The History of Memorial Day

It's the Memorial Day weekend, commonly known as the unofficial start of summer and often forgotten for what it's really about.
Memorial Day was instituted by Northern Army General JOHN LOGAN during the Civil War ere, who, in 1868 ordered that a day be set aside to decorate the graves of the war dead and to place flowers on the grave sites of comrades who died in defense of their country during the Civil War.

 
This is why Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day. It was originally celebrated on May 30th because it was the day when the most flowers were said to be in bloom in the old Civil War North

By the late 19th century, people increasingly referred to Decoration day as Memorial Day since the purpose was to memorialize those who died, and most of the Civil War veterans had begun to pass away.
During World War I, the holiday became a day to honor all those who died in service to the country. The alternative name of "Memorial Day" was first used in 1882 but only became more common after World War II. It wasn't until Congress passed the Uniform Holiday Act in 1968, that "Memorial Day" became the official holiday name. When the law went into effect in 1971, the US went from celebrating on the 30th to celebrating on the last Monday in May.
Memorial Day is unique among all American holidays: It's the only holiday in which we honor the dead and the sacrifice of those who died for their country. It's the most solemn day of the year, which we usually forget amidst the barbecues, mattress sales and party blowout weekends.
FYI:Fast Fact.... 600-thousand people died in the Civil War --two percent of the population. Two percent of today's population would be well above six million Americans.

This holiday weekend, amongst the picnics and beer blasts, please try and find the time to visit the final resting place of our American Hero's! Remember, they fought for our freedom. Let's never forget.

Thanks to Wikipedia, and My Uncle Bob