The Grand Army of the Republic was the civic organization that created what is now known as Memorial Day. In 1868, members of the organization of Civil War veterans were instructed to decorate the graves of their fallen comrades with flowers on May 30th. It was called Decoration Day then, but soon became known as Memorial Day. The photo presented here bears witness to the honor that The Grand Army of the Republic bestowed on the graves of their kindred spirits. The five point star was the emblem of this organization that continued until 1949. The last member Albert Woolson, died in 1956 at the age of 109 years.
The GAR was founded on three principles: Fraternity, Charity, and Loyalty. They raised funds for medical and burial expenses, and provided sustenance for poor veterans and widows; by 1890, they had established orphanages in seven states. They also worked to build the physical reminders of the valor represented by their fallen comrades, and solicited funds for memorials, statues, and the preservation of Civil War sites, documents and relics.
In 2002 , one VFW Memorial Day address commented on a public distracted by BBQs and store wide sales saying,”Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general public’s nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.” There was an effort made to instill the heartfelt passions that created Memorial Day in December of 2000 when a resolution was passed encouraging, “Americans everywhere, to pause for one minute at 3:00 p.m. on Memorial Day, to remember and reflect on the sacrifices made by so many to provide freedom for all.”
The American Legion Post of Oakland is providing members of the community an opportunity to actively honor the over one million soldiers who have died in the service of their country. Memorial Day ceremonies will begin with the annual parade at 1pm on Sunday, May 25th –rain or shine. The parade route will be on Ramapo Valley Road between Dogwood Drive & Oak Street. Several local marching bands, plus regional bands, pipes & drums, Color Guard, marchers from civic groups, antique cars, and many more will partake in the parade. There will be a ceremony at Veteran’s Park, followed by refreshments in Legion Hall; participants can expect the events to conclude about 3pm. All veterans and active military personnel are invited to march or ride in the parade. Please contact Jack Ackerman at 337-8400 if you need more information.
The Oakland Journal offers our readers the following excerpts from a famous Memorial Day speech. We believe it offers the guidance needed to meet our moral obligations and still embrace the joys of the day.
Oliver Wendall Holmes, Supreme Court Justice of the United States, was wounded three times during the Civil War. He is the most often quoted Supreme Court Justice, and a man of great pragmatism. During the Battle of Fort Steven’s, when President Lincoln was reviewing the troops, he crossed paths with Oliver Wendal Holmes who was a young soldier at the time. As the tall, lanky Comander-in-Chief stood up and presented himself as an easy target during the battle, Holmes yelled out, “Get down, you fool!”.
The Oakland Journal offers our readers these excerpts from his famous Memorial Day speech in 1884 before a New Hampshire chapter of The Grand Army of the Republic.
“So to the indifferent inquirer who asks why Memorial Day is still kept up we may answer, it celebrates and solemnly reaffirms from year to year a national act of enthusiasm and faith. It embodies in the most impressive form our belief that to act with enthusiam and faith is the condition of acting greatly…..
Feeling begets feeling, and great feeling begets great feeling. We can hardly share the emotions that make this day to us the most sacred day of the year, and embody them in ceremonial pomp, without in some degree imparting them to those who come after us….But even if I am wrong, even if those who come after us are to forget all that we hold dear, and the future is to teach and kindle its children in ways as yet unrevealed, it is enough for us that this day is dear and sacred…..As surely as this day comes round we are in the presence of the dead.
The generation that carried on the war has been set apart by its experience. Through our great good fortune, in our youth our hearts were touched with fire. It was given to us to learn at the outset that life is a profound and passionate thing. While we are permitted to scorn nothing but indifference, and do not pretend to undervalue the worldly rewards of ambition, we have seen with our own eyes, beyond and above the gold fields, the snowy heights of honor, and it is for us to bear the report to those who come after us. But, above all, we have learned that whether a man accepts from Fortune her spade, and will look downward and dig, or from Aspiration her axe and cord, and will scale the ice, the one and only success which it is his to command is to bring to his work a mighty heart…
Every year–in the full tide of spring, at the height of the symphony of flowers and love and life–there comes a pause, and through the silence we hear the lonely pipe of death. Year after year lovers wandering under the apple trees and through the clover and deep grass are surprised with sudden tears as they see black veiled figures stealing through the morning to a soldier’s grave. Year after year the comrades of the dead follow, with public honor, procession and commemorative flags and funeral march–honor and grief from us who stand almost alone, and have seen the best and noblest of our generation pass away.
But grief is not the end of all. I seem to hear the funeral march become a paean. I see beyond the forest the moving banners of a hidden column. Our dead brothers still live for us, and bid us think of life, not death–of life to which in their youth they lent the passion and joy of the spring. As I listen , the great chorus of life and joy begins again, and amid the awful orchestra of seen and unseen powers and destinies of good and evil our trumpets sound once more a note of daring, hope, and will.”
The Oakland Journal honors all those who have died in the service of their country, we honor their memory, their spirit, and the sacrifice of their families and friends.
On a separate page, we wish to use the spirit of the day to remind our readers of the sacrifice Patrolman Danny Hughes made 30 years ago. Please click here to learn the story behind Ptl. Danny Hughes