| After the bloodiest war in U.S. history, an enlisted soldier in the Union Army was assigned to recover war dead from Southern battlefields. Brevet Lt.-Col. Edmund B. Whitman mapped out an intricate system of “cemeterial districts” that formed the framework for our system of National Cemeteries. They provide a final resting place for fallen heroes and sacred space for mourners and citizenry to honor those who gave their last full measure of devotion to preserve freedom and liberty for generations to come.
“That Nation which respects and honors its dead, shall ever be respected and honored itself.” — Brevet Lt.-Col. Edmund B. Whitman, 1868
After the Civil War, it became popular to place flowers near gravesites to honor the fallen. So-called “decoration days” in springtime came to be called Memorial Day. A Union General issued General Orders No. 11 urging the nation not to forget the human toll of war.
“Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.” — General John A. Logan, May 5, 1868
A century later, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, designating Memorial Day a federal holiday on the last Monday in May.
In 1973, President Richard M. Nixon signed the National Cemeteries Act to update and modernize the administration of gravesites, particularly for aging World War II and Korean War veterans, as well as future service members. It transferred 82 national cemeteries from the Department of the Army to the Veterans Administration, expanding its network to 103 national cemeteries. Today, the National Cemetery Administration oversees 156 national cemeteries, 35 soldiers’ lots and has 122 grant-funded state veterans cemeteries, including the Iowa Veterans Cemetery at Van Meter. One of the oldest in the country is located in southeast Iowa, Keokuk National Cemetery was established during the Civil War for veterans who died in local military hospitals. Cast-iron tablets inscribed with a verse from an elegiac poem “Bivouac of the Dead” written by Theodore O’Hara are found throughout our national cemeteries, including in Keokuk. The original tablets were fabricated at Rock Island Arsenal in the late 19th century to replace painted signs first placed on battlefields turned into burial grounds. The most frequently quoted passage follows:
On Fame’s eternal camping-ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards, with solemn round,
The bivouac of the dead.
On Memorial Day, the annual wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery is a somber moment to honor the sons and daughters lost on the battlefields of history. Since 1948, the 3rd Infantry Regiment, known as the Old Guard, places U.S. flags at more than 260,000 headstones and more than 7,000 columbarium niches containing the remains of the deceased. Iowa-born President Herbert Hoover led the first national Memorial Day ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on May 30, 1929, calling on Americans to honor the “unselfish souls who gave life in service to their ideals” and that their sacrifice must evoke “the most solemn mood of consecration” to “manifest our gratitude” in memoriam of their valor for perpetuity.
Since the Civil War when Iowa sent the most soldiers per capita to the Union Army, Iowans have continued a legacy of strong military service, including the ultimate sacrifice. One of the first three American soldiers killed in World War I was an Iowa farm boy from Glidden. Pvt. Merle David Hay was killed while serving sentry duty in the trenches in France. On May 25, 1930, thousands of people gathered at West Lawn Cemetery to dedicate an eight-foot granite monument in his honor. Travelers can see the monument while driving through Glidden on the historic Lincoln Highway.
Put the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum in Waterloo on your family calendar. You’ll learn about Iowans who answered the call to serve in the Armed Forces, including all five Sullivan brothers who were tragically killed aboard the USS Juneau on Nov. 13, 1942.
Fifty years ago, one of the last service members killed in Vietnam was a 19-year-old from Marshalltown. Lance Cpl. Darwin Lee Judge died one day before the Fall of Saigon in 1975. As Saigon fell, Judge rescued a three-year-old girl, putting her on his back “piggyback style” and ran her out to the plane. His bravery saved her life and cost him his own in a mortar attack on Tan Son Nhut Air Base.
Every Memorial Day, communities across Iowa reverently celebrate hometown heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice. From grave decorations to patriotic observances, neighbors, loved ones and family members gather to pay tribute to these fallen heroes from one generation to the next, honoring their memories, bravery and service. The sacrifice of these fallen service members is a profound reminder to every American articulated by President Ronald Reagan, “Ours is the land of the free because it is the home of the brave.”
As Americans, it’s our solemn duty to honor fallen service members who’ve given their lives to defend our cherished blessings of freedom. In his acceptance speech for the vice-presidential nomination in 1920, Calvin Coolidge imparted wisdom from history that rings truer than ever in the 21st century, “The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.”
I encourage Iowa families to remember the defenders from our home state and hometowns who are deeply missed around supper tables and family celebrations. Be intentional on Memorial Day to attend community celebrations. Plan a road trip to visit nearby Freedom Rocks honoring veterans in each of Iowa’s 99 counties. Find out the history of road names, parks and post offices named for local heroes who died in service to our country. They put their precious lives on the line to preserve our way of life for generations yet to come. For that, Americans owe them an eternal debt of gratitude.
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