Memorial Day History, How Foxborough Remembers: 5 Things To Know

FOXBOROUGH, MA — Memorial Day is a holiday people throughout Foxborough and across America look forward to every year as the start of summer.

It also gives people a chance to look back, as the final Monday in May is a day to remember all American lives lost during military service.

Here are five things to know about the history of Memorial Day:

1. It Was Originally Called Decoration Day: Remembering veterans who died while in military service in late May dates back to 1868, when Gen. John A. Logan called for a day of remembrance to honor the Northern lives lost amid battle during the Civil War that had ended just a few years earlier, according to History.com. Logan called it “Decoration Day,” which it was known as for several years. As time passed, more and more people called it Memorial Day, History.com reported, and it became a federal holiday in 1971.

2. Local Services: To pay tribute to our fallen heroes this Memorial Day, Patriot Place will host a ceremony at 11 a.m., Friday. Additionally, Patriot Place planted over 2,000 American flags throughout Patriot Place, with each flag planted in remembrance of those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Patriot Place guests and members of the community had the opportunity to submit the names of their fallen heroes, and these names are displayed at the dedicated flag garden located at the Gillette Stadium overlook, with each flag planted in remembrance of one submitted name.

During the ceremony, Foxborough Veteran Services Officer Ally Rodriguez and Patriot Place VIce President Brian Earley will lay a wreath in memory of servicemen and women who died in the line of duty. The ceremony will take place at the dedicated flag garden planted in the plaza adjacent to Red Robin overlooking Gillette Stadium, and will be on display through Monday, May 31.

A member of the State Honor Guard will also be on duty each day to guard the site. Patriot Place staff will be on-hand at the ceremony and flag garden to ensure all proper social distancing guidelines are being followed.

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3. Birthplace Of Memorial Day: The Memorial Day holiday tradition in Waterloo, New York, dates back even longer than Logan’s call for a day of remembrance. Waterloo first celebrated on May 5, 1866, as local businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers and flags, according to History.com.

"The people of Waterloo are justly proud of this outstanding event in the history of their community," then-New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller said in 1966, when the federal government recognized the upstate village about midway between Rochester and Syracuse as the “birthplace of Memorial Day.”

Although its event is canceled for the second consecutive year due to the coronavirus, Waterloo holds a yearly two-day celebration — complete with a car show, Civil War memorial and 5K races — as a nod to the village’s rich connection to the holiday’s history.

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4. A Civil War Holiday At First: Until World War I, Memorial Day, or Decoration Day as noted above, was only meant to honor those who died while fighting for the union in the Civil War, as Southern states honored their war dead on a separate day. After the 116,000-plus American deaths in World War I, the holiday took on a new role to remember all who have died while serving in the military.

5. National Moment Of Remembrance: Every year, a national moment of remembrance is held at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day. The midday time was chosen “because it is the time when many Americans are enjoying their freedoms on the national holiday,” according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.