What does Memorial Day honor?

Memorial Day honors members of the U.S. armed forces who died in service to the country. The scope is specific: Memorial Day is for those who died while serving in the military, whether in combat, in training accidents, of disease while deployed, or as prisoners of war. Veterans Day, observed on November 11, by contrast honors all who served, living and dead, in any capacity.

The total number of U.S. service members who have died in uniform across all wars now exceeds 1.3 million, including roughly 750,000 in the Civil War (Union and Confederate combined under modern estimates), about 117,000 in World War I, about 405,000 in World War II, about 36,000 in the Korean War, about 58,000 in Vietnam, and roughly 7,000 in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts since 2001.

The holiday grew out of post-Civil War Decoration Day observances during which families and veterans groups laid flowers on the graves of soldiers. Major General John A. Logan, commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic (the principal Union veterans organization), issued General Order No. 11 on May 5, 1868 designating May 30, 1868 as a national day for decorating the graves of fallen comrades. The first large observance under that order took place at Arlington National Cemetery on May 30, 1868.

Several Southern towns claim earlier observances; Waterloo, New York was officially recognized by Congress and President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966 as the birthplace of Memorial Day for an 1866 community decoration ceremony. The name shifted from Decoration Day to Memorial Day during the early twentieth century, and the scope expanded after World War I to honor American war dead from all conflicts.

Federal observance was set permanently on the last Monday in May by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, Public Law 90-363, signed June 28, 1968 and effective January 1, 1971. The holiday is codified at 5 U.S.C. section 6103.

Customary observances include the placement of small American flags at every grave at Arlington National Cemetery (the Flags-In ceremony, conducted by the Old Guard, the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, on the Thursday before Memorial Day), the laying of a presidential wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, parades in cities and small towns across the country, the National Memorial Day Concert on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol broadcast by PBS the Sunday evening before the holiday, and a National Moment of Remembrance at 3 p.m. local time established by Public Law 106-579 in 2000.