Did you know that the original name for Memorial Day was “Decoration Day,” so named for the day set aside to decorate the graves of the husbands, fathers, and sons killed during the Civil War? Many small cities and towns across America lay claim to starting the tradition, but no one really knows where the memorials started. In the beginning, there were two separate memorials – one for the North and one for the South. However, there is one thing that most historians agree upon – it was a group of southern women from Mississippi who first recognized that there were many displaced or unacknowledged soldiers from both the North and the South who deserved to be honored. On Decoration Day, April 25, 1866 in Columbus, Mississippi, the town placed flowers on all of the fallen soldiers in their cemeteries commemorating both Union and Confederate soldiers. This was the true beginning of a National Memorial Day. Remember and be grateful for all of the men and women who have given their lives so that we may worship, speak, and live our lives freely.