decoration day (1)

11148590669?profile=RESIZE_400xWhile many associate Veterans Day and Memorial Day with service, the two are not the same.  Veterans Day is a celebration of those who serve and have served.  Memorial Day is a solemn day to reflect on veterans and military personnel who are deceased.[1]

The US Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day and began during the US Civil War when citizens placed flowers on the graves of those who had been killed in battle.  The Civil War produced more than 620,000 military deaths, roughly 2 pe