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<v Speaker 1>Something you should know. Today is Memorial Day. And I'm

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<v Speaker 1>going to tell you a little more about Memorial Day

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<v Speaker 1>right now, and I'm going to invite you to celebrate

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<v Speaker 1>Memorial Day the right way with me a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>later today. It's an annual observance that can be traced

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<v Speaker 1>back to the end of the Civil War, where sadly

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<v Speaker 1>we lost over a half a million people. Southern women

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<v Speaker 1>would scatter spring flowers on the graves of both Southern

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<v Speaker 1>Confederate soldiers but also Northern Union soldiers. In many cases,

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<v Speaker 1>these were their cousins and sometimes even brothers. The sad

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<v Speaker 1>reality of a divided America, many places claimed to have

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<v Speaker 1>held the original Memorial Day. You'll find communities like Warrington, Virginia, Columbus, Georgia, Savannah, Georgia, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania,

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<v Speaker 1>Bowls Bill, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, New York, all claiming that

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<v Speaker 1>Decoration Day or Memorial Day started there. Charleston, South Carolina,

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<v Speaker 1>is another They had covered two hundred and fifty seven

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<v Speaker 1>Union soldiers who had died at a prison camp there

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<v Speaker 1>in May one, eighteen sixty v five former slaves organized

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<v Speaker 1>a parade led by twenty eight hundred singing children, They prayed,

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<v Speaker 1>they read Bible verses and saying spirituals, and they reburied

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<v Speaker 1>the soldiers with honor as an act of gratefulness for

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<v Speaker 1>their ultimate sacrifice which gave them freedom. President James Garfield

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<v Speaker 1>only made one executive order in eighteen eighty one, and

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<v Speaker 1>that was to give government workers May thirtieth off so

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<v Speaker 1>they could decorate the graves of those who died in

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<v Speaker 1>the Civil War. In nineteen twenty one, President Warren Harding

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<v Speaker 1>had the remains of an unknown soldier killed in France

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<v Speaker 1>during World War One buried in the Tomb of the

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<v Speaker 1>Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery. Inscribed on the tomb as

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<v Speaker 1>the phrase here rests in honored glory an American soldier

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<v Speaker 1>known but to God. Since nineteen twenty one, it has

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<v Speaker 1>been the tradition of every president to lay a wreath

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<v Speaker 1>on the tomb of the unknown Soldier. It's guarded twenty

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<v Speaker 1>four hours a day, three hundred and sixty five days

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<v Speaker 1>a year, the number twenty one being the highest salute

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<v Speaker 1>the century. Takes twenty one steps, faces the tomb for

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<v Speaker 1>twenty one seconds, turns and pauses for twenty one seconds,

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<v Speaker 1>then retraces his steps the number twenty one has explained

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<v Speaker 1>on the US Army Center of Military History website. It

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<v Speaker 1>goes back to wartime ships who fired seven gun salutes.

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<v Speaker 1>They believe the seven guns were tied to biblical significance,

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<v Speaker 1>but land batteries had a greater supply of gunpowder, so

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<v Speaker 1>instead of seven, they would do three shots of seven,

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<v Speaker 1>which gives us the twenty one gun salute, the highest

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<v Speaker 1>honor our nation renders. On Memorial Day. Nineteen twenty three,

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<v Speaker 1>President Calvin Coolidge said there can be no peace with

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<v Speaker 1>the forces of evil. Peace comes only through the establishment

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<v Speaker 1>of the supremacy of the forces of good. In nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>fifty eight, President Eisenhower placed soldiers in the tomb from

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<v Speaker 1>World War II and the Korean War, And in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>sixty eight, one hundred years after the first observance, Memorial

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<v Speaker 1>Day was moved to the last Monday in May, and

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<v Speaker 1>that is today. It's a day to honor those who

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<v Speaker 1>gave their all for our country. You're welcome to join

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<v Speaker 1>me today at noon at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery. I

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<v Speaker 1>have more info about that event at Facebook dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Slash Sunny Radio