Monday, May 23 is Memorial Day. This is a day that we honor with heavy, but grateful hearts, the brave military men and women who have lost their lives serving our country here and abroad. Our country owes our peace and democracy to them. In honoring these courageous individuals, we must also remember the sacrifices of their families and loved ones. Military families also serve our county in ways that often-time goes unacknowledged and under-appreciated.
Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30.
It only recently became an official federal holiday in 1971. Memorial Day is celebrated 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. The occasion is also marked in almost every State on the last Monday in May.
Please observe a minute of silence at 3:00 pm local time to pay tribute to Americans who’ve died in military service.
Visit Department of Veterans Affairs Memorial Day page to learn about the origins of this federal holiday, read veterans’ stories, find patriotic songs and much more information about this holiday.
Miami