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Articles Tagged National Cemetery of the Pacific

MEMORIAL DAY & PUNCHBOWL CEMETERY

The first official Decoration Day was on May 30, 1868 at Arlington Cemetery. General James Garfield gave a speech, and 5,000 participants decorated the 20,000+ Union and Confederate graves. Local observances soon took place throughout the country as a time to remember and a time to enjoy ceremonies, parades, and speeches. After World War I,