A look into the history of Memorial Day and Military Appreciation Month

Miranda Prescott, The Gadsden Times
·3 min read

Since 1971, the last Monday in May has federally observed in the United States as Memorial Day, a day on which to remember and honor those who have lost their lives fighting for the country in war or combat.

Nearly 28 years later, the U.S. Congress officially declared May as Military Appreciation Month, with several holidays marked throughout, including Memorial Day, to honor all those who have served in the military.

While Memorial Day's holiday traditions have somewhat been lost to time because of commercialization, and Military Appreciation Month is not as widely discussed as many would like, the history of both is very rich with a focus on honoring those who have served in the armed forces.

Here's a look into the history of both Memorial Day and Military Appreciation Month:

Memorial Day

Memorial Day's origins date back to the Civil War, when American towns and cities would begin holding tributes to those who died in the war by decorating their graves with flowers and praying.

This tradition would officially be known first as Decoration Day, created by Gen. John A. Logan in 1868 when he called for a nationwide day of remembrance for those lost in the war.

“The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he, according to History.com, proclaimed.

Gradually, the day became recognized as a way to commemorate those lost in all wars the United States has participated in, with that initiative beginning in World War I, the next major conflict the country found itself in after the Civil War. This would result in the day slowly being renamed Memorial Day.

Memorial Day would be celebrated on May 30 for many years to come, as Logan chose that day because no major battles from the Civil War were associated with it. However, when the Uniform Monday Holiday Act was passed in 1968, it officially recognized Memorial Day as the last Monday of the month, with those changes officially going into affect in 1971.

Military Appreciation Month

Military Appreciation Month was first introduced as a United States Senate resolution by former Sen. John McCain in 1999. It was then recognized officially by Congress in a unanimous vote of 93-0 in April of that year.

According to the USO, the resolution and the recognition of the month asked that the current president of the United States to issue an annual proclamation as a way of "reminding Americans to celebrate this patriotic month that pays tribute to those who have sacrificed so much for our freedom."

"May was chosen because it has many individual days marked to note our military's achievements, including Loyalty Day, established in 1921, Victory in Europe (VE) Day commemorating the end of WWII in Europe in 1945, Children of Fallen Patriots Day and the anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden," Military.com explained.

Several other military holidays are recognized throughout the month of May. They include Military Spouse Appreciation Day on the Friday before Mother's Day and Armed Forces Day on the third Saturday of the month.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: A look into the history of military appreciation in May