Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day 2011. Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday which is always observed on the last Monday of May (May 30th).

Memorial Day commemorates U.S. soldiers who died while in the military service and is a day to remember those who died and those who have served this country in the military. It was First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War. It was extended after World War I to honor Americans who have died in all wars.

Memorial Day is a day of family picnics, parades and the waving of American Flags. Many households and businesses fly the American Flag outside today. It is a day of enhanced Patriotism by all.

Of interest to my Friends in Prague, Memorial Day officially marks the start of the summer vacation season here in the US, (whereas Labor Day, the first Monday of September, its end).

Begun as a ritual of remembrance and reconciliation after the Civil War(1865), by the early 20th century, Memorial Day was an occasion for more general expressions of memory, as ordinary people visited the graves of their deceased relatives, whether they had served in the military or not.

Since if became a Monday Work Holiday, this weekend increasingly became more and more devoted to shopping, family get-togethers, fireworks, trips to the beach, City, as well as, small town parades and national media events such as the Indianapolis 500 auto race, held since 1911 on Memorial Day.