Memorial Day is a national holiday observed in the United States on the last Monday in May .
This year , Memorial Day falls on May 27 .
It is a day when Americans honor the men and women who have died fighting in America's wars .
For most Americans , it also marks the unofficial start of summer .
It is a popular weekend for vacationing .
It is the most famous burial place in America .
The tradition began on May 30th , 1868 , when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers in the cemetery .
It was called Decoration Day back then .
Lines of simple white headstones mark the soldiers ' graves .
But the 80-hectare cemetery also serves as a burial place for people of national and historical importance .
Two presidents are buried there : William Howard Taft and John F .
Other well-known people buried at the cemetery include world champion boxer Joe Louis , North Pole explorer Robert E .
Peary and the seven astronauts who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion .
Nearly 4,000 former slaves are also buried at Arlington National Cemetery .
One of them is James Parks .
He dug the first graves in the cemetery .
The best-known memorial in the nation's capital , however , is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial , which opened in 1982 .
In 1980 , a group of former soldiers announced a competition to design a memorial .
The winner was Maya Lin , a 21-year-old student at Yale University in New Haven , Connecticut .
Lin designed a memorial formed by two walls of black stone about 76 meters long .
The walls meet to form a V .
Almost any time of day , you can see people looking for the name of a family member or friend who died in the war .
Once they find the name , many rub a pencil on paper over the letters to copy it .
Many people leave remembrances at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial .
After the success of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial , Congress approved a memorial to the Korean War veterans , which opened in July of 1995 .
The Korean War lasted from 1950 to 1953 .
The memorial honors those who died .
It also honors those who survived .
One of the lesser-known memorials on the National Mall in Washington , D.C ., is often called "the temple ."
The round stone structure honors people from the District of Columbia who died in World War I .
The war was fought from 1914 to 1918 .
Between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument on the National Mall is the World War II Memorial .
The U.S . entered the war after Japan bombed the Navy base at Pearl Harbor , Hawaii , on December 7th , 1941 .
Sixteen million men and women served in the American military between 1941 and 1945 .
The World War II Memorial is built of bronze and granite .
In the center , at ground level , is a round pool of water .
When the sun is just right , rainbows of color dance in the air .
Fifty-six stone pillars rise around the pool .
They represent each of the American states and territories , plus the District of Columbia , at the time of the war .
There are not yet memorials for soldiers who died in America's most recent wars – in Iraq and Afghanistan .
The soldiers are buried in Section 60 of Arlington Cemetery .
The section is often called “the saddest place in America .”
And I'm Mario Ritter , Jr .