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Memorial Day
Word of the Week inspire — to fill with an amazing, quickening, or exalting influence
Newspaper Knowledge Put these words in alphabetical order. honor service sacrifice veteran war memorial death cemetery grief May
Did You Know? • Memorial Day was was first observed on May 30, 1868. • Memorial Day was originally called “Decoration Day.” • Memorial Day was originally created to honor Union soldiers who died while fighting in the Civil War. Because of this, southern states did not observe Memorial Day until after World War I, when the holiday was expanded to include soldiers from all wars. • In 1924, an artificial poppy factory was created in Pittsburgh, Pa., and employed veterans who needed work. • Memorial Day observances were at an all-time low in the 1960′s, then experienced a resurgence in the 1980′s. • On the Thursday before Memorial Day, soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard) place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They patrol the cemetery 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. • In 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years. This coincided with the dedication of the National World War II Memorial. • “Memorial Day” did not become the holiday’s official name until 1967, when federal law declared it. • In 1968, Memorial Day was moved from its traditional May 30 date to the last Monday in May in order to ensure a three-day weekend.
Memorial Day is more than just a three-day weekend and a chance to get the year’s first sunburn. Memorial Day was a response to the unprecedented carnage of the Civil War, in which some 620,000 soldiers on both sides died. The loss of life and its effect on communities throughout the North and South led to spontaneous commemorations of the dead: In 1864, women from Boalsburg, Pa., put flowers on the graves of their dead from the just-fought Battle of Gettysburg. The next year, a group of women decorated the graves of soldiers buried in a Vicksburg, Miss., cemetery. In April 1866, women from Columbus, Miss., laid flowers on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers. It was recognized at the time as an act of healing regional wounds. In the same month, up in Carbondale, Ill., 219 Civil War veterans marched through town in memory of the fallen to Woodlawn Cemetery, where Union hero Maj. Gen. John A. Logan delivered the principal address. The ceremony gave Carbondale its claim to the first organized, community-wide Memorial Day observance. Waterloo, N.Y., began holding an annual community service on May 5, 1866. Although many towns claimed the title, it was Waterloo that won congressional recognition as the “birthplace of Memorial Day.” Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. This date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country. From the practice of decorating graves with flowers, wreaths and flags, the holiday was long known as Decoration Day. The name Memorial Day goes back to 1882, but the older
NIE Coordinator: Dana Wolfe / Graphic Designer: Scarlett E. Smith
friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. Since the late 1950′s on the Thursday just before Memorial Day, around 1200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. We cherish too, the Poppy red They then patrol 24 hours a day during That grows on fields where valor led, the weekend to ensure that each flag It seems to signal to the skies remains standing. In 1951, the Boy That blood of heroes never dies. Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 She then came up with an idea of wearing red poppies on Memorial day in graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn, a honor of those who died serving the practice that continues to this day. nation during war. She was the first to In 2000, Congress established a wear one, and sold poppies to her National Moment of Remembrance, which asks Americans to pause for one minute at 3 p.m. in an act of national unity. The time was chosen because 3 p.m. “is the time when most Americans are enjoying their freedoms on the national holiday.” And in 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade more than 60 years.
name didn’t disappear until after World War II. Federal law declared “Memorial Day” the official name in 1967. In 1915, inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields,” Moina Michael replied with her own poem.
Word Search How to make paper poppies Materials Required: newspaper red/green paint paintbrush scissors glue thin cardboard twigs black felt wax paper poppy seeds
ANTHEM CEMETERY CEREMONY DECORATION FALLEN FLAG FLOWERS
GRAVES HALFMAST HOLIDAY HONOR MAY MEMORIAL OBSERVANCE
PATRIOTIC REMEMBRANCE SALUTE SOLDIERS TAPS VETERANS WAR
Paint your newspaper red. The classified section works best as there are fewer pictures but use whatever you like. Let dry. While you have your paints out you can paint a sheet or two green if you want to make a few poppy leaves. You need to cut 2 circles out of your thin cardboard for each flower. Cut some poppy shaped petals out of your painted paper. They are a bit heart shaped. You need about 5 for each flower. Place a bead of glue around the inner edge of one of your cardboard circles and put your petals into place. Take your second cardboard circle, cover with glue and sprinkle poppy seeds all over it, press down with your fingers to make sure those seeds are secure. Put some glue in the center of your
petals and glue your poppy seed circle into place. Cut a circle out of the felt that is slightly larger than the 2 cardboard circles. Put some glue on the back of your poppy, place twig in the center and cover with the black felt pressing it to surround the twig. The felt holds the twig in place. Let dry. You can cut out some poppy leaves from the green painted paper if you wish and glue them to the twig. If your poppies will be seen from the back as well as the front you might want to paint both sides of the paper.
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