Memorial Day: home of the free, because of the brave.

In honor of those who fought for our freedom until their dying breath, we remember and thank them on this Memorial Day.

To those in uniform serving today and to those who have served in the past, we honor you today and every day. May we never forget freedom isn’t free as this Memorial Day the Americans across our great country will celebrate the brave servicemen and servicewomen who died defending The United States. Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial start of summer, often a weekend filled with family get-togethers, pool parties, parades, and backyard cookouts. But the true meaning of Memorial Day is a much more solemn occasion. It’s a day of remembrance to honor the sacrifice made by the men and women who have died during their service in the United States military.

“Let their remembrance be as lasting as the land they honored.” – Daniel Webster

Whether you celebrate by hosting a backyard BBQ get-together or having a simple and intimate moment of silence with your loved ones, Memorial Day is a special time to honor America’s history and commemorate the bravery, courage and honor of our troops.

“Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory there would be no civilization, no future.”- Elie Wisel

Originally called Decoration Day, from the early tradition of decorating graves with flowers, wreaths and flags, Memorial Day is a day for remembrance of those who have died in service to our country. It was first widely observed on May 30, 1868 to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers, by proclamation of Gen. John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former Union sailors and soldiers.

During that first national commemoration, former Union Gen. and sitting Ohio Congressman James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who were buried there.

This national event galvanized efforts to honor and remember fallen soldiers that began with local observances at burial grounds in several towns throughout the United States following the end of the Civil War, such as the May 1, 1865 gathering in Charleston, South Carolina organized by freed slaves to pay tribute and give proper burial to Union troops.

In 1873, New York was the first state to designate Memorial Day as a legal holiday. By the late 1800s, many more cities and communities observed Memorial Day, and several states had declared it a legal holiday.

After World War I, it became an occasion for honoring those who died in all of America’s wars and was then more widely established as a national holiday throughout the United States.

In 1971, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act and established that Memorial Day was to be commemorated on the last Monday of May.

Memorial Day is commemorated at Arlington National Cemetery each year with a ceremony in which a small American flag is placed on each grave. Traditionally, the President or Vice President lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.