Residents and visitors have noticed the American flags and some Prisoner of War-Missing in Action flags along State Route 89A, installed late last week in preparation of Armed Force Day — held on the third Saturday in May — and which will be up until after Memorial Day, Monday, May 25.

These were installed by the Sedona Area Veteran & Community Outreach members and their allies to help honor those who served and those who never returned home.

While Memorial Day only became a federal holiday in 1971, it dates back to 1866, when the women of Columbus, Mississippi, laid flowers on the graves of both Union and Confederate dead buried in the town’s Friendship Cemetery.

Columbus had been a hospital town, treating wounded Confederate soldiers. Many were brought there after the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, with the cemetery eventually containing 2,000 graves of Confederate soldiers and 150 Union soldiers who were taken from the battlefield but did not survive.

New York poet Francis Miles Finch, who happened to be in town that day and attended the ceremony, later penned the poem “The Blue and the Grey,” which the first stanza read, “By the flow of the inland river / Whence the fleets of iron have fled / Where the blades of the grave-grass quiver / Asleep are the ranks of the dead / Under the sod and the dew / Waiting the judgment-day / Under the one, the Blue / Under the other, the Gray.”

The memorial spread across the South as Memorial Day, later Confederate Memorial Day, to differentiate it from Decoration Day, which began in the North in 1868 and honored those who died to preserve the Union during the American Civil War.

The event become more commonly practiced after World War II, when it expanded to honor those who died in the both world wars. The date was official named Memorial Day in 1967 and made a federal holiday by Congress in 1971.

Locally, American Legion Post & Auxiliary 135 hosts its 15th annual Memorial Day event at 11350 E. Cornville Road, Cornville, Saturday, May 23, 11 a.m.

SAVCO and the city of Sedona are hosting the annual Memorial Day Ceremony starting at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, May 26, at the Pavilion at Posse Grounds Park at 525 Posse Ground Road. This year’s guest speaker is retired U.S. Army Col. Al Cornell, along with patriotic music from Red RockAppella and bugler Ron Wright.

The Sedona Elks Lodge is hosting its annual Memorial Day BBQ as well on Monday, May 25, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with the Javelina Highway band playing live music from noon to 3 p.m.

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6739 in Camp Verde is hosting its annual Memorial Day Ceremony at the Middle Verde Cemetery on Monday, May 25, at 10 a.m.

The weekend preceding Memorial Day has also become the de facto kickoff to summer. Families around the state use the weekend to visit local lakes, state parks, national monuments and tourist destinations. By the last Monday in May, most of Arizona’s schools and universities have graduated their seniors and let out for summer break. If you plan to imbibe alcohol at barbecues, gatherings, restaurants or bars this weekend, have a designated driver or call a cab. There are numerous taxi services and car services that now operate in Sedona and Verde Valley. The price of cab is far cheaper than court fines and the installation of an interlock device should you get arrested for DUI.

Many of us also use Memorial Day to remember our relatives who went to war and gave the last full measure of devotion on the battlefield, or have since shuffled off this mortal coil after returning safely home as veterans. Some were very open about their service. Many held their stories close to their chest, saying little. But all went to war with someone who did not come home — which are who this solemn holiday honors.

Some 2,500 years ago, the playwright Aeschylus wrote in his Trojan War play “Agamemnon”:

“They sent forth men to battle
But no such men return
And home, to claim their welcome
Come ashes in an urn.”

However you commemorate or enjoy this weekend, on Monday, pay tribute to those who fought to give us the civic freedoms we enjoy.