How to Make Memorial Day Cookies Part of Your Celebration

Memorial Day is almost here and I have a few Memorial Day Cookies to share with you, but first let’s talk about Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a time to honor and memorialize our veterans who died while serving the United States Armed Forces. It hasn’t always been called Memorial Day because it was previously called Decoration Day after the Civil War. In 1971 it became an official federal holiday and it’s now called Memorial Day.

Let’s learn a little more about Memorial Day.

Memorial Day Cookies

Decoration Day started after the Civil war in 1865 which claimed more lives than any conflict in US history. At least 600,000 had died once the fighting had stopped. There were so many deaths that it required the US to establish the first National Cemeteries. People went to graves and decorated them with flowers. They spent time honoring and praying over them as they remembered the loved ones they’d lost.

So how did Memorial Day start? It was first called Decoration Day and several states claimed to be the first to celebrate it. The federal government declared Waterloo, NY as the official birthplace of Memorial Day May 5th, 1866.

In 1868 Major General John A Logan declared Decoration Day to be held on May 30th because that’s when flowers were blooming nationwide. People could use the flowers to decorate the graves of their loved ones.

All of the states didn’t hold Memorial Day at the same time because some of the confederate states considered it a celebration for the fallen Union soldiers so they showed respect at their own discretion.

After World War I, May 30th became the day to honor all American soldiers who gave their life in combat. Memorial Day became a National Holiday in 1971 and since then we celebrate all the fallen military men and women who fought and died for our country.

We celebrate and honor those men and women with parades, decorate with red, white and blue, hang flags, have friends and family over for a barbecue, and celebrate with family gatherings on the last Monday in May.

This year our celebrations may be different since the coronavirus pandemic has found its way to the United States, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate. We can make a few homemade decorations to hang and make some edible red, white, and blue food such as these cookies I’m sharing.

The most important thing we can do is take a moment in silence and remember the brave men and women who fought and died for our country.

Memorial Day Cookies
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Flag Cookie Platter

I hope you enjoy your Memorial Day this year even though we can’t get together for parades and huge family barbeques. As we remember our heroes please stay safe and get together with your family on FaceTime. Hopefully, life as we know it will return soon. I know we can’t wait to get real hugs from our loved ones and maybe that will happen soon. Happy Memorial Day!

Bear hugs,