Memorial Day 2023: Andover Memorial Day Events

ANDOVER, MA — The upcoming Memorial Day events in Andover are part of a nearly 160-year tradition that pays tribute to military personnel who lost their lives in service to their country.

At 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 26, Andover Veterans Services' will be reflagging Sacred Heart Cemetery, at 80 Corbett St. The group still is looking for volunteers to assist with the effort.

Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, will begin with three short ceremonies in Andover: at 7 a.m. at West Parish Cemetery, 129 Reservation Rd., 7:30 a.m. at St. Augustine's Cemetery, 69 School St., and at 8 a.m. at Spring Grove Cemetery, 5 Spring Grove Rd. The public is welcome to all events.

Later that day, the Andover Memorial Day Parade will begin at 10 a.m. on the corner of Florence Street and Elm Street, and it will end with an 11 a.m. ceremony at The Park on Bartlett Street.

Below are some other events and parades nearby:

• On Monday, May 29, in North Andover, the Memorial Day Parade will begin at 10 a.m. at the Town Common, with a ceremony to follow at Ridgewood Cemetery, located at 177 Salem St.

In the event of inclement weather, the services will be held at 10:30 a.m. in the North Andover Middle School Veterans Auditorium, located at 495 Main St.

• In Boston, the Memorial Day Flag Garden will be on display from May 25-29 at the Soldiers & Sailors Monument on Boston Common. Each of the more than 37,000 flags represents a Massachusetts service member who gave his or her life defending the nation since the Revolutionary War.

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

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.