Memorial Day 2026

Memorial Day is a U.S. federal holiday to mourn and honor deceased American service men and women who have died in the line of duty. Volunteers will place flags on their graves in national and local cemeteries today. (Comments are off today.)

Field of Flags in Liberty Park, Hudson, NH

The Field of Flags is an annual event in Liberty Park in nearby Hudson, NH. This year over 200 flags were set up bearing the names of local heroes. The display remains in place from Memorial Day through Independence Day. The number of flags has grown annually. 

Today was first observed in 1868 as Decoration Day to honor Union soldiers who died in the American Civil War. Official recognition as a holiday spread among the states, beginning with NY in 1873, and by 1890, recognized by every state. It later expanded to become a day to remember U.S. military who fought and died in service during WWI and II. In 1871, Congress standardized its name to Memorial Day.

Many folks don’t know what they’re supposed to say today and often confuse the U.S. holidays of  Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Memorial Day honors the dead; Veterans Day honors the living.

What to Avoid Saying 
Happy Memorial Day is considered inappropriate as the day honors fallen military personnel who died in service to their country, it's a solemn day of remembrance and not a celebration.

Thank you for your service (to active-duty troops) while well-intentioned, is actually the incorrect greeting for Memorial Day which is strictly for those who have died.

Memorial Day is the end of a three-day holiday weekend for many, and often celebrated with backyard get togethers with its historical context overlooked. That said, many others, like ourselves, plan to attend a local parade and then gather with family or friends.

Unfortunately, because of rain continuing from this weekend, the 2026 Nashua, NH, Memorial Day parade was cancelled earlier today with no rescheduling.

What's Happening Here

Posting about places we've gone to on road trips is fun, but here's what's been happening at home in Nashua, NH. (There will be a few more posts about our recent anniversary road trip.)

On Monday, there was a parade down Main Street in observance of Memorial Day. It's never a long parade and participants included high school and middle school marching bands, boy scouts, veterans groups, and (of course) politicians. Attendance was surprisingly larger than in previous years spoken from our experience in attending the annual Memorial and Veterans Day parades.

The nearby town of Hudson, NH, has its annual flag display on the town square which we passed by several times last week. It will stay up through the July 4 holiday, hopefully escaping any gusty winds.

Nashua is the only city in the U.S. that hosts an annual international sculpture symposium. This year, sculptors are representing the U.S., Israel, Poland, and Iran.

Work is continuing on four sculptures that will be placed in and around the city with completion set for this weekend. The materials in use are marble and granite. Onlookers are invited to watch the sculptors. They are working outdoors at the Picker Artists studios, an artisan cooperative of nine artists in 12 studios that's within walking distance of the mill apartments. (Spoiler Alert: A future post will have more information on the Nashua symposium.)

It seems that spring took quite a while getting to Nashua, NH, however, within the past few weeks, flowers have been blooming in the garden at Le Parc de Notre Renaissance Française (informally called the French Park or Renaissance Park) near the mill apartments.

This public garden is tended to by neighbors on our apt floor. Their gardening efforts are appreciated by everyone who spends time here. More flowers will be in bloom in a few weeks.

These beauties were in bloom around the mill apartment grounds within the past few weeks.

A definite sign of warmer weather is the increase in Canada Goose on the Nashua River. This week, there were several families with 3 to 6 goslings in each. Watching them is entertaining as the young ones practice flight maneuvers on the river. However, the presence of so many often makes walking an exercise in dodging substantial droppings along the river walk. 

Unfortunately, many people toss bread products, as unhealthy for goose as for humans. Geese consistently fed bread become malnourished, filling up on junk food and neglecting natural food sources. Extreme cases can lead to a condition known as angel wing which can leave the birds unable to fly. For anyone tempted to offer food, better choices are birdseed, lettuce or other greens, foods just as nutritious for humans.

An evening of severe downpours resulted in this colorful sunset across the Nashua River. The building is Lofts 34 another apartment building that's not connected with the mill apartments. 

Memorial Day Washout

Example of Nashua street art near the mill apts

Traditionally, this Memorial Day holiday is the start of the summer season with community celebrations, parades and cookouts. And, at long last, a time when folks could start to gather after long year abstinence  of missed social get togethers.

Unfortunately, this holiday was when Mother Nature intervened not in a good way as the weekend weather here in Nashua, NH, and surrounding areas has been windy, rainy, chilly, and very unwelcoming for any outdoor plans, Friday to Monday.

We had no special holiday plans, other than gathering with neighbors riverside to watch a lighted boat parade on the Nashua River and watching fireworks from our apt windows. 

Fireworks were a no-go and the boat event has been postponed until this coming weekend. We'll miss it as we're (finally) returning to our native NJ for a first-time visit since December 2019. It's a way long overdue visit.

Rain, rain go away

And with not much else going on, other than listening to rain pelting the windows all weekend, I decided to post about this U.S. holiday which honors all who died while serving in military service. It’s often confused with another holiday, Veterans Day in November, which by comparison honors all American veterans—living or dead.

This day was originally known as Decoration Day, started in the years after the Civil War to honor only those lost fighting in that war. Back in May 1868, Gen. John Logan, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, officially proclaimed it as such in General Order No. 11 calling for a nationwide day of remembrance and proclaiming 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 church yard in the land.

The date was chosen as it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle. It became Memorial Day by federal law in the 1880’s and became a U.S. federal holiday in 1971.

On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, where 5,000 participants decorated the graves of 20,000 Civil War soldiers. New York was the first state to officially recognize the holiday in 1873. Many northern states held similar commemorations and by 1890 many had made Decoration Day an official state holiday. Most Southern states didn't acknowledge the holiday and instead honored their military dead on separate days. That tradition ended after WW as the holiday evolved to commemorate American military from all states who died in all wars.

Today, it’s observed by most every state. Several southern states including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas have an added separate day specifically for honoring Confederate war dead.

For decades, Memorial Day was observed on May 30. In 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act establishing it as the last Monday in May. The change, effective in 1971, declared it a federal holiday making it a three-day holiday weekend for many.

Moina Belle Michael

Many of us have purchased artificial poppies to commemorate Memorial Day. That association is thanks to American professor and humanitarian Moina Belle Michael. In November 1918, after reading the poem We Shall Not Sleep (the battlefront themed poem by Canadian army Dr John McCrae later retitled In Flanders Field) she decided to always wear a red poppy to remember those who died in that war.

After WW I, Michael was teaching a class of disabled servicemen, and saw a need to provide them with support. This lead to the her idea of selling silk poppies to raise funds. In 1921, this effort led to the poppy being adopted as a symbol of remembrance for war veterans by the American Legion Auxiliary, and later by Earl Haig's British Legion Appeal Fund (later The Royal British Legion).

VA garden poppy

Michael further pursued the idea of wearing red poppies on Memorial day to honor all those who died serving the nation in war time. She sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need.

Shortly before Memorial Day 1922, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) became the first organization to nationally sell poppies. Two years later the Buddy®️Poppy program was selling artificial poppies made by disabled veterans. In 1948, the US Post Office honored Ms Michael for her role in founding the National Poppy movement by issuing a red postage stamp with her likeness.

Currently, the Memorial Day tradition has expanded to include the annual “National Moment of Remembrance” which asks Americans to pause for a minute at 3 p.m. (when most are enjoying time off) to remember those who died in military service. The Moment was enacted into law by Congress in December 2000.

This year, Memorial Day observances in many NH towns have been scaled back or cancelled. Here in Nashua, the annual parade was called off for the second consecutive year as officials cited the difficulty in trying to keep participants and spectators safe. We attended the last Memorial Day Parade in 2018. Events such as wreath-laying services were scheduled, but the foul weather most likely will deter attendees. 

Nashua honors military veteran or active duty service members through a Military Banner Tribute Program run by the Nashua Division of Public Works that launched last summer. It features the name, photo and military history of 38 active duty members/veterans on banners hung along the 1.8 mile newly renamed Veterans Memorial Parkway. Banners purchased by family members or sponsors will be up from Memorial Day through Veterans Day and given to participants as a keepsake afterwards. (Foul weather prohibited a photo excursion.)

There’s a another memorial display in Hudson, NH, a town about 2 miles from Nashua. Started in 2019, the Field of Honor® is a fundraiser for the local American Legion Post. Each flag honors current active duty members, veterans, or first responders within a 50-mile radius of the town. The flags stand in solemn formation in Library Park 2 weeks before Memorial Day until flag day in mid-June. They are lit at night and will be taken down and stored after the display period.

Nashua River & downtown view on a wet weekend

Rain has continued on and off today. This Sunday scene from our LR window gives some idea of the less than ideal holiday forecast. It's as miserable outside as it looks from indoors.

Our holiday weekend meal

Not to be deterred from enjoying a weekend holiday (or any time) favorite food of hot dogs, Grenville prepared them wrapped in crescent rolls not hot dog buns. My contribution was roasted veggies and roasted cauliflower with barbecue sauce. (We had healthy sides.)

How was your weekend (holiday or not)? We hope, you had better (much) weather than here.

No Rain on This Parade

It wasn't a BIG Memorial Day parade and there were no floats or animals as Nashua, NH celebrated the holiday this past Monday with a parade down Main St.  The weather wasn't the best with 60-degree temperatures and overcast skies, but it didn't rain on the participants or viewers.

The parade started, as it always does here in Nashua, with a color guard of police offices and fire department members.

All of the musical entertainment was provided by students in school bands. Including public and private schools, Nashua has more than 12 elementary and middle schools and 3 high schools.

This is some sample text to hold a space for more to come and not yet sure what that will be right now. 

Even though this wasn't a large turnout, it was nice to see that many residents, including ourselves, came out to remember servicemen and women who have lost their lives in military service. 

Grenville and I both grew up in NJ (Plainfield and South Orange) and remember attending many similar holiday parades with our families. We also recall that emergency services vehicles were always last. Just as we remembered, their horns and sirens blared along Main St. to signal the end of the parade. 

Did your town host a parade or other Memorial Day celebration; if so, did you attend?

If You Love Freedom

Remember to say a prayer for those you can't thank today.
Comments are off. Enjoy your FREDOM!!!