Memorial Day is observed the last Monday in May. It was originally known as Decoration Day back in the Civil War. It is a day to remember and honor our fallen heroes who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country while serving in the Armed Forces.
After the Civil War was over, many people began to celebrate this day to mark the end of the war or to remember those who had died in Battle during the Civil War. The first observance was on 5MAY1866 in Waterloo, NY but wasn’t observed “Nation Wide” until 30 May 1868 when it was officially declared a Holiday.
On Memorial Day, Batteries, (known as companies in Artillery), on military installations fire a 21-gun salute to the nation's fallen.
Each round in a gun salute is fired one at a time. The number of cannons used in a battery depends upon the intervals between each round fired. For example, a 3-gun battery has 2 of its guns firing, each at 5 second intervals between rounds, with 1 gun at the ready in case of a misfire. Each round is a 75mm blank with a lot of noise.
Preparing for the Memorial Day ceremony begins on the last Monday of May early in the morning, usually at 6 am. Ft Knox is real quiet with all Soldiers and civilians off for the holidays. So, with no traffic, the 21 Soldiers gather for a formation to ensure the 21 gun salute goes off with no glitches. Rehearsal after rehearsal has now come down to show time.
The ammunition has been drawn, uniforms inspected, vehicle maintenance, 75 mm howitzers polished, serviced, inspected, and ready to go. Plus, the soldiers have to be fed, very important.
Once all of the above has been accomplished, we roll out to Brooke's Field in the hummers with the cannons in tow. We are setup by 9am for the noon festivities. This comes in play with more rehearsal time for the actual ceremony.
We had 6 cannons with two cannoneers for each cannon, one chief for each cannon, one gunny for the six chiefs, and then the overall guy in charge who is called "Smoke". On the left side and 1 pace to the rear of Smoke stood the so called counter. This left us with 21 soldiers.
When the ceremony started and the cannons began to fire, filling the air with the smell of gunpowder, different emotions could be felt all around by looking into the crowd that had gathered. After the firing had ceased with the last round, and the smoke clearing, everyone would be applauding and an occasional "Hooah!" (GS)
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