Memorial Day is May 26, 2025, and it is the time to honor the soldiers who fought in the United States’ wars since the Civil War. On Memorial Day, consider supporting veterans by giving out challenge coins, placing flags on military graves, or serving at a military charity in your local area. The following are four facts you must know about this holiday to ensure that you give it the proper attention it deserves.
1. Memorial Day Began as a Day of Decoration.
The Grand Army of the Republic, or GAR, was an organization with Union soldier members. The head of this organization was Major General John A. Logan, and he designated Decoration Day to be the day that the country decorates with flowers the graves of people killed during the Civil War. They held the first Decoration Day in 1871 at Arlington National Cemetery.
2. Recently Freed African Americans Organized One of the Earliest Commemorations for Decoration Day.
The Civil War was coming to an end, and the Confederates needed to find a new place to house the Union soldiers they had captured. They took these soldiers to a former race track in Charleston, South Carolina, and placed them in camps that weren’t suitable for human beings. As a result, 250 of these soldiers died from exposure or disease. They were subsequently buried in a mass grave at the track.
After the Confederates surrendered, U.S. Colored Troops, Caucasian Charlestonians, and more than 1,000 former African American slaves came into the camp on May 1, 1865. This group planned to consecrate a burial site worthy of the Union soldiers. As they did this, they sang hymns, decorated the graves with flowers, and gave readings. They also dedicated the cemetery to the “Martyrs of the Race Course.”
3. Memorial Day Expanded to Include Fallen Soldiers of All American Wars.
People saw the need to expand Memorial Day to include fallen soldiers from the wars that occurred after the Civil War. This included those who fought in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf Wars, and the War in Afghanistan. In addition to that, another change came since the end of the Civil War on May 5, 1968. With the passage of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act by Congress, Memorial Day became a federal holiday on the last Monday in May. This was also the time that Congress made Memorial Day a federal holiday.
This move created a three-day weekend for federal workers and others, but this fact caused controversy to erupt. Veterans’ groups objected to moving the date from May 30 to the last Monday in May because they believed that it would cause the focus of the holiday to be on the fact that it would be the first long weekend of the summer. They hope to return to May 30 so that the emphasis can be placed on fallen soldiers once again. They had a tireless advocate for this change in the Hawaiian senator Daniel Inouye. Senator Inouye was a decorated World War II soldier, and he introduced legislation to have this date changed every year until he died in 2012.
4. Each Year, the Government Commemorates Memorial Day with Some Important Gestures.
Each grave at Arlington National Cemetery receives an American flag in commemoration of their sacrifices. Also, either the President of the United States or the Vice-President of the United States lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.