Memorial Day 2023: Reading Hosting Parade, Cemetery Services

READING, MA — The upcoming Town of Reading Memorial Day Parade and Cemetery Services 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 Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, the parade will begin at the American Legion, 37 Ash St.

That will be followed by services at four local cemeteries: 9:15 a.m. at Laurel Hill Cemetery, on Lowell Street., 10:45 a.m. at Forest Glen Cemetery, at Forest Glen Road and Pearl Street, 11:30 a.m. at Charles Lawn Cemetery, on Charles Street, and noon at Wood End Cemetery, on Franklin Street.

Below are some other events and parades nearby:

• On Memorial Day in Wilmington, there will be a parade from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. that begins at the Market Basket on Main Street. A Memorial Day Ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. at Wildwood Cemetery.
• On Memorial Day in Woburn, a Memorial Day Ceremony will take place at 9 a.m. on the Common. That will be followed by a 10:45 a.m. ceremony at Hebrew Cemetery and an 11 a.m. ceremony at Calvary Cemetery.
• 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