“Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifices.” — Harry S. Truman, 33rd U.S. president, 1945
Memorial Day started out as Decoration Day, a name that came from the early tradition of laying flowers, wreaths, and flags on soldiers’ graves. It’s a day for remembering those who died serving the United States.
On May 30, 1868, for the first time, Americans across the country set aside a day to honor Union soldiers lost in the Civil War. General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, a group formed by Union veterans, officially called for this national day of remembrance.
At that first major event, James Garfield, once a Union general and then a congressman from Ohio, stood before a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery and delivered a speech. Afterward, about 5,000 people fanned out to decorate the graves of over 20,000 soldiers from both the Union and Confederate armies. This act of collective remembrance emerged from earlier local memorial events, like the one held in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1865. There, freed slaves organized a tribute and proper burial for Union troops, a powerful gesture of respect right after the war ended.
In 1873, New York took the lead and became the first state to make Memorial Day a legal holiday. Within a few decades, it caught on across the country, with many cities and states following suit. The meaning of the holiday stretched as well. After World War I, Memorial Day grew to include all American military personnel who died in any war, not just the Civil War. When Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1971, Memorial Day landed on the last Monday in May and became a federal holiday.
Tradition still holds at Arlington every year. Each grave receives a small American flag, and either the President or the Vice President lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Memorial Day serves as a federal holiday now, setting aside time for Americans to honor men and women who died in uniform. Some visit cemeteries or join parades, while others gather with family, quietly mindful, even as the holiday unofficially signals the start of summer.
A few facts about Memorial Day:
– Memorial Day honors U.S. military members who died in combat.
– People once called it Decoration Day because families and friends decorated soldiers’ graves.
– It became a federal holiday in 1971, though its roots reach back to the 1860s.
– Memorial Day centers on honoring the fallen, while Veterans Day focuses on all who served, especially living veterans.
For service members, veterans, and their families, Memorial Day can be an emotional and sacred time. In an interview with The Wounded Warrior Project, Army veteran Edwin Martinez put it plainly: “Memorial Day is important to me because I honor those who have sacrificed their lives and their family’s lives in pursuit of freedom for our nation. What greater gift can one man or woman sacrifice to keep the U.S. free and maintain our way of life?”
U.S. Marine Corps veteran David Daly feels the day deeply, too. While many Americans look forward to the long weekend, he challenges us not to forget why the day exists: to remember bravery and loss, not just to enjoy time off. “For me, the day reminds me of friends lost and the horrors of war,” Daly said to The Wounded Warrior Project. “At the same time, it reminds us all that while the day-to-day events of the world often paint a picture of gloom and doom, we still live in a place where heroes are among us. While these brave souls have passed in service, their memory is honored on Memorial Day to remind us that we had the privilege of existing on the same plane as them, even if it was only for a moment.”
