Decoration/Memorial Day

Monday marks Memorial Day for Americans.

Following the War Between the States (also called the American Civil War) this custom was founded, as described on the history dot com website.

General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former sailors and soldiers. On May 5, 1868, Logan declared in General Order No. 11 that:

The 30th of May, 1868, is designated 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, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.

(Photo by John Metzler, Superintendent)

The day has inspired poets for generations.

In Flanders Fields
John McCrae, 1915.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

This is a doll given to my grandmother by the US Army when my grandfather went away to war in 1944. My grandfather was a merchant mariner for most of WWII. He served on the Samuel Dexter, a liberty ship, until it sank in the north Atlantic 1943 or 1944. (I found web pages claiming both years. Dad recalls it was 1943.) The Samuel Dexter was a liberty ship, built as a commercial vessel to serve the US Navy as an auxiliary ship. After the ship sank my Papa got a free trip home on the Queen Elizabeth.

He was drafted into the US Army in 1944. He went to basic training at Fort Hood, Texas and served as an accountant at Fort Sam Houston (also in Texas) until his release on VJ day, 8/15/1945. He did a job that would probably be called data processing today, working with binary code and machines that read punch cards.

Afterward, my Papa served in the Reserves until the Korean War. His unit was activated and he served in Atlanta, Georgia as a master sergeant.