“We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country they accepted death and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and virtue.”

– President James A. Garfield at the very first Memorial Day observance
on the ground of Arlington National Cemetery, May 30th, 1868