Memorial Day Honors Military Service and Sacrifice
May 26, 2013
Arlington National Cemetary Welcome to This Is America with VOA Learning English.
Steve Ember and Barbara Klein tell about Memorial Day.
We Remember
The last Monday in May is a national holiday. Memorial Day honors those who died in military service.
But any time of year, visitors to the nation's capital can see a number of memorials that honor members of the armed forces.
The Final Resting Place
Part of the tradition of an American military funeral is the playing of a bugle call known as taps. Taps is also played at military burial grounds during Memorial Day ceremonies.
Memorial Day honors all of those who have died in America's wars. But the holiday began as a way to remember soldiers killed in the Civil War. On May 30, 1868, flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.
Arlington National Cemetary
Lines of simple white headstones mark the graves. The 80-hectare cemetery also serves as a burial place for people of national and historical importance.
The cemetery is in Arlington, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington. Next to the burial ground is the Defense Department headquarters at the Pentagon.
A funeral with full military honors traditionally includes a caisson to transport the body. A caisson is a wagon pulled by horses. At Arlington, six black or gray horses pull caissons made in 1918. A seventh horse carries the leader of the procession.
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