Memorial Day Weekend 2024: Ways To Observe Around Wheaton

WHEATON, IL — The upcoming Memorial Day service/parade in Wheaton is part of a nearly 160-year tradition that pays tribute to military personnel who lost their lives in service to their country.

Wheaton's 2024 Memorial Day Parade, set to step off on May 27 at 10 a.m., is the highlight of the three-day Memorial Day Weekend — May 25-27 this year.

Below are some other events and parades nearby:

Memorial Day Remembrance at Cantigny Park

May 27 at 12 p.m.

American Legion Post 556 will hold a Memorial Day Remembrance Ceremony outside the First Division Museum at Cantigny Park. The ceremony starts at 12 p.m. at wraps at 1 p.m. with a performance of Taps.

Vietnam Memorial Wall Replica at College of DuPage

May 29 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

May 30 - June 2 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

A scale replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall will be on display at College of DuPage starting May 29.

Built to 3/5 of the size of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall, the traveling wall includes over 58,000 names listed on the original wall.

As the observance has changed over the years, many families also use Memorial Day as an occasion to visit Wheaton cemeteries and leave flowers at the graves of family members, regardless of whether they served in the military.

Memorial Day Weekend is also the unofficial kickoff to summer in Wheaton. Below are more ways to spend the weekend:

• Visit Glen Ellyn's newly renovated Sunset Pool, which opens May 25
• Play Minigolf at Wonder Woods Minigolf at Morton Arboretum, which opens May 24, but is closed to observe Memorial Day

The history of Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, dates back to 1868, when Gen. John A. Logan called for a day of remembrance to honor the Northern lives lost amid battle during the Civil War that had ended just a few years earlier, according to History.com. As time passed, more and more people called it Memorial Day, and it became a federal holiday in 1971.

Waterloo, New York, is considered the birthplace of Memorial Day. The town’s observance on May 5, 1866, predated Logan’s call for a day of remembrance. Local businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers and flags.

Until World War I, the holiday honored only those soldiers who died while fighting for the Union in the War, as Southern states honored their war dead on a separate day. After the 116,000-plus American deaths in World War I, the tradition changed to remember all who have died while serving in the military.

Every year, a national moment of remembrance is held at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day. No matter where they are or what they’re doing, Americans are asked to pause for one minute in silence to remember military personnel who have given their lives in service to their country. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the midday time was chosen because it’s a time when many Americans will be enjoying their freedoms on a national holiday.