CAPE, JACKSON EVENTS TO MARK MEMORIAL DAY

When Memorial Day activities commence on Monday, the region will celebrate a holiday that was created by one of its own.

Among planned activities is a Memorial Day service sponsored by Jackson American Legion Post 158. The event will start at 9 a.m. Monday near the entrance of the old city cemetery on South High Street in Jackson. The Jackson Municipal Band will perform at 9 a.m. at the event, which features the Rev. John Rice, minister of New McKendree United Methodist Church. In case of rain, the service will be moved to the American Legion Hall.

The Cape Girardeau Joint Veterans Council will hold a program at 11 a.m. Monday at the Osage Centre, 1625 N. Kingshighway. The ceremony will salute Korean War veterans in recognition of the war's 50th anniversary. The Korean War began June 25, 1950, and ended July 27, 1953. The Cape Girardeau Municipal Band is scheduled to perform, and Lt. Com. Mervin Dial of the Navy will be the guest speaker.

Dial and his wife, Julie, are natives of Paola, Kan. He was commissioned in 1986 and is a graduate of the U.S. Air Command and Staff College, where he completed requirements for phase one of Joint Professional Military Education. He holds a master of science degree in management from Salve Regina University in Newport, R.I.

A National Moment of Remembrance will be held at 3 p.m. Monday. President Clinton has called for a one-minute pause at that time to pay tribute to the nation's heroes. Drivers are encouraged to turn on their headlights, and broadcast media are encouraged to play "Taps" at that time.

"On Memorial Day 2000, let us as a nation unite to thank the courageous men and women who paid with their lives so that we could enjoy this Memorial Day and every day in freedom," reads a White House press release.

Cemetery decoration days have long been celebrated throughout the world, but Americans began organizing special days to honor fallen soldiers during the Civil War.

Gen. John A. Logan, a volunteer Union general during the Civil War, officially designated May 30 as a special day to honor the graves of fallen soldiers in 1868. Logan was born in what is now Murphysboro, Ill. John A. Logan College in Carterville, Ill., was named in his honor.

In a document creating the holiday, Logan ordered that veterans' graves be decorated with flowers and other articles. In addition, he suggested that veterans' groups arrange services to pay respect to fallen comrades.

The holiday was to continue as long as "a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades."

"We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance," wrote Logan in his General Order No. 11. "All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders."

Logan further wrote that the American flag should be displayed on Memorial Day, and that the media should "lend its friendly aid" in bringing information about the holiday to the nation.