Five facts about Memorial Day

Alfred Merrill, a Korean War veteran who served in the U.S. Navy; Ralph Mueller, a Korean War veteran who served in the U.S. Air Force; and U.S. Army Air Corps World War II veteran Howard Mautner salute as the national anthem was performed on Memorial Day 2024. This year’s ceremony will take place at the Ocala-Marion County Veterans Memorial Park on May 25. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette file photo]

Memorial Day is celebrated at the end of May each year to honor those who lost their lives while serving in the Armed Forces. Memorial Day, the origins of which can be traced to the aftermath of the American Civil War, holds deep historical significance and the following are five interesting facts about the holiday.

1. The holiday began as Decoration Day. Before the official establishment of Memorial Day, communities began holding spring tributes to fallen soldiers, decorating soldiers’ graves with flowers to pay respects. In 1868, General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for northern Civil War veterans, officially proclaimed May 30 as Decoration Day. War.gov says that graves at Arlington National Cemetery continued to be adorned in the same fashion they were back in the 1860s.

2. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Memorial Day into law on June 28, 1968, officially marking Memorial Day as a national holiday. However, two years prior, he signed a proclamation officially declaring Waterloo, New York, as the birthplace of Memorial Day. The town was the first to honor fallen soldiers and has been featuring a formal, community-wide event since May 5, 1866.

3. Blooming flowers have a place in Memorial Day history. Historians believe that the original choice of May 30 for Decoration Day was not due to any specific battle. Rather, it was a day when no particular conflict had taken place and was the time of year when flowers would be in full bloom. So, on May 30, there would be plenty of flowers across the country to decorate soldiers’ graves.

4. All fallen veterans were eventually honored on Memorial Day. Many early Memorial Day iterations honored those who died during the American Civil War. After World War I, however, the Memorial Day holiday was expanded to honor all American military personnel who died during any war.

5. Memorial Day once was commemorated on May 30, regardless of the day of the week. In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, moving Memorial Day to the last Monday in May to create a three-day weekend for federal employees. This change went into effect in 1971. 

LOCAL CEREMONY

The annual event in Ocala, this year with the theme, “A Heritage Remembered: A Tribute to America’s Fallen,” will begin at 9 a.m. May 25 at the Ocala-Marion County Veterans Memorial Park at 2601 E. Fort King St., Ocala.

It is scheduled to include opening remarks from Daisy Diaz, Marion County’s Veterans Services director and County Commissioner Carl Zalak. The invocation will be given by Fr. Don Curran, followed by the posting of the colors by the Marion County Memorial Honor Guard, the presentation of the flag by Carly Jacob, singing of the national anthem by Hannah Stuckey and a special musical selection by the Kingdom of the Sun Concert Band

The event will include a wreath laying, rifle salute, flyover by the Humble Squadron and keynote address.

To learn more, go to marionfl.org and marionvetpark.com