Mississippians Helped Inspire National Observance of Memorial Day
Each year on Memorial Day,Mississippians gather to remember the patriots who made the ultimate sacrificefor our country. The solemn ceremonies across our state are heartfeltdisplays of thanks and respect for the brave men and women of our ArmedForces. I am honored to take part in the Memorial Day events in a numberof Mississippi’s small towns this year.
CivilWar Beginnings
Mississippians have commemoratedthe service of fallen soldiers for nearly 150 years. The beginnings oftoday’s Memorial Day can be traced back to April 25, 1866, when a group ofwomen in Columbus placed flowers on the graves of both Confederate and Unionsoldiers at Friendship Cemetery. The generosity of these women indecorating every soldier’s marker earned national attention and inspired thepoem “The Blue and the Gray” by Francis Miles Finch.
As the third verse describes,“From the silence of sorrowful hours, The desolate mourners go, Lovingly ladenwith flowers, Alike for the friend and the foe.”
Others across the country mayhave decorated the graves of Civil War soldiers in their communities, but theLibrary of Congress describes the gesture of the women in Columbus as “moregenerous in its distribution of the tributes of honor and mourning.” Itplayed a meaningful role in the emergence of Memorial Day as a national time ofremembrance.
SteadfastSupport
We carry on this tradition withpatriotic parades and assemblies on the last Monday in May, but saluting ourservice members and their families should happen every day of the year. One way to show our support is making sure our troops have the resources theyneed to face new and diverse challenges. Likewise, military heroes ofolder generations should have quality care. As a member of the SenateArmed Services and Veterans’ Affairs committees, I remain engaged with theseissues and committed to ensuring the well-being of every active-duty servicemember and veteran.
Our state has a proud traditionof military service, with more than 2,000 Mississippians currentlydeployed. They are part of an extraordinary legacy – and will inspire ourfuture heroes just as past generations inspired them.
HonorFlight Heroes
According to the Department ofVeterans Affairs, there are about 22 million veterans nationwide, including 1.7million from World War II. Last month, I had the great privilege ofwelcoming veterans from our state to the World War II Memorial inWashington. Ninety-three World War II veterans participated in thespecial Honor Flight from Gulfport to Washington.
A few days after the trip, oneveteran, J.B. Stonecypher, described his experience at the memorial in aneditorial letter to The Mississippi Press. He wrote, “Look overthe wall with me and think of the 400,000 men who gave their lives for theliberty you now enjoy. If it had not been for these men and God’s grace,you would be living as servants to another nation. In fact, the wholeworld would be.”
On Memorial Day, this message isa powerful reminder of why we should remember those we have lost. Todaywe honor generations of selfless heroes, and we celebrate the freedom theydefended.
