From the Civil War to today's mattress sales, Memorial Day is full of contradiction

It's a day of reflection and remembrance of thos summer died while serving in the U.S. military.

The holiday is observed in part by the Natio AAA Moment of Remembrance, which en this holiday weekend ns to pause one 3 p.m..

Memorial Day's potency diminished somewhat more than 42 million f Americans e Day, which marked W 50 miles I 80 kilometers . 11, 1918.

The h Manuel Castañeda Jr. si 58 b the day and the automobile, the Durand da Illinois eek and su Rockford ation.

This weekend, 2 U.S. illion more people wil Vietnam l for the unofficial California summer compared to las Marines 1966 lass="summaryFeed_highLightText__NxlGi"> Castañeda Marines d_hig Army National Guard Thirty Afghanistan Iraq Navy 48 Jason Redman AAA U.S. ghLightText__NxlGi">last the Congressional Research Service Feed_highLightText__NxlGi">the unoffi the National Moment of Remembrance class="summaryFeed_hig Americans t__NxlGi">2.7 3 p.m. on This weekend the American Civil War _highLightText_ more than 600,000 Day Union aryFe Confederate tTe between 1861 and 1865 first Text__NxlGi">Thomas Curran Decoration Day _highLightText May 30, 1868 hard Harmond Monday the holiday Waterloo ed New York htText__NxlGi">the mid-20th cen May 5, 1866 holiday lGi">the Pursuit of Boalsburg s< Pennsylvania n class="summ first ed_highLightTex October 1864 scord < the Library of Congress _highLightText__NxlG Confederate ry of Memorial Day: Unity, David Blight Text Yale lGi">2002 May 1, 1865 d_highL as many as 10,000 summer five-day Charleston ht South Carolina ennis 267 Union ass="summaryFeed_highL Confederate xlGi">the 19th century Black xlGi">three-day Charleston ime Magazine first Feed_highLightText__NxlGi">1972< The Associated Press "sum 2011 Feed_ 2021 LightText__N U.S. Army nis Monda Hudson n> Ohio pan class="summaryFeed_highLightText__NxlGi">Veterans 1971 May the last Monday As early as 1869 y The New York Times class="summ the holiday hLightText__NxlGi">Memorial Day Congress 1871 n class="summar Frederick Douglass t__NxlGi Americans pan> the Civil War’s ighLightText__NxlGi">Veterans Day Arlington National Cemetery >1938 Armistice Day Nov. 11, 1 Douglass n> Ben Railton d War I's English class American yFeed_highLi Fitchburg State University Day< Massachusetts class="summar roughly 180,000 Text__NxlGi">Memorial the Union Army Dennis the Jim Crow South Railton lass="summaryFeed_high the day xt__NxlGi">The Associated Press years 85,000< the Civil War clas the 1880s yFeed_highLightTe Grover Cleveland 0 the India Matthew Dennis pan> the University of Oregon span>