On Memorial Day - the history

Most Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day so I have appended below a quick history tour, that I have picked up from the web @ http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html which traces the origins of this Day.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead" (Source: Duke University's Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920). While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860's tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconcilation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act, P.L. 90 - 363, in 1971 to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis' birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.

In 1915, inspired by the poem "In Flanders Fields," Moina Michael replied with her own poem:


We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.


She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. Later a Madam Guerin from France was visiting the United States and learned of this new custom started by Ms.Michael and when she returned to France, made artificial red poppies to raise money for war orphaned children and widowed women. This tradition spread to other countries. In 1921, the Franco-American Children's League sold poppies nationally to benefit war orphans of France and Belgium. The League disbanded a year later and Madam Guerin approached the VFW for help. Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW became the first veterans' organization to nationally sell poppies. Two years later their "Buddy" Poppy program was selling artificial poppies made by disabled veterans. In 1948 the US Post Office honored Ms Michael for her role in founding the National Poppy movement by issuing a red 3 cent postage stamp with her likeness on it.

Since the late 50's on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing.

And since 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye's Heights (the Luminaria Program).

The Times and Iraq: A Mea Culpa

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/26/international/middleeast/26FTE_NOTE.html

The recent New York Times editorial on May 26, 2004 while refreshing in its candor raises important questions on what caused this behavior at all. The New York Times is not alone in this matter. Almost all media organizations, without exception, did not take ten steps back, before they decided to punt the story to the front pages.

It is increasingly evident, that post 9-11, as a society we wrapped ourselves in the flag and rightfully so. In that process we got too absorbed in righting the wrong inflicted upon us. When Monsieur Bin Laden went AWOL we were, as a nation, still desperate to bring someone to justice and bad boy Saddam was the perfect enemy.

The mea culpa by the New York Times is a humbling reminder of the frailties of people in general and journalists in particular. When your nation is under attack, and people you know either directly or indirectly have died, it is difficult to stay unbiased and objective. It is easier to get carried away and betray the principles of fairness and justice that this country was founded on.

Mob mentality is not the preserve of the uneducated-depending on the circumstances, educated and intelligent people are equally guilty of condemning people en masse.

Elections in India

The surprising result in the recent elections in India is a testament to the strength and the resilience of democracy in India. Over 380 million voters went to the polls, accounting for over 60% of registered voters. Contrast that with the anemic voter turnout in developed nations.

It is also a sad reminder of the true state of the union - a significant part of the population remains mired in poverty!!It is inevitable that the pace of progress starts with the urban areas.

China faces the same dilemma - the coastal areas are prosperous and the pace of development slows as you travel inland. However, China's system of government enables them to suppress dissent and continue down the path of opening up the economy.

In India, democracy is a double edged sword - breaking the shackles of socialism is right in the long term but how do you protect the poor from the ensuing trauma? Is a safety net to help the transition process a solution or are we just coddling incompetence?

In other words what is the true role of the government as we make the transition to free markets? This question and its answer is critical for developing countries and the socialist economies in Europe.