VOA文化艺术2023--Americans Observe Memorial Day

Americans Observe Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a national holiday observed in the United States on the last Monday in May. This year, Memorial Day falls on May 29.

It is a day when Americans honor the men and women who have died fighting in America's wars. For most Americans, it also marks the unofficial start of summer. It is a popular weekend for vacationing.

Memorial Day tradition

Members of the 3rd U.S. Infantry¹ Regiment² also known as The Old Guard place flags in front of each headstone at Arlington National Cemetery³ in Arlington, Thursday, May 25, 2023, to honor the Nation's fallen military heroes ahead of Memorial Day. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Members of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment also known as The Old Guard place flags in front of each headstone at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Thursday, May 25, 2023, to honor the Nation's fallen military heroes ahead of Memorial Day. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Memorial Day traditions include the observance at Arlington National Cemetery. It is the most famous burial place in America.

The tradition began on May 30th, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers in the cemetery. It was called Decoration Day back then.

Since 1948, on the Thursday before Memorial Day, soldiers from the 3rd US Infantry, The Old Guard, have placed small American flags in front of every headstone in the cemetery.

Lines of simple white headstones mark the soldiers' graves. But the 80-hectare cemetery also serves as a burial place for people of national and historical importance.

Two presidents are buried there: William Howard Taft and John F. Kennedy. Other well-known people buried at the cemetery include world champion boxer⁴ Joe Louis, North Pole explorer Robert E. Peary and the seven astronauts who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion.

Nearly 4,000 former slaves are also buried at Arlington National Cemetery. One of them is James Parks. He dug the first graves in the cemetery.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

The best-known memorial in the nation's capital, however, is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which opened in 1982.

In 1980, a group of former soldiers announced a competition to design a memorial. The winner was Maya Lin, a 21-year-old student at Yale University in New Haven⁵, Connecticut.

Lin designed a memorial formed by two walls of black stone about 76 meters long. The walls meet to form a V. The names of more than 58,000 Americans killed or declared missing-in-action are cut into the stone.

Almost any time of day, you can see people looking for the name of a family member or friend who died in the war. Once they find the name, many rub a pencil on paper over the letters to copy it.

Many people leave remembrances at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Other lesser-known memorials

After the success of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Congress approved a memorial to the Korean War veterans, which opened in July of 1995. The Korean War lasted from 1950 to 1953. The memorial honors those who died. It also honors those who survived.

One of the lesser-known memorials on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is often called "the temple." The round stone structure honors people from the District of Columbia who died in World War I. The war was fought from 1914 to 1918.

World War II Memorial

Between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument on the National Mall is the World War II Memorial. The U.S. entered the war after Japan bombed the Navy base at Pearl⁶ Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7th, 1941.

Sixteen million men and women served in the American military between 1941 and 1945. More than 400,000 died.

The World War II Memorial is built of bronze and granite⁷. In the center, at ground level, is a round pool of water. When the sun is just right, rainbows of color dance in the air. Fifty-six stone pillars rise around the pool. They represent each of the American states and territories, plus the District of Columbia, at the time of the war.

There are not yet memorials for soldiers who died in America's most recent wars – in Iraq and Afghanistan. The soldiers are buried in Section 60 of Arlington Cemetery. The section is often called "the saddest place in America."

On Memorial Day, Americans are called to stop for one minute at three o'clock local time for the National Moment of Remembrance to honor the soldiers who have died in service to the country, no matter what wars they served in.

Words in This Story

getaway - n. a short vacation

cemetery - n. a place where dead people are buried

decoration - n. a medal or award

champion - n. someone that has won a contest in sports

1 infantry   

n.[总称]步兵(部队)

参考例句：

• The infantry were equipped with flame throwers.步兵都装备有喷火器。
• We have less infantry than the enemy.我们的步兵比敌人少。

2 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

3 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

4 boxer   

n.制箱者，拳击手

参考例句：

• The boxer gave his opponent a punch on the nose.这个拳击手朝他对手的鼻子上猛击一拳。
• He moved lightly on his toes like a boxer.他像拳击手一样踮着脚轻盈移动。

5 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

6 pearl   

n.珍珠，珍珠母

参考例句：

• He bought his girlfriend a pearl necklace.他给他女朋友买了一条珍珠项链。
• The crane and the mother-of-pearl fight to death.鹬蚌相争。

7 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。