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Line 1: − Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5th of 1886 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. During the first Memorial Day, flowers were placed on the graves of [[Union]] and [[Confederate]] soldiers at [[Arlington National Cemetery]]. Until after World War I, the South honored their dead on a different day. Memorial Day falls on the last [[Monday]] in [[May]].+ + + +
expanded
'''Memorial Day''' is a day of remembrance for those who have died while serving in the [[military]] of the [[United States of America]].
'''Memorial Day''' is a day of remembrance for those who have died while serving in the [[military]] of the [[United States of America]].
General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, officially proclaimed "Memorial Day" on May 5, 1886, and subsequently it was moved to May 30th, and then to the last Monday in May in order to ensure a three-day weekend. The first Memorial Day included the placement of flowers on the graves of [[Union]] and [[Confederate]] soldiers at [[Arlington National Cemetery]]. Prior to and during World War I, the South honored their veteran casualties on a different day.
A website devoted to Memorial Day explains:<ref>http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html</ref>
:Since the late 50's on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn, a practice that continues to this day. More recently, beginning in 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye's Heights (the Luminaria Program). And in 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years.
==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
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[[Category: United States Holidays]]
[[Category: United States Holidays]]