Thank you American Troops - past and present!!

We're celebrating Memorial Day in the United States today! We are commemorating men and women who have died in military service to their country and dates back to the Civil War.

Volunteers place a U.S. flag upon each gravesite located in a National Cemetary.

Memorial Day is also a time for picnics, parades and family gatherings. We think of it as the unofficial beginning of SUMMER!

A little known fact is that the first celebration was observed in 1865 by liberated slaves at the historic race track in Charleston. The site a former Confederate prison camp as well as a mass grave for Union soldiers who had died while captive. A parade with thousands of freed blacks and Union soldiers was followed by patriotic singing and a picnic. The official birthplace is in Waterloo, New York where they first observed the day on May 5, 1866. (excerpt from Wikipedia)