With the blooming of May flowers comes one of the most sacred and solemn days our nation observes: Memorial Day.
On the last Monday of this month, thousands of Americans will journey to cemeteries across the country to honor the legacy of those who served. Whether those journeys are close to home or many miles away, they reflect the common reverence our citizens share for the armed forces and a deep commitment to ensuring that the final resting places of our fallen are never forgotten.
Our nation has a long history of honoring its veterans—even after they have passed on. From the fields of Gettysburg to the mountains of Afghanistan, countless men and women have laid down their lives to protect our country’s promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
In preparation for Memorial Day, I’d like to reflect on where this legacy began. Understanding the history of Memorial Day gives us the chance to reflect more deeply on what it truly means—a day of remembrance and tribute to those who gave everything, not just a long weekend away from work or school.
The National Cemetery Administration credits the earliest observance of Memorial Day to the Ladies Memorial Association of Columbus, Georgia. In April 1866, the association called for a national day of remembrance for soldiers killed during the Civil War, which remains the deadliest war in American history. Although this tradition began in the South, it gained broader recognition in May 1868 after a proclamation by Maj. Gen. John A. Logan.
General Logan, a Union officer and head of a Union veterans organization known as the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), recognized the importance of honoring all who had fallen. He called for a national annual observance called Decoration Day, to be held each spring.
Following Logan’s proclamation, cemeteries in 27 states hosted memorial ceremonies in collaboration with the GAR. One of the most notable took place at Arlington National Cemetery, where Union Gen. and future President James A. Garfield addressed the crowd before joining nearly 5,000 attendees in decorating more than 20,000 graves. By 1890, every Northern state had adopted Decoration Day as a state holiday. Parades became a common fixture, with some of the earliest held in New York, Ohio and West Virginia.
After World War I, the holiday was expanded to include service members from all American wars and began to be celebrated on May 30 in both Northern and Southern states. While “Decoration Day” and “Memorial Day” were used interchangeably for a time, the latter did not become common until after World War II. Still, it wasn’t until more than two decades later that it became a federal holiday.
In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, establishing Memorial Day as an official national holiday to be observed on the last Monday in May.
As Memorial Day approaches, I ask you to remember this: we do not have a three-day weekend because of a holiday. We have a three-day weekend because of the brave men and women in uniform who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their families, neighbors and nation. It is a debt we can never truly repay.
To close, I leave you with the words of General Logan’s 1868 proclamation—a poignant reminder of that debt, and the duty we each carry to those who fulfilled theirs:
“Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten, as a people, the cost of a free and undivided republic.”
As always, I can be reached anytime through the toll-free message line in Frankfort at 1-800-372-7181. You can also contact me via email at William.Lawrence@kylegislature.gov and keep track through the Kentucky legislature’s website at legislature.ky.gov.
