I remember when most folks still called it
“Decoration Day”
“Decoration Day.”
I was born on May 30, 1946 which was Memorial Day. My mother didn’t at first remember why the medication . green jello and drink trays all had little American flags on them.
As a child I used to consider the lavish parades in my area as part of the celebration on my birthday.
First ceremony in honor of the fallen was in 1868:
“We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.”
– James A. Garfield, May 30, 1868, Arlington National Cemetery