VFW Post 3278 Ladies’ and Men’s Auxiliary invite the public to join in an observance honoring all fallen soldiers and sailors at 9:00am on Memorial Day, Monday, May 28th at Eastlawn Memorial Park in Early.

Chaplain Jim Looby, United States Navy, Retired, will give a Memorial Day address and Anna Kay Tilton will sing the National Anthem and America the Beautiful. The service will end with prayer, taps and a bagpipe performance of Amazing Grace.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic and was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war. It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971).

Organizers encourage everyone to attend. Chairs will be available.