U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Samuel Morse, taken from the Military.com site

                       

Memorial Day | Military.com
Memorial Day - Holidays - HISTORY.com
Memorial Day - Wikipedia
Memorial Day | In Memory of Our Honored Dead - www.usmemorialday.org
When is Memorial Day 2017? Memorial Day, Dates, History, Recipes - The Old Farmer's Almanac

Memorial Day

Thank you to all the men and women who are currently serving our country, thank you to those who have served and thank you to those that paid the ultimate sacrifice to serve and thank you to all of the families.

Memorial Day is an American holiday.  Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday of May and honors men and women who died while serving in the United States military.  Originally the day was known as Decoration Day and it originated from the years following the Civil War.  Memorial Day became a federal holiday in 1971.  Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and parades.  For more information, please use the links below.

History Channel:  Memorial Day
U.S. Memorial Day.org:  Memorial Day
PBS - National Memorial Day Concert 

Memorial Day

Each year on Memorial Day a national moment of

remembrance takes place at 3:00 pm local time.

Memorial Day was originally call Decoration Day, a day when graves of soldiers who died in service to our country were decorated with flowers, wreaths and flags.  By proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former Union sailors and soldiers, this holiday was first widely observed on May 30, 1868 to commemorate the sacrifices of the Civil War soldiers. 

According to the History Channel website:

"It is unclear where exactly this tradition originated; numerous different communities may have independently initiated the memorial gatherings. Nevertheless, in 1966 the federal government declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day. Waterloo—which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866—was chosen because it hosted an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags."

Check out additional information on their site at  http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/memorial-day-history

In addition check out these sites for additional information:

http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Memorial-Day.shtml

Check out the PBS website - National Memorial Day Concert which features Memorial Day History, Meaning, and Traditions & Activities.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website on Memorial Day.

 Military.com website's Memorial Day page.





Check out U.S. Memorial Day Organization's site at http://www.usmemorialday.org/

Facts about Memorial Day

Did you know --- I know I did not --- that in 2000 Congress established a National Moment of Remembrance which asks Americans to pause for one minute at 3 p.m. in an act of national unity.  The time was chosen because 3 p.m. "is the time when most Americans are enjoying their freedoms on the national holiday."

Please help spread the word about this little known fact about Memorial Day and remember to remember those who defended our country and are no longer with us and those who are currently defending our country.


Now some additional facts courtesy of CNN.com:

It started with the Civil War.
General Logan made it official.
It was first known as Decoration Day.
The holiday is a franchise.
It was James Garfield's finest hour - or maybe hour-and-a-half.
Not even the Unknown Solider can avoid media scrutiny these days.
Vietnam vets go whole hog.
Memorial Day has its customs.
There is still a grey Memorial Day.
Each Memorial Day is a little different.

For more information and explanation about these facts, see Ten facts about Memorial Day on CNN.com., History Channel's Memorial Day page, and TIME NewsFeed's 7 things you didn't know about Memorial Day.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States observed on the last Monday of May. Originally called Decoration Day, the day was first widely observed on May 30, 1968, to commemorate the Civil War soldiers, by proclamation of General John A Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former sailors and soldiers. In the first national celebration at Arlington National Cemetery, General James Garfield gave a speech and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers. By the late 1800s, many more cities and communities had begun to observe Memorial Day, and after the First World War it became an occasion for honoring those who had died in all America's wars.

In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated on the last Monday of May. Memorial Day is celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery with a ceremony in which an American flag is placed at each grave. The President or Vice President usually lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

For more information on Memorial Day Traditions, the meaning and history, the National Memorial Day Concert, information to support not only our fallen soldiers but also our currently serving troops and their families, and to read about past national concerts, please visit http://www.pbs.org/memorialdayconcert/.