While Memorial Day brings barbecues, sales, and graduation parties, there are also parades, cemetery visits, and rituals for those who traditionally mark the day. Memorial Day got its start three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, when the head of an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic — established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Memorial Day is a sad reflection designed to respect our military men and women who have given their lives to defend our freedoms.
This year, after a two-year hiatus due to COVID restrictions, the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona Support Committee will host an “in-person” event that is open to the public:
- Time: 8 a.m.,
- Date: Monday, May 30, 2022
- Place: National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona., 23029 N. Cave Creek Road, Phoenix, AZ 85024
The National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona is managed and maintained by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The National Memorial Cemetery Committee is a group of volunteers who hosts this ceremony each year, typically attended by thousands. The keynote speaker for this year’s event will be Korean American Susan Kee.
She says, “I consider this a great honor to speak from my heart about what sacrifice means to me as a Korean American, whose family was saved during the Korean War by American heroes. Over the past ten years, I have met and interviewed hundreds of Korean War veterans and Gold Star families who lost loved ones in the Korean War. My life purpose and passion are to thank America for the immeasurable sacrifices its heroes made to save my family and the people of South Korea from the grips of North Korea’s evil communist regime. The only reason I am alive and free today is because of God’s grace and the sacrifice of American heroes who fought and died to save my family and the Korean people during the Korean War.”
The event will kick off with a World War II bi-plane flyover and include wreath presentations, color guards, musical accompaniments from the Army National Guard Band, etc.
You can learn more about the event online at
Honoring Veterans with Memorial Day Events
