Memorial Day honors our soldiers who died in battle. While we respect and remember all of our veterans, Memorial Day is set aside to specifically pay tribute to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
In the aftermath of the Civil War, Gen. John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic proclaimed May 30, 1868, as a national day to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers. Decoration Day was observed on May 30th until Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1968, after which Memorial Day was observed on the last Monday of May.
His truth is marching on.
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.
The Battle Hymn of the Republic became the most widely sung of all Union songs during the Civil War. The aspiration in the lyrics called a just war in which “As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,” More Americans died in that conflict than any before or since.
They Gave All
The reality, of course, is war is hell; but sometimes we must march through hell to achieve justice and secure freedom for all. Among those on my extended family tree, I have found 49 men who have been killed-in-action in military service. Three of my direct ancestors died in the Revolutionary War:
- Cpt. William Gray, my 5th great-grandfather, died of wounds suffered in the Revolutionary War after he returned home to New England,
- Pvt. Elias Roberts, also a 5th great-grandfather, was cut down in the Wyoming Massacre in Pennsylvania by British troops and their Native American allies.
- Pvt. Jonathan Ross, My 7th great-grandfather, was caught in the British surprise attack on the Crooked Billet Tavern in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania,
My ancestors’ blood paid the price for our Republic, assuming we can keep it.
As I noted back a dozen years ago before a Memorial Day assembly, no nation goes to war lightly, no less a nation “of the people, by the people, for the people.” From before the Revolution to modern conflicts across the world, we honor our soldiers who put their lives at risk for all of us. In these times, it is worth remembering those who gave all, who fell on those many marches so we may enjoy justice and freedom. Keep it dear.
