nights of waking."

Sir Walter Scott
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Memorial Day Poems

Eulogy for a Veteran
Author Unknown

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the mornings hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight,
I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.
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Freedom Is Not Free
By LCDR Kelly Strong, USCG

I watched the flag pass by one day,
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Service man saluted it,
And then he stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil
How many mothers' tears?

How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No, freedom isn't free.

I heard the sound of Taps one night,
When everything was still,
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times
That Taps had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had draped a coffin.
Of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free.
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I Stand Before You
Written by Roger J. Robicheau - The Poetic Plumber

I stand before you all today
But not one eye can see my way

My time arrived, to leave this earth
A fact so planned, to every birth

It happened where I had to go
My torch for life was so aglow

I transferred while in uniform
Protecting freedom, through a storm

Should I resent I died for you
Not on my life, red white and blue

Please help my family through each day
Tell all my friends, try not to stray

And of the country I did love
Do think of me, through God above

Your memories, brought forth this day
Send love to us, who could not stay
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Taps:
Day is done
Gone the sun
From the Lakes
From the hills
From the sky.
All is well,
Safely rest.
God is nigh.
Fading light
Dims the sight
And a star
Gems the sky,
Gleaming bright
From afar,
Drawing nigh,
Falls the night.
Thanks and praise,
For our days,
Neath the sun,
Neath the stars,
Neath the sky,
As we go,
This we know,
God is nigh.
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NOTE: The above information was gathered and slightly edited by me from a site with more to offer:

http://www.butlerwebs.com/holidays/memorialday.htm#Links%20for%20Other%20Memorial%20Day%20Web%20Sites

It Is With True Appreciation I Say To All Who Have, Will and Do Serve, As Well As To All of Their Loved Ones, For They Too Serve and Have Served, Thank You! ~ Gary


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Progressiveness Must Die Today,
In Order That We May Be Free Tomorrow!