The holiday Memorial Day weekend is upon us and this is when we remember and thank those fallen heroes that died fighting for our country. This honorary day is celebrated across the United States of America on the last Monday in May. On this day many people visit cemeteries and memorials to honor all of those heroes with many volunteers placing an American flag on each grave. The U.S. flag is raised to the top of the staff and then lowered to half staff, where it stays until noon. After that, it is raised to full-staff for the rest of the day, which is symbolic as the flag rises and so is their memory by the living who promise to not let their sacrifice be in vain and continue to fight for liberty and justice for all.
These are 5 quick facts about Memorial Day:
1. Decoration Day: To honor the fallen heroes, soldiers would decorate graves with flowers and flags. It didn't become Memorial Day until 1866 and an official holiday until 1966.
2. Waterloo: The New York state town is the official birthplace of Memorial Day which first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866. This town was chosen because it hosted an annual event where businesses closed and residents took part in decorating the graves of the soldiers.
3. Civil War: Memorial Day was originally conceived to honor those soldiers that fought during the American Civil War. It naturally evolved to commemorate those heroes that served the U.S. during World War 1 and the rest of the wars ever since then.
4. Uniform Monday Holiday Act: Memorial Day didn't become a federal holiday until 1971 when Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, that established the celebration to take place on the last Monday in May.
5. Holiday Travel: According to AAA Forescast, gas prices will be the lowest in 11 years. Due to the prices dropping, more people will travel by car which AAA forecasts nearly 34 million (89 percent) holiday travelers will be on the road, an increase of 2.1 percent over last year.
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