Memorial Day began as Decoration Day, recognizing the family tradition of placing flowers on graves to honor the soldiers, sailors and Marines of the Civil War. John A. Logan, commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union soldiers, made these celebrations official in 1868, establishing May 30 as the day for veterans to honor their dead comrades.
Even before the war ended, women’s groups across much of the South were gathering informally to decorate the graves of Confederate dead. Many in the South regarded the holiday as a Northern commemoration and chose dates other than May 30 to remember their Civil War dead.
Confederate Memorial Day is celebrated in North Carolina on May 10. May 10 marks the anniversaries of the death of Thomas Jonathan 'Stonewall' Jackson (a general in the Confederate army) in 1863 and the capture of Jefferson Davis in 1865.
After World War I, there was further debate over whether the country should honor its war dead with a single holiday or whether World War I dead would have their own holiday on Armistice Day in November. The debate continued until after World War II, when the current purpose of the holidays became established: Memorial Day for honoring the dead, and Armistice Day, renamed Veterans Day, for honoring and thanking the living.
In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May.
The American flag should be hung at half-staff until noon on Memorial Day, then raised to the top of the staff. And since 2000, when the U.S. Congress passed legislation, all Americans are encouraged to pause for a National Moment of Remembrance at 3 p.m. local time.
Fatalities from U.S. Wars and Conflicts
The American flag should be hung at half-staff until noon on Memorial Day, then raised to the top of the staff. And since 2000, when the U.S. Congress passed legislation, all Americans are encouraged to pause for a National Moment of Remembrance at 3 p.m. local time.
Fatalities from U.S. Wars and Conflicts
| American Revolution (1775-1783) | 4,435 |
| War of 1812 (1812-1815) | 2,260 |
| Mexican War (1846-1848) | 13,283 |
| Civil War (1861-1865) | 620,000 |
| Spanish-American War (1898-1902) | 385 |
| World War I (1917-1918) | 116,516 |
| World War II (1941-1945) | 405,399 |
| Korean War (1950-1953) | 36,574 |
| Vietnam War (1964-1975) | 58,220 |
| Gulf War (1990-1991) | 383 |
| Afghanistan War (2001-present) | 2,381 |
| Iraq War (2003-2012)
Let us never forget the lives that have been lost and the sacrifices made by so many.
| 4,500 |
