The Freedom Museum will conduct a bell-ringing ceremony across West Street from the museum, at 9129 Center Street in Manassas, to honor those who gave their lives in service to their country from 1917 to the present.
The event will take place at 11 a.m. Monday, May 30.
“At the Freedom Museum, we wish to follow the Memorial Day tradition of honoring our fallen heroes by conducting a special service,” said spokeswoman Kristin Perper.
The Linton Hall school Fife and Drum Corps and the Osbourn Park High School NJROTC will provide the opening ceremony, followed by a prayer and a short speech about the significance of the day.
The bell will be rung after each fallen military member’s name is read and the ceremony will be concluded by echo taps played by Roy Wulf and Donna Flory.
Decoration Day was first celebrated 1n 1868 when General George Logan, commander in chief of the Grand Old Army of the Republic, issued a decree that more than 620,000 soldiers killed in the then-recent Civil War should be commemorated by decorating their graves with flowers on May 30.
Decoration Day continued annually until the world wars, which changed it from the focus on Civil War to American Service deaths generally. In 1971 during Viet Nam War, it became a national holiday celebrated on the last Monday of May.
About a year ago, the Freedom Museum opened its doors in the old Prospero’s bookstore. Previously, it had been located in the Manassas Regional Airport.
