Memorial Day–Honor Our Fallen
May 26
Honor and remember the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.
Ways to Honor Our Fallen:
- Participate in Memorial Day parades and services.
- Bring flags and/or flowers for the graves of slain soldiers.
- Read books and watch films that are historically accurate such as “”They Shall Not Grow Old,” 1917,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “The Outpost,” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Glory,” “The Hurt Locker,” and many more.
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“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.”
– Elmer Davis
“It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.”
– Norman Schwarzkopf
“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”
– Joseph Campbell
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BRIEF HISTORY
- 1868: Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic first nationally observed Memorial Day, which was called “Decoration Day,” on May 30, 1868 by honoring the Union soldiers who had died in the American Civil War.
- Mary Ann Williams allegedly originated the “idea of strewing the graves of Civil War soldiers—Union and Confederate” with flowers.
- 1873: New York first officially recognized Memorial Day as a holiday, which spread among all of the U.S. states.
- 1890: Every Union state had adopted it.
- WWI and WWII turned Memorial Day into a day of remembrance for all members of the U.S. military who fought and died in service.
- 1971: Congress standardized the holiday as “Memorial Day” and changed its observance to the last Monday in May.