By Judge Michael Warren
We know better. On May 5, 1868, General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, promulgated General Order No. 11, which was the first official promulgation of Memorial Day. General Order No. 11 provided that flowers be placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers on May 30, 1868. Logan’s Order declared: “Let no neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.”
In his “The Destiny of America Memorial Day” speech in 1923, President Calvin Coolidge remarked, “Our country . . . has not decreed this memorial season as an honor to war, with its terrible waste and attendant train of suffering and hardship . . . Yet war is not the worse of evils, and these days have been set apart to do honor to all those, now gone, who made the cause of America their supreme choice. Some fell with the words of Patrick Henry, ‘Give me liberty, or give me death,’ almost ringing in their ears.”
Coolidge explained that “It is the spirit of these men, exhibited in all our wars, to the spirit that places the devotion to freedom and truth above the devotion to life, that the nation pays its ever enduring mark of reverence and respect. . . . That spirit is not dead, it is the most vital thing in America. It does not flow from any act of government. It is the spirit of the people themselves.” Indeed.
In his order, Logan reflected he hoped the Memorial Day would become an annual tradition, and it has. With World War I, that tradition expanded to include all war dead; eventually it became a recognized holiday celebrated each May 30.
Unfortunately, the “ravages of time” have yielded not only neglect, but near amnesia. In 1971, the fatal error occurred—the Uniform Monday Holiday Act fixed the celebration of Memorial Day to the last Monday of May. Congress, fumbling its own creation, corrupted it with a three day weekend. The “most sacred day of the year” was perverted into an empty excuse for barbecues, sales, and mini-vacations.
We can do better. Attend a Memorial Day service. If you need assistance in finding one, join Patriot Week and the Daughters of the American Revolution at Ortonville Michigan’s Memorial Day Service and gravesite dedication of American Revolution Patriot Norman Phelps. For more information, visit PatriotWeek.org.
Still, to hope that Memorial Day will ever entirely recover its original meaning for most is a hopeless cause. That is why my then 10 year old daughter Leah and I created Patriot Week—with the hope of establishing a new civic calendar to renew the spirit of America.
Patriot Week celebrates the First Principles, Founding Fathers and other Patriots, vital documents and speeches, and flags that make America the greatest nation in world history.
Like Memorial Day, most of our current civic holidays have become overly commercialized and lost their deeper meaning. We need to invigorate our appreciation and understanding of America’s spirit. Anchored by the key dates of September 11 (the anniversary of the terrorists attacks) and September 17 (Constitution Day, the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution), Patriot Week does just that. Patriot Week is a grassroots effort that is spreading throughout America.
Without such a civic renewal, we are doomed to lose “that spirit,” that “most vital thing in America.” With the waning of the spirit of the people, America will fade away. Help us. To learn more, visit www.PatriotWeek.org.
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Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Michael Warren is a former member of the State Board of Education, author of “America’s Survival Guide,” and co-creator of Patriot Week.
