Small American Flags adorn over 17,000 graves at the Beaufort National Cemetery as tribute to the fallen heroes that lay in peace remembered and honored during the Memorial Day Ceremony at Beaufort, South Carolina (SC), 2004,
In the month of May, the United States honors the military on Armed Forces Day (May 18th) which celebrates active members of the military and Memorial Day (May 27th) which is a federal holiday to honor and mourn military personnel who died while serving in the U.S. Armed Services.
Infantry Troops During Memorial Day Services Held Somewhere in England, 1944, National Archives Identifier 219775730
Memorial Day, initially referred to as Decoration Day, was observed by many communities after the Civil War, when the nation suffered more than 620,000 military deaths, roughly 2 percent of the total population at the time. John A. Logan, the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, chose May 30, 1868, as a day to decorate the graves of Union troops across the nation. Since 1971 it has been observed on the last Monday in May.
[Left] President Ford Delivering Remarks at the Memorial Day Service Held in the Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, National Archives Identifier 12082686 [Right] President Barack Obama Attends a Memorial Day Ceremony at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, National Archives Identifier 176548946
Explore more records, blogs, and moving images commemorating Memorial Day.
[Left ] U.S. Armed Forces Day Poster, 1957, National Archives Identifier6949117;
[Right] Forces For Freedom. Armed Forces Day 1995. DOD Open House, National Archives Identifier 6519589
In contrast, Armed Forces Day is when the United States salutes the men and women who protect our country and defend freedom. President Harry S. Truman led the effort to establish this day and in 1949, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson announced the Establishment of the Armed Forces Day to replace separate Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force Days. The single day celebration stemmed from the unification of the Armed Forces under the Department of Defense.
President Ronald Reagan During a Visit to Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia for Armed Forces Day,
In recent years, in an effort to bring citizens closer to their military, many bases host open houses, parades and public displays of new military technology.
[Top Left] Youngsters inspect the cockpit of an aircraft on display during Scout World/Armed Forces Day '88, National Archives Identifier 64433894; [Top Right] Member of the US Army (USA) Parachute Demonstration Team, The Golden Knights, gaze out the door of their aircraft before jumping during the Armed Forces Day Joint-Service Open House, held at Andrews Air Force (AFB), Maryland (MD), 1991, National Archives Identifier6641445[Bottom Left] Aerial view of a variety of aircraft on display for visitors during the Armed Forces Day open house, 1981, National Archives Identifier6348035; [Bottom Right] Strapped into a parachute harness, a visitor leaps from the jump tower during the fort's Armed Forces Day open house, National Archives Identifier 6458413;
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For example, here is the contact information for Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service, ca. 1800–ca. 1912which we’ve highlighted in red:
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