WH Commission on Remembrance Forgets Civil War on Memorial Day
by Hart Williams
Yeah. I can hardly believe it myself. The White House Commission on Remembrance forgot the Civil War … on Memorial Day. Here’s a screencap:
No. This is not a joke. Take a close look at those wars:
Yup. Not only are the Civil War AND the Mexican War of 1846 missing, but the BOXER REBELLION is included, almost as if to declare: no, this was not an unintentional omission.
After all, if you remember the Boxer Rebellion but forget the Civil War (and that little 1846 War that added California, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico to the United States), you probably oughtn’t be serving on a “remembrance” commission and might want to get yourself checked for Alzheimers, just to be safe.
The holiday we know as “Memorial Day” began, according to memorialday.org, a website run by Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (the organization that inherited the property, records, and congressional charter of the Grand Army of the Republic) and David Merchant:
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service.There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women’s groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, “Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping” by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication “To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead” (Source: Duke University’s Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920). While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it’s difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860?s tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all. [MORE]
But further down, we also find this more recent history:
To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the “National Moment of Remembrance” resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans “To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to ‘Taps.”
The Moment of Remembrance is a step in the right direction to returning the meaning back to the day. What is needed is a full return to the original day of observance. Set aside one day out of the year for the nation to get together to remember, reflect and honor those who have given their all in service to their country.
So. Who is in CHARGE of the “moment of remembrance”?
The White House Commission on Remembrance. From their website[emphasis added]:
The National Moment of Remembrance, established by Congress, asks Americans wherever they are at 3 p.m., local time, on Memorial Day to pause in an act of national unity (duration: one minute). The time 3 p.m. was chosen because it is the time when most Americans are enjoying their freedoms on the national holiday. The Moment does not replace traditional Memorial Day events; rather it is an act of national unity in which all Americans, alone or with family and friends, honor those who died for our freedom. It will help to reclaim Memorial Day as the sacred and noble holiday it was meant to be. In this shared remembrance, we connect as Americans.
[…]
Background
The idea for the Moment was born when children touring the Nation’s Capital were asked by the Commission’s Director what Memorial Day means. They responded, “That’s the day the pool opens.” A Gallup Poll revealed that only 28% of Americans know the meaning of this noble holiday. The White House Commission on Remembrance was established by Congress (PL 106-579) to promote the values of Memorial Day by acts of remembrance throughout the year. The major initiative of the Commission is the National Moment of Remembrance.
And that remembrance doesn’t come cheap:
Hoover’s Profile: White House Commission on Remembrance
Contact Information
White House Commission on Remembrance
1750 New York Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20006
DC Tel. 202-783-4665
Fax 202-783-1168
Type: Government Agency
On the web: http://www.remember.gov
Employees: 41
The White House Commission on Remembrance highlights one date on its calendar – 3 p.m. on Memorial Day. Better known as the National Moment of Remembrance, that is the time each year the commission works to ensure that Americans remember fallen soldiers, from the Revolutionary War to the present. As the only White House commission established by law, the commission encourages acts of remembrance throughout the year. It operates with an authorized budget of $250,000 annually as well as from private donations, licensing, and promotions. Other commission programs include Patriots Patrol (elementary school education efforts) and Operation US to YOU (troop morale programs).
Key numbers for fiscal year ending December, 2008:
Sales: $5.9M
Officers:
Executive Director: US Federal
By “sales” one assumes that’s the amount of cash that actually passes through the congressionally created Commission.
Except, it seems strange that they would put up their Facebook page without mentioning the one war in which more Americans died than in ALL of our other wars put together, the war that “Memorial Day” was created to commemorate.
From the MemorialDay.org website (ibid.):
But what may be needed to return the solemn, and even sacred, spirit back to Memorial Day is for a return to its traditional day of observance. Many feel that when Congress made the day into a three-day weekend in with the National Holiday Act of 1971, it made it all the easier for people to be distracted from the spirit and meaning of the day. As the VFW stated in its 2002 Memorial Day address: “Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general public’s nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.”
(Full disclosure: I am a member of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War— SUVCW — but I know exactly as much about their politics and positions as does my ancestor that got me in.)
If the National Moment of Remembrance was created because children told the Commission’s Director that Memorial Day was “when the pool opens,” theFacebook page is inexcusable — without recourse to any partisan position or ideology. But they’re doing a great job of getting their selected “product” out to kids. From the venerable “Cool Site of the Day”:
Cool Site of the Day – 5/26/10: White House Commission on Remembrance
by MIKE_CORSO on MAY 26, 2010
Today’s Cool Site of the Day is White House Commission on Remembrance.
“The White House Commission on Remembrance, established by Congress in 2000, is an independent, non-partisan government agency that encourages Americans to honor the sacrifices of our fallen and their families. It promotes acts of remembrance throughout the year and asks citizens to pay our debt of gratitude in memory of those who died in service to our country by giving something back to the Nation.” With Memorial Day around the corner, seemed like a good time.
Yeah. And they’ve got the Facebook page that I discovered minutes before midnight. And an Official Logo for their Official Remembrance Webpage:
Which directs you to the Facebook page (above).
If you poke diligently, and Google, you will find the information page, but click here if you’re not inclined to go poking around to find it. It’s almost impossible from the front page.
And a quote from some forgotten war:
Listen to the Official Webpage:
How to Participate
Wherever you are, observe the Moment at 3 p.m., local time, on Memorial Day. Ask others to remember—relatives, friends, church, neighborhood, or co-workers to observe the Moment at places such as your neighborhood, local pool, picnic grounds, etc., for one minute of Remembrance. Participation can be informal as ringing a bell three times to signify the Moment.
Why
To provide a time of Remembrance for America’s fallen and to make a commitment to give something back to our country in their memory. To have Americans participate in an act of national unity and demonstrate gratitude and respect for those who died for freedom since the founding of our Nation. To provide a sense of history to our citizens and ensure that younger generations understand the sacrifices made to preserve our liberties.
One can speculate as to why the “Civil War” and the “Mexican War” were deliberately omitted, but the sheer … what? “Brass”? No. How about “insult”? Yes and no, frankly, but not the right word. “Politically correct”? Not a warranted accusation from the evidence. “Absurdity”? Yes, but an absurdity with intentionality and consequence. It is at best a dark and grim joke to the families of the fallen and the wounded and the crippled.
To use an overused term precisely: It is a shameful omission.
A war in which more Americans died and at a faster rate (599 per day) than any war American has ever fought. And which claimed more lives than all other American wars combined.
And for this omission to OMIT the Civil War? OUR tax dollars paid for it. (Along with private donations, of course.)
To strip the Civil War from “Decoration Day”?
Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. (US Memorial Day dot Org)
Either the Boxer Rebellion refers to the mass rejection of men’s briefs, the “tightie whities,” or else Memorial Day’s the day the pool opens.
What day is that again? Oh, right. Monday.
Got any beer?
Courage.
A writer, published author, novelist, literary critic and political observer for a quarter of a quarter-century more than a quarter-century, Hart Williams has lived in the American West for his entire life. Having grown up in Wyoming, Kansas and New Mexico, a survivor of Texas and a veteran of Hollywood, Mr. Williams currently lives in Oregon, along with an astonishing amount of pollen. He has a lively blog His Vorpal Sword. This is cross posted from his blog.