DOINews: The National Park Service - Preserving Sites of Remembrance

This Memorial Day, why not honor the service and sacrifice of our nation's veterans by visiting a national park that preserves the places where they fought? Photo by Dan Ng, NPS.

The National Park Service has the honor of preserving battlefields, military parks, and historic sites that commemorate and honor the service of American veterans.

For almost 150 years, Memorial Day, traditionally the last Monday in May, has been set aside for Americans to honor fallen soldiers. Known as Decoration Day until 1882, the national holiday was instituted after the Civil War to commemorate all deceased United States military.

In 2014, the National Park Service commemorates Civil War 150th anniversaries in several parks:

• Andersonville National Historic Site
• Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park
• Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park
• Monocacy National Battlefield
• Richmond National Battlefield Park

This Memorial Day, May 26, 2014, what better way to honor those who served their country than to visit a national park that preserves the places where they fought?

See also:
National Cemeteries
Additional Resources

By: National Park Service

May 23, 2014

View an expanded version of this story on the NPS website here.