A Special Memorial Day Message from Rep. Dwayne Bohac

Posted: May 25, 2007
“…gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of springtime….let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us as sacred charges upon the Nation’s gratitude–the soldier’s and sailor’s widow and orphan.”

– General John Logan, General Order No. 11, 5 May 1868

My Fellow Texans,

As we prepare to enjoy the Memorial Day weekend, I ask that you take time out of your day to remember those Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our country. I ask that you take time to fly the flag, visit a memorial or cemetery, or teach your children or grandchildren about freedom’s great price.

Memorial Day began as “Decoration Day” shortly after the Civil War. The town of Waterloo, New York, is officially recognized as the birthplace of the holiday when the town first honored the fallen soldiers of the Civil War on May 5, 1866.

General John Logan, a Civil War officer, led the call for a nationwide day of remembrance for the war’s fallen soldiers. He was inspired by Waterloo’s Decoration Day and the way the Greeks honored their dead heroes with chaplets of laurel and flowers.

After World War I, the holiday took on the name Memorial Day and expanded to memorialize the fallen soldiers of all wars–not just the Civil War. In 1967, the federal government officially declared Memorial Day the last Monday in May as a federal holiday.

Generations of Americans have gathered at war memorials and cemetery’s to decorate them with flowers, wreaths and flags. It is my prayer that we pass this along to our younger generations so that they may never take for granted the great price paid for freedom.

Sincerely,

Representative Dwayne Bohac

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