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Mon. May 26, 2003

National Moment of Remembrance

National Moment of Remembrance – “If it is considered a holiday, why is it so? I consider it to be a national day of mourning. This is how we observe this day in our home. Because of what that day represents, the rest of the days of the year are our holidays.”
F. L. Lloyd

Indeed, if it is considered a holiday, why is it so? “Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.”

Those are the words of the man responsible for this day, originally known as Decoration Day. His name was John A. Logan, and he was a General in the Civil War: “At Fort Donelson, Logan and the 31st were part of a three-and-a-half mile Union line around the fort. When the Union right collapsed after three hours, the 31st remained on the field and fought alone on two fronts for nearly an hour. Logan was shot through the left shoulder; with the wound bandaged by doctors, he returned to battle streaming blood. Then a Confederate ball smashed his holstered pistol and drove splinters into his side, nearly breaking his ribs. Logan was shot once more through his right thigh. With his regiment out of ammunition and himself severely weakened by the loss of blood, Logan and his regiment left the field. By nightfall, Fort Donelson fell the first major Union victory of the Civil War. The 31st lost 303 of 606 men.”

Shot three times, Logan continued leading his men, and though those wounds would eventually do him in, it took almost 25 more years.

He’s a man who is remembered in many places for many reasons: “By the end of the war Logan’s troops were stationed outside the city of Raleigh, North Carolina. When word of Lincoln’s assassination arrived, the soldiers formed an angry mob bent on destroying the city. Logan rode into their midst and, in front of their cannons, proclaimed that they will have to fire through him. The crowd dispersed, and after the war Raleigh honored Logan for saving the city.”

After war, Logan led the Grand Army of the Republic, and in that position, issued General Order #11 in 1868, which established May 30 as a day to remember those who died in service to their country.

“John A. Logan died suddenly on December 26, 1886, in Washington, D.C. His death was due to long-standing complications from his Fort Donelson wounds. His body was laid in state under the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol for one day. At the time of his death, Logan was only the seventh person to be laid in state there, and he is one of only twenty-nine people to receive that honor to date. His funeral was held in the Senate chambers. Logan is buried in the Soldiers and Sailors Cemetery in Washington, D.C.”

During WWI, Decoration Day was expanded to include all veterans who had died defending their country, not just those from the Civil War. But it was not until 1971 that Congress officially made Memorial Day a national holiday. And since then, there are some who think this day has become a marker for celebrating the beginning of summer, rather than a day of remembering those who gave their lives.

In an effort to rededicate the meaning of this holiday, in May, 2000 a Presidential Memorandum established a National Moment of Remembrance. At 3pm today, take 60 seconds from this day to remember those who’ve given their lives in defense of this country over the past 227 years.