Every year on the last Monday of May we have a three-day weekend and we see Memorial Day Specials at popular resorts. There are big Memorial Day Sales and there are all types of family outings and picnics planned. But let’s not forget the reason for the celebration of Memorial Day. Memorial Day is the time to honor the men and women serving our country and, most importantly, those who lost their lives as a result. It is also a time to honor all Veterans who have defended our freedom.
Memorial Day is often confused with Veterans Day, which is also an official United States holiday that honors people who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, also known as veterans. It is a federal holiday that is observed on November 11.
Memorial Day started May 30, 1868, and was originally called “Decoration Day”. The purpose was to honor the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers. General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic created the proclamation. The Grand Army was an organization of former Union sailors and soldiers. The name Decoration Day came from the early tradition of decorating graves with flowers, flags and wreaths.
During that first national celebration, former Union General and sitting Ohio Congressman James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who were buried there.
Here are his words: “We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.”
After the Civil War many cities and towns across America began to celebrate Decoration Day. In 1873 New York was the first state to designate this day a legal holiday. By the late 1800s many more cities declared it a legal holiday, and after World War 1, it became the holiday to honor those who died in all of America’s wars and then became a national holiday.
In 1971, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act and established that Memorial Day was to be celebrated on the last Monday of May.
Memorial Day is celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery each year with a ceremony in which a small American flag is placed on each grave. Traditionally, the President or Vice President lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. About 5,000 people attend the ceremony annually.