Monday, May 29, 2017

Memorial Day: Remembering Those Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice

Arlington National Cemetery

Memorial Day is a federal holiday for remembering the people who died while serving in the country’s Armed Forces. The holiday, which is observed on the last Monday of May, originated as Decoration Day after the American Civil War in 1868, when the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans founded in Decatur, IL, established it as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the Union war dead with flowers.
 
By the 20th Century, competing Union and Confederate holiday traditions, celebrated on different days, had merged, and Memorial Day eventually extended to honor all Americans who died while in the military service. Many people visit cemeteries and memorials, particularly to honor those who have died in military service. Many volunteers place an American flag on each grave in national cemeteries.

Source: Wikipedia

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