Memorial Day, America's Solemn Holiday of Remembrance

A poster honors veterans, showing a boy and an old soldier saluting each other, and girl presenting the soldier with bouquet of flowers. (photo courtesy of the Federal Art Project in New York, 1936 or 1937]

American soldiers look for the graves of friends following Memorial Day rites in Brookwood cemetery in Surrey, South of London on May 30, 1945.

Ashland, Aroostook County, Maine. Memorial Day ceremonies Contributor Names Collier, John, 1913-1992, photographer Created / Published 1943 May.

U.S. and NATO’s forces observe a moment of silence during an event to mark the Memorial Day Ceremony at the U.S Camp Eggers base in Kabul, Afghanistan on May 26, 2008. 

Members of the Old Guard, placed flags in front of every headstone at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. on May 26, 2016.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Jaclyn King, of Kailua, Hawaii, places a coin on a “fallen comrade” display for Petty Officer 1st Class Victor Jeffries during a memorial service held in a chapel at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Jan. 5. Jeffries, 52, from Honolulu, died D

Vendors sell watermelons at a fruit market in Peshawar, Pakistan.

General John F. Campbell, commander of international forces in Afghanistan, second right, gives respect during a ceremony marking Memorial Day at the Resolute Support main headquarters in Kabul on May 25, 2015.