Memorial Day 2009.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are over two dozen cities and towns that lay claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War. A hymn published in 1867 "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead." (Source: Duke University's Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920). But Waterloo, N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966.

However Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. It was proclaimed in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on May 30, 1868. At this point flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971).

God Bless the USA and those that have fought, and still bravely fight preserve our safety. Lets put the attention where it should be the Memorial Day. Lets forget all that is wrong with us, and be thankful to these great men and women.