Monday, our nation will observe Memorial Day. Flags should be
lowered to half-staff until noon. Previously designated Decoration
Day, Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who died in the
service of our country.
Monday, our nation will observe Memorial Day. Flags should be lowered to half-staff until noon.
Previously designated Decoration Day, Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who died in the service of our country.
Commemorations began after the Civil War, as towns and cities in the South as well as in the North honored their dead.
Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, the national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, for the purpose of decorating the graves of Civil War Veterans and first observed on May 30, 1868 when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. Subsequently, it has since become a day on which all war dead are commemorated.
To remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the “National Moment of Remembrance” resolution was passed in December 2000, which asks that at 3 p.m., local time, for all Americans “To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to ‘Taps.’ ”
At military funerals for our veterans, “Taps” is played, but few know the beginnings of this haunting song that brings a lump to our throat and a tear to our eye. One version purports that in 1862, when Army Capt. Robert Ellicombe was with his men at Harrison’s Landing in Virginia, the Confederate Army was on the other side of the narrow strip of land.
During the night, Capt. Ellicombe heard the moans of a soldier who lay severely wounded on the field between the armies. Not knowing if he was a Union or Confederate soldier, the captain decided to risk his life in an attempt to bring the wounded man back for medical attention.
Crawling on his stomach through gunfire, the captain reached the stricken soldier and began pulling him toward his encampment. Struggling greatly, the captain finally reached his own lines, where he discovered the soldier was actually a Confederate, but he was dead.
The captain lit a lantern and suddenly caught his breath and went numb with shock. In the dim light, he saw the face of the soldier. It was his own son.
The boy had been studying music in the South when the war broke out. Without telling his father, the boy enlisted in the Confederate Army.
The following morning, the heartbroken father asked permission of his superiors to give his son a full military burial, despite his enemy status. His request was only partially granted.
The captain had asked if he could have a group of Army band members play a funeral dirge for his son at the funeral.
The request was turned down since the soldier was a Confederate. But, out of respect for the father, they did give him one musician.
The captain chose a bugler. He asked the bugler to play a series of musical notes he had found on a piece of paper in the pocket of his son’s uniform. This wish was granted.
And, the haunting melody, we now know as “Taps,” was born.
The words are:
“Day is done … Gone the sun
From the lakes … From the hills … From the sky
“All is well
“Safely rest
“God is nigh.
“Fading light … Dims the sight
“And a star … Gems the sky … Gleaming bright
“From afar
“Drawing nigh
“Falls the night.
“Thanks and praise … For our days
“‘Neath the sun … ‘Neath the stars … ‘Neath the sky
“As we go
“This we know
“God is nigh.”
Burton Anderson, Purple Heart Korean War Marine, B.A., M.A. degrees, junior college instructor, 32 years in aerospace industry, retiring from contract negotiation in 1992. He can be reached at
ba****@ao*.com
.
