The Texas Insider & Staff joins along with all Americans in remembering the brave men & women that gave their all while protecting our country and our freedom. We ask that you remember & pray for their families those still in Harms Way and are plased to provide just a brief history of how this day originated here. --The Editor
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas Memorial Day originally called Decoration Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nations service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings with over two dozen cities & towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized womens groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867 Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead.
While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966 its difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860s tapped into the general human need to honor our dead each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.
Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic in his General Order No. 11 and was first observed on 30 May 1868 when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states.
The South refused to acknowledge the day honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by 
Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 - 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays) though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas April 26 in Alabama Florida Georgia and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.
In 1915 inspired by the poem In Flanders Fields Moina Michael replied with her own poem:
Traditional observance of Memorial day has diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored neglected. Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day. While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades many have not held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all dead and not just those fallen in service to our country. She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. Later a Madam Guerin from France was visiting the United States and learned of this new custom started by Ms.Michael and when she returned to France made artificial red poppies to raise money for war orphaned children and widowed women. This tradition spread to other countries. In 1921 the Franco-American Childrens League sold poppies nationally to benefit war orphans of France and Belgium. The League disbanded a year later and Madam Guerin approached the VFW for help. Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW became the first veterans organization to nationally sell poppies. Two years later their Buddy Poppy program was selling artificial poppies made by disabled veterans. In 1948 the US Post Office honored Ms Michael for her role in founding the National Poppy movement by issuing a red 3 cent postage stamp with her likeness on it. There are a few notable exceptions. Since the late 50s on the Thursday before Memorial Day the 1200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. In 1951 the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn a practice that continues to this day. More recently beginning in 1998 on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Maryes Heights (the Luminaria Program). And in 2004 Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years. To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day the National Moment of Remembrance resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time for all Americans To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way aWe 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.
Moment of remembrance and respect pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to Taps.
The Moment of Remembrance is a step in the right direction to returning the meaning back to the day. What is needed is a full return to the original day of observance. Set aside one day out of the year for the nation to get together to remember reflect and honor those who have given their all in service to their country.
But what may be needed to return the solemn and even sacred spirit back to Memorial Day is for a return to its traditional day of observance. Many feel that when Congress made the day into a three-day weekend in with the National Holiday Act of 1971 it made it all the easier for people to be distracted from the spirit and meaning of the day. As the VFW stated in its 2002 Memorial Day address: 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 publics nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.
On January 19 1999 Senator Inouye introduced bill S 189 to the Senate which proposes to restore the traditional day of observance of Memorial Day back to May 30th instead of the last Monday in May. On April 19 1999 Representative Gibbons introduced the bill to the House (H.R. 1474). The bills were referred the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Government Reform.
