Upcoming Memorial Day Holiday Honors Real Heroes

The nation pauses next Monday--Memorial Day--to remember the supreme sacrifices of America's fallen airmen, sailors, soldiers, Coast Guard, and Marines.

It's the men and women who are serving in America's military--many of whom have given their lives to secure our freedom--who are the real celebrities, heroes and heroines among us.

Memorial Day originated in 1865 in Waterloo, N.Y., where a local druggist, Henry Welles, wanted to honor the memory of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who had died in the Civil War. A customer, Union Army Brig. Gen. John Murray, learned of Welles' idea and helped him to organize the first citywide observance in Waterloo in 1866.

Soon thereafter, Maj. Gen. John Logan, pictured right, the founder of a prominent organization of Union veterans, would help to propel the day of recognition forward. Logan, who was Murray's friend and superior officer, picked May 30, 1868, as the day to honor the American soldiers who had died in the Civil War. Logan ordered local communities to join in Waterloo's celebration by scattering flower petals on the soldiers' graves. When President Ulysses S. Grant presided over a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery that same year, Decoration Day really gained public support.

After World War I, Decoration Day was expanded to include all fallen American soldiers. In 1954, the U.S. Congress renamed Decoration Day as Memorial Day. Memorial Day continued to be observed annually on May 30 until 1971, when Congress voted to designate Memorial Day an official federal holiday and, with President Richard Nixon's approval, moved its observance to the last Monday in May.

Father, thank you for the supreme sacrifices paid by all of America's fallen airmen, sailors, soldiers, Coast Guard, and Marines--lives which were freely given, but at great cost, to secure the blessings of Liberty for others. Through the death of the Saviour, your Son, Jesus, You know about such sacrifice. May the families of these American fallen know that their family members' lives were not taken in vain. May You be a true Father to all the fatherless and a caregiver for all the widows. And may their countrymen be truly grateful for their sacrifices. Amen.