Union and West End Cemetery

On Friday, May 30, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. the Military Order of the Purple, Chapter 190, Allentown, PA, will celebrate the traditional Memorial Day at the Union & West End Cemetery.

Take note that while others celebrate this sacred event on Monday, May 26, this group of veterans will be celebrating on the traditional day of observance. The traditional Memorial Day, also known as Decoration Day, is on the 30th of May.

Memorial Day used to be a solemn day of mourning, a sacred day of remembrance to honor those who paid the ultimate price for our freedoms. Businesses closed for the day. Towns held parades honoring the fallen, the parade routes often times ending at a local cemetery, where Memorial Day speeches were given and prayers offered up. People took the time that day to clean and decorate with flowers and flags the graves of those the fell in service to their country.

"Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic." -- General Logan - May 5, 1868

We all need to remember with sincere respect those who paid the price for our freedoms; we need to keep in sacred remembrance those who died serving their country. We need to never let them be forgotten.

Over the years the original meaning and spirit of Memorial Day has faded from the public consciousness.

Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general publics' nonchalant observance of Memorial Day."



Come join the veterans of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 190, and the officers and directors of the Union and West End Cemetery for a beautiful and solemn Memorial Day Celebration.