The public is invited to attend this year’s annual Memorial Day ceremony at Chattanooga National Cemetery on Monday beginning at 11 a.m. This year’s keynote speaker is, Phil Sumrall, Chaplin, American Legion Post 95, CMDR, USN (R).
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 29 in 2017). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. service members who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union and Confederate soldiers following the American Civil War, it was extended after World War I to honor Americans who have died in all wars.
VA operates 135 national cemeteries and 33 soldiers’ lots and monument sites in 40 states and Puerto Rico. More than 4 million Americans, including veterans of every war and conflict, are buried in VA’s national cemeteries. VA also provides funding to establish, expand, improve, and maintain 100 Veterans cemeteries in 47 states and territories including tribal trust lands, Guam, and Saipan. For veterans not buried in a VA national cemetery, VA provides headstones, markers or medallions to commemorate their service. In 2015, VA honored more than 353,000 veterans and their loved ones with memorial benefits in national, state, tribal and private cemeteries.