Memorial Day is an American holiday on the last Monday of May that honors men and women who died while serving their country. Originally, it was known as Decoration Day that started in the years after the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971 (Memorial Day Origin 2015). Unofficially, this day marks the beginning of summer for many people. Many Americans celebrate Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials or holding family gatherings and participating in parades.
More people were killed in the Civil War than any conflict in U.S. history. The burials required the country’s first national cemeteries. By the late 1860s Americans in many towns and cities started holding springtime tributes to the fallen Civil War soldiers by decorating their graves with flowers and reciting prayers. Its not very clear where exactly this started so it is thought that many different communities could have started the memorial gatherings on their own.
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Logan on May 5, 1862, General John A. Logan. “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 said (History 2015). The date of Decoration Day, which is what he called it then, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any battle specifically. General James Garfield gave a speech at Arlington National Cemetery on the first Decoration Day where 5,000 people decorated the graves of 20,000 soldiers who were buried there (PBS 2015). Many Northern states had similar events and by 1890 each one had made Decoration Day an official state holiday. On the other hand many southern states continued to honor their dead on many different dates until after World War One (Office Of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs
St Patrick’s day and Valentine's day are two very known holidays. St Patrick’s day is celebrated on March 17th every year. The irish holiday began as a religious holiday , where people would gather around and pray to find good luck. St Patrick's day is filled with special activities such as they would do national pardes all over the united states and
Americans are defined by the respect they have for their country and its government, in taking advantage of their freedoms and rights that they gain by showing respect through allegiance, pride, and loyalty.
In the midst of one of the busiest cities in the world, there lies a sanctuary. There lies an area where all men are equal, where poverty is non-existent, where all men are united under two things; the first being death and the second being America. Arlington National Cemetery is a tribute to all of the fallen heroes, the patriots, the soldiers, the pioneers, all who have cried American tears. I have been forever changed since visiting Arlington National Cemetery and it is a visit that every American should make. The statistics are truly mind-numbing, as more than four hundred thousand people have been buried at Arlington National Cemetery since the 1860s.
A day to remember all armed forces (60 000 servicemen/women) that sacrifice and gave their life during 8 months of war as well as other wars and conflict
It was December 7, 1941 at 8:06am when Japan dropped a 1,760 pound bomb on the city of Pearl Harbor. 1,177 people were killed... This horrible day lead to the construction of the USS Arizona Memorial. The Memorial was built to honor the people who died on that sad December day. Visitors now flock to the memorial to show their respect.
The Pearl Harbor Remembrance day is observed annually to remember those who lost their lives in the attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941. A statement from memorial parades website states the theme of the parade as, "Remembering our past and celebrating our future. The purpose of the parade is to honor and pay respect to the Pearl Harbor Survivors, our veterans, active duty military and their families…" (Pearharborparade.org).
I chose the easy route of interview my grandpa (Dean Randel) who served in World War II as flight deck operator that signaled the aircrafts and got them ready for flight. He was station in San Diego on the USS Wisconsin which was of course a aircraft carrier. As I grew up he always told me stories of the good times he had with buddies and just living the good life. This is a first for me to sit down one on one with him and hear about what went on. Before I could even get a word in my grandpa ask me, “Do you know how Veterans Day was brought about?” I was so shock he was into doing this that I just shut my mouth and listened. He continued by saying in 1921, an American soldier -his name "known but to God "-was buried on a Virginia hillside overlooking the Potomac River and the city of Washington, DC. The burial site of this unknown World War I soldier in Arlington National Cemetery symbolized dignity and pride for all American veterans. Similar ceremonies occurred earlier in England and France, where an "unknown soldier” was buried in each nation’s highest place of honor (I later researched and found out it was in England, Westminster Abbey; in France, the Arc de Triomphe). These memorial gestures all took place on November 11, giving universal recognition to the celebrated ending of World War I hostilities at 11 a.m., November 11, 1918 (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month). The day became known as "Armistice Day.”Armistice Day of...
Veterans’ Day is celebrated in honor of the men and women who laid their lives in war to uphold freedom for their nation. It was initially called Armistice Day, which marked the end of World War I on November 11, 1918. The war ended on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of
First off, simply taking down these memorials and moving them so they are out of sight is not sophisticated. These memorials are retained to glorify the people who fought not to serve as a tool to propaganda the public. The dead should not die in vain even if they lost the war. No matter what they are fighting for, their fearless spirit should be memorized forever. The faces and names of these fallen Southern men speak not of slavery and oppression, but also of courage and the power of change. More importantly, these memorials themselves
The first Unknown Soldier’s corpse was from a battlefield in France. His remains were then put into a casket and sent to America. On the day of the tomb’s opening there was a large celebration that many attended to show reverence to the unknown, and to other men that died in battle. In America the soldier’s casket was followed by a large parade of military men to his resting place on top of a hill at the Arlington National Cemetery. In the video, US Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the narrator says, “In the amphitheatre of the Arlington Cemetery President Harding delivered a speech about the tomb. He then placed a congressional medal on the casket.” In this short video you can see the grief on all the civilians’ faces. This ceremony was a special part of America’s history. People were beginning to realize how real war was. People saw first hand that soldiers were putting their lives on the line for the sake of the U.S. citizens’ freedom. There were many soldiers to choose from to put into the tomb from each war. People who were high up in the military
Not only are military heroes buried at Arlington, but memorials have also been built to honor others who have given their lives for America. The memorials that are located throughout Arlington tell a story about people throughout American history (Reef 43). Each year families walk the endless rows of white head stones at Arlington in order to pay their respects to the ones that have given their lives for America.
By the end of the war, 13,000 of the total 45,000 prisoners had died. They were buried in shallow trench graves with numbers to identify the dead. The northern states erected large memorial monuments of the site of the prison after the war to honor their citizens who died there. Tennessee also built a monument to commemorate the more than 750 men from Tennessee who died there. The suffering of these men was recognized even though they did not support the decision of the state to join the Confederacy.
A federal holiday is one that is recognized by the United States government. Flag Day is not a federal holiday. Most government
...ay because it was the day that Germany surrendered and the war ended. On this day, there is a minute of silence but no military parade. Another holiday that celebrates an ending of a war is the 8th of May or Victoire 1945, which admires the end of World War II and another victory among the French. People attend parades, sing patriotic songs, hang the national flag all over the country, and sometimes remember the people that died serving France in the war. As a result, of these national days that remember wars, the French can pay a tribute to the dead.
Around the time of the Civil War, Americans began to celebrate Easter in the same way as Europeans, with children building nests for the Easter bunny to fill with eggs.