Thoughts for Memorial Day

Memorial Day began in 1868 as Decoration Day, promoted by General John Logan on behalf of Northern Civil War veterans, designated May 30 as a day 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.”

The day of remembrance became Memorial Day during the Great War – later to become known as World War I – to honor veterans of all the nation’s wars. The commemoration was changed to the last Monday of May in 1971 to conform to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, passed by Congress in 1968.

Memorial Day is also the unofficial beginning of summer in the U.S.