The last Monday of May is Memorial Day in the United States of America. On this federal holiday, U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces are honored and mourned.

First proclaimed by Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic on May 30, 1868, in the aftermath of the American Civil War, the day was preceded by many local observances across the nation, with . New York was the first state to officially recognize the holiday as Decoration Day in 1873 and by 1890, all Union states had adopted it. The onset of the two world wars changed it to a day of remembrance for all U.S. military personnel who fought and died in service. In 1971, Congress standardized the holiday as Memorial Day and moved it from May 30 to the last Monday in May. In the civil world, it also serves as the unofficial beginning of summer.

Two other holidays exist in the US to honor military personnel: the unofficial Armed Forces Day (the third Saturday in May) for those in active military service, and Veterans Day (November 11), for all those who have served but especially those no longer do.

Frequent observances include visiting gravesites, often to place flowers, flags, and other memorials; parades; and the wearing of poppies (which are also heavily associated with Veterans Day). Civilly, schools and some businesses take the day off. As the unofficial start of summer, summer-related activities such as outdoor cookouts are common.

Some scholars have made the argument that Memorial Day has been incorporated as a sacred day into a secular "civil religion", which has no association with any religion or viewpoint. Unlike with France, it has never been antireligious nor militantly secular, and unlike with the UK, it has never been tied to any specific religion. Instead, citizens' different levels of personal motivation are aligned to national goals however they wish.

For other countries' Memorial Days (Armenia, Azerbaijan, China, Israel, South Korea, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, and any subnational region), suffix the tag with the country's or region's name. (Note: This is future-proofing. As of the last edit of this wiki entry, no other Memorial Day tag has been created.)

More Information

Memorial Day (Wikipedia)

See also

• May (month)