Happy Decoration Day!

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I keep getting surprised by how many of our holidays were started around the Civil War. You guessed it: Memorial Day was too!



Memorial Day was based upon a holiday celebrated first in 1868, when citizens of the US (led by orphans and veterans) covered the graves of 20,000 Civil War soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery with flowers. President Garfield approved of "Decoration Day" a day of remembrance of the Civil War dead celebrated by many states on May 30th. 



After WWI, many, feeling the loss of so many loved ones, began to honor all military dead on Decoration Day.



It wasn't until after 1968--100 years after its start--that it became a federal holiday.



Side note: Isn't it amazing how long unofficial holidays are celebrated in this country before they become federal holidays? See my Thanksgiving post for another example.



The poem below? Yeah, I didn't write it. My best friend did, though, and I honestly think its the best poem she's ever written. My sister, Elecia, writes a blog called A Heart in Waiting, and it's a wonderful blog encouraging young women to stay pure and patient while waiting on God's direction. I decided to post this poem from her blog because I thought it'd be a great way to remind us of what these "honored dead" died for: Freedom, equality, and The United States of America.

Behind the Song: Letters From Home

I'm getting really tired of Civil War.

I'm serious, I can't wait for the hype to die down. 

Why are you staring at me like that? Oh, I'm sorry....

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What Does an Ebenezer Have in Common with a Monument?

"Monuments and archaeological pieces serve as testimonies of man's greatness and establish a dialogue between civilizations showing the extent to which human beings are linked." Statesman Vicente Fox

"The sanctity of our battlefields, monuments, and veterans institutions is of utmost importance to preserve military history and pay respect to those who fought." Politician Henry Waxman

Monument at Gettysburg Battlefield

Monuments help us remember the past. I don't know about you, but I saw about a dozen of them just driving through town today. And everytime I pass one, I think about what man once stood there, what man fought there, what man fell on that hill and what man never made it home cause he died on that spot.

Okay, so that's a tad bit morbid, but seriously, we have to think about this stuff. 51,000 casualties fell at Gettysburg alone. Now there are 1,328 monuments, markers and memorials to remember those men just in Gettysburg.

GETTysburg! GETTysburg!

 I started wondering the other day if I would have to change my vocabulary to re-enact. Did Americans use contractions? I started fretting that I would mess up and be a bad representative if I spoke like modern day.

Doing some researching, I found that contractions have been around a lot longer than I thought. So they're safe. (Another reassurance is I had forgotten about the word "ain't", a slang contraction for 'am not' or 'is not' and prevalent during this time period.)

We'll never be able to completely explain how they talked in the 19th century, since none of us lived in that time. However, below is a video I just watched that address this topic.

Brother Against Brother: The War Comes Home

I don’t know what I’ll do if my brother ever decides to join the military. The number of young men (and women now) joining to fight terrorism and evil dictators overseas is astronomical. I know quite a few people fighting right now so that I can have the freedom to write this.

During the Civil War, the amount of young men leaving home to fight was even higher. They would watch their fathers, brothers and friends leave to fight, and for the sake of patriotism and pride, they would usually follow suit. They would go to fight the evil of slavery or the overbearing Northerners. Well, not all of them felt that way.

One of the main feelings among the soldiers of this day was the overall feeling of brotherhood. They’d fight and die right alongside the men in their company, but they also felt a feeling of brotherhood with the enemy.

Why?