Memorial Day honors those who died in U.S. wars

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Memorial Day, observed on the last Monday of May, honors those who died while serving in the U.S. military. 

According to history.com it originated as Decoration Day in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many people observe the day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades. 

The site notes that the Civil War, which ended in the spring of 1865, claimed more lives than any conflict in U.S. history and required the establishment of the country’s first national cemeteries. By the late 1860s, Americans in various towns and cities had begun holding springtime tributes to the 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 national day of remembrance, Decoration Day, later that month. “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he proclaimed. That date was chosen because it was not the date of any particular battle.

Decoration Day continued to be observed on May 30 until 1968, when Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees. The change went into effect in 1971. The same law also declared Memorial Day a federal holiday.

While the exact number of fatalities is hard to establish, Military.com states: “American war deaths have varied dramatically, depending on the war they were volunteering (or being drafted) to fight. Some fell to the enemy. Many more fell to disease. Since the Revolutionary War ended, 646,596 American troops have died in battle and more than 539,000 died from other, non-combat related causes.”

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