Veterans Legacy Memorial

The Chronicles Of Grant County

Today is Memorial Day – the day designated by the Federal government to honor all those who died while serving in the United States military. A number of people will visit the Fort Bayard National Cemetery to decorate the gravesites of the men and women in eternal rest at this site in Grant County and attend a memorial ceremony.

According to the U S Department of Veterans Affairs, Memorial Day began as "Decoration Day" three years after the end of the American Civil War. This Federal agency indicated that in 1868, Major General John Logan declared that the holiday should be held annually on May 30. The Department reported that "…it is believed the date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country."

Beyond the national designation, the Department indicated that there were a number of local communities that had been holding tributes in previous years to honor those who died in uniform while serving our country.

The name of the holiday changed through the years from "Decoration Day" to "Memorial Day."

In 1968, the U S Congress passed a law that placed the annual observance of Memorial Day to the last Monday of May; the law took effect in 1971. This year, Memorial Day is being celebrated on its initial date of May 30 since today is also the last Monday of the month.

Beyond visits to the Fort Bayard National Cemetery and other resting places, Americans are encouraged to remember the service of these men and women through the Veterans Legacy Memorial.

"The Veterans Legacy Memorial website is the nation's first digital platform dedicated entirely to the memory of more than 4.2 million veterans interred in [the Veterans Affairs'] national cemeteries and in VA grant-funded cemeteries," according to a statement from the Department. "Launched in 2019, individual veteran profile pages are populated with military service and cemetery information. This publicly available information is gathered from VA records and includes [details about each veteran and their] service branch with logo, dates of birth and death, rank, war period, decorations, emblem of belief, and cemetery information."

You can visit the website at https://www.vlm.cem.va.gov.

This digital database highlights approximately 4,400 veterans buried at the Fort Bayard National Cemetery, according to the U S Department of Veterans Affairs.

"The outpouring of emotions from Veterans Legacy Memorial users – grief, laughter, memories, historical facts, and more – contribute to the unique storytelling of those patriots we've loved and lost," explained a spokesperson for the National Cemetery Administration of the U S Department of Veterans Affairs. "Whether a first time or returning user, we invite loved ones to find their Veterans and share their memories this Memorial Day."

Among the interactive features at this website are ones that "…allow family, friends, and others to post tributes (comments), upload images, share their veteran's military service timeline and achievements, biographical information, historical documents and more," the statement continued from the Department. "The site also allows visitors to share veteran profile pages by email and post them to Facebook and Twitter."

Individuals seeking information about a specific military veteran can search by the first name and surname of the veteran. Among suggestions from the Department, are ways that individuals can narrow a search by including the veteran's branch of service, a war period, and/or the cemetery where the veteran was buried. Additional search filters are also available through an advanced search at the website.

"A Veterans Legacy Memorial profile page is usually created the day of the interment at the cemetery," according to the Department. "Prior interments displayed in Veterans Legacy Memorial go back as far as the [American] Revolutionary War."

The Department noted that not every American military veteran is included in the Veterans Legacy Memorial at this time: "Currently only veterans interred in a VA national cemetery and/or VA grant-funded state, tribal, and territory cemeteries are included in Veterans Legacy Memorial."

Individuals are able to submit additional content about a military veteran through this website. According to the Department, all content is reviewed by moderators at the Veterans Legacy Memorial prior to being included in a profile page for a veteran "…to ensure it conforms to the Veterans Legacy Memorial user policy and appropriately honors veterans."

The website for the Veterans Legacy Memorial allows visitors to review information about military veterans.
(The image was provided courtesy of the U S Department of Veterans Affairs.)

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