I want to take a moment to remind everyone of the reason we have Memorial Day. In the United States it began with the Civil War (or War Between The States) as a time of remembrance of the honored dead.
Memorial Day was borne out of the Civil War and a desire to honor our dead. It was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11. “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he proclaimed. The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle. — From U.S. Memorial Day
After World War I the day was rededicated to honor those who died in any war.
The poem “In Flanders Field” became associated with the memorial observation around 1918. A woman named Moina Michael came across the poem and was deeply moved by its story. By 1920 she presented to the American Legion and adopted the poppy and the poem as a national emblem of remembrance.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
At 3:00 PM, local time on Memorial Day a minute of silence to remember and honor those who have died in service to the nation is observed. As Moment of Remembrance founder Carmella LaSpada states: “It’s a way we can all help put the memorial back in Memorial Day.”