MEMORIAL DAY 2020

Wright County veterans honored with social distanced ceremonies.

Memorial Day, May 25, was quiet and somber this year. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the Buffalo American Legion Post  270, the Waverly American Legion Post 305, and the Wright County Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1901 did not hold any public ceremonies, but rather had small gatherings of members to honor the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice and died serving in the armed forces of the United States and to remember all veterans who have died.

This is the first time public ceremonies have not been held in more than 50 years.

In keeping with tradition, the Legion posts also placed standards and American flags on the graves of all veterans in the local cemeteries.

In Buffalo, the short program included comments by Commander Bob Larson.

In part, Larson said, “Every crisis has new heroes. During the 9/11 attacks, they were the first responders running into burning and crumbling buildings as others ran out. Now, during the coronavirus pandemic, the most visible heroes are the health care professionals, who are saving others and risking their own lives while doing so.”

Larson continued, “These heroes have much in common with the people that we honor today – America’s fallen veterans. They are men and women who have sacrificed their own lives so others could live.”

Concluded Larson, “Even when the enemy is an invisible virus or a microscopic germ, the sacrifices made are just as meaningful. The U.S. military has already lost servicemembers to COVID-19.  This Memorial Day, as we continue to honor those who fell for us in battle, let’s also pause to remember those who have also sacrificed their lives while serving others. May God bless them, and may God bless you for remembering them here today.”

In Montrose, the white crosses were set early to allow families to place flowers on the crosses commemorating their loved ones. The ceremony involved the raising of the flag, a color guard salute, and the playing of Taps.

Although the Waverly ceremony was short, less than ten minutes, several people and families came, all maintaining social distancing.

The history of Memorial Day is complicated, as many communities across the United States held remembrance days following the Civil War. Many of those claimed to be the birthplace of Memorial Day.

On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan, leader of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance later that month.

The date May 30 of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.

On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there.

Memorial Day, as Decoration Day gradually came to be known, originally honored only those lost while fighting in the Civil War. But during World War I, the United States found itself embroiled in another major conflict, and the holiday evolved to commemorate American military personnel who died in all wars, including World War II, the Vietnam War, the Korean War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The name “Memorial Day” became more common than “Decoration Day” after World War II, but was not declared the official name by federal law until 1967.

On June 28, 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which moved four holidays, including Memorial Day, from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend.

 The change moved Memorial Day from its traditional May 30 date to the last Monday in May. The law, which also declared Memorial Day a federal holiday, took effect at the federal level in 1971.

Some traditions of Memorial Day include raising the flag of the United States briskly to the top of the staff and then solemnly lowered to the half-staff position, where it remains only until noon. The flag is then raised to full-staff for the remainder of the day.

In Wright County, the names of all of deceased veterans are read while wreaths or flowers are placed on crosses.

Sources of information on Memorial Day include history.com and Time.com.