Memorial Day

In 2000, only 28% of Americans understood the meaning of Memorial Day. It is important that we do not forget the sacrifices of our military service members. We must pause to honor, reflect and remember the precious lives lost while fighting in war. Here are some facts about Memorial Day.

Memorial Day is a national holiday set aside to honor military service members who died fighting in a war. It is often confused with Veterans Day, November 11, when we thank and honor all those who served in the military.

Memorial Day was initially called Decoration Day because graves were decorated with flowers and flags. In May of 1874, Mrs. Laura D. Richardson of Knoxville, Tennessee, Chairperson of a committe to obtain flowers for decorating the graves in the national cemetery of Knoxville, saw flags in a store window. She had an idea and subsequently purchased the flags and had the local lumber mill provide the wood for tiny flagpoles. This began the movement to decorate graves with flags.

The holiday had been observed on May 30, but in 1971, when it became a national holiday, Congress changed it to the last Monday of May to create a three-day weekend. This change, some argued, would contribute to Americans neglecting the true meaning and observances of the holiday.

Poppies a symbol of death in war, have been worn on Memorial Day since 1915 to remember the fallen. This movement was initiated by an American teacher named Moina Michael who read the well-known poem by a Canadian military doctor, "In Flanders Fields."

Flags At Arlington National Cemetery and the U.S. Soldier's and Airmen's Home National Cemetery every Friday before Memorial Day, American flags are placed before the gravestones and niches of service members buried there. It takes approximately three hours to place the flags in front of more than 260,000 gravestones. Soldiers remain in the cemetery throughout the weekend to ensure that a flag remains at each gravestone.

Every year on Memorial Day, the president of the United States gives a speech and places a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at the Arlington National Cemetery. Batteries on military installations fire a 21-gun salute to the nation's fallen heroes.

In an effort to remind and re-education Americans about the true meaning of Memorial Day, the National Moment of Remembrance on Memorial Day was established by Congress in 2000. Americans are asked to pause at 3 p.m. local time and remember those who have perished in battle. To this day, many Americans still do not understand the true meaning of Memorial Day, nor do they take any measures to observe Memorial Day for what it was established to be May each of us do our part to recognize the significance of the holiday and give honor to those who have helped to guarantee our freedoms