This Memorial Day, we celebrate with block parties, barbecues, parades and picnics, as we have for years. But celebrating is not enough. The holiday began after the Civil War, as America was piecing itself back together--though exactly when and where it began is the subject of much debate. According to the VA, Memorial Day began as Decoration Day in 1868:
Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country.
Many communities throughout the country claim to have been the first to observe Memorial Day:
Today, cities in the North and the South claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day in 1866. Both Macon and Columbus, Ga., claim the title, as well as Richmond, Va. The village of Boalsburg, Pa., claims it began there two years earlier. A stone in a Carbondale, Ill., cemetery carries the statement that the first Decoration Day ceremony took place there on April 29, 1866. Carbondale was the wartime home of Gen. Logan. Approximately 25 places have been named in connection with the origin of Memorial Day, many of them in the South where most of the war dead were buried.
It does not matter where the first Memorial Day was celebrated. What matters is what we celebrate on Memorial Day: our freedom, and the people who served the United States to protect those freedoms.
Gratitude is the reason for the day, whether you remember the men and women who served our country with a moment of silence at 3PM or by any other of the many traditions surrounding Memorial Day (such as with poppies, which became a tradition after the First World War).
Along with the young men and women who lost their lives in battle, there are veterans who still die for their country, though it may decades since they were on active duty. Mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases disproportionately affects veterans, because of the amount of asbestos that was once used in battleships, planes, military vehicles, and other products that enlisted men and women handled.
Celebrate Memorial Day with your community, honor those who have fallen in service to our country, and if you are a veteran, make sure you ask your doctor about the risks associated with asbestos exposure. Early detection is one of the best methods we have to fight mesothelioma, asbestos cancer, and asbestos diseases.
