Changes

====Later Development====

What began to change the meaning of what was then called Decoration Day were the events of World War I (Figure 2). Once again, a bloody conflict consumed the United States. While World War I was not a very long war for the United States, it did endure relatively heavy casualties in the tumultuous last year of the conflict. Many families endured great loss, with over 116,000 deaths, although many of those were due to disease, including the pandemic flu that had struck during the war. The large number of dead in a short period, where soldiers were from throughout the United States, in a way did help the country come together after the the Civil War had led to bitterness. People began to celebrate not just those who died in the Civil War but also World War I and other conflicts, including more minor ones such as the Spanish-American War, where all fallen soldiers began to be remembered. Decoration Day on May 30th began to be celebrated across the United States and not just the North.<ref>For more on the role of World War I on Memorial Day, see: Margaret, A., & Margaret, A. (2002). <i>Memorial Day (1st ed)</i>. New York: PowerKids Press, pg. 12. </ref>