We have memorial day to remember all the people who died for our country freedom. It was officially was declared on may 5, 1886 by General John Logan. On the first decoration day General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of 20,000 union and confederate soldiers buried there. Memorial day also became more popular after World War I and World War II. There were more American lives lost during the Civil War then the two World Wars combined. Approximately 620,000 died during the Civil War while approximately 116,516 died in World War I and approximately 405,399 died in World War II.