![]() A few states continue to celebrate Memorial Day on May 30. In 1971, federal law changed the observance of the holiday to the last Monday in May and extended the honor to all soldiers who died in American wars. Indeed, many other towns also lay claim to being the first to hold an observance. However, Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, also claims to have held the first observance, based on an observance dating back to October 1864. President Lyndon Johnson proclaimed Waterloo, New York, as the “Birthplace of Memorial Day,” because it began a formal observance on May 5, 1866. The practice of strewing flowers on soldiers’ graves soon became popular throughout the reunited nation. When a women’s memorial association in Columbus, Mississippi, decorated the graves of both Confederate and Union soldiers on April 25, 1866, this act of generosity and reconciliation prompted an editorial piece, published by Horace Greeley’s New York Tribune, and a poem by Francis Miles Finch, “The Blue and the Grey,” published in the Atlantic Monthly. Songs in the Duke University collection Historic American Sheet Music External include hymns published in the South such as these two from 1867: “ Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping External,” dedicated to “The Ladies of the South Who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead ” and “ Memorial Flowers External,” dedicated “To the Memory of Our Dead Heroes.” Records show that by 1865, Mississippi, Virginia, and South Carolina all had precedents for Memorial Day. Southern women decorated the graves of soldiers even before the Civil War’s end. In many American towns, the day is celebrated with a parade. Originally known as Decoration Day, at the turn of the century it was designated as Memorial Day. The first national celebration of the holiday took place May 30, 1868, at Arlington National Cemetery, where both Confederate and Union soldiers were buried. Civil War Glass Negatives and Related Prints. Logan, Brady’s National Photographic Portrait Galleries, between 18. Perkins, music Boston: Oliver Ditson & Co., 1870. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic issued General Order Number 11 designating May 30 as a memorial day “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.” “ Soldier’s Memorial Day External.” Mary B. The program includes marching bands, firefighters, reading of the names, and dove release as a sign of peace.In 1868, Commander in Chief John A. on Monday by the Vietnam War Monument and at the Makawao Veterans Cemetery. A spectacular tribute called Shower of Flowers is organized by the Maui County Veterans Council. The program features Blue Hawaiian Helicopters drop 10,000 rose petals over the veterans’ graves at Makawao Veterans Cemetery. Maui holds one of the most significant Memorial Day ceremonies in the state. Shower of Flowers at the Makawao Veterans Cemetery, Maui County The unique ceremony at Ala Moana Beach Park attracts more than 40,000 participants every time. Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawaii at Ala Moana Beach Park (late May 2023)įinally, Oahu's southern shore hosts the beautiful Shinnyo Lantern Floating held every year on Memorial Day. Air Force and Hawaii Air National Guard flyover, and music from the Royal Hawaiian Band. The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific also hosts a ceremony with a cannon salute, a U.S. Memorial Day Ceremony at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (late May 2023) The service includes special hula performance and a 21-gun salute. The official ceremony is held at the Waikiki Natatorium, honoring over the million of fallen military members who died from the American Revolution to Afganistan and Iraq. Memorial Day at the Natatorium (late May 2023) with a memorial ceremony and is followed by an evening concert afterward. Marching military bands, scouts, military units, and veterans march from Fort DeRussey, Waikiki, down Kalakaua Avenue, then Monsarrat Avenue to the Waikiki Shell. The major highlight of the holiday is the Hawaii Memorial Day Parade in Honolulu. Hawaii Memorial Day Parade in Honolulu (late May 2023)
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