Monday is Memorial Day in the U.S. It is always observed on the last Monday of May, honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military.
Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971.
Stay healthy, everyone….
{carole}
Pearls & Prose 
It “became an official federal holiday” only as recently as “in 1971”?? Whoa. I thought it had been official much earlier, even back when it was Decoration Day * .
* which I do remember as Decoration Day, being the ancient fossil that I am.
Memorial Day is a day of grieving, of memorializing. It’s most unfortunate that in the popular culture, it’s more an unofficial start of summer than what it originally was/is.
I was surprised by that too.
Yes, it seems to be the opening of summer for many people.
I also was stunned to see that it was recognized in 1971! I’ve never understood why folks say ‘happy Memorial Day because it, to me, was always a somber day of reflection, which I remember Pa and Gram calling Decoration Day.
Yeah, I kind of wonder if things would be different if they’d kept the name Decoration Day.