Memorial Day at Barrancas National Cemetery

Memorial Day at Barrancas National Cemetery. Originally established as a U.S. Navy cemetery in 1838, but in 1868 Barrancas was officially proclaimed a National Cemetery.

"...No impious footstep here shall tread
The herbage of your grave;
Nor shall your glory be forgot
While Fame her record keeps,
For honor points the hallowed spot
Where valor proudly sleeps..."

Theodore O'Hara
Bivouac of the Dead , 1847

On May 5, 1868, John A. Logan, Commander in Chief, Grand Army of the Republic, issued General Orders No. 11 - The Memorial Day Order:

"If other eyes grow dull and other hinds slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain in us....

.

"It is the purpose of the Commander‑in‑Chief to inaugurate this observ­ance with the hope that it will be kept up from year to year, while a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades."

You may click HERE to read the Order in its entirety.

To those who have served our country and to those who have fallen, we extend our gratitude and respect.

Memorial Day

"Here’s to those who paid the price
And stood atop the wall,
Who didn’t call it sacrifice,
But duty to a call.


"Beyond our power to add, detract,
Or honor with parade,
Or praise with words all copper-plaqued,
In public squares displayed,


"They held the line, they took the brunt
Directed at our flank.
From general to lowly grunt
Now “hero” is their rank.


"For some – unknown – the laurel wreaths
Must rest on unnamed graves.
For others still, their God bequeaths
No slabs or architraves.


"For other heroes, living hearts
Still speak aloud their name.
Their daughters, sons, and better-parts –
To memories lay claim.


"Some met the foe with angry eye;
Some trembled at the fray;
Some grieved for wife and family;
Some paused to kneel and pray.


"Yet, as their hour approached its mark
And minutes became rare,
All gazed into the dreaded dark,
And stood – where we weren’t – there.


"We praise with words their bravery,
Their steadfast soldiers’ hands,
That shielded us from slavery
And wrack from foreign lands.



"Now pause awhile, and think on them.
Let recollection stir
To memory, through this artless hymn,
Of those and who they were."

~~ Dean C. Broome MD JD, "Memorial - 2007"