Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May 31 in 2010.

Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. soldiers who died while in the military service.First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War (it is celebrated near the day of reunification after the Civil War), it was expanded after World War I.
Quotations for Memorial Day

* For love of country they accepted death. ~ President James Garfield
* I have one sentiment for soldiers living and dead: cheers for the living; tears for the dead. ~ Robert G. Ingersoll
* Although no sculptured marble shall rise to their memory, nor engraved stone bear record of their deeds, yet will their remembrance be as lasting as the land they honored. ~ Daniel Webster
* The purpose of all war is ultimately peace. ~ Saint Augustine
* As I approach the gates of heaven / St. Peter I will tell / One more soldier reporting sir / I’ve served my time in hell. ~ Mark Anthony Gresswell
* The dead soldier’s silence sings our national anthem. ~ Reverend Aaron Kilbourn
* Soldier, rest! Thy warfare o’er, / Sleep the rest that knows not breaking / Dream of battled fields no more, / Days of danger, nights of waking. ~ Sir Walter Scott
* The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example. ~ Benjamin Disraeli
* I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free, and I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me. ~ Lee Greenwood
* Give me liberty or give me death. ~ Patrick Henry
* When you go home, tell them of us and say, for their tomorrow, we gave our today. ~ The Kohima Epitaph
* Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed. ~ UNESCO Constitution
* Four things support the world: the learning of the wise, the justice of the great, the prayers of the good, and the valor of the brave. ~ Muhammad
* Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened. ~ Billy Graham
* A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. ~ Joseph Campbell
* The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it. ~ Thucydides
* Bravery never goes out of fashion. ~ William Makepeace Thackeray
* It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle. ~ Norman Schwarzkopf
* Sacrifice still exists everywhere, and everywhere the elect of each generation suffers for the salvation of the rest. ~ Henri Frederic Amiel
* The American spirit wears no political label. In service to others and yes, in sacrifice for our country, there are no Republicans; the are no Democrats; there are only Americans. ~ John Kerry
* Those things which are precious are saved only by sacrifice. ~ David Kenyon Webster