It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived. — General George S. Patton

As we gather with our families this Memorial Day, please take time to remember those who died in the defense of our great Nation and the liberty we all enjoy.  Here is a bit of the history of Memorial Day:

Following the end of the Civil War, many communities set aside a day to mark the end of the war or as a memorial to those who had died. Some of the places creating an early memorial day include Sharpsburg, Maryland, located near Antietam Battlefield; Charleston, South Carolina; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; Petersburg, Virginia; Carbondale, Illinois; Columbus, Mississippi; many communities in Vermont; and some two dozen other cities and towns. These observances coalesced around Decoration Day, honoring the Confederate dead, and the several Confederate Memorial Days.

According to Professor David Blight of the Yale University History Department, the first memorial day was observed by formerly enslaved black people at the Washington Race Course (today the location of Hampton Park) in Charleston, South Carolina. The race course had been used as a temporary Confederate prison camp in 1865 as well as a mass grave for Confederate soldiers who died there. Immediately after the cessation of hostilities, formerly enslaved people exhumed the bodies from the mass grave and reinterred them properly with individual graves. They built a fence around the graveyard with an entry arch and declared it a Confederate graveyard. The work was completed in only ten days. On May 1, 1865, the Charleston newspaper reported that a crowd of up to ten thousand, mainly black residents, including 2800 children, proceeded to the location for included sermons, singing, and a picnic on the grounds, thereby creating the first Decoration Day.

There are a couple of event taking place locally that I’d like to bring to your attention.  I hope you have a wonderfully time with your family and friends this weekend.

Friday May 28th: A Musical Tribute To U.S. Troops featuring the Army Ground Forces Band.  7:30 PM at the Suwanee Town Green.

Monday May 31st: Dacula Memorial Day Parade. 10 AM in downtown Dacula.

Monday May 31st: Gwinnett GOP Memorial Day BBQ. Dacula High School Commons Area at Noon.

As I normally do on Memorial Day, my family and I will be watching the Parade in Dacula.  From there I’ll go over to the Gwinnett GOP BBQ for a short while and spend the rest of the day with family and friends.  God Bless all of you and our great nation.

Sincerely,

Josh Clark

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has” – Margaret Mead