1. Why observe Memorial Day?

2. History Memorial Day, which falls on the last Monday of May, commemorates the men and women who died while serving in the American military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. Memorial Day was a response to the unprecedented carnage of the Civil War, in which some 620,000 soldiers on both sides died.

3. It started with the Civil War In 1864, women from Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, put flowers on the graves of their dead from the just-fought Battle of Gettysburg. In April 1866, women from Columbus, Mississippi, laid flowers on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers. Waterloo, New York., began holding an annual community service on May 5, 1866. Although many towns claimed the title, it was Waterloo that won congressional recognition as the "birthplace of Memorial Day."

4. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I. When the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war. History

5. Arlington Cemetery

6. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God." That is the inscription on the Tomb of the Unknowns, established at Arlington National Cemetery to inter the remains of the first Unknown Soldier, a World War I fighter, on November 11, 1921. Unknown soldiers from World War II and the Korean War subsequently were interred in the tomb on Memorial Day 1958.

7. History continued Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades. On May 30, 1868, President Ulysses S. Grant presided over the first Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

8. Remember those who have fallen Think of the civil rights you enjoy because of those who gave their lives to defend this country.

10. Sources http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/05/25/ mf.holiday.memorial.day/index.html#cnnS TCVideo http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/05/25/ mf.holiday.memorial.day/index.html#cnnS TCVideo http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/05/25/ mf.holiday.memorial.day/index.html#cnnS TCVideo http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/05/25/ mf.holiday.memorial.day/index.html#cnnS TCVideo http://www.history.com/ http://www.history.com/ http://www.history.com/ http://www.usmemorialday.org/ http://www.usmemorialday.org/ http://www.usmemorialday.org/