🔷 Memorial Day

Memorial Day

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, a US holiday for honoring military personnel who died in service.

The exact beginnings are a bit murky, but here’s how it started: During the Civil War, people started placing flowers on soldiers’ graves.

After the war, communities began to host regular observances to come together to decorate the graves and remember the fallen.

Because of the tie to flowers, these community events took place in May, when the first summer blooms and warming weather make grave decorating possible.

John Logan

In 1868, a dude named John A. Logan proposed a national holiday on May 30th “for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion.”

OK, he just wasn’t any dude.

John Logan was a veteran of the Mexican–American War who was a Congressman when the Civil War broke out.

He left office to fight as a Union colonel and rose to be a brigadier general—and was known as one of the exceptional ‘political generals’ of the war.

When the war ended, Johnny L switched political parties and returned to Congress.

Having lived the war, he had a personal connection to the fallen and wanted to use his position to make an official remembrance.

Remember

Originally, Memorial Day was heavy. Personal. Emotional.

But over time, as generations passed and families became more removed from their direct losses, the day evolved.

Today, Memorial Day isn’t about grief—it’s about gratitude.

It’s a day of thankfulness and appreciation for the freedom afforded by sacrifice.

So…push it up this weekend to celebrate freedom—the more the better!

‘Murica!

Stuff You Didn’t Know

• Logan Circle in Washington D.C. (just north of the White House) is named after John Logan and has a bronze statue of him on a horse—a nod to his battlefield leadership

• Memorial Day was known as Decoration Day

• It originally occurred on May 30th, a date chosen simply to deconflict from any other Civil War battle anniversaries at the end of May 

• On the first official Decoration Day, 5,000 volunteers decorated the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in Arlington National Cemetery, kickstarting a tradition that remains today

• After World War I, the holiday expanded to honor those who died in all of America’s wars

• On Decoration Day 1921, the first unknown soldier in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery was selected from four exhumed graves in France

• The holiday wasn’t officially renamed Memorial Day until 1967

• In 1971, the holiday changed from a date (May 30th) to a day (last Monday in May) to create more 3-day weekends

• 1.1 million Americans have fallen in service to their country

Last but not least:

The association of flowers, ‘decoration day, and the fact that the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier’s selection happened on Memorial Day, started another tradition: the ceremonial laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns every Memorial Day.

In That Number

$175B over 3

The White House revealed that the Golden Dome missile shield project will cost $175B over 3 years to build.

The MDA is set to release a $151B SHIELD contract vehicle to start building Golden Dome in the next week.

TRIVIA

On this day in 1953, the US Army test-fired the first-ever nuclear artillery projectile. What was the nickname of the 280mm cannon?

A) Atomic Annie
B) Big Bertha
C) Nuclear Nellie

On the Radar

The Army plans to accelerate the delivery of the first production-representative MV-75 tiltrotor to soldiers in 2028 by moving into low-rate production while still refining the design and testing. The MV-75 is based on the Bell V-280 Valor demonstrator and is the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program to replace the H-60 Black Hawk.

• The Merge’s Take: This is called concurrency—a controversial move that plagued the F-35 program with delays and cost overruns. The Army is betting that modern tools and tighter feedback loops will make it work this time. Watch the MV-75 program: Concurrency is a 4-letter word and a gamble in terms of cost, schedule, and performance. Managing concurrency is going to be the most critical part of keeping this train on the tracks.

More B-21 bombers? The Air Force is reevaluating its bomber mix, which may trade B-52Js for more B-21s. The issue stems from the potential delays in the B-52J modernization program, which we covered extensively here with the then-commander of the test unit.

• The Merge’s Take: The real issue—and a running joke in the beltway—is that the Air Force refuses to state how many B-21s it actually needs beyond “at least 100.” The same service also refuses to refresh the 1,763 F-35 requirement it set decades ago. There is a real case that upwards of 300 B-21s are needed. That disparity is this meme.

Mach 3.5 Arty. UK-based defense startup Tiberius Aerospace unveiled a 155mm ramjet-powered artillery shell with precision-guided strike capability out to 100 miles. The Sceptre uses a liquid-fuel propulsion (think jet fuel), hits Mach 3.5, flies above 65,000 feet, and features a 3.5-meter CEP accuracy.

• The Merge’s Take: This is a seriously ambitious artillery round that could help bring mass to long-range fires—if it all comes to fruition and they can produce it at scale. The company states it will be deployable by the end of 2025, so keep an eye on it.

They Said It

“They’re fighting amongst one another for who’s gonna take the biggest cuts.”

— Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, on the growing unrest between the Air Force, Army, and Navy over the Pentagon’s budget.

The services are posturing to preserve—and grow—their forces in the face of an upcoming flat/reduced budget.

Knowledge Bombs

• The Pentagon accepted the Qatari 747-8 to convert into Air Force One

• General Atomics officially revealed the first YFQ-42A aircraft

• Boeing resumed KC-46 deliveries after fixing cracks

• The Space Force and NGA finally ended their turf disputes with a new intelligence agreement

• General Atomics is in talks to sell Saudi Arabia up to 200 MQ-9 drones

• The Air Force is testing counter-drone rocket pods on the F-15E

• The Army’s transformation effort is expected to free up $48B over the next 5 years

• Turkey’s first KF-21 production model enters final assembly

• The US & France are working to certify the Rafale to refuel the F/A-18 (pic!)

• Dawn Aerospace is now selling its Mach 3 spaceplane drone

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ANSWER
A. The massive 280mm M65 nuke cannon was called Atomic Annie, likely named after the test shot. The first and only nuclear shell to be fired from a cannon was nicknamed ‘Annie’ and resulted in a 15-kiloton detonation 7 miles down range and had live TV coverage. That’s about the strength as the Little Boy bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II.