Memorial Day 2024
Memorial Day, observed on the last Monday of May, is a day in which Americans honor the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Memorial Day 2024 will occur on Monday, May 27.
What is the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day?
The federal holidays of Veterans Day and Memorial Day are both designed to celebrate members of the U.S. military, but there are a few key differences. Memorial Day, which took shape after the Civil War, is considered a day to honor those who were killed in or as a result of participating in battle. Veterans Day, which materialized at the end of World War I, is a day to honor all service men and women, but especially those who remain with us to share their experiences.
Did you know? Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day
What is the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day?
The federal holidays of Veterans Day and Memorial Day are both designed to celebrate members of the U.S. military, but there are a few key differences. Memorial Day, which took shape after the Civil War, is considered a day to honor those who were killed in or as a result of participating in battle. Veterans Day, which materialized at the end of World War I, is a day to honor all service men and women, but especially those who remain with us to share their experiences.
Did you know? Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day
Decoration Day
On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance 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.
The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.
On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Civil War soldiers buried there.
Many northern states held similar commemorative events and reprised the tradition in subsequent years; by 1890 each one had made Decoration Day an official state holiday. Southern states, on the other hand, continued to honor the dead on separate dates until after World War I.
History of Memorial Day
Memorial Day, as Decoration Day gradually came to be known, originally honored only those lost while fighting in the Civil War. But during World War I the United States found itself embroiled in another major conflict, and the holiday evolved to commemorate American military personnel who died in all wars, including World War II, The Vietnam War, The Korean War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
For decades, Memorial Day continued to be observed on May 30, the date General Logan had selected for the first Decoration Day. But in 1968, 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.
“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.
The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.
On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Civil War soldiers buried there.
Many northern states held similar commemorative events and reprised the tradition in subsequent years; by 1890 each one had made Decoration Day an official state holiday. Southern states, on the other hand, continued to honor the dead on separate dates until after World War I.
History of Memorial Day
Memorial Day, as Decoration Day gradually came to be known, originally honored only those lost while fighting in the Civil War. But during World War I the United States found itself embroiled in another major conflict, and the holiday evolved to commemorate American military personnel who died in all wars, including World War II, The Vietnam War, The Korean War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
For decades, Memorial Day continued to be observed on May 30, the date General Logan had selected for the first Decoration Day. But in 1968, 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.
The sign reads "Welcome to Waterloo, N.Y.". The U.S. federal government declared Waterlook, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day for starting the tradition of Memorial Day services in 1866.
A group of girls show their patriotic red, white and blue costumes in Black River Falls, Wisconsin, 1904. One girl holds a flag of the United States for a Memorial Day honor guard.
A crowd watches an army parade on Memorial Day, 1942, in Washington, D.C.
A U.S. soldier plays taps at the Luxembourg American Cemetary on May 30, 1946 in a Memorial Day service honoring the American soldiers who gave their lives in World War II.
A young woman lies down on the grave of U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Noah Pier on Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery May 31, 2010. Pier was killed Feb. 12, 2010 in Marja, Afghanistan.
A volunteer at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial comforts a U.S. Marine who lost a friend during the Vietnam War in Washington, D.C., May 26, 1996
Memorial Day Ceremony in Normandy, France 2012
Reflect On Countless Sacrifices Made
So We Can Live Free
"Freedom Has A Cost" speech, President Ronald Reagan
"Remember the Fallen", commentary by Presidents Reagan, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden
Hymn to the Fallen...
On this day, Memorial Day, all of us should take a moment to reflect on those of us who served our great country. The GLVFA motto of "All gave some, some gave all" is a fitting thought on our National Day of Remembrance to our fallen heroes.
God Bless America
Irving Berlin wrote the song while serving in the U.S. Army at Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York at the end of World War I, but decided that it did not fit in a revue called Yip Yip Yaphank, so he set it aside. The lyrics at that time included the line "Make her victorious on land and foam, God bless America..." as well as "Stand beside her and guide her to the right with the light from above".
In 1938, with the rise of Adolf Hitler, Berlin, who was Jewish and had arrived in the U.S. from Russia at the age of five, felt it was time to revive it as a "peace song", and it was introduced on an Armistice Day broadcast in 1938, sung by Kate Smith on her radio show.
In 1938, with the rise of Adolf Hitler, Berlin, who was Jewish and had arrived in the U.S. from Russia at the age of five, felt it was time to revive it as a "peace song", and it was introduced on an Armistice Day broadcast in 1938, sung by Kate Smith on her radio show.