- Memorial Day, falls on the last Monday of
May, commemorates the men and women who died while
serving in the American military.
- Originally known as Decoration Day, it
originated in the years following the Civil War and
became an official federal holiday in 1971.
- Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting
cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and
participating in parades, and visit there family that
had died in the war.
- By the late 1860s Americans in various towns and cities had begun holding springtime tributes to these countless fallen soldiers, decorating their graves with flowers and reciting prayers.
- On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance later that month.