Memorial Day

[scarfman]

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

"But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

"It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."

Comments

[scarfman]

Paragraphing mine.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting this reminder.

The story I remember reading is that the idea for Memorial Day came from two mothers -- one of a Union Soldier, and one of a Confederate soldier -- who met when each went to the grave of their slain sons. And they realized that, regardless of their differences during the war, their shared grief reminded them of their common humanity, and their hope for future peace.

It's an idea that can get lost, in both the search for the biggest sale, and in our vain desire to be Right all the time.

[empyress.livejournal.com]

I was talking to an American co-worker, and he indicated that while Memorial day is the holiday (and he was flying home for it), where he's from Armistice Day (Veteran's Day or Remembrance Day here in Canada) is the bigger deal. He indicated that it had more to do with which side of the Mason-Dixon line you were on.

Is this still true today? That the date with "significance" changes based on historical/civil war affiliations?

Since we "remember" in November, it's more about the ceremonies than an excuse for a long weekend/welcome summer BBQs. Which is good - if our Remembrance Day was in May, the meaning would be lost.