For many students, Memorial Day is one last break before summer starts. It’s the day to hang out with friends, catch up on last-minute work or take the day off to relax and recharge. But behind the long weekend is a holiday built around remembrance, national mourning, and Civil War memory.
Memorial Day, held on the last Monday of May, is the nation’s primary day of remembrance for military service members who died while serving. Originally known as “Decoration Day,” it grew out of widespread post-Civil War practices in which communities across the United States decorated soldiers’ graves with flowers as a sign of respect and grief.
In 1868, General John A. Logan, leader of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a Union war organization, officialized the tradition. They established a national day to honor soldiers who died during the Civil War. The GAR chose May 30th because flowers would bloom across the country, which allowed people to decorate gravestones with “the choicest flowers of springtime.”
Before the holiday even became official, communities across the country were already hosting memorial ceremonies. In Charleston, South Carolina, formerly enslaved Black Americans honored fallen Union soldiers in 1865. In Columbus, Georgia, women organized gravestone decorating after the war. As years progressed, Decoration Day became Memorial Day and recognized all service members who died in any military conflict, not just the Civil War. In 1971, the holiday became a federal holiday on the last Monday of May.
Agatha Sarchet is a freshman at Green Hope High School whose parents had both served in the military. “My parents talk a lot about the friends they made while they were serving and how important Memorial Day is to military families. They have told me stories of people who weren’t as fortunate as they were to make it, but I am so grateful they are alive.”
She talked about how growing up in a military family changed her view on Memorial Day, “I love having the long weekend, but I know there is a deeper meaning behind it. Every year I remember the sacrifices people have made, and how it could’ve been my parents we celebrate today.”
While not every student has military relations, many students understand the importance of the holiday. Lani Dano, a freshman at Green Hope High School, said, “I never really understood the true meaning of Memorial Day until I was older. Now that I learned about the history of it, I realized how necessary it is for all kids to understand the meaning of the holiday.”
Today, Memorial Day means many different things to many different people. Families gather for barbecues, travel and celebrations, but ceremonies at cemeteries are still taking place. At 3 P.M. local time each Memorial Day, Americans are asked to pause for one minute of silence and observe a National Moment of Remembrance. While the holiday may mark the start of summer, the original reason behind it will never be forgotten.
