Voice from the Commonwealth
Commentary, World Views and Occasional Rants from a small 'l' libertarian in Massachussetts

"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest for freedom, go home and leave us in peace. We seek not your council nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." - Samuel Adams
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Thursday, May 30, 2002

Tony Norman of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette tells the story the first Memorial (Decoration) Day in Charelston SC.

When the war was over, it mattered little to the newly freed black men and women of Charleston, S.C., whether every Union soldier truly believed in the cause they died for. Blood was shed to free them and generations of their descendants from the yoke of slavery. They would never forget the men who helped destroy the republic of slavery.

Full of gratitude for the sacrifices that had secured their freedom, 10,000 newly minted Americans marched to the racetrack singing "John Brown's Body." These men and women inaugurated the first Decoration Day on a beautiful spring morning surrounded by the smell of fresh-cut flowers. Children serenaded the dead with renditions of "America" and "The Star-Spangled Banner."

< email | 5/30/2002 04:28:00 PM | link




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