MONDAY, MAY 31, 2021 MEMORIAL DAY 2021

 MONDAY, MAY 31, 2021 MEMORIAL DAY

So, what are we celebrating today?  After all, we have Veteran’s Day in November - for our Military veterans, the Fourth of July for our country.

From the National Days website we have:

“Memorial Day, May 31, for many Americans, conjures up images of hamburgers, hot dogs, swimming pools, and summertime. But the last Monday in May serves, most importantly, as a time to honor those who died while fighting in the U.S. Armed Forces. It’s a holiday steeped in somber American history and tradition. The day actually began as “Decoration Day,” following the Civil War, when mourners placed flowers on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers. Yes, Memorial Day has also come to signify the “unofficial” start of summer, but let’s remember the heroes who made it all possible.

“The Civil War ended in the spring of 1865 when Robert E. Lee surrendered the last major Confederate army to Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House on April 9. Over 620,000 soldiers died in the four-year conflict. General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic (an organization of Union veterans) would eventually select May 30, 1868, as a day to pay tribute to the fallen:

“The 30th of May, 1868, is designated 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, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land…”

Logan apparently chose May 30 because flowers would be in bloom all over the country. By the end of the 19th century, Memorial Day ceremonies were being held on May 30 throughout the nation. States passed proclamations, and the Army and Navy adopted rules for proper observance at their facilities.

“The May 30 date held for decades. But, in 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees. The change took place in 1971. The same law also declared Memorial Day a federal holiday.”

*****

Okay.  I was with a friend yesterday and we talked about Memorial Day/Decoration Day.  My mother (born in 1912) always called it “Decoration Day” as that was the term she grew up with.  (My friend commented that it was the same with her mother).  But, then we discussed “WHY” this country should have a “Memorial Day”?

The Civil War (or “uncivil” war or “War between the States”) was bloody, and the only war fought on American Soil (more or less.  The Japanese did bomb American land at Pearl Harbor in 1941).  The weapons of war were relatively well developed, but the medical situation was not so well developed.  A gunshot or a bayonet stab was quite frequently fatal.  Evacuation to a “Mobile Army Surgical Hospital'' (or MASH as used in the Koren War and used on television), was almost impossible.  Without cars, trucks, jeeps, the wounded lay on the ground and gangrene would set in.  A wonder soldier frequently became a dead soldier.  

“The scale and duration of the conflict, the size of its battles, and the number of casualties were also unanticipated and unprecedented.  Both the Union and the Confederacy reaped what many described as a “harvest of death.”  By the midpoint of the conflict, it seemed that in the South, “Nearly every household mourns some loved one lost.”  Loss became commonplace; death was no longer encountered individually. Death’s threat, proximity, and actuality became the most widely shared experience of the war’s duration.  Americans were unprepared for the impact of these deaths; what to do with the bodies that covered fields of battle, how to mourn so many lost, how to remember, and how to understand.” (A NPR account)

This caused a major change in American Healthcare that exists today - nurses, especially women nurses.

“Prior to the Civil War, there were very few female nurses who publicly practiced medicine. Privately women often took care of sick family members within the home, but most doctors were men and did not routinely use the help of nurses. One of the few aspects of public medicine that few women practiced in the 19th century was midwifery in which they helped other women bear a child. When the Civil War began, both the Confederate and Union medical departments preferred having men rather than female nurses work in hospitals. Medical officers did not think that women had the constitution and hardiness for hard work and were willing to follow military etiquette. Logistically, officers do not want to expend the effort to provide the separate accommodations that were thought necessary for women to stay at the hospitals. However, this changed during the first few months of the war as medical departments on both sides were unprepared for the number of wounded soldiers that needed treatment in the hospitals. For example, throughout April and May 1861 too few medical stewards (male nurses) were assigned to hospitals.  As a result, soldiers recovering from a disease or minor injuries were often ordered to assist their fellow patients. 

“One soldier recovering in a hospital who experience this system remarked:  “In the hospital, men lie on rotten straw...the nurses are convalescent soldiers, so nearly sick themselves that they ought to be in the wards, and from their very feebleness they are selfish and sometimes inhuman in their treatment of patients. If we could be sure of being halfway well cared for when we get sick or wounded, it would take away immensely from the horrors of army life.”

So, enter the Civil War Nurses:

“In order for a woman to become a nurse, she had to be between the age of 35-50, be in good health, be of decent character or “plain-looking”, be able to commit to at least three months of service, and be able to follow regulations and the directions of supervisors. Dix even went so far as to say that women had to wear unhooped black or brown dresses, with no jewelry or cosmetics. “  (My comment, “plain-looking” sounds like “beautiful women need not apply, only ugly women”!!)

And, a couple of notes about Clara Barton: “she was one of the first volunteers to appear at the Washington Infirmary to care for wounded soldiers. After her father’s death late in 1861, Barton left the city hospitals to go among the soldiers in the field. Her presence—and the supplies she brought with her in three army wagons—was particularly welcome at the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg) where overworked surgeons were trying to make bandages out of corn husks. Barton organized able-bodied men to perform first aid, carry water, and prepare food for the wounded. Throughout the war, Barton and her supply wagons traveled with the Union army giving aid to Union casualties and Confederate prisoners. Some of the supplies, like the transportation, were provided by the army quartermaster in Washington, D.C., but most were purchased with donations solicited by Barton or by her own funds. “

Later, Barton was appointed “General Correspondent for the Friends of Paroled Prisoners” by Abraham Lincoln.  She (and staff) tried to assist the family in finding relatives in hospitals, camps, or the dead.  

*****

There is a statement “War is Hell”.  

A song from the Vietnam War is “War, what it is good for” has these lyrics:

“It ain't nothing but a heart-breaker

(War) It's got one friend that's The Undertaker

Oh, war, has shattered many a young man's dreams

Made him disabled, bitter, and mean

Life is much too short and precious

To spend fighting wars each day

War can't give life

It can only take it away.”

I have daily written LOVE WINS in this blog.  Make love, not war.  Why can’t we learn to love peace, why does hatred continue?  

*****

So, on this Memorial Day 2021 - it is a great day for barbecues, for gatherings, for getting out on the lake, for eating burgers and watermelon. It is a three-day weekend - a time to relax - but also a time to reflect.  I’m going to reflect on LOVE today and try to make peace in my heart.  

LOVE DOES WIN!!!

HUGS!!!

Karen