Some Gave All

We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.  1 John 3:16

This is my Uncle Lindsay at the young age of 18, United States Army, 87th Infantry Division, KIA Battle of the Bulge, December 16, 1944.  I never met Lindsay as I was not born until 1945.  I heard stories about him and saw the flag my grandmother had that had covered his coffin. 

Do you know when and where the first Memorial Day was.  I didn't either so I looked it up.  The first Memorial Day was May 30, 1868, 3 years after the Civil War ended, and at that time it was called Decoration Day.  The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.  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.

Gen. Logan’s order for his posts to decorate graves in 1868 “with the choicest flowers of springtime” urged: “We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. ... Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no 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.”

It was not until after World War I, however, that the day was expanded to honor those who have died in all American wars. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday by an act of Congress, though it is still often called Decoration Day. It was then also placed on the last Monday in May, as were some other federal holidays.

The National Moment of Remembrance, adopted December 2000, encourages all Americans to pause wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence to remember and honor those who have died in service to the nation. As Moment of Remembrance founder Carmella LaSpada states: “It’s a way we can all help put the memorial back in Memorial Day.”

As a young child I remember going to the cemetery and placing flowers on the graves but I never really knew why until years later.  Today small American flags are placed on each grave at cemeteries across our great nation as we remember the sacrifices made for us and the freedoms we enjoy.

So, today no matter where you are or what you are doing, at 3:00 pm pause for a minute and honor those that gave their last full measure.

Battle Hymn Of The Republic

by Julia Ward Howe, 1861

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal";
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Since God is marching on.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me.
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free
While God is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
While God is marching on.

Howe's original manuscript differed slightly from the published version. Most significantly, it included a final verse:

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,

He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,

So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,

Our God is marching on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah.

Our God is marching on