Memorial Day
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Wikipedia-Article "Memorial Day"
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday that takes place on May 30th and is observed on the last Monday of May. It was formerly known as Decoration Day. This holiday commemorates U.S. men and women who died in military service for their country. It began first to honor Union soldiers who died during the American Civil War. After World War I, it expanded to include those who died in any war or military action. Today, many Americans use Memorial Day weekend to also honor family members who have passed away. Church services on the Sunday prior to Memorial Day may include a reading of the names of members who have died during the previous 12 months.
Many people observe this holiday by visiting cemeteries and memorials. A National Moment of Remembrance takes place at 3 PM. Another tradition is to fly the U.S. Flag at half-staff from dawn until noon local time. In addition to remembrance, Memorial Day is also a time for picnics, family gatherings, and sporting events. One of the longest standing traditions is the running of the Indianapolis 500, which has been held in conjuction with Memorial Day since 1911.
Memorial Day is on May 30, and some advocate returning to this fixed date. However, many other Americans enjoy the guaranteed three-day weekend that comes with observing the holiday on a Monday. Memorial Day is popularly viewed as the unofficial beginning of summer in the United States, while Labor Day is considered the unofficial end of the season.
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History
Following the end of the Civil War, many communities set aside a day to mark the end of the war or as a memorial to those who had died. Some of the early cities creating a memorial day include Charleston, South Carolina; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; Richmond, Virginia; and some two dozen other cities and towns. These observances eventually coalesced around Decoration Day honoring the Union dead and the several Confederate Memorial Days.
The official birthplace of Memorial Day is Waterloo, New York. The village was credited with being the birthplace because it observed the day on May 5, 1866, and each year thereafter, and because it's likely that the friendship of General John Murray, a distinguished citizen of Waterloo, and General John A. Logan, who led the call for the day to be observed each year and helped spread the event nationwide, was a key factor in its growth.
Logan had been the principal speaker in a citywide memorial observation on April 29, 1866, at a cemetery in Carbondale, Illinois, an event that likely gave him the idea to make it a national holiday. On May 5, 1868, in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, a veterans' organization, Logan issued a proclamation that "Decoration Day" be observed nationwide. It was observed for the first time on May 30 of the same year. The tombs of fallen Union soldiers were decorated in remembrance of this day.
Many of the states of the U.S. South refused to celebrate Decoration Day due to lingering hostility towards the Union Army, which it was commemorating. Many Southern States did not recognize Memorial Day until after World War I, and even after continued to have a separate Confederate Memorial Day, with the date varying from state to state.
The alternative name of "Memorial Day" was first used in 1882, but did not become more common until after World War II, and was not declared the official name by Federal law until 1967.
On June 28, 1968, The United States Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill, which moved four holidays from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convienent three-day weekend. The holidays included Washington's Birthday (which evolved into Presidents' Day), Memorial Day, Columbus Day, and Veterans Day. The law took effect in 1971 at the federal level. After some initial confusion and unwillingness to comply at the state level, all fifty states adopted the measure within a few years. Veterans Day was eventually changed back to its traditional date. The change moved Memorial Day from its traditional May 30 date to the last Monday in May.
Unsurprisingly, given its origin in the American Civil War, Memorial Day is not a holiday outside the US. In the countries of the Commonwealth, France, and Belgium, members of the military who died in war are commemorated on or around Remembrance Day, November 11. This date is marked as Veterans Day (formerly Armistice Day) in the US and honors surviving veterans. In Ireland, National Day of Commemoration commemorates all Irish men and women who died in past wars or on service with the United Nations.
In Literature and Music
In the Southeastern United States Decoration Day is celebrated as a day to decorate the graves of all family members, it is not reserved for only those who served in the military. It is observed on the sunday before Memorial Day. Jason Isbell of the rock-folk band Drive-By Truckers chronicled such an event in his epic ballad "Decoration Day", which is also the title cut to the respective album.