HomescholChristian.com's Holiday Section
Memorial Day
On the Origins of Memorial Day
From the Headquarter Grand Army of the Republic
General Orders No.11, WASHINGTON, D.C., May 5, 1868
The 30th day of May 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land. What can aid more to assure this result than cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foes? We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance.
If our eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us. Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of spring-time.
By order of JOHN A. LOGAN
Inpirational References
"The memory of the righteous will be a blessing."
The Bible, Proverbs 10: 7 (NIV)
"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek with all your heart." The Bible, Jeremiah 29:12, 13 (NIV)
Presidential Quotes
"That from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God, and that government of the people by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth."
Abraham Lincoln
"Today, those sacrifices are being made by members of our Armed Forces who now defend us so far from home, and by their proud and worried families. A Commander-in-Chief sends America's sons and daughters into a battle in a foreign land only after the greatest care and a lot of prayer. We ask a lot of those who wear our uniform. We ask them to leave their loved ones, to travel great distances, to risk injury, even to be prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice of their lives. They are dedicated, they are honorable; they represent the best of our country. And we are grateful."
President George W. Bush
A Patriotic Creed
by Edgar Guest
To serve my country day by day
At any humble post I may;
To honor and respect her flag,
To live the traits of which I brag;
To be American in deed
As well as in my printed creed.
To stand for truth and honest toil,
To till my little patch of soil,
And keep in mind the debt I owe
To them who died that I might know
My country, prosperous and free,
And passed this heritage to me.
I always must in trouble's hour
Be guided by the men in power;
For God and country I must live,
My best for God and country give;
No act of mine that men may scan
Must shame the name American.
To do my best and play my part,
American in mind and heart;
To serve the flag and bravely stand
To guard the glory of my land;
To be American in deed:
God grant me strength to keep this creed!
Memorial Day
by Edgar Guest
The finest tribute we can pay
Unto our hero dead today,
Is not a rose wreath, white and red,
In memory of the blood they shed;
It is to stand beside each mound,
Each couch of consecrated ground,
And pledge ourselves as warriors true
Unto the work they died to do.
Into God's valleys where they lie
At rest, beneath the open sky,
Triumphant now o'er every foe,
As living tributes let us go.
No wreath of rose or immortelles
Or spoken word or tolling bells
Will do today, unless we give
Our pledge that liberty shall live.
Our hearts must be the roses red
We place above our hero dead;
Today beside their graves we must
Renew allegiance to their trust;
Must bare our heads and humbly say
We hold the Flag as dear as they,
And stand, as once they stood, to die
To keep the Stars and Stripes on high.
The finest tribute we can pay
Unto our hero dead today
Is not of speech or roses red,
But living, throbbing hearts instead,
That shall renew the pledge they sealed
With death upon the battlefield:
That freedom's flag shall bear no stain
And free men wear no tyrant's chain.
Forgotten Fighter
by James Kisner
In World War II, he whispered, I was wounded by a blast.
And he began his story, reminiscing of his past.
I was just a boy back then, I lied about my age.
To get into the army, and... fight for the U.S.A.
I love this country very much, it's still the very best.
And I would fight, to keep it free, and safe from foreign pest.
We won that war, and I came home, my wounds had healed enough,
To re-enlist with other men. The army made us tough.
Then a little flare up in Korea called us out.
A threat against our freedom, spreading fear without a doub
t. There I caught a bullet, when I tried to save a friend.
Another wound, for Uncle Sam, they sent me home to mend.
Soldier, have you had enough? My sergeant said to me.
Or, do you want another tour, if ever there's to be?
We would train and fight again, if ever... it need be.
Because we love America, we'll fight to keep it free.
It didn't take too long, before my boys were off again.
We were shipped off to a war, we thought would never end.
I didn't understand it much, if it was wrong or right.
But... I was a U.S. soldier, and my country said Go fight.
I never questioned orders that were sent from up above.
I did it for America, the country, that I love.
I fought to keep my country safe, again, in Viet Nam.
Then, wounded I came home again, a victim of napalm.
My fighting days were over now, and I had almost given all.
But some had given more than me, their names are on a wall.
I am now, well up in years, a soldier old and worn.
I could only sit and pray, as I watched Desert Storm.
So proud of our boys over there, who stand for what is right.
Freedom is the battle cry, the reason why they fight.
Young soldiers fight for liberty, protecting freedom's bliss.
Old soldiers dream of by-gone-days, while fighting loneliness.
We were heroes in our day, He said, and then he sighed.
Forgotten in some V.A. home, and all my friends have died.
I never ask for anything, just wanted to live free.
But if you write this story, there are many just like me.
Who fought to keep our country, safe and free from every foe.
Only to come home again, and have no place to go.
Sadly, when the limelight fails, Heroes fade away.
Some men fight the silent battles, till their dying day.
Please... remember what it took, and what we had to pay.
And join with us remembering on this Memorial Day.
Memorial Day is special, it is not just summer's start.
The reason that we have this day, should be etched on your heart.
Lives were lost, and young men died, to keep this country free.
So take a moment on that day, to meditate with me.
Remember all those valiant men, and women who fought for,
The lifestyle that you now enjoy, because they went to war.
