Memorial Day - A More Complete History

You may have read the truncated version of the history of Memorial Day on line yesterday. It was dismaying; to say the least. Here is the history of Memorial Day as covered by Yahoo news;

“A few years after the end of the Civil War, May 30 was established as "Decoration Day" -- a day to decorate veterans' graves with flowers. May 30 may have been the selected day because flowers would be in bloom throughout the country, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website.

In 1971, Memorial Day was officially declared a national holiday and placed on the last Monday in May, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website says.

In December 2000, the president signed into law The National Moment of Remembrance Act.”

That’s it. They left out some important pieces of how the holiday became Memorial Day: traditionally; before it was turned into just another 3 day weekend. Let’s examine the history of that tradition.

They are incorrect in stating that "a few years" after the Civil War had ended people began flooding the cemeteries to honor the fallen. In the South it began with the first anniversary of the wars end and was called “Confederate Memorial Day”. It was first celebrated in 1866 on April 26th. That date was chosen by Mrs. Elizabeth Rutherford Ellis. April 26th is the anniversary of the final Confederate defeat at Bennett Place, North Carolina. It was there that General Sherman accepted the sword of Confederate General Johnston. For most of the people of the South, this is the true date on which the military hostilities ceased; not in early April with Grant and Lee at Appomattox Courthouse.

That first effort in 1866 was organized by the Ladies Memorial Association of Columbus, Georgia.  A woman named Maryann Williams (no relation to me) was the Secretary of that Association and lobbied hard for the state legislature to pass an Act marking the date as an official observance. It was quickly accomplished. Within months all of the former states of the Confederacy had followed suit. The holiday is still marked in several of the former Confederate States on April 26th, rather than late May. In Texas it is also known as Defender’s Day. In North and South Carolina the holiday was observed on May 10th until about 15 or 20 years ago when I first arrived here. That has changed drastically with the influx of us "Yankees".

By 1868 the Northern states were clamoring for their own holiday to honor their fallen. General John Logan, Commander of the Union Civil War Veterans fraternity known as the Grand Army of the Republic, began the Memorial Day holiday which was observed for so many years on the 30^th of May. The General stated that “it was not too late for the Union men of the nation to follow the example of the people of the South in perpetuating the memory of their friends who had died for the cause they thought just and right.” These eloquent words; spoken so soon after the hostilities had ended serve to mark the deep respect which the Northern and Southern soldiers had for one another. The war had been brutal, and none knew that better than the veterans of both sides. 

After World War One had ended we got Armistice Day, which marked the end of that conflict. Then there was the problem of the two part victory over Germany in May 1945 (VE Day) and then Japan (VJ Day) in August of the same year, ending World War Two. So, we now had the need for at least 5 holidays to honor our nation’s war dead; plus any days which would be necessary to mark future wars we might engage in. Something needed to change. And, so it did.

By the early 1960’s most of the country was celebrating the holiday on the 30th of May; with the exception of the 11 southern states. They were still observing the holiday between April 26^th and May 10^th. That changed in the early 1970's.

But, in reality, the full story of the current tradition of Memorial Day is simply that the playing field got too crowded for a separate Day of Remembrance for each of the wars we fought; or were likely to fight, in the future. By 1971 it was declared a 3 day holiday; more out of a desire for a 3 day holiday than to honor the fallen.

It is interesting to note that some of the Southern states have held onto their traditional Day of Remembrance, while the rest of us have opted for convenience and an extra day off.  Well, no matter what date they choose, the fallen will always be honored in the “hearts and minds” of people like me who have the freedom to write articles like this about the nuances of honoring the things which they have actually done. We are lucky to have been the benefactors of their sacrifice.

"Year Zero" by Ian Buruma (2013)

What a book! Author Ian Buruma; whose father was a German soldier; has written a book about the immediate aftermath of the Second World War and how man’s inhumanity to man continued in the wake of the worst conflict the world has ever known. At times he even draws upon the writings of prominent German, French and Japanese authors such as Nagai Kafu and Benoite Groult to augment his narrative about post war life in the defeated countries. In doing so, he has painted a searing portrait of mankind at its worst.

As soon as the guns ceased their firing people were looking for retribution against their former tormentors; be they Nazi’s, Japanese or Russian military; all were targets of the wrath of the millions who had been crushed under the heels of fascism, or been kicked by the boots of communism. There was no middle ground, and without a doubt these retributions were long overdue.

The point of this book is, I believe, to show how inhumanity can take so many different forms. How else to explain what happened in Poland after the war, when the Polish people continued killing Jews, sometimes just to prevent them from reclaiming their homes.  With a twisted zeal the Poles went after the surviving Jews for being Communists, being Fascists, and just for being Jews. After all, hadn’t they caused this war?

In Germany, the Russians were embarked upon an orgy of rape and violence not unlike the Japanese Rape of Nanking in the 1930’s. In just about every other liberated country the scene was the same, as the newly freed turned on the people who had collaborated with the enemy.

The disparity between the Nuremburg trials and the Japanese war crime trials in the Philippines is astounding. While we executed General Yamashita for the Massacre at Manila and the Bataan Death March; events he was not even present for; we let Lt. Gen. Masaji and his assistant, Lt. Gen. Shiro; go free. These 2 men were amongst the most monstrous of the Japanese war criminals, having conducted brutal “medical” experiments on POW’s and civilians alike. Through the efforts of General Willoughby the United States took the position that these experiments were important enough to keep from the Soviets, and so they were spared. Shiro died peacefully in 1959 while Masaji went on to found Green Cross, the largest blood bank in Japan.

Sexual activity was a big part of the end of the war. It was not only an expression of relief by the people who had endured long separations from loved ones; but also an economy unto itself. In Japan the women who “worked the trade” were known as Pan Pan Girls, and they were the object of resentment by their own countrymen. The reason is primal; what could be worse than losing a war and having the conqueror take your women? It was the same in Germany with the “Ruinenmauschen”, or “mice in the ruins”, who actively sought the company of Allied soldiers in order to obtain the material goods attendant to such a relationship.

One of the most emotional points of this book comes when Bergen-Belzen is liberated. Through a typical Army supply line screw up, cases of lipstick are delivered to the survivors in place of the earnestly needed food and medical supplies. The women; some still too weak to stand; were delighted and began immediately to make an attempt to alter their grotesque appearances. The medical officer in charge stated that the lipstick just might have given these women the little boost they needed to begin reclaiming their former identities. This moved me to tears.

No matter how you slice it, war is hell. And, we never really focus on anything past the joy brought about by the end of hostilities. We all know about the Berlin Airlift and the Marshall Plan. We all know that there was great deprivation in both Europe and Asia after the war was over. But this is the first book I have read which focuses entirely on the year 1945 and the conditions resulting from the end of the war.

For a good follow up to this book I recommend viewing the film “Germany, Year Zero”, which the author mentions and obviously influenced his work. Directed by Roberto Rossellini and released in 1948, this film follows a young German boy as he attempts to navigate life in his war torn country. Having been born and raised in the United States, books and films like these are important reminders of just how lucky we have been for so long.