Memorial Day began as Decoration Day. In 1868 Major General John A. Logan, commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, proclaimed the first official Memorial Day, which became Decoration Day.
On May 30, 1868, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there.
The Civil War
Historian David Hacker wrote, “It’s been quoted for years that 620,000 men died in the Civil War. If you go with the 620,000 total, the number of men dying in the Civil War is more than in all other American wars from the American Revolution through the Korean War combined. The American population in 1860 was about 31 million people, about one-tenth the size it is today. If the war were fought today, the number of deaths would total 6.2 million.”
However, he and other Civil War historians place the death total higher.
Waterloo, N. Y., is acknowledged as the “birthplace” of Decoration Day.
The first, formal, complete, well-planned, village-wide observance of a day entirely dedicated to honoring the war dead was held there on May 5, 1866.
However, the first recorded act of honoring Union Civil War dead occurred in Charleston, S.C., on May 1, 1865.
According to historian David W. Blight, The Charleston Daily Courier reported that former slaves, African Americans, honored 257 dead Union soldiers who were buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp.
They reburied the bodies reverently as gratitude for giving their lives for freedom.
A parade, led by several thousand African American children followed.
Thousands of people marched, sang, and celebrated; however, there is no agreement that this event led to today’s Memorial Day.
Fr. Emil Kaupan
On March 21, 2021, the U.S. military received word that the remains of Fr. Emil Kaupan, an army chaplain, were identified.
He was praised by fellow soldiers for his selfless example in the Korean War.
In 1953, he died as a prisoner of war.
Pope St. John Paul II honored him with the title of “Servant of God,” the first step towards sainthood.
On April 11, 2013, President Barack Obama presented him with the (Congressional) Medal of Honor “for bravery above and beyond the call of duty.” He is the ninth military chaplain to receive this honor.
President Obama described him as a soldier who didn’t bear arms, but who wielded the mightiest weapon of all — a love for his brothers so pure that he was willing to die so that they might live!
Through the winter as prisoners froze to death, Father Kapaun offered them his clothes, sneaked out to bring them grain, and cleaned the prisoner’s wounds.
Guards tortured him, but at Easter, they looked on as he offered Mass.
On Memorial Day, we express our appreciation of those who died while serving our county in military service.
We can visit the graves of fallen soldiers and adorn them with flowers.
We can attend a parade and fly the flag at half-staff.
We can buy a Buddy Poppy and thereby assist in maintaining rehabilitation and service programs for veterans.
We can thank veterans and be alert to articles and TV specials on Memorial Day.
We can pledge to aid widows, widowers, and orphans of those who died for our country.
We can participate in the National Moment of Remembrance which asks that at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day all Americans “voluntarily observe a moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to “Taps.”
War should motivate us to work for peace. In Isaiah 2:4, it says “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.”
Let us hope.
Fr. Donald Lange is pastor emeritus in the Diocese of Madison.