By Dennis Jamison ——Bio and Archives--May 27, 2024

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Today is the day currently designated as Memorial Day, which was initially celebrated as a day known as Decoration Day. The intent was to allow the surviving families of those who gave their lives during the American Civil War to properly remember their dearly departed. Memorial Day originally began as a way to honor only those Union soldiers who had died as a result of the Civil War. Later, all service men and women who had died while serving their country were included.

Hundreds of thousands of men and boys sacrificed their lives in the war. Yet, though their lives came to an end, the Union was able to rise from its own deathbed. Abraham Lincoln foresaw that war between Amercans was going to change America for better or for worse. Memorial Day was created out of the ashes of the death and destruction of the First Civil War in order to honor the staggering number of dead American (over 620,000) men and boys. The holiday reflects the honor Americans still give to those who had given their lives for the sake of Freedom itself. It is reflective that the ideals of Freedom are still evident within the internal DNA of Americans.

Born from the ashes, destruction and death of the American Civil War, Memorial Day was eventually established by the Veterans Association after the war as a way of honoring the Union soldiers who gave their lives that the United States could survive as a nation. Abraham Lincoln expressed the sentiment best when he honored the soldiers who fought and died at Gettysburg.

Lincoln serves as our witness to this tumultuous war. In his Gettysburg Address, he provided clarity to the why of the war in a brief but cogent statement. He gave his perspective on the purpose of that war and on the value of the ultimate sacrifice made by those who “gave their lives that that nation might live…”

He also made a statement that may have been too bold for the time. He declared, “The world will little note nor........

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