Happy Memorial Day from the Jefferson County Post

Monday, May 25, 2015 is Memorial Day, a federal holiday dedicated to the fallen servicemen and women who have laid down their lives in defense of the United States. Celebrated on the last Monday in May, Memorial Day originated as Decoration Day in 1868, when Union soldiers established the holiday as a time to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers. In time, both the Union and Confederate supporters would set aside different days for this decorating of graves, so Memorial Day was extended to cover all American soldiers who had died during service. While there have multiple celebrations of this nature in communities throughout American history, an official place of origin was assigned to the holiday in 1966, when President Johnson declared Waterloo, New York as the birthplace of Memorial Day in a presidential proclamation. One year later, “Memorial Day” was officially recognized by federal law as the name of this great holiday. Today, the United States flag will be raised to full mast before being dropped to half until noon in remembrance of the more than 1,350,000 valiant soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom and the defense of their loved ones.