With Memorial Day just about two weeks away, we, the staff at VanScoy Diamonds decided to share a touch of our patriotism.  Starting with one of our favorite national songs, and ending with a brief history of Memorial Day, we hope to help put you in the holiday spirit.  May your and your loved ones have a safe and happy holiday weekend! America, The Beautiful by Katharine Lee Bates, 1913 O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America!  America!  God shed His grace on thee, And crown they good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea! O beautiful for pilgrim feet, Whose sterm impassion’d stress A thoroughfare for freedom beat Across the widerness! America! America!  God mend thing ev’ry glaw, Confirm they soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law! O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife, Who more than self their country loved, And mercy more than life! America!  America!  May God thy gold refine Till all success be nobleness, Any ev’ry gain divine! O beautiful for patriot dream That sees beyond the years Thine alabaster cities gleam, Undimmed by human tears! America!  America!  God shed His grace on thee, And crown they good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea! Memorial Day first originated in 1868, under the name “Decoration Day.”  General John Logan, head of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans from the Civil War, declared the day to be one on which the fallen soldiers should be remembered.  Together with various Washington officials, members of the GAR paraded through Arlington National Cemetery and decorated the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers with flowers. In 1971, Memorial Day as we know it became official, and placed on the last Monday of May.  The holiday is still celebrated annually at Arlington National Cemetery, however now each grave, regardless of when or how the deceased died, is decorated with an American flag.  In addition, in 2000 “The National Remembrance Act” became law.  This law created the White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance which among other things encourages all Americans to pause for a moment of silence at precisely 3pm local time on Memorial Day. Again, the staff at Van Scoy Diamonds wish you and your loved ones  a safe and happy holiday weekend.  No matter how you choose to celebrate, we hope your brief history lesson will inspire you and your acquaintances to pause at 3pm local time and remember those who made this holiday possible.  May the live veterans in your life be thanked and the dead never be forgotten.