A Memorial Day ceremony in the Santa Clarita area on Monday, May 31, came with a particular focus this year: Honoring those who who died in Operation Desert Storm and Operation Desert Shield.
Both military phases represent a particular part of the United States’ operations in the Middle East, when in the early 1990s, American forces led a coalition of forces to defend the Kuwait from Iraqi invasion. Desert Shield represented the run up to defend the region, and Desert Storm was the actual combat phase.
The ceremony, organized by Newhall’s Eternal Valley Memorial Park & Mortuary and the Santa Clarita Valley Veterans Memorial Committee, was set to include the reading of more than 900 names inscribed on the Veterans Memorial Wall.
The ceremony rekindled such events throughout Southern California, which were impacted by the pandemic last year.
That tradition nationally is said to stem from the aftermath of the Civil War, when in May 1868, Gen. John Logan, the national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, proclaimed it in his General Order No. 11, where he sought a day to remember the fallen with flowers strewn on graves. It was originally called Decoration Day, according to MemorialDay.org.
A tradition began to grow, with more formal recognitions in several states. By the aftermath of World War I, the day became not just about honoring the Civil War dead, but Americans who died in any war.
Congress sealed it in the National Holiday Act of 1971, establishing the day on the last Monday of each May.