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Memorial Day
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While there is some question about the origins of Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, there is no doubt one of the first was celebrated in the South. In January 1866, women in Columbus, Georgia issued a public call for the graves of Confederate soldiers to be covered with flowers. The first Confederate Decoration Day was observed that spring. In 1868, commander-in-chief of the GAR, General John A. Logan, ordered the 30th of May be set aside as a Memorial Day for the purpose of honoring the dead of the Civil War. General James Garfield was the speaker at the first observance at Arlington National Cemetery on May 30, 1868. Over time, the day became one of remembrance for all who had given their life in battle for America.
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The official birthplace of Memorial Day is Waterloo, New York. The village was credited with being the birthplace because it observed the day on May 5, 1866, and each year thereafter, and because it is likely that the friendship of General John Murray, a distinguished citizen of Waterloo, and General John A. Logan, who led the call for the day to be observed each year and helped spread the event nationwide, was a key factor in its growth.
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The history of Memorial Day dates from 1868, after the Civil War had ended — as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan established Decoration Day, to be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country. [learn more]
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The 78-hour Memorial Day weekend officially begins: 6 p.m., Friday, May 25 and ends 11:59 p.m., Monday, May 28. During Memorial Day weekend in 2006, 18 people were killed in 17 fatal crashes in Michigan, an increase from the 15 killed in 11 fatal crashes in 2005. Five of last year's victims were belted. Alcohol was a factor in one of the fatal crashes.
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While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860's tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.
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Celebrated in most states on the last Monday in May, Memorial Day originally known as Decoration Day, was established in 1868 to commemorate the dead from the Civil War. Over the years it came to serve as a day to remember all U.S. men and women killed or missing in action in all wars.
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Memorial Day