Memorial Day Vs. Decoration Day: What's the Difference?

It's not uncommon, when mentioning Memorial Day, to hear some refer to the holiday in late May as Decoration Day. As a matter of fact, members of the same family might refer to the last Monday in May using both terms. Both days came into being as times to remember those who died during military service to the United States. So what's the difference between them?

What is Decoration Day?

If you're younger than 45, you might not remember celebrating Decoration Day. According to Memorial Day History, Memorial Day used to be called Decoration Day.

How Decoration Day was celebrated depended in large part on local custom. Growing up in a town of around 30,000 residents in northwestern Ohio in the 1950s and 1960s, I recall the schools being closed, my dad being off work, and toting folding lawn chairs to be able to sit down along a parade route downtown.

Since my hometown was also the county seat, there were always at least several hundred people at the parade from the small farming communities in the vicinity. In addition to the typical baton twirlers and lots of flags, I remember a large group of VFW members marching in the parade.

However, I have a much more vivid memory of this day as a time to decorate family graves at various cemeteries within an hour of home. I remember going with my mother after school on the preceding Friday to one of two local greenhouses to pick up what she intended to plant on the graves, a practice often not permitted today due to the cost of upkeep. The graves of all veterans--not just those who died in the service of their country--were always marked with small flags.

It was also the weekend when my mother disappeared for half a day. She returned with a bushel basket full of dirt she had taken from a woods of whichever farmer on the outskirts of town had given her permission to dig. The dirt ended up in window boxes and flower beds around the house.

What is Memorial Day?

This Day in History reports that in 1971 Congress declared that the federal holiday known as Memorial Day would be celebrated the last Monday in May each year, effectively changing the official name from Decoration Day. Many states in the South celebrate a separate Confederate Memorial Day, the date of which varies.

Around two dozen towns claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, or Decoration Day. However, in May 1966, former President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, New York to be the birthplace of this holiday.

The first formal observance at a federal level was on May 30, 1868, when flowers appeared on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers buried at Arlington National Cemetery. In 1973, New York became the first state to officially recognize this holiday.

For decades, the wearing of red poppies has been associated with Memorial Day and service members who died in the line of duty. I recall members of a local veterans' group selling red paper poppies over Memorial Day weekend.

More than 5,000 visitors attend the annual Memorial Day observation at Arlington National Cemetery beside Washington, DC, where graves are marked by American flags for the holiday. The observance includes a speech by either the President or Vice President and the placing of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, also known as the Tomb of the Unknowns.

In my hometown, many older residents refer to the holiday as Memorial Day to acquaintances. Among relatives, however, it's still Decoration Day and a time to visit the graves of family members who have gone before them.

Sources:

http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/civil-war-dead-honored-on-decoration-day

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/209591/confederate_memorial_day_dates_back.html?cat=37

Personal experience