MARY BRASWELL: Looking back at Memorial Day

Each week Albany Herald researcher Mary Braswell looks for interesting events, places and people from the past. You can contact her at (229) 888-9371 or [email protected]. Follow @ABH_MBraswell on Twitter.

In 1868, Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the grand Army of the Republic issued what was called General Order Number 11, designating May 30 as a memorial day. He declared it to be “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 churchyard in the land.” Here is a look at facts related to the “holiday.”

— The first national celebration of Memorial Day (originally Decoration Day) took place May 30, 1868, at Arlington National Cemetery.

— Former Union general and sitting Ohio Gov. James Garfield gave this short speech at the first national celebration:

“We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.”

— Southern women decorated the graves of soldiers even before the end of the Civil War. After the war, a women’s memorial association in Columbus, Miss., put flowers on the graves of both Confederate and Union soldiers in 1866.

— In 1971, federal law changed the observance of the holiday to the last Monday in May and extended it to honor all those who died in American wars.

— The national observance of Memorial Day still takes place at Arlington, Va., with the placing of a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the decoration of each grave with a small American flag.

— Today, many cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day in 1866. In Georgia, Both Macon and Columbus claim the title. Richmond, Va., also lays claim. Approximately 25 places have been named in connection with the origin of Memorial Day, many of them in the South, where most of the war dead were buried.

— In 2000, the national moment of remembrance was enacted to remind Americans to pause wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time for a moment of silence to remember and honor fallen soldiers.

QUOTES

“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.” — George S. Patton

“It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.” — Norman Schwarzkopf

“The patriot’s blood is the seed of Freedom’s tree.” — Thomas Campbell

“Heroism is not only in the man, but in the occasion.” — Calvin Coolidge

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” — John F. Kennedy

“It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it.” — Robert E. Lee

“My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth.” — George Washington

“Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

“I’m fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.” — George McGovern

“It is not only the living who are killed in war.” — Isaac Asimov

REST IN PEACE

—The Department of Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration maintains 134 national cemeteries in 40 states (and Puerto Rico).

— Of the 134 national cemeteries, 75 are closed to new interments. An additional 18 cemeteries have space available only for cremated remains.

— Georgia has two national cemeteries. One is located in Marietta and is closed to new interments. The other is in Canton and is open for new interments, as well as cremated remains.

— Also in Georgia are two Georgia Veterans Memorial Cemeteries (GVMC).

— GVMC-Milledgeville was established in 2001 on 142 acres received from the Georgia Forestry Commission. The site includes a visitors’ center with a state-of-the-art information booth, a carillon (set of stationary bells) and 12 columbarium shelters (vaults with niches) for cremated remains.

— As of last Dec. 31, 2,635 veterans, spouses and dependents were buried at Millegeville. The cemetery will eventually be the final resting place for 100,000 people.

— GVMC-Glenville is located 25 miles west of the main post of Fort Stewart.

— The 42.6-acre Glenville site has 1,400 pre-placed in-ground double vaults, 766 conventional single-depth sites, 1,384 cremation sites, which includes a columbarium and in-ground sites. There are also 429 spaces for memorial markers, used for veterans whose remains are unavailable for interment.

— As of June 30, 2014, there were 669 veterans, spouses and dependents buried at Glenville. Space is available for a total of 21,000 people.

THE TOMB OF

THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER

— The inscription, author unknown, says: HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD.

— The first Tomb of the Unknown Soldier had a base that was slightly smaller than the present one. It was torn away when the present Tomb was started in Aug. 27, 1931.

— The present tomb was completed at a cost of $48,000 and the area opened to the public 9:15 a.m. April 9, 1932, without any ceremony.

— For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, the individual must be between 5 feet 10 and 6 feet 2 with a waist size that cannot exceed 30 inches.

— Shoes for the guards are specially made with thick soles to protect their feet from heat and cold. There are metal heel plates that extend to the top of the shoe in order to make the loud click as they come to a halt.

— A guard must commit to two years of guarding the tomb, live in a barracks under the tomb, and cannot drink any alcohol on or off duty for the rest of his life. He cannot swear in public for the rest of his life and cannot disgrace the uniform or the tomb in any way.

— For the first six months of duty, a guard cannot talk to anyone, nor watch TV. All off-duty time is spent studying the 175 notable people laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. A guard must memorize who they are and where they are interred.

— After two years, a guard is given a wreath pin that is worn on his lapel, signifying he served as guard of the tomb. There are only 400 presently worn.

— The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.

QUIK QUIZ ANSWER: (c) Bill Clinton

Which of the following was the only U.S. president in the last 30-plus years to have attended Memorial Day ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery every year throughout his term of office?

a) George H.W. Bush

b) Barack Obama

c) Bill Clinton

d) Ronald Reagan

The answer is at the end of Mary Braswell’s column.