“On May 5th, 1866, veterans and residents of Waterloo, New York, placed flowers on the graves at each of the town’s cemeteries to honor the local Soldiers and Sailors who had fallen during the Civil War. Proposed by a local pharmacist, Henry c. Welles’, the act of remembrance centered on his belief that while praising the living veterans of the Civil War, it was equally important to remember the patriotic dead. This tradition has grown for a century and a half- it is Memorial Day.”
“Let no ravages of time testify to the present or the coming generations that we, as a people, have forgotten the cost of a free and undivided republic. Upon the graves of our war dead rests not only the memories and the pride of valor past, but the hope and the vision of a better, more peaceful future.” — Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, cited the importance of remembering the cost of freedom in a Memorial Day message to the armed forces.
Success Through Quality's Weblog 