The Meaning of Memorial Day

by Kate Wilder

Whenever a group of dedicated women come together to create something of significance, you can be sure that new and great things are sure to follow. Such is the story behind the origins of Memorial Day, our national day of remembrance for those who have died in service to our country.

Memorial Day had its origins in an earlier day of remembrance for the fallen of the Civil War called “Decoration Day”. Following the Civil War, organized or spontaneous groups of women in both the North and South honored their fallen loved ones by decorating their graves. And in those cemetaries that had graves of soldiers who fought for both the North and the South, women decorated these graves as well, regardless of the color of the uniform they had worn. This was about reconciliation.

By 1868 the growing movement of honoring all the war dead gained such momentum that General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, officially proclaimed the establishment of Memorial Day on May 5th of that year.

Women continued to play a key role in molding the events of Memorial Day as we know it today. In 1915 Moina Michael’s was so inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields” that she initiated the tradition of wearing red poppies on Memorial Day to further honor the fallen. The new tradition grew in popularity so much that by 1922 the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) became the first veterans service organization to sell poppies, and that was followed two years later by the selling of poppies made by disabled veterans. And in 1948 the US Post Office honored Ms Michael by issuing a red 3 cent stamp with her picture on it.

When we honor those soldiers who died this Memorial Day, we must never let the nation forget that women, as well as men, have fallen while serving their country in every conflict in our nation’s history. Many people think that women’s involvement in military service is a recent occurance, but from the Civil War through World War II, dedicated women were actively involved in their generation’s wars. For example, some records report that over sixty women, both Northern and Southern, were wounded or killed during the Civil War, many of them impersonating men in battle and fighting right along side the men. During the Spanish American War women’s involvement was mostly as nurses, and records show that at least twenty two nurses died in service, mostly from typhoid fever or other illnesses. Several hundred women lost their lives in World War I, and more than four hundred women died in service during World War II. And the list continues.

May 30 had been the official date for Memorial Day until the National Holiday Act of 1971, when Congress made it into a three-day weekend by changing the day to the last Monday in May. Many veterans organizations feel that this change has watered down the true meaning of the day, and in 2002 the VFW stated that, “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.”

And in 1999 Senator Daniel Inouye introduced a bill to change Memorial Day back to its original May 30th date, but with no success.

The women of today, like those dedicated women following the Civil War who honored their war dead by decorating their graves, must carry the torch of this honorable tradition to a new generation. We must never let others become complacent about the true meaning of Memorial Day, nor forget the ultimate sacrifice made by these brave men and women on behalf of all of us.

About Kate Wilder:
Kate Wilder spent 28 years in both active and reserve military service, serving as an intelligence officer in the US Army. During that time, she spent four years in Special Forces and was the only female to attend, and graduate from, the Special Forces Officer Course, making her the first and only female Special Forces-qualified officer (“Green Beret”) in the US Army. After commanding a reserve unit at Ft Belvoir, VA, she retired in 2003 as a Lt Colonel.

She continues working for veterans issues, serving as a Gov Tim Kaine appointee to the Veterans Services Foundation, a board supporting the Virginia Department of Veterans Services. She also recently founded the Veterans and Military Families Caucus of the Democratic Party of Virginia and serves as a senior advisor to that group.

Kate has been a Democratic activist for many years, having held a number of leadership positions within the party, as well as working on numerous local, state and national political campaigns. She was recently a member of Senator Hillary Clinton’s Veterans and Military Retirees Steering Committee during the recent Democratic presidential campaign.