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Article: From Decoration to Memorial Day
- Article from:
- Telegraph - Herald (Dubuque)
- Article date:
- May 20, 2008
CopyrightCopyright 2008 Telegraph - Herald (Dubuque). Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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May 26 is Memorial Day. Before the beginning of the 20th
century, it was known as Decoration Day. Before 1971, it was always
on May 30.In 1868, Maj. Gen. John A. Logan, of the Grand Army of the
Republic, issued General Order No. 11, designating May 30 as a
Memorial Day "for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise
decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their
country during the late rebellion (Civil War) and whose bodies now
lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the
land."That first Decoration Day was celebrated at Arlington National
Cemetery, the former plantation of Robert E. Lee, where both Union
and Confederate soldiers lay buried.Let's ...