Memorial Day, a federal holiday that honors the soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country, will be observed on Monday, May 25.
The first national commemoration took place in 1868 after Gen. John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former Union soldiers and sailors, called for May 30 to be set aside “for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating” the graves of those who died defending the country in the Civil War.
This is why the holiday is sometimes referred to as Decoration Day.
One hundred years later, Congress changed the date from May 30 to the last Monday in May as part of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.
The Postal Service has long paid tribute to military service and sacrifice through its stamp program. Recent military-themed issues include 2021’s Go for Broke: Japanese American Soldiers of World War II; 2022’s Women Cryptologists of World War II; and last year’s Armed Forces stamps, which celebrate the 250th anniversaries of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps.
Congress passed the National Moment of Remembrance Act in 2000. The act asks all Americans to pause at 3 p.m. on Memorial Day for a moment of silence to remember the fallen.
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