Memorial Day Weekend 2023: Parade, Events Around Chatham

CHATHAM, NJ — The Chatham community will once again come together to honor the service and sacrifice of all veterans on Monday, May 29.

On Memorial Day, at 8:30 a.m., the Green Village Fire Department will hold a service and wreath laying. Everyone is invited to gather at the Memorial Stone on Memorial Way in Chatham Township's Green Village section.

The Memorial Day service in Chatham Borough is scheduled for May 29 at 8 a.m. The celebration will take place in Memorial Park, which is adjacent to the Library of the Chathams.

The schedule is as follows:

• Seating of Veterans at 8 a.m.
• Color Guard – Chatham Volunteer Fire Department
• Flag Ceremony & Pledge of Allegiance – Chatham Volunteer Fire Department
• Singing of The National Anthem
• Remarks and attending veterans roll call by Councilman Len Resto
• Wreath Laying
• Singing of America the Beautiful
• Playing of TAPS
• Color Guard Retreats
• Benediction

As the observance has changed over the years, many families also use Memorial Day as an occasion to visit Chatham 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.