The Origins of Memorial Day

Memorial Day is celebrated in the United States each May to remember and honor military men and women who died while serving in the nations armed forces. This differs from Veterans Day, which is celebrated in September to honor everyone who served in the U.S. military, whether or not they died in service. From 1868 through 1970, Memorial Day was celebrated on May 30th each year. Since then, the official national Memorial Day holiday is traditionally celebrated on the last Monday in May. Origins of Memorial Day On May 5, 1868, three years after the end of the Civil War, Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)—an organization of former Union soldiers and sailors—established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The cemetery already held the remains of 20,000 Union dead and several hundred Confederate dead.  Presided over by General and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant and other Washington officials, the Memorial Day ceremonies centered around the mourning-draped veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of General Robert E. Lee. After speeches, children from the Soldiers and Sailors Orphan Home and members of the GAR made their way through the cemetery, strewing flowers on both Union and Confederate graves, reciting prayers and singing hymns. Was Decoration Day Really the First Memorial Day? While General John A. Logan credited his wife, Mary Logan, with the suggestion for the Decoration Day commemoration, local springtime tributes to the Civil War dead had previously taken place. One of the first occurred in Columbus, Mississippi, on April 25, 1866, when a group of women visited a cemetery to decorate the graves of Confederate soldiers who had fallen in battle at Shiloh. Nearby were the graves of Union soldiers, neglected because they were the enemy. Disturbed at the sight of the bare graves, the women placed some of their flowers on those graves, as well.Today cities in the North and the South claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day between 1864 and 1866. Both Macon and Columbus, Georgia, claim the title, as well as Richmond, Virginia. The village of Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, also claims to be the first. A stone in a cemetery in Carbondale, Illinois, the wartime home of General Logan, carries the statement that the first Decoration Day ceremony took place there on Ap ril 29, 1866. Approximately twenty-five 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. Official Birthplace Declared In 1966, Congress and President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, New York, the birthplace of Memorial Day. A local ceremony held on May 5, 1866, was reported to have honored local soldiers and sailors who had fought in the Civil War. Businesses closed and residents flew flags at half-mast. Supporters of Waterloos claim say earlier observances in other places were either informal, not community-wide or one-time events. Confederate Memorial Day Many Southern states also have their own days for honoring the Confederate dead. Mississippi celebrates Confederate Memorial Day the last Monday of April, Alabama on the fourth Monday of April, and Georgia on April 26th. North and South Carolina observe it May 10th, Louisiana on June 3rd and Tennessee calls that date Confederate Decoration Day. Texas celebrates Confederate Heroes Day January 19th and Virginia calls the last Monday in May Confederate Memorial Day. Learn the Stories of Your Military Ancestors Memorial Day began as a tribute to Civil War dead, and it was not until after World War I that the day was expanded to honor those who have died in all American wars.  The origins of special services to honor those who die in war can be found in antiquity. The Athenian leader Pericles offered a tribute to the fallen heroes of the Peloponnesian War over 24 centuries ago that could be applied today to the 1.1 million Americans who have died in the nations wars: Not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions, but there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men. What a fitting reminder to all of us to learn about and tell the stories of our military ancestors who died in service. How to Trace Your U.S. Military AncestorsAre You Descended from a Civil War Soldier?Discover Your American WWI AncestorsResearch Your Revolutionary War Patriot AncestorSymbols, Acronyms Abbreviations Found on Military Tombstones Portions of the above article courtesy of the U.S. Veterans Administration

Analysis Of Theodore Roethke s The Waking - 1335 Words

Though Theodore Roethke firmly lived his life in the modernist age, his works strongly echo the transcendentalist way of writing comparable to Waldo or Emerson; however, he personalized this form of writing through his own personal experiences. The foundations of his style of writing have strong origins in his childhood, where his family’s naturalistic lifestyle inspired him and where he developed a deep connection to the natural world through the greenhouses that his family managed. Due to this, one will almost always see the use of natural imagery in his writing to express more complex ideas. As one would expect, his poem â€Å"The Waking† is no exception. In this work, Roethke uses the interaction between the speaker and the natural world in order to embody the progression of cognitive awareness throughout the span of a single human life and to depict how one understands such knowledge through the senses, experience, and thought. Roethke opens the poem with the seemingly oxymoronic line â€Å"I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow† (1). At first, one may wonder, how does one wake-up to fall asleep? For these are naturally opposing ideas; however, here Roethke is not using literal definitions. Through the word â€Å"wake,† he is more likely referencing birth and the eventual enlightenment that one gains through life. Conversely, â€Å"sleep† represents death and, thus, the ceasing of intellectual gain. So, the first part of the line implies a dual meaning. Simply, the speaker is born only

Mountain Top Removal Free Essays

November 2010 Solution: Eight Letters, One word, Mountaintop Removal Mountaintop removal although only eighteen letters and a mere two words provides endless opportunities for hard working Americans. The world is now all about efficiency and convenience. Society works as a machine, and each machine needs fuel to work. We will write a custom essay sample on Mountain Top Removal or any similar topic only for you Order Now For Kentuckians, the fuel is Coal. The economy of Kentucky centers around coal. It not only gives hard working Americans a safe environment to work in but provides jobs, and stable economy for our nation. When compared to the rest of the world America has always had a strong economy. However America is currently in a state of recession. Politicians, cabinet members and economists are constantly trying to bring our great nation back into a state of equilibrium concerning monetary flow. Mountaintop removal is one way to achieve this. Areas which are abundant in coal are blessed with multiple lucrative opportunities which benefit not only the communities’ economy but the Nations, as well. Mine Safety is one thing that is extremely misunderstood. There is a lot of controversy, about mine safety regulations. But, the truth is that MTR is statistically the safest form of mining. Compare MTR to underground mining. Underground Mining: deep within the earth, hollow shafts, narrow tunnels, darkness all around, the fear that the mine may collapse at any time VS. MTR: Employees are above ground, have state of the art technology to help with safety protocol, and Mine collapsing isn’t a fear employees have to worry about. Jobs, something that loyal Americans are fighting for in the savage Job market. Mountain top removal offers long term jobs which also helps the economy. A fact, most people don’t know is that for every miner employed through MTR three new jobs are created. Thus, helping employment rates go up and keeping our economy running. Americans need jobs and through MTR we can make that happen. Mountain top removal: eighteen letters, three words, endless opportunities. Coal: four letters, one word, keeps the lights on. Although Opponents to MTR claim that it hurts the environment, creates a fair-weather economy, and is unsafe for its’ workers the truth is, MTR creates an almost identical landscape after reclamation, it continues to provides jobs even when the coal is gone and has been proven to be statistically safer than underground mining. Although the perspectives about MTR will continue to vary it is a lifestyle millions have adapted to already. Without MTR millions would be unemployed, the oven that makes our thanksgiving turkey would not work, a child wouldn’t have the electricity to read his or her first book. MTR is a permanent way to fix our problems. Kentucky is more than just a geographic state, it’s a state of mind and a state of heart and without MTR it would wither away into a perpetual end. Works Cited The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. Date of access. Reece Erik , . Lost Mountain . New York : Riverhead, 2006. Print. Kitts, Gene. The Charleston Gazette. Charleston: Charleston Gazette, 2008. Print. Lemon, Eric. http://www. marshall. edu/cber/media/010420-DA-mountain. pdf. Charleston: Athenaeum, 2001. Print. How to cite Mountain Top Removal, Papers