The Memorial Day, don't forget those fighting on the frontlines for peace - LGBTQ Nation

Memorial Day is observed in remembrance of U.S. military members who died in service to the country. The observance began after the Civil War as “Decoration Day,” when people decorated fallen soldiers’ graves with brightly colored and scented flowers. Local commemorations occurred before larger statewide observances, with annual decoration days starting in 1866 in communities across the North and South. The first nationwide ceremony was held May 30, 1868, with Major General John A. Logan associated with establishing it. Formerly enslaved people held an early memorial on May 1, 1865, in Charleston, honoring Union prisoners of war and reinterring them individually before placing flowers and holding a parade. The Department of Veterans Affairs traces the formal annual date to Mary Ann Williams of Columbus, Georgia, and the first sanctioned wide-ranging observance occurred at Arlington National Cemetery on May 30, 1868, decorating both Union and Confederate graves.

"On Memorial Day, we pause in remembrance of those who have died in service to their beloved country in the U.S. military. The observance was established in the aftermath of the Civil War. Originally referred to as “Decoration Day,” it became a tradition to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers with brightly colored and scented flowers."

"The initial nationwide ceremony was held on May 30, 1868. It was established by Major General John A. Logan of the Army of the Republic. Local commemorations, however, were held prior to the larger statewide observances."

"Formerly enslaved people held one of the earliest memorials on May 1, 1965, in Charleston, South Carolina to honor Union prisoners of war who died in custody and were thrown into a mass grave by Confederate officials. At this commemoration, people reinterred the soldiers into a proper single grave site for each individual. They then spread flowers on the graves, followed by a community parade."

"In addition, the Department of Veterans Affairs locates the idea of a formal, annual date back to Mary Ann Williams of Columbus, Georgia. And the first sanctioned wide-ranging observance of Decoration Day was held at Arlington National Cemetery, May 30, 1868, on which both Union and Confederate graves were decorated with flowers. This established the precedent"

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