Lots of Places Claim to Be the Birthplace of Memorial Day. Here's the Truth, According to an Expert

The question of why the U.S. celebrates Memorial Day has a clear answer: the holiday now celebrated on the last Monday in May began as a way to remember the approximately 620,000 troops who died during the Civil War. The question of how Americans tend to spend Memorial Day weekend has a clear answer, too: grilling, going to the beach, checking out Memorial Day sales, watching Memorial Day parades, sitting in traffic.