It all started in 1868 and was first known as Decoration Day because it was a day to honor the nation's Civil War dead by decorating their graves with flowers. Waterloo, N.Y. was declared as the birthplace of Memorial Day because they were one of the first to celebrate it and because they had made it an annual community-wide event where business were closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags. Congress declared it a national holiday in 1971and was to be celebrated on the last Monday of May.
Have you ever wondered why people wear poppies on Memorial Day. It is because of Miona Michael and her reply to the poem "In Flanders Field" by John McCrae.
In Flanders Fields
John McCrae, 1915.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
This was her reply:
We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.
She thought of the idea to wear a poppy on Memorial Day and began to sell them to her friends, family and co-workers, with the money going to servicemen and women in need. This tradition has since been carried over to France and other countries where the money raised helps war orphans and widows.
Memorial Day is to celebrate the servicemen and women who have died fighting for our freedom and the freedom of others. This day is not just observed in America but in France as well. I attended a service today at the American Military Cemetery in St. Avold, France where more than 10,400 American Soldiers are buried. 10,400 buried outside of the United States and that is in one cemetery alone. Many of these soldiers do not have people/relatives who can easily come visit them and place flowers on their tomb. Seeing this sight today made me proud to be from a military family who chose to answer the call of their country to protect and defend. These are people that we should not be thankful to once a year but everyday as we go about in our freedom because if not for them we could be under another rule or country entirely. Not only should we remember the Americans but also the soldiers from other countries who allied together to help us and other nations retain their freedom from suppressive powers.
So the next time you get an extended weekend for a holiday you might want to research the holiday and see what you are actually celebrating. The traditions of Memorial Day have often been forgotten so the next time you celebrate this day, purchase a couple flowers and place them on the tombs of buried soldiers in your area, fly a flag outside your house/apartment or take a moment of silence to remember those who gave their lives for you to live the way you do. 
