MEMORIAL DAY & Memorial Day Weekend (Why Do We Celebrate?) - Facts For Kids

Why do we celebrate Memorial Day? In this video we are going to discuss what memorial day is for kids, so follow along with us as we tell you all about these memorial day facts for kids. Memorial Day is a day to honor and remember all of the men and women who died fighting for our country. These men and women dedicated their lives so we can be a free nation. That is the real reason for celebrating Memorial Day It is celebrated every year on the last Monday of the month of May. Originally, Memorial Day was known as Decoration Day Memorial Day was called decoration day because family members of fallen soldiers decorated their graves with flowers May 30th, 1868 was the first service to honor fallen soldiers at Arlington national cemetery. President Ulysses S. Grant was present and General James Garfield gave a speech. Decoration day originally only honored the soldiers who died in the civil war. After WW1 it was changed to all soldiers who lost their lives in war. In 1967, it was officially named Memorial Day and in 1971, it became a federal holiday. The red poppy is the official flower of Memorial Day. The practice of wearing poppies was inspired by the poem in Flanders fields, written in 1915 by Canadian soldier John McCrae. Mccrae was a poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during world war I People celebrate Memorial Day by placing flowers on soldiers’ graves, flying flags at half-staff, attending parades, and remembering soldiers who lost their lives. Schools, post offices, most banks, and other businesses are closed on Memorial Day. In 1966 congress along with President Lyndon B. Johnson declared Waterloo New York the birthplace of Memorial Day. Even though summer does not officially begin until June 21st, many people associate Memorial Day with the start of summer because of the outdoor activities that people do to celebrate. After watching this video we hope you understand why we celebrate Memorial Day and what Memorial Day truly means. #memorialdayfactsforkids #memorialdayfacts #whatismemorialday #memorialdayhistory #memorialday #memorialday2023 #