914th Airlift Wing Security Forces Master Sgt. David Buel and his son place an American flag on a veteran’s grave during a Memorial Day ceremony held at Forest Lawn Cemetery on May 27, 2013, Buffalo NY. During the morning ceremony volunteers placed thousands of flags next to the graves of the men and woman who served in the United States military. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Joseph McKee)
914th Airlift Wing Security Forces Staff Sgt. Tara Wichtowski and her son place an American flag on a veteran’s grave during a Memorial Day ceremony held at Forest Lawn Cemetery on May 27, 2013, Buffalo NY. During the morning ceremony volunteers placed thousands of flags next to the graves of the men and woman who served in the United States military. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Joseph McKee)
American flags placed on veteran’s graves during a Memorial Day ceremony held at Forest Lawn Cemetery, May 27, 2013, Buffalo, NY. During the morning ceremony volunteers placed thousands of flags next to the graves of the men and woman who served in the United States military. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Joseph McKee)
by Tech. Sgt. Joseph McKee
914th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
5/28/2013 - Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, N.Y. -- Early Sunday during a Memorial Day Ceremony at Forest Lawn Cemetery members of the 914th Airlift Wing, their family members, and volunteers placed American flags by the headstones of veterans interned in the Field of Valor and the American Legion section of the cemetery.
The ceremony included remarks and the placing of wreaths by local government and Veteran Administration officials. The Erie County American Legion honored the fallen veterans with a 21-gun salute in front of the Spanish American War Monument.
Memorial Day originally called Decoration Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by Gen. John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. New York in 1873 was the first state to officially recognize this holiday. It is now celebrated in almost every state on the last Monday in May. Memorial Day as a federal holiday was passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 ensuring a three day weekend.
Traditional observances of Memorial Day include the placement of flags at the graves of those who have served their country, parades in local communities and other types of recognition events.
