Commentary Memorial Day had its origin as Decoration Day, a day set aside to honor those who lost their lives in the Civil War by placing flowers on their gravesites. Although the Civil War was America’s most costly war with some 620,000 lives lost, Decoration Day would not become a national holiday for nearly a century, until after the two World Wars and the Korean War cost America another 559,000 lives. In the midst of the Vietnam War, Decoration Day was renamed Memorial Day to honor all servicemen who died in the line of duty in any war or engagement. It became an official national holiday when Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1968, legislation that changed the dates of a number of American holidays so that they would fall on Mondays, thus creating three-day weekends for federal employees. While remembering those who lost their lives in serving …