Monday is Memorial Day, a day set aside to remember those who have died in service to the United States.
The observance began after the Civil War and first officially was proclaimed as "Decoration Day" in 1868 by Gen. John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic.
The Memorial Day website, www.usmemorialday.org, reported then Gen. and future President James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery on that first Decoration Day - May 30, 1868 - with 5,000 participants decorating the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there.
The May 30 date was originally chosen because no major Civil War battle had occurred on it.
For many years, the Southern states - those that had been part of the Confederacy trying to break away from the "United" States - honored their Civil Ward dead on different days from the North's Decoration Day.
However, after World War I, the day was changed from one remembering the Civil War dead to one honoring Americans who died fighting in any war.
Though an unofficial intent, many people also use the day to honor those currently serving and veterans still living - although that also is the purpose of Veterans Day in November.
Long-observed on May 30, the 1971 "National Holiday Act" moved the holiday to the last Monday in May.
National Cemetery service
Jefferson City's main Memorial Day event this year is the annual Jefferson City Veterans Council ceremony at the National Cemetery, 1024 E. McCarty St., beginning at 10:30 a.m.
This year's keynote speaker is David E. Griffith, currently executive director of the American Red Cross of Central and Northern Missouri.
He served in the U.S. Army's 8th Special Forces Group from August 1967 to May 1970, with specialty training in communication, weapons and language.
He was part of a group demonstration team with special operations in Central and South America.
Griffith served two years on the Jefferson City Council, but resigned his seat to head the Red Cross' Capital Area Chapter.
Before being hired for the Red Cross director's job, he worked for more than 20 years in KRCG-TV's commercial production service.
He left the station at one point, working for the Mike Kehoe Auto Group and as the state Revenue department's communications director before returning to TV 13.
Griffith also has been an American Cancer Society volunteer for more than 20 years, and has worked with the American Heart Association.
He is a high priest and pastor of the Community of Christ Church in Jefferson City.
Griffith and his wife, Leigh, have been married 42 years and have two adult children and five grandchildren.
Monday's National Cemetery program also features the "Two-Bell" ceremony remembering area veterans who've died since last year.
The ceremony gets its name from the two bells struck at the beginning and the end of the ceremony. Also, the bell is chimed once each time a veteran's name is called.
Family members, friends or fellow veterans place a poppy on a ceremonial wreath after each name is called.
The program also will feature three musical selections by the group "A Work in Progress" - a quartet featuring Greg Grote, Tarry Koutz, Walter Coplen and Tom Palis.
The Marine Corps League's S.F. Gearhart Detachment provide the color guard, memorial rifle firing and "Taps," and the Jefferson City Firefighters' Honor Guard Pipe & Drum Corps also will participate in the ceremony.
Other observances
Brief ceremonies will be Monday at:
8:15 a.m. in Riverview Cemetery, at the grave of former Cole County Sheriff Wyman Basinger, who died from injuries suffered in a 1986 auto accident while he was responding to an emergency call.
Before he was sheriff, he was a veteran, and the VFW Post in St. Martins carried his name.
9 a.m., also in Riverview Cemetery, at the grave of Roy Sone, the first Cole Countian to die in World War I. The now-closed VFW post on East Capitol Avenue bore his name.
The two VFW posts have been combined into the Basinger/Sone Memorial Post.
Two concerts Monday afternoon also offer patriotic music and time for reflection:
1 p.m. at First Christian Church, 327 E. Capitol Ave., the Jefferson City Community Band concert.
3 p.m. in the Capitol Rotunda, Monticello Singers concert.