Memorial Day is a time to remember and honor

The Grundy County Veterans Assistance Commission has provided a list of Memorial Day events taking place over Memorial Day weekend from throughout Grundy County.

Events include a parade and observance hosted by the Minooka American Legion Post 1188 starting at 10 a.m. from the Minooka Bible Church 412 N. Wabena Avenue. A memorial service will follow at Veterans Park at the corner of Mondamin and Wabena. Coal City, Diamond and Carob Hill will have a Memorial Day observance at 11:30 a.m. on Monday documented by the St. Juvin VFW Post 1336,at 305 E. Division St. in Coal City.

The Mazon American Legion Post 352 is hosting an observance at 11 a.m. at the Mazon Park on Monday, and the John Martin Steele VFW Post 6049 in Morris will have a parade starting at 10:30 a.m. from Chapin Park to the Grundy County Courthouse. An observance will begin at 11 a.m. at the courthouse, with no registration required for the parade.

The Grundy County Veterans Assistance Commission provided an overview of how Memorial Day came to be: Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans — 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. Major General John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country.

“The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.,” reads the Thursday news release. “The ceremonies centered around the mourning-draped veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Various Washington officials, including Gen. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, presided over the ceremonies. After speeches, children from the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphan Home and members of the GAR made their way through the cemetery, strewing flowers on both Union and Confederate graves, reciting prayers and singing hymns.”

The holiday was expanded to honor all those who have died after World War 1, and it was declared a national holiday by Congress in 1971.

Congress passed the National Monument of Remembrance Act in Dec. 2000 to ensure the sacrifices of America’s fallen heroes are never forgotten, which created the White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance.

“The National Moment of Remembrance encourages all Americans to pause wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence to remember and honor those who have died in service to the nation,” reads the news release. “As Moment of Remembrance founder Carmella LaSpada states: ‘It’s a way we can all help put the memorial back in Memorial Day.’ Across our nation on Memorial Day, we gather to honor and remember those who gave what Abraham Lincoln called the ‘last full measure of devotion’ in the fight for our liberty; we honor America’s finest men and women who gave their lives in defense of a nation, in defense of its people.”

There will also be an observance at 11 a.m. Monday at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, 20953 West Hoff Road, Elwood.