Memorial Day: Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Major General John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country.
To ensure the sacrifices of America 's fallen heroes are never forgotten, in December 2000, the U.S. Congress passed and the president signed into law "The National Moment of Remembrance Act", creating the White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance. The commission's charter is to encourage the people of the United States to give something back to their country, which provides them so much freedom and opportunity.
The Red Poppy
In 1918, the poem from YWCA worker Monia Michael;
We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.
Remember those that gave their lives, so that we may continue to live in freedoms that the Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence gives us.
James Murty, Assistant Business Manager West