Memorial Day Was Built on Sacrifice. Let’s Tell the Full Story.

Every Memorial Day, we pause to honor those who gave their lives in military service. But too often, the origin of this national day of remembrance is forgotten or never taught.

According to Yale historian David Blight, the first widely recognized Memorial Day ceremony was organized in 1865 by newly freed Black Americans in Charleston, South Carolina. After the Civil War, they found over 250 Union soldiers buried in a mass grave behind a Confederate prison camp. These men had died fighting for emancipation. It was called Decoration Day.

In bold dignity and service, these freed men and women exhumed the bodies, created proper individual graves, built a fence around the new cemetery, and hosted a public tribute attended by 10,000 people, including 3,000 Black schoolchildren singing in remembrance.

This was not only an act of mourning but also of leadership. It redefined what it means to honor the fallen and laid the foundation for the Memorial Day we recognize today.

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What This Means Now:

As a veteran, trauma therapist, and author focused on resilience and racial healing, I believe remembrance is more than reflection. It’s a responsibility.

The whole truth of Memorial Day invites us to see one another more fully and recognize how collective grief and legacy are interconnected. This is especially important for those of us still carrying unspoken wounds, whether from combat, systemic injustice, or personal loss.

 History taught me that healing, real, sustainable healing, begins with naming what’s been buried!

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Tool for Transformation:

🧠 Download the Racial Trauma Self-Check. 

This free tool from my book United We Serve, United We Heal, is designed to help veterans, professionals, and leaders identify how racial stress might be manifesting in their daily lives. Whether you’re carrying trauma, supporting someone who is, or ready to lead with more awareness, this is where clarity begins.

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Healing Is Collective Work:

We remember the fallen not only through silence but also through action. The REDEFINE Program offers no-cost, trauma-informed group therapy to veterans and spouses ready for real, sustained healing. This work matters because we all need each other to remember, rise, and rebuild.

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Let’s Build What They Began

Honor looks like truth. Leadership looks like healing. And healing looks like showing up for ourselves and each other.

📚 Learn more, book me to speak, or explore free healing tools at bio.ariellenjordan.com

𝓓𝓻. 𝓐𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓮 𝓙𝓸𝓻𝓭𝓪𝓷

Veteran. Therapist. Researcher. Advocate for Healing.