Flags at Half Staff at City Hall, City Grounds As President Calls On All Americans To Observe National Moment of Remembrance

The flag of the United States will be flown at half-staff until noon on Monday at Pasadena City Hall and all City buildings with flags commemorating the men and women who died while in military service, upon a Presidential order issued to all governmental units.

President Joe Biden also requested the American public to display the flag at half-staff from their homes until noon Monday.

In his Memorial Day proclamation, Biden proclaimed Monday as a day of prayer for permanent peace, designating 11 a.m. in each time zone as a time during which people may unite in prayer, citing a 1950 joint resolution by Congress.

Biden also asked all Americans to observe the National Moment of Remembrance beginning at 3 p.m. in each time zone under a bill signed into law in 2000 by then-President Bill Clinton. 

It was first held on Memorial Day in 2000 under a proclamation by Clinton in an attempt “to reclaim Memorial Day as the noble event it was intended to be, to honor those who died in service to our nation.”

The Moment of Remembrance is a “way we can all help put the memorial back in Memorial Day,” its founder Carmella LaSpada said.

“On Memorial Day, we honor America’s beloved daughters and sons who gave their last full measure of devotion to this nation,” Biden declared in his proclamation. “We can never fully repay the debt we owe these fallen heroes.

“But today, we vow to rededicate ourselves to the work for which they gave their lives, and we recommit to supporting the families, caregivers, and survivors they left behind.”

What became Memorial Day was first observed on May 30, 1868, as Decoration Day, a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the Civil War dead with flowers.

It was established 25 days earlier by Maj. Gen. John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of veterans who fought for the Union in the Civil War. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the nation.

By the end of the 19th century, Decoration Day ceremonies were being held on May 30 throughout the nation. After World War I, the holiday was changed to honor Americans who died fighting in all wars.

The term Memorial Day was first used in 1882, became more common after World War II and declared the official name by federal law in 1967.

Memorial Day had been observed on May 30, until being moved to the last Monday in May in 1971 under terms of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which became law in 1968.