Memorial Day: Remembering those who came before

Memorial Day celebrates those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country. While it may seem like such a little thing, attending a local ceremony or waving flags at a parade, it is so much more, not to those who are gone, but to their families who are left behind.

Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day, due to the early tradition of decorating graves with flags, wreaths and flowers. It is a remembrance, for all the men and women that have died in service of our nation.

It was first widely observed on May 30, 1868, to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers, by proclamation of Gen. John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former Union sailors and soldiers, according to PBS.com.

During that first national commemoration, former Union General and sitting Ohio Congressman James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery.

“We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens,” Garfield said at the May 30, 1868, ceremony at Arlington. “For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.”

After the ceremony, 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who were buried at Arlington.

After the 1868 first national commemoration, local observances at burial grounds for fallen soldiers spread throughout the United States following the end of the Civil War. One earlier fallen soldier celebration was held May 1, 1865, in Charleston, S.C., and was organized by freed slaves to pay tribute and give proper burial to Union troops.

New York was the first state to designate Memorial Day as a legal holiday in 1973. By the late 1800s, other states followed and declared the day a legal holiday with local celebrations being observed.

After World War I, it became an occasion for honoring those who died in all of America’s wars and was then more widely established as a national holiday throughout the United States.

In 1971, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act and established that Memorial Day was to be commemorated on the last Monday of May.

Boundary County has its fair share of men and women who have died serving their country. At the Boundary County Memorial Park in downtown Bonners Ferry, the names of residents who gave the ultimate sacrifice are etched in stone.

World War I — John A. Eickhammer, 1918; Orville J. Brant, 1918; William H. Atkins, 1918; Louis F. Stone, 1918; Henry Nelson, 1918; Ralph C. Fisher, 1918; Charles L. Zimmerman, 1918; Carlisle Smith, 1919.

World War II — Gordon W. Marcy, 1942; R. Carl Slater, 1942; Raymond Galbraith, 1943; Russel WIlson, 1943; Harold R. Douglas, 1943; Robert S. Johnson, 1943; Rodrick T. Hill, 1943; Dorvill (Jack) Walter, 1943; Floyd C. Suthard, 1943; Walter R. Hendricks, 1943; Burness McFarland, 1943; Wm. Robert Armstrong, 1944; Cecil J. Winter, 1944; Williams C. Fee, 1944; Carl L. Skans, 1944; Cecil M. Lanningan, 1944; Eugene E. Rogers, 1944; Charles Watters, 1944; Robert E. Litalien, 1944; Richard R. Knoles, 1944; Robert A.Gross, 1944; Williams L. O’Brien, 1944; Lyle McGlocklin, 1944; Arthur R. King, 1944; Leon E. Strand, 1944; Cecil R. Welchko, 1944; Harry Swagger, 1944; Andrew A.Middlemist, 1945; Eldon L. Clark, 1945; Charles S. Lamson, 1945; Paul E. Scheffner, 1945; Walden (Pete) Lathrom, 1945; Arthur R. Rogers, 1945; Eldon D. Howard, 1945; Earl L. Yeoumans, 1945; Harold K, Fredricksen, 1945; Ferol Z. Girton, 1947.

Korea — David L. Graham, 1951; Richard E. Wallen, 1952; Robert D. McDonal, 1952.

Vietnam — Keith L. Shipp, 1966; Thomas L. Peterson, 198; Donald R. Thompson, 1968; Robert W. Hansen, 1969; Phillip A. Nichols, 1970; Michael H. Richards, 1971.

Afghanistan — Sgt. Joshua J. Kirk, U.S. Army, Oct. 3, 2009; Cpl. Ethan J. Martin, U.S. Army, Aug. 7, 2012.