I did a little research to add to my meager knowledge about the day. As many of us know, Memorial Day is always the last Monday in May and is the day Americans honor their fellow citizens who died while serving in the U.S. military. What many people don't know is that the day didn't start out as Memorial Day. In 1868, after the end of the Civil War, an organization of Union Veterans called the Grand Army of the Republic declared that May 30th was officially Decoration Day. The birth of Decoration Day coincided with the establishment of national cemeteries, a necessity to accommodate the vast numbers of casualties sustained in the war. Citizens would decorate the graves of those they lost in the war, and over time, cities and towns joined the remembrances.
Eventually, Decoration Day evolved into Memorial Day, and the Uniform Monday Holiday Act was passed by congress in 1968 and established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May. They also declared the day a federal holiday, which took effect in 1971. This created a three-day weekend for federal employees, and essentially, the rest of us.
So tell me: How do you spend Memorial Day? Visits to remember those who served? Parades and boating? And for those amongst us who aren't Americans, is there a similar tradition in your country?
