BackMemorial Day in US: Know significance of this day, when it is observed
In what has now become a weekend of backyard barbecues, big chain retailers offering big discounts and sales, is a national holiday for the US and is noted to be much more somber.
PremiumThe United States observes Memorial day on the last Monday of the month of May every year. Marked as a federal holiday, Memorial Day is observed to honor and mourn the US military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.
Notably, from 1868 to 1970, Memorial Day in United States was observed on 30 May.
In what has now become a weekend of backyard barbecues, big chain retailers offering big discounts and sales, is a national holiday for the US and is noted to be much more somber.
The federal holiday was originally called called Decoration Day, a holiday that honors all soldiers who died during service to the nation.
Memorial Day was declared a national holiday through an act of Congress in 1971, and its roots date back to the Civil War era, according to the US Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
Memorial Day is different from Veteran's Day in the way that this day honors all military members who have died in while serving in US forces.
Your cheat-sheet for this somber holiday
What is Memorial Day and why is it observed?
The origins of the holiday can be traced back to local observances for soldiers with neglected gravesites during the Civil War.
Blacks in the Charleston, South Carolina, organized a burial of deceased Union prisoners and built a fence around the site, Yale historian David Blight wrote in The New York Times in 2011.
Then on May 1, 1865, they held an event there including a parade – Blacks who fought in the Civil War participated – spiritual readings and songs, and picnicking. A commemorative marker was erected there in 2010.
One of the first Decoration Days was held in Columbus, Mississippi, on April 25, 1866 by women who decorated graves of Confederate soldiers who perished in the battle at Shiloh with flowers.
General Ulysses S Grant presided over the first large observance, a crowd of about 5,000 people, at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on May 30, 1873.
When is Memorial Day celebrated?
US observes memorial Day on the last Monday of May. In 2023, Memorial Day will be observed on 29 May.
Is it appropriate to say Happy Memorial Day?
Memorial Day was not founded in joy with the promise of bringing glee each year. It was established as a way for the country to set aside time to honor the troops who had given their lives in service to America.
Significance of Memorial Day to US citizen
Many volunteers place American flags on the graves of military personnel in national cemeteries. Memorial Day is also considered the unofficial beginning of summer in the United States.
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