1. Significance: Honors men and women who have died in military service Many people observe this holiday by visiting cemeteries and memorials. MEMORIAL DAY

2. A national moment of remembrance takes place at 3 p.m. US Eastern time. Another tradition is to fly the U.S. flag at half-staff from dawn until noon local time.

3. In addition to remembrance, Memorial Day is also used as a time for picnics, barbecues, family gatherings, and sporting events.

4. One of the longest standing traditions is the running of the Indianapolis 500, which has been held in conjunction with Memorial Day since 1911.

5. The U.S. Air Force's "101 Critical Days of Summer" begin on this day as well. Many Americans use Memorial Day to also honor any family members who have died, not just servicemen.

6. Memorial Day formerly occurred on May 30, and some, such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW), advocate returning to this fixed date, although the significance of the date is tenuous.

7. the first memorial day was observed in 1865 by liberated slaves at the historic race track in Charleston. The site was a former Confederate prison camp as well as a mass grave for Union soldiers who had died while captive. The freed slaves reinterred the dead Union soldiers from the mass grave to individual graves, fenced in the graveyard & built an entry arch declaring it a Union graveyard; a very daring thing to do in the South shortly after North's victory. On May 30 1868 the freed slaves returned to the graveyard with flowers they'd picked from the countryside & decorated the individual gravesites, thereby creating the 1st Decoration Day. A parade with thousands of freed blacks and Union soldiers was followed by patriotic singing and a picnic.

8. Memory by Barbara Streisand Midnight. Not a sound from the pavement. Has the moon lost her memory. She is smiling alone. In the lamplight the withered leaves collect at my feet And the wind begins to moan. Memory - all alone in the moonlight. I can dream of the old days Life was beautiful then. I remember the time I knew what happiness was. Let the memory live again. Every street lamps seems to beat a fatalistic warning. Someone mutters and a streetlamp sputters and soon it will be morninc Daylight - I must wait for the sunrise. I must think of a new life And I mustn't give in. When the dawn comes tonight will be a memory too. And a new day will begin. Burnt out ends of smoky days the stale cold smell of mon@ing. A streetlamp dies another night is over another day is dawning. Touch me - it's so easy to leave me. AU. alone with the memory Of my days in the sun. If you touch me youll understand what happiness