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For some folks
Memorial Day has become a three-day weekend
devoted to fun, but for many, especially those
who attend the services conducted by Tustin
American Legion Post 227, Santa Ana Cemetery or
Fairhaven Memorial Park, it is a time to honor
those who died fighting for their country.
Originally called
Decoration Day, the observance originated in the
South in 1866 when a group of women formed to
decorate the graves of both Union and
Confederate soldiers who died fighting in the
Civil War. In the North, the first memorial
service for the Civil War dead was held the same
year on May 5 when Henry C. Welles, a druggist
in Waterloo, N.Y., came up with a plan to honor
Civil War veterans with both a parade and the
decorating of graves.
The celebration
went nationwide in 1868 when Gen. John A. Logan
organized Union veterans into the Grand Army of
the Republic and designated May 30 as a special
time to honor those who had died fighting in the
Civil War. After being observed for a number of
years, the ceremony became known as Memorial Day
in 1882.
President Richard
Nixon declared Memorial Day a federal holiday in
1971. Now the Memorial Day holiday is a
three-day weekend in most states with the
observation switched from May 30 to the last
Monday of May.
The observation
of Memorial Day was brought to Tustin by the
early settlers, who included both Union and
Confederate veterans of the Civil War. When
Santa Ana Cemetery was established on Santa
Clara Avenue in 1870, monuments to both the
Grand Army of the Republic and Confederate
States of America were built at its entrance.
Special services honoring Civil War veterans
have been held at the site each Memorial Day
since then. Special recognition for the veterans
of later wars has been added to these rites.
Various service
groups continue to place a small American flag
on each veteran’s grave at both Santa Ana and
Fairhaven cemeteries. Fairhaven Memorial Park,
which was opened by Oliver Halsell and a group
of businessmen in 1911 adjacent to Santa Ana
Cemetery, also holds special ceremonies to honor
veterans.
Crowds once lined
the streets for the patriotic parades that were
held in Santa Ana and other communities. The
Memorial Day observance became a time for
families to gather as well as a day for honoring
all dead, not just war veterans, and decorating
their graves with colorful bouquets.
Tustin’s annual
observation is arranged by the Tustin American
Legion Post 227. which conducts a special
ceremony each year to honor the veterans of all
wars.
This year they
are holding a Memorial Day luncheon in
conjunction with the Tustin Area Senior Center
from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday at the Senior
Center. The Legion Post 227 Color Guard will
preside and a video of the Vietnam War will be
shown.
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