“I have never been able to think of the day as one of mourning; I have never quite been able to feel that half-masted flags were appropriate on Decoration Day. I have rather felt that the flag should be at the peak, because those whose dying we commemorate rejoiced in seeing it where their valor placed it. We honor them in a joyous, thankful, triumphant commemoration of what they did.”
     Benjamin Harrison, 23rd president of the United States.

Memorial Day, once known as Decoration Day, is a time when Americans honor those men and women who have served, and died, for their country.

The holiday was first celebrated after the Civil War, as a way to honor the soldiers who fought and died on battlefields across the country. Some of the places creating an early memorial day include, among others Sharpsburg, MD, located near Antietam Battlefield, which was one of the bloodiest battles of the war; Charleston, SC, where the war started; and many communities in Vermont.

It shouldn’t be surprising that Vermont played a role in creating this day of remembrance. Tens of thousand of Vermont men went off to fight, and Vermont troops played critical roles in many battles, most famously chronicled in the battles around Gettysburg.

These observances eventually came together as Decoration Day, honoring the Union dead, and several Confederate memorial days. The Memorial Day name came into use a few years later. Ironically, it wasn’t until 1967, more than a century after the war ended, that the US formally adopted the name Memorial Day, and a few years after that the holiday was adopted in all 50 states as the last Monday in May.

Fast forward to today, through myriad wars large and small, and we find American troops once again in harm’s way, this time in far away locations with exotic names. Men and women, including many from Vermont, are serving in defense of the country. Of course, the situation is vastly different from those circumstances a century and a half ago that generated the Civil War. But war is still war, and those serving today need support and respect as much as those who have served before them.

Take the time this weekend to say thanks, whether to a veteran, current serviceman or woman, or just in passing a local cemetery. So much has been given, so much has been lost, so much left unsaid.

“Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.”
     Unattributed from a headstone in Ireland.