Shrewsbury 2024 Memorial Day Ceremony: What To Know

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

The Shrewsbury 2024 Memorial Day parade and ceremonies on Monday will be the highlight of the three-day Memorial Day Weekend — May 25-27 this year.

The parade will form at Town Hall around 8:45 a.m., and all local veterans are invited to participate. Opening remarks will happen around 9:15. The parade will travel from the municipal building down Maple Avenue to the town center, where participants will stop for an address by John Griffin. The parade will then continue to Mountain View Cemetery.

See the full parade program here, which includes details on speakers, music and more.

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.