Memorial Day at Brookwood American Cemetery

30th May 2025 | Lieutenancy News

Memorial Day at Brookwood American Cemetery

On Sunday 25^th May, The Lord-Lieutenant attended the Memorial Day Service at Brookwood American Ceremony with the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Warren A. Stephens.

Brookwood American Cemetery was built by the London Necropolis Co. and contains the graves of 468 of United States military and on the walls within the chapel are inscribed the names of 564 of the missing.

History and the Meaning of Memorial Day

This day is dedicated to honouring the men and women who have given their lives in service to the U.S. military. Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service of the United States of America.

Borne out of the Civil War (which ended in 1865) and a desire to honour the dead. On the 5th of May in 1868, General John Logan who was the national commander of the Grand Army of the republic, officially proclaimed it in his General Order No. 11.

The General proclaimed, “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land.” Because the day wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle, the General called it, The date of Decoration Day.

On the first Decoration Day, 5,000 participants decorated the graves of 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried at Arlington Cemetery while General James Garfield made a historic speech.

New York was the first state to officially recognise the holiday in 1873. It was recognised by all northern states by 1890. Differently, the South refused to acknowledge the day and honoured their dead on separate days. This went on until after World War I when the holiday changed from honouring just those who died fighting in the Civil War, to honouring Americans who died fighting in any war.

With the Congressional passage of the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 – 363), it is now observed on the last Monday in May by almost every state.

This helped ensure a three day weekend (Memorial Day Weekend) for Federal holidays. In addition, several southern states have an additional separate day for honouring the Confederate war dead: January 19th in Texas; April 26th in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10th in South Carolina; and June 3rd (Jefferson Davis’ birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee .

In 1915, inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields,” Moina Michael replied with her own poem:

We cherish too, the Poppy red That grows on fields where valor led, It seems to signal to the skies That blood of heroes never dies.

She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honour of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. See more on the significance of the Red Poppy.

National Moment of Remembrance‍

The meaning of Memorial day and history couldn’t be complete without the birth of the “National Moment of Remembrance”, which was a resolution passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans “To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to ‘Taps.”

“Memorial Day is a time to honor the brave men and women who gave everything to protect our freedoms. It’s not just about remembering their sacrifice, but about ensuring their legacy lives on in the values we uphold every day. We owe them more than a moment of reflection—we owe them our gratitude, our respect, and our commitment to preserving the liberty they fought for.”