CLEVELAND, May 27 — The following is a Memorial Day statement from BLET President Don M. Hahs.
Each year on Memorial Day, we pause for a moment to honor those who gave their lives in service to this country.
These brave men and women, serving in wars from the Civil War to the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, made the ultimate sacrifice so that we may continue to enjoy the freedoms and rights asserted by our Founding Fathers so many years ago.
Each of these men and women went off to war in order to preserve the peace and prosperity we enjoy. They left with hopes and dreams not unlike the many that we have, and yet these dreams ended one fateful day. By memorializing them on this day, we both remember their sacrifices and allow their dreams to continue on.
To quote Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in his Memorial Day address in 1884, this day “celebrates and solemnly reaffirms from year to year a national act of enthusiasm and faith —it embodies in the most impressive form our belief that to act with enthusiasm and faith is the condition of acting greatly.”
Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic and was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.
By the end of the 19th century, Memorial Day ceremonies were being held on May 30 throughout the nation. It was not until after World War I, however, that the day was expanded to honor those who have died in all American wars. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday by an act of Congress. It was then also placed on the last Monday in May.
We must never forget the sacrifices that have been made in our name, and we must rededicate ourselves to bringing about peace and prosperity through out the world. In this way, the dreams and lives of our fallen fellow Americans will not have ended in vain.
We are reminded that they died so that we could live and continue to cherish the things they loved — God, country and family.
To quote Justice Holmes again, “Our dead brothers still live for us, and bid us think of life, not death–of life to which in their youth they lent the passion and joy of the spring.”
God bless all of our brothers and sisters who have lost friends and family members in the line of duty.