Watch Memorial Day on PBS. See more from American Experience.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Origins of Memorial Day
I honestly did not know about this and since I didn't, I've got to assume some don't know it either. Why is that? It's an incredibly moving thought to me what transpired here. Just a three-minute clip.
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6 comments:
I had no idea this is how it started. I always assumed it was from WWI, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought that.
I can't view the video from my cell phone so i don't know what it says, but I do know that Memorial Day was created in remembrance of the 600,000 (+/-) who died in the Civil War. I also know its true origins are not really known, but it was the Civil War that started it.
Just watched the video. I was aware of the "Martyrs of the Race Course" story, but I've heard other stories equally compelling of how we, as a nation, came to recognize Memorial Day. In many parts of the south, they observed something called "Decoration Day" where they'd take a Sunday and go out and decorate graves with flowers, etc., and have picnics. It wasn't formally recognized by Congress as a national holiday until the 1960's, but the observance of memorializing the dead has been around for a long, long time. I'm not saying this is right or wrong--I personally don't know, I'm just saying.
I'm just amazed that this story is not routinely repeated. I find it very compelling and moving, and I honestly had not heard it before, which is saying something. Also, don't think I got a single comment on it when I shared it on FB.
Well, I have a thought about why it's taken so blasé...
Yeah, me too.
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