In Memoria: How to Honor our Fallen Soldiers

An America250 post

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Memorial Day announces the beginning of summer. It is like the opening parenthesis of this time when life is different. Where we slow down, we put the important first rather than the busyness of life. But do we actually acknowledge Memorial Day for what it is? Not just the opening of summer but a time to remember and honor our American soldiers who have died defending our country.

Memorial Day’s history

Shortly after the end of the Civil War (1861-1865), on May 30th, 1868, General John Logan initiated a day of commemoration for all the fallen soldiers of the Civil War. Logan was the commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army, Union Navy and the Marines who served during the Civil War. He called it Decoration Day as it was a day for families and volunteer organizations to honor the dead by bringing flowers to their graves. Logan was inspired by a similar tradition already in place in the Southern States. Mrs Mary Ann Williams had initiated to “strew the soldiers’ graves with flowers” in 1866.

The observance quickly spread from city to city and state to state.
By 1882 the name of Memorial Day was more commonly used than Decoration Day.
The World Wars turned Memorial Day into a day of remembrance for all fallen soldiers. In 1968, Congress changed its observance to the last Monday in May, and in 1971 it officialized the name “Memorial Day”.

How to observe Memorial Day

This will be different for each family. We observe it very simply by praying for the souls of the fallen soldiers and reading picture books commemorating military heroism. Often, but not every year, we spend some time discussing the importance of honoring the dead in general and those who fought for our freedom in particular. We do not have any fallen family members and therefore do not have a specific grave to visit. However, I have recently heard of the Honor Project and I am looking into this potential volunteer opportunity for our family.

Picture Books

• America’s White Table, by Margot Theis Raven, illustrated by Matt Benny  – An in-depth study of this picture book can be found in the November 2024 Booklover booklist.
• The Wall, by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Ronald Himler
• Twenty One Steps, by Jeff Gottsfeld, illustrated by Matt Tavares – An in-depth study of this picture book is coming in July 2025.
• There Come a Soldier, by Peggy Mercer, illustrated by Ron Mazellan
• In Flanders Field, Norman Jorgenson, illustrated by brian Harrison-Lever
• Tucky Jo and Little Heart, by Patricia Polacco
• The Poppy Lady: Moina Belle Michael and Her Tribute to Veterans, by Barbara E. Walsh, illustrated by Layne Johnson – An in-depth study of this picture book is coming in August 2025.

Poetry

Two very famous World War I poems have helped create awareness of the plight of our fallen and surviving soldiers.
The first one, In Flanders Field by John McCrae, was Moina Michael’s inspiration for the poppies that have become a symbol of Memorial Day.
The second poem, We Shall Keep the Faith by Moina Michael, is her response and commitment to remember the fallen by wearing a red poppy.
Both poems are beautiful and deserve a space in our Poetry Notebooks. They are perfect for penmanship and illustrating as well. We will be learning one of them by heart this year and the other next year. Here is a simple tutorial on how to draw poppies to illustrate either poem.

Geography

On a world map find Belgium and northern France, Flanders fields, color it red (for the poppies). Color in black the area of the United States where Civil War battles took place. You could keep going and color all areas of US military involvement in a war as we have lost soldiers throughout the world. We will be focusing on the Civil War and World War I as they are at the core of Memorial Day, but we are not ignoring the other wars.

History

Enter the dates of the Civil War and World War I as well as the important dates related to Memorial Day in your Book of Century.
To read more about the Civil War I highly recommend: B is for Battle Cry: A Civil War Alphabet, by Patricia Bauer. Illustrated by David Geister.
For World War I, I would recommend the movie They Shall Not Grow Old. Use your judgement, you know your children.

Faith

I find that Memorial Day is a great time to introduce the corporal and spiritual works of Mercy. We read The Works of Mercy by Fr. Lovasik, then each child will enter in her prayer journal the list of spiritual and corporal works of Mercy, illustrated them and meditate on specific actions she can perform for each work. I like to really bring them to life by pointing out that, yes, helping your younger sibling to fix her lunch is a corporal work of Mercy. These are not extraordinary things that only the saints can do, they are simple everyday actions that bring us closer to holiness. Free printable Works of Mercy notebook pages.

Music

What a great opportunity to expand our patriotic playlist beyond our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner. I found that this selection covered many different aspects appropriate to Memorial Day. Just play these songs, or others. Learn them by heart and sing your heart out, or focus on one that matters to you more especially.

Picture Study

This was an interesting one to research. Instead of paintings this day is better seen through actual pictures, making picture study different. Here is a free download of images that represent Memorial Day to me. Spend some time looking at them and studying them. What strikes you? What feelings do these evoke?

Notebooking

Last but not least, allow some time for each person to reflect on what they have learned and journal about it. I will also ask each of us to reflect on one thing that we are grateful that we have because soldiers gave their lives to preserve it for us and for generations to come.

So this Memorial Day let’s remain focused on the essence of the holiday. Even in the midst of bbqs, let’s remember why we are able to celebrate and the immeasurable gift that was passed on to us through the sacrifice of so many lives.
Love,
Mattie