Hi Huong, Ly and Huan! I hope you are having a great holiday weekend! I have been enjoying some time in my yard and visiting with friends and family but wanted to get this to you before tomorrow! I got a little teary on this one! MEMORIAL DAY Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday celebrated on the last Monday of May each year. This is a holiday of remembrance; set aside to honor the men and women who have died in while in serving our United States Armed Forces. The U.S Armed Forces are military professionals serving in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard. Do not confuse Memorial Day with Veterans Day! Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans; not simply those who died while in service.
Memorial Day used to be known as Decoration Day. Decoration Day originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union and Confederate soldiers. It has been suggested that the first Civil War soldiers grave ever decorated was on June 3, 1861 in Warrenton, Virginia. For this reason, Warrenton, Virginia is thought to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. The first widely publicized Memorial Day event was in Charleston, South Carolina on May 1, 1865. It is said that “African Americans invented Memorial Day in Charleston, South Carolina. David Blight, an American professor from Yale University, wrote that while there was no evidence that Charleston inspired establishment of Memorial day; they were the first to recognize human sacrifice in an organized event. “What you have there is black Americans recently freed from slavery announcing to the world with their flowers, their feet and their songs what the war had been about.”
On Memorial Day weekend many people visit memorials, walk in parades and gather for meals with family and friends. Flowers and hand-written notes are left at gravesides. The federal government first established national military cemeteries in 1865 for military deceased. Many civic organizations volunteer to place flags at each grave in national military cemeteries on Memorial Day. Across the country, the flag of the United States is used in remembrance of fallen soldiers as well. It is raised, and then solemnly lowered to half-staff in honor of more than one million fallen men and women in uniform. It remains at half-staff until noon, then raised to back to the top of the staff.
Memorial and Decoration Day have been recognized in song, paint and word as well. In 1857 poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow helped to found The Atlantic magazine. Longfellow, known as our “country’s foremost Fireside Poet,” published this poetic observation of Decoration Day in The Atlantic just weeks after his death in 1862: Decoration Day Sleep, comrades, sleep and rest On this Field of the Grounded Arms, Where foes no more molest, Nor sentry's shot alarms! Ye have slept on the ground before, And started to your feet At the cannon's sudden roar, Or the drum's redoubling beat. But in this camp of Death No sound your slumber breaks; Here is no fevered breath, No wound that bleeds and aches. All is repose and peace, Untrampled lies the sod; The shouts of battle cease, It is the Truce of God! Rest, comrades, rest and sleep! The thoughts of men shall be As sentinels to keep Your rest from danger free. Your silent tents of green We deck with fragrant flowers Yours has the suffering been, The memory shall be ours.
CREATIVE WRITING: Reflect on this Memorial Day lesson and the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. To whom is Longfellow speaking in the poem? Who is the intended audience of the poem? What response do you think Longfellow sought to inspire when he penned Decoration Day? THIS POEM IS WRITTEN FOR SOLDIERS WHO HAVE DIED FIGHTING FOR THIS COUNTRY. THE AUDIENCE IS THOSE WHO GRIEVE FOR THE FALLEN SOLDIERS. WE SHOULD NOT FORGET ALL THOSE HAVE SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES FOR COUNTRY AND FREEDOM. THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO SERVE OUR COUNTRY ARE SO BRAVE. THE MILITARY IS NOT APPRECIATED ENOUGH FOR THEIR WORK TO KEEP THIS COUNTY SAFE AND FREE. I WANT TO EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE FOR ALL MILITARY AND THEIR EFFORTS FOR THIS COUNTY. UNITED STATES IS MY HOME AND I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN! |