Today is Memorial Day, a day set aside to remember and honor the more than 1.3 million Americans who gave their lives in service to our nation since its birth in 1775.
Originally called Decoration Day, the holiday was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.
The tradition has been carried on through generations, in times of war and peace, and lives on in official observances in Riverhead each Memorial Day.
The Riverhead Combined Veterans Committee Memorial Day Parade and Ceremonies begin at 10 a.m. today. The parade steps off on Osborn Avenue at the corner of Pulaski Street. It proceeds down Osborn to Court Street for services and a wreath-laying ceremony at the World War I monument. From there, the parade continues east on Main Street to Roanoke Avenue, heads north on Roanoke to St. John’s Cemetery for another wreath-laying ceremony, then continues on Roanoke to Pulaski Street. After a wreath-laying ceremony at Riverhead Cemetery, the procession continues to the War Memorial on the corner of Pulaski Street and Osborn Avenue, where the day’s main ceremonies conclude. A ceremony follows immediately afterward at St. Isidore’s Cemetery on Horton Avenue.
Calverton National Cemetery Memorial Day ceremonies begin today at 1 p.m.
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