ShilohMemorial Day |
Memorial Day at Shiloh National Cemetery at Shiloh National Military Park (NMP) in Tennessee and Mississippi. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
featured in
National Parks Pocket Maps |
Shiloh
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
Use a “short-hand” version of the site name here (e.g. Palo Alto
Battlefield not Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Site) set in
29/29 B Frutiger bold.
Shiloh National Military Park
Tennessee-Mississippi
Memorial Day at Shiloh
This is a main head,
labeled “Head-A”
in the styles menu
Introductory text is labeled “Introduction-text” in the styles menu. It is set in 11/15
NPS Rawlinson as a single column that measures six inches wide and begins .08
inches below the bottom of the image. Italics and bolds are set in NPS Rawlinson,
italicized and NPS Rawlinson Two, bolded. Three-point (3 pt) horizontal rules are
used to separate text sections and are eight inches wide. The distance from the rule
to the next text block is .08 inches. The distance from the preceding paragraph to the
Main Head set in 11/13
Frutiger 45 Light, bolded
A gathering of Shiloh veterans on Memorial Day
History Repeats Itself
History repeats itself…
What goes around comes around…
The more things change, the more they stay the same…
Continuity
These pedantic phrases are often
used flippantly, but they carry a great deal
of truth to them. They particularly seem
relevant when describing the Memorial
Day activities at Shiloh National
Cemetery. Through the decades of
memorialization and remembrance at
Shiloh National Military Park, people
have changed, sites have been altered, and
the calendar has advanced. Yet, in all the
change, the Memorial Day services at
Shiloh have remained amazingly constant.
The Memorial Day service is one of
the long-standing traditions at Shiloh
National Cemetery. Since before the park
was established in 1894, locals and
veterans have met each year at the
cemetery to remember and memorialize.
Although different in makeup, each
service through the years has included the
basics of well-known speakers, patriotic
songs, and nationalistic poetry. The 1914
Memorial Day services ended with a
moving rendition of “Home Sweet
Home.”
as today, have often been spotlighted for
their services. On Memorial Day in 1907,
sixty-five aged members of the 21st
Missouri returned to the battlefield and
were honored guests. And just as today,
orators ranging from governors to judges
to former generals have spoken eloquently
about the need to remember the sacrifice
of our nation’s war dead.
Another of the marks of continuity
in the Shiloh services is the emphasis on
people. Event organizers as far back as the
1890s tried to use people to provide an
interesting, informative, and moving
service. Local church choirs have almost
annually sung at the event. Veterans, just
Honor Guard representing America’s wars
Main Head
This is sample text type, labeled “Text” in the styles
menu. Text type is 9/12 NPS Rawlinson. Text
type runs in two columns, with .17 inches between
columns. Text paragraphs are separated by a
skipped line which is automatically inserted at the
end of each paragraph with a hard return.
This is an example of a “Head-B”
Sub heads are set in 9/12 NPS Rawlinson
Two, bolded and are labeled “Head-B” in the
document’s styles menu. There is no line space
after a sub head. Italics and bolds must be
set manually as NPS Rawlinson, italicized and
Shiloh National Cemetery
Decoration
A similar tradition is the decoration of the
graves. As far as records show, which date
back to the 1890s, American flags have
been placed on each grave in the cemetery.
Although responsibility for the placement
of flags has changed through the years
from veterans’ groups to political
organizations to today’s National Park
Service, the simple gesture of individually
recognizing each serviceman’s sacrifice
still remains. Similarly, the United States
flag has traditionally flown at half-staff on
Memorial Day from sunrise until noon.
There is even a custom, dating back as far
as the park’s establishment, of decorating
the Confederate mass graves in the park.
Rain, Rain Go Away
Despite the continuity, one particular
tradition has hopefully changed. In the
first years of the park, rain dampened
(literally) the festivities on Memorial Day.
Almost each year, the park’s daily event
ledger book records the similar words
“rain occurred,” “the usual 30th of May
rain fell,” or “the 30th of May brought the
customary rain.” The crowds of course
were smaller during rainy days, but sunny
holidays would easily attract fivethousand people, with estimates of as
many as twelve-thousand in 1906.
Continue to Remember
Times have changed, participants have
been replaced, and the United States has
many more war-dead to remember, but
the basic idea of remembrance at Shiloh
has remained the same, and the way it has
been accomplished at Shiloh has remained
amazingly constant through the years.
May we always continue to hold this day
and the sacrifice it memorializes dear to
our hearts.
EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA