By Alex Berger
There lies a fallen soldier. No, there lies my son.
There lies a fallen sailor. No, there lies my husband.
There lies a fallen Marine. No, there lies my father.
There lies a fallen airman. No, there lies my sister.
There lies a fallen CIA agent. No, there lies my brother.
There lies a fallen commando. No, there lies my fiance.
There lies a fallen peacekeeper. No, there lies my mother.
They all are someone’s loved one — and not just a uniform.
– Wilmont Brady
Operation Iraqi Freedom has added to the number of military dead killed in wartime. We can never fully repay these heroes; however, Memorial Day, which will be observed Monday, is our time to remember them.
We should remember the supreme sacrifices they made and give thanks to all the soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, doctors, nurses, statesmen and everyone else who gave their lives in the defense of this nation and the principles on which it stands.
No one is certain where and how Memorial Day (Decoration Day) started. Dozens of cities and towns have taken credit for the first Memorial Day for memorial services. All agree the act of remembrance for the war dead started during or right after the Civil War.
A group of Southern women in 1866 visited the graves of Confederate soldiers and decorated them with flowers. This is verified in a hymn that was published in 1867. Other historians say an earlier group of women had visited the graves of Confederate and Union soldiers and placed flowers on their graves immediately following the Civil War in 1865.
In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson proclaimed Memorial Day an official holiday. He stated the birthplace of Memorial Day was Waterloo, N.Y., a town in the Finger Lakes region.
There, on May 5, 1865, the first official and recorded Memorial Day service was held honoring the soldiers who had died during the Civil War. Still others claim the custom of honoring the war dead began in Boalsburg, Pa. during the Civil War in 1863.
I side with the faction that believes it took place on May 30, 1866, on Belle Isle, a burial ground for Union soldiers on the St. James River, at Richmond, Va. The mayor presented a program of hymns and speeches followed by the decoration of the burial ground with flowers and garlands.
Memorial Day was first proclaimed, in an official federal capacity, on May 5, 1866 by Gen. John Logan, the national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, who said: “The lives of our heroic dead … were the reveille of freedom to a race in chains.”
May 30 was chosen for observing the day for one of two reasons: It was the anniversary of the discharge of the last Union volunteer of the war, and a Virginian of French descent, Cassandra Oliver Moncure, selected the date because it was “The Day of Ashes” in France, the day that Napoleon’s remains were returned to France from St. Helena. Take your pick.
On May 29, 1868, flowers were initially placed on the graves of all Union and Confederate soldiers in Arlington Cemetery, Va., one of the many national military cemeteries created by Congress in 1866. It wasn’t until after World War I that the holiday’s focus shifted from honoring the Civil War dead to all the war dead.
In 1873, New York became the first state to make Memorial Day a legal holiday; however, it was not until 1971 that Memorial Day became a federal holiday. Congress passed another act directing that Memorial Day be celebrated on the last Monday in May, ensuring a three-day holiday weekend.
On Memorial Day 2003, we should make an effort to remember and give thanks to every soldier who sacrificed his or her life in the defense of our nation.
Visit military cemeteries and place miniature flags and flowers on the graves of those who perished. And, participate in the National Moment of Remembrance by pausing and thinking about the fallen, as Taps (the military’s ritual melody for the war dead) is played.
In addition, help the disabled veterans and the widows, widowers and orphans of those who have died. But whatever you do on Memorial Day, be proud of the sacrifices they made for you. No, do more than remember, never forget.
I conclude by quoting a soldier’s battlefield poem:
“Look, God, I have never spoken to You, But now I want to say, ‘How do you do?’ You see, God, they told me You didn’t exist. And like a fool, I believed all this.
“Last night from a shell hole I saw Your sky — I figured right then they’d told me a lie. Had I taken time to see things You made, I’d have known they weren’t calling a spade a spade.
“I wonder, God, if You’d shake my hand. Somehow I feel that You will understand. Funny, I had to come to this hellish place, before I had turned to see Your face.
“Well, I guess there isn’t much more to say. But I’m sure glad, God, I met you today. I guess the ‘zero hour’ will soon be here; But I’m not afraid when I know You’re near.
“The signal! Well, God, I’ll have to go. I like you a lot, this I want you to know. Look now, this will be a terrible fight. Who knows, I may arrive at Your Home tonight.
“Though I wasn’t friendly to You before, I wonder, God, if you’d wait at Your door. Look! I’m crying! Me! shedding tears — I wish I’d known You these many years.
“Well, I have to go now. Goodbye, God. Strange, since I met You — I’m not afraid to die.” – (This handwritten note was found on the body of a dead American soldier lying in a battlefield in Korea in 1951).
Reach columnist Alex Berger by e-mail at timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 140.
