Page 10 - The Indian EYE 060625

OPINION JUNE 06, 2025 | The Indian Eye 10

Memorial Day: A Sacred and

Essential Act of Remembrance

According to Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Blight, on May 1, 1865, nearly 10,000 people came
to pay tribute to the fallen – three years before the first formal Memorial Day was observed in 1868

JAMES HENDON

emorial Day, formerly
known as “Decoration
MDay,” has long been a day
of mourning and remembrance for
our fallen servicemembers. As we
just wrapped that sacred holiday,
it’s important to note that our na-
tion’s first Memorial Day tributes
took place 160 years ago in Charles-
ton, South Carolina, in a racetrack- Memorial Day, formerly known as “Decoration Day,” has long been a day of mourning and remembrance for our fallen servicemembers (Agency file photo)
turned-war camp-turned-cemetery
for Civil War soldiers who had died in and white—marched in formation the same communities that were ex- even while being denied the full free-
captivity there. and held a formal salute. The graves cluded from full rights of citizenship doms they fought to defend.
Determined to honor their ser- were covered in roses, and the fallen have shown up, time and again, to On the heels of Memorial Day,
vice and sacrifice, a community of were remembered, their stories were defend those very ideals. We see this we must remember to honor not
newly freed Black Americans orga- shared, their lives celebrated. in the service of Black Americans, only the fallen—but the forgotten.
nized a commemoration honoring It was, in every sense, a Deco- from the U.S. Colored Troops to the We must remember the soldiers,
the 257 Union Army soldiers who ration Day. A sacred act of remem- Harlem Hellfighters to the Six Triple sailors, Marines, airmen, Coast
were buried there in unmarked brance that would set the precedent Eight Battalion and the Tuskegee Guardsmen, and guardians, yes—
graves. for what we have come to know as Airmen. We see it in Chinese Amer- but also those who first remembered
Black Charlestonians, along- Memorial Day. icans, of whom 25 percent served them. Those whose intentional acts
side white missionaries and educa- But over time, that story was during World War Two compared to of care and reverence gave rise to a
tors made the decision to give these pushed aside, replaced by a more nine percent of all Americans at the national tradition.
men a proper resting place. Over the sanitized version. When General time. We see it in Native Americans, The legacy of that first Deco-
course of ten days, they reorganized John A. Logan called for a nation- who serve at the highest rate per cap- ration Day in Charleston must be
the graves, built a ten-foot white al day of remembrance in 1868, it ita of any ethnic group in the U.S. part of our collective understanding
fence around the site, and named it became the officially recognized military—five times the national av- when we speak about the meaning
“Martyrs of the Race Course.” starting point. The earlier tribute by erage. And we see it in the sacrifice and history of Memorial Day. We
According to Pulitzer Prize-win- freedmen was quietly erased. The of Puerto Rican soldiers—includ- have a duty to tell the full story—to
ning historian David Blight, on May cemetery was later renamed for a ing the 65th Infantry Regiment, the say the names that history has too of-
1, 1865, nearly 10,000 people came to Confederate general, and the Union Borinqueneers, who fought valiantly ten overlooked. The more we share
pay tribute to the fallen – three years graves were reinterred elsewhere. in Korea while serving under segre- these stories of patriotism and perse-
before the first formal Memorial Day This is not just a forgotten piece gated command. verance, the closer we come to truly
was observed in 1868. Three thou- of history—it’s a reflection of a These are just a few examples honoring all who served—not just in
sand Black children carried flow- deeper truth: the full story of mili- of a much larger and more universal war, but in memory.
ers and sang “John Brown’s Body.” tary service in America has yet to be truth: that across generations, many
Black pastors led prayers and spir- fully told. marginalized communities in this James Hendon is Department of Veter-
ituals. Union soldiers—both Black Throughout our nation’s history, country have served with distinction, ans’ Services Commissioner, New York

www.TheIndianEYE.com