The Memorial Day Flowers Foundation (MDFF) spent three days during Memorial Day weekend at Arlington National Cemetery. With the help of over 300 volunteers, MDFF placed over 120,000 roses on the headstones of fallen soldiers, as well as handed flowers to the visiting families and veterans.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service of the United States of America. Over two dozen cities and towns claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it’s difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day.

On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there.

Regardless of the exact date or location of its origins, one thing is clear – Memorial Day was borne out of the Civil War and a desire to honor our dead. It was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11. “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he proclaimed. The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.

President Barrak Obama and his wife paid a visit to Section 60, home to a larger number of the fallen heroes from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, a Vietnam Veteran and his wife Lilibet also visited with the Gold Star Families giving out some challenge coins to the children.

Ryan Manion Borek, sister of Travis Manion with her daughters and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel