Memorial Day
Story and Images
U.S. Library of Congress Public Domain images: “American Memory” Collection
After the Civil War ended, people began to decorate the graves of Civil War soldiers with flowers.
The Civil War was fought between the Northern and Southern U.S. States. The War ended on May 5, 1868.
600,000 men died in the Civil War.
Memorial Day was first called “Decoration Day”.
A Civil War veteran, a Boy Scout , and a soldier are at Oak Woods Cemetery on Memorial Day, 1927
After World War I, Decoration Day became Memorial Day. The holiday honored those who died fighting in all U.S. wars.
President Nixon signed the bill from Congress making Memorial Day a national holiday in 1971.
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery is a place where many war heroes are buried.
Every year on Memorial Day, the president puts flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
A man and woman at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in 1943
What do people do on Memorial Day?
They listen to patriotic music. They decorate the graves of soldiers and people they love. They go to ceremonies and parades.
A Memorial Day parade in Maine, 1943
Children watch a Memorial Day parade,1943
Memorial Day services at Arlington, May 1943
Women decorate graves at Arlington National Cemetery, 1943
A child gets a drink near a statue on Memorial Day, 1942
Women carry flags at a Memorial Day service at Arlington, 1943
A soldier plays his bugle at a Memorial Day ceremony in Massachusetts, 1943
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