by William J. Federer
Southern women scattered spring flowers on the graves of both the Northern and Southern soldiers who died during the Civil War.
This was the origin of Memorial Day, which in 1868 was set on MAY 30.
In 1968, it was moved to the last Monday in May.
From the Spanish-American War, to World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, War against Islamic Terror, up through the present, all who gave their lives to preserve America’s freedom are honored on Memorial Day.
Beginning in 1921, the tradition has been for Presidents to lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The number 21 being the highest salute, the sentry takes 21 steps, faces the tomb for 21 seconds, turns and pauses 21 seconds, then retraces his steps.
Inscribed on the Tomb is the phrase:
“Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to god.”
In his 1923 Memorial Address, President Calvin Coolidge stated:
“There can be no peace with the forces of evil. Peace comes only through the establishment of the supremacy of the forces of good.
That way lies through sacrifice…’Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.1
Notes:
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. November 11, 1932, inscription on back panel. Thomas Vorwerk, The Unknown Soldier (Springfield, MO: Pentecostal Evangel, June 28, 1992), p. 12. Vice-President Calvin Coolidge, May 31, 1923, Memorial Day Address, “The Destiny of America,” The Price of Freedom – Speeches and Addresses (NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1924), pp. 331-353. Dear Bill Federer, Many thanks for your reference to VP Coolidge May 1923 Memorial Day address…I am with the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation in Plymouth Notch, Vermont, an educational nonprofit organization with the mission to open the eyes of the world to Calvin Coolidge. I invite you to visit us in Vermont and to review our website http://www.calvin-coolidge.org/ William F. Brooks, Jr. Development Director, Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation, [email protected] (802) 672-3389, Ext. 4
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