Memorial Day Ceremony at Hillside Cemetery Today

The annual ceremeony to honor local veterans who have given their lives in service is set for 10 a.m. at Issaquah's Hillside Cemetery, a city owned property located between Mt. Park Blvd. and Sunset Way -- just west of and above Newport Way.

Color and honor guards from Issaquah High School’s Junior Naval ROTC will be on hand to present the nation’s colors and perform a 21-gun salute.

According to usmemorialday.org, Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. Originally, the day was known as Decoration Day.

In 1915, inspired by the John McCrae poem "In Flanders Fields," American teacher Moina Michael replied with her own poem: 

We cherish too, the Poppy red

That grows on fields where valor led,

It seems to signal to the skies

That blood of heroes never dies.

Michael began selling poppies to friends and coworkers in commemoration, giving the funds raised to benefit servicemen in need.

Poppies have become a traditional representation of the day, first sold nationwide in the US by the VFW in 1922.

Today, the public is invited to attend the ceremony, and to come out beginning at 9 a.m. to help place flags or crosses on the graves of veterans.