Memorial Day
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{{ otheruses4|the holiday in the United States|the holiday in Newfoundland and Labrador|Memorial Day (Newfoundland and Labrador) }}
{{Infobox Holiday |
|holiday_name=Memorial Day
|image=Graves at Arlington on Memorial Day.JPG
|caption=The gravestones at [[Arlington National Cemetery]] are graced by U.S. flags on Memorial Day.
|observedby=[[United States]]
|date=Last Monday in May
|date{{CURRENTYEAR}}=May {{Last Monday in May|{{CURRENTYEAR}}}}, {{CURRENTYEAR}}
|date{{next year}}=May {{Last Monday in May|{{next year}}}}, {{next year}}
|observances=visiting cemeteries
|longtype=Federal (and most U.S. states)
|type=national
|significance=Honors men and women who have died in military service
}}
'''Memorial Day''' is a [[United States]] [[Federal holiday]] observed on the last Monday of May (in 2008 on May {{Last Monday in May}}). Formerly known as '''Decoration Day''', it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in [[military service]] to their country. First enacted to honor [[Union Army|Union]] soldiers of the [[American Civil War]], it was expanded after [[World War I]] to include American casualties of any war or military action.
==Traditional observance==
Many people observe this holiday by visiting [[cemetery|cemeteries]] and [[memorial]]s. A national moment of remembrance takes place at 3 p.m. US Eastern time. Another tradition is to fly the [[United States Flag|U.S. flag]] at [[half-staff]] from dawn until noon local time. Volunteers usually place an American flag upon each grave site located in a [[National Cemetery]]. Many Americans use Memorial Day to also honor other family members who have died.
In addition to remembrance, Memorial Day is also used as a time for [[picnics]], barbecues, family gatherings, and [[sports|sporting]] events. One of the longest-standing traditions is the running of the [[Indianapolis 500]], which has been held in conjunction with Memorial Day since 1911.
Some Americans view Memorial Day as the unofficial beginning of [[summer]] and [[Labor Day (United States)|Labor Day]] as the unofficial end of the season. The national "Click It or Ticket" campaign ramps up beginning Memorial Day weekend, noting the beginning of the most dangerous season for auto accidents and other safety-related incidents. The [[U.S. Air Force]]'s "101 Critical Days of Summer" begin on this day as well.
[[Image:fort logan national cemetery 5.jpg|thumb|Fort Logan National Cemetery|200px|right|Flags flying at [[Fort Logan National Cemetery]] during Memorial Day 2006.]]
Memorial Day formerly was observed on [[May 30]]. The [[Veterans of Foreign Wars]] (VFW) and [[Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War]] (SUVCW) advocate returning to this fixed date, although the significance of the date is tenuous. The VFW stated in a 2002 Memorial Day Address, "Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed a lot to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html|title=Memorial Day History|last=Mechant|first=David|accessdate=2007-05-26|date=2007-04-28}}</ref> Since 1987, [[Hawaii]]'s Senator [[Daniel Inouye]], a [[World War II]] veteran, has repeatedly introduced measures to return Memorial Day to its traditional date.
==Community observance==
In addition to national observances, many individual communities hold memorial observance for fallen soldiers who were from that town by having a ceremony in a church or town memorial park. It is common for fire and police departments to remember and honor members lost in the line of duty. Towns often hold a Memorial Day parade in honor of such residents. Participation in such a parade is by community organizations such as members of the local [[emergency services]] and their vehicles, [[Rotary International|Rotary Clubs]], [[Boy Scouts]], [[Girl Scouts]], and bands from the local high school or church groups. Communities may hold a picnic barbecue at a local park in which the whole town is invited to attend.
==History==
Following the end of the [[American Civil War|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 places creating an early memorial day include [[Sharpsburg, Maryland]], located near [[Antietam Battlefield]]; [[Charleston, South Carolina]]; [[Boalsburg, Pennsylvania]]; [[Richmond, Virginia]]; [[Carbondale, Illinois]]; [[Columbus, Mississippi]]; many communities in Vermont; and some two dozen other cities and towns. These observances coalesced around Decoration Day, honoring the Union dead, and the several [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] Memorial Days.
According to Professor David Blight of the [[Yale University]] History Department, the first memorial day was observed in 1865 by liberated slaves at the historic race track in Charleston. The site was a former Confederate prison camp as well as a mass grave for Union soldiers who died in captivity.
The freed slaves reinterred the dead Union soldiers from the mass grave to individual graves, fenced in the graveyard and built an entry arch declaring it a Union graveyard. This was a daring action for them to take in the South shortly after the North's victory. On May 30, 1868, the freed slaves returned to the graveyard with flowers they had picked from the countryside and decorated the individual gravesites, thereby creating the first Decoration Day. A parade by thousands of freed blacks and Union soldiers from the area was followed by patriotic singing and a picnic.
The official "birthplace" of Memorial Day is Boalsburg, Pennsylvania. The village was credited with being the place of origin because it observed the day on [[May 5]], [[1866]], and each year thereafter. The friendship between General [[John Murray (general)|John Murray]], a distinguished citizen of Waterloo, and General [[John A. Logan]], who helped bring attention to the event nationwide, likely was a factor in the holiday's 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 date was chosen because it was ''not'' the anniversary of a battle. The [[tomb]]s of fallen Union soldiers were decorated in remembrance.
Many of the states of the [[Southern United States|U.S. South]] refused to celebrate Decoration Day, due to lingering hostility towards the [[Union Army]] and also because there were relatively few veterans of the Union Army who were buried in the South. A notable exception was [[Columbus, Mississippi]], which on April 25, 1866 at its Decoration Day commemorated both the Union and Confederate casualties buried in its cemetery.<ref>[http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ms/state/didyouknow.htm] Did You Know?, US Genealogy Network</ref>
[[Image:MemorialDay42.jpg|thumb|right|Troops at the [[Washington, D.C.]] Memorial Day parade, 1942.]]
The alternative name of "Memorial Day" was first used in [[1882]]. It 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 three holidays from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend. The holidays included [[Washington's Birthday]], now celebrated as [[Presidents' Day]]; [[Veterans Day]], and Memorial Day. The change moved Memorial Day from its traditional May 30 date to the last Monday in May. The law took effect at the federal level in 1971.
After some initial confusion and unwillingness to comply, all fifty states adopted the measure within a few years. Veterans Day was eventually changed back to its traditional date. Ironically, most corporate businesses no longer close on Veterans Day, Columbus Day, or President's Day, with the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and/or New Years Eve often substituted as more convenient "holidays" for their employees. Memorial Day endures as a holiday which most businesses observe because it marks the beginning of the "summer vacation season." This role is filled in neighboring [[Canada]] by [[Victoria Day]], which occurs either on [[May 24]] or the last Monday before that date, placing it exactly one week before Memorial Day.
==In literature and music==
The southeastern U.S. celebrates Decoration Day as a day to decorate the graves of all family members, and it is not reserved for those who served in the military. The region observes Decoration Day on the Sunday before Memorial Day. [[Jason Isbell]] of the rock band [[Drive-By Truckers]] chronicled such an event in his epic ballad "Decoration Day," which is also the title cut to the eponymous [[Decoration Day (album)|album]].
[[Charles Ives]]'s symphonic poem "Decoration Day" depicted the holiday as he experienced it in his childhood, with his father's band leading the way to the town cemetery, the playing of ''[[Taps]]'' on a trumpet, and a livelier march tune on the way back to the town. It is frequently played with three other Ives works based on holidays as the second movement of ''[[A Symphony: New England Holidays|A New England Holidays Symphony]]''.
==See also==
* [[Confederate Memorial Day]]
* [[Canada Day#Other Canadian observances on the same date|Newfoundland and Labrador Memorial Day]]
* [[Nora Fontaine Maury Davidson]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.usmemorialday.org/ In Memory of Our Honored Dead], US Memorial Day
* [http://www.remember.gov/ National Moment of Remembrance Home Page]
{{US Federal Holidays}}
[[Category:Holidays in the United States]]
[[Category:May observances]]
[[Category:Remembrance days]]
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