On April 29, 1866, at Woodlawn Cemetery in Carbondale, Illinois, Gen. John A. Logan spoke in an event that likely originated his idea for a holiday commemorating the fallen soldiers of the Union, which he later proclaimed in his capacity as commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic. May 30th, 1866 was the first Decoration Day, which came to be called Memorial Day in 1882.

142 years later, I stood in Woodlawn Cemetery in pouring rain with fifty-some other people who saw this commemoration as more important than their comfort. Across the country, millions of others are doing the same. 4,082 Americans have died while fighting in Iraq, and 29,978 have been wounded. These gallant men and women
are the salt of the earth, brave souls who regardless of politics have advanced the cause of freedom at the highest possible expenses to themselves. An estimated 1.3 million uniformed Americans have given their lives in service to their country since its creation, and today we renew our pledge never to forget. The highest honor we can give them is to remember what they died for and why. God bless America and keep our servicemen safe.


"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." - John Stuart Mill

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." - Thomas Jefferson