Memorial Day          

May 31, 2010

Memorial Day 2010

Memorial day is celebrated as a National Holiday the last Monday of May. It is sometimes called Decoration Day or Poppy Day. It is set aside to honor those Americans who gave their lives for our country.

The Holiday was first celebrated by the people of Waterloo, New York on May 5, 1866 and then again on May 5, 1867. The Remembrance was first suggested by a druggist named Henry C. Welles in 18652.

General John A. Logan, Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of The Republic, proclaimed May 30th as Decoration Day by General Order 11 on May 5, 1868. This was 2 years after the 1866 and 1877 celebrations in Waterloo, New York.

Since the end of World War I Memorial Day has also been known as Poppy Day. This was the idea of Moina Michael inspired by the poem John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Fields"3.

In 1971 The Federal Government designated the last Monday in May as Memorial Day.

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