reality_watcher

Today is a holiday for State of Georgia employees. As I am such, I get to stay home and write my blog.

I wondered where the idea of Confederate Memorial Day came from. I mistakenly thought it was a holiday in Georgia only. Confederate Memorial Day is actually observed by the states of :
Alabama, Georgia and Texas on April 26 (Texas also has Confederate Heroes Day on Jan 19)
Florida and Mississippi on the 4th Monday of April
North Carolina and South Carolina on May 10
Virginia on the last Monday in May (same as Memorial Day)
Kentucky, Louisiana and Tennessee on June 3
Pennsylvania on the Second Saturday in May
Arkansas on January 19 (state holiday combined with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday).

Some citizens of these states do not even realize they observe Confederate Memorial Day as it is combined with other state and federal holidays.

Confederate Memorial Day is a day set aside to remember the soldiers who died while serving the south during the American Civil War. The idea initially came from a lady in Columbus Georgia who’s husband died of disease during the civil war. She and her daughter would visit his grave daily, decorating it with flowers. Her small daughter would pull the weeds off of unmarked graves and cover them with flowers. When the girl died (reason unknown) her grieving mother took over the chore of weeding the unmarked graves and decorating them with flowers. As she did this daily, she came up with the idea of setting a date to celebrate the fallen soldiers. April 26 was chosen because it was the date that General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered in North Carolina thus bringing the end of the War between the States for Georgia. The law was signed in 1874, before there was a federal Veterans Day or Memorial Day. Actually the federal holiday we observe as Memorial Day came from Confederate Memorial Day. General John A. Logan, Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, was so impressed with the holiday that Southerners created to honor their fallen soldiers that he lobbied to have a special day named on which to honor Union soldiers who died during war.

There is controversy surrounding the holiday. Personally, I believe that any soldier that lost his life in war should be remembered.

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