News Release

National Park Service Commemorates Memorial Day with Special Events Nationwide

The annual Memorial Day Weekend Luminaria at Fredericksburg National Cemetery features 15,300 candles, one for each soldier buried there, and pays tribute to those who have given their lives in the service of our country.

NPS Photo/Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park

News Release Date: May 25, 2017

Contact: Kathy Kupper, 202-208-6843

National Park Service Commemorates Memorial Day with Special Events Nationwide

WASHINGTON – Corporal Jerome Pierce was killed in action during the Battle of Fredericksburg in 1864. For Memorial Day, a park ranger will place flowers and a note card that reads “Once Lost, Now Found, Never Forgotten” on his grave in the national cemetery near where he fell. This tribute, started long ago by his grieving widow, is one of the many ways the National Park Service will commemorate Memorial Day.

“Throughout the country, national parks will hold ceremonies and programs to remember and honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice,” said Acting National Park Service Director Michael T. Reynolds. “We are forever indebted to those who have given their lives in defense of our country and our freedoms.”

The National Park Service preserves and maintains more than 100 sites affiliated with men and women who gave their lives in the service of their country. The sites include patriotic shrines, frontier forts, battlefields, memorials, and national cemeteries.  

Many parks will host military encampments, artillery demonstrations, concerts, tours, and other special events throughout the weekend. Most of the 14 national cemeteries administered by the National Park Service will hold a ceremony and post a flag at each gravesite.  

Visit NPS.gov/military for more information about Memorial Day events, military-themed stories of people and places in the National Park System, and trip-planning information for military parks.  
 

www.nps.gov

 
About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for the 417 parks in the National Park System and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at www.nps.gov, on Facebook www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice, Twitter www.twitter.com/natlparkservice, and YouTube www.youtube.com/nationalparkservice.