Gov. DeSantis orders flags flown at half-staff on Memorial Day

Gov. Ron DeSantis is ordering the U.S. and Florida flags to be flown at half-staff for Memorial Day to honor America’s service members who lost their lives in the line of duty.

The order is for all local and state buildings, installations and grounds from sunrise to noon Monday.

“On Memorial Day, we honor the heroes of the United States armed forces who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country,” DeSantis wrote in a memo to Brian Fienemann, Florida’s Director of Real Estate Development and Management.

“May we never forget the selfless bravery of the men and women who laid down their lives to protect their fellow citizens. Our hearts are heavy with gratitude for their unwavering commitment to protecting this nation’s highest ideal of freedom in the face of grave danger.”

Florida is home to more than 1.4 million U.S. Armed Forces veterans, according to a proclamation from the Governor.

“We are grateful for the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Guardians, Coast Guardsmen, and Merchant Mariners who died in the service of our nation that we might continue to enjoy the freedoms we so deeply cherish,” the proclamation says. “We encourage all Floridians to participate in appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs to demonstrate support and recognize the contributions of our fallen warriors.”

Set yearly on the last Monday of May, Memorial Day was first observed on May 30, 1868, under the order of the Grand Army of the Republican Commander-in-Chief John A. Logan. At the time, it was called “Decoration Day” for the practice of strewing flowers on the graves of Civil War soldiers. Logan’s order to observe the occasion was called the “Memorial Day Act,” according to the National Cemetery Administration.

Between when the Revolutionary War ended and May 2020, Military.com found that 646,596 American troops died in battle and more than 539,000 died from other, non-combat-related causes.