Historian tim frank and caitlin smith. In order to talk about this, i really have to take you back to 1964, in 1864 we bury the first soldier here, in may of 1864, and then one month later we set aside 200 acres to set aside for national cemetery. There were 15,000 confederate soldiers buried here. In 1868 general john logan established Decoration Day, which he declared may 30th of every year. The idea was that throughout the country people would visit the graves of the civil war fallen and placed flowers on their graves. Decoration day eventually became memorial day. It became so popular that in 1873, quartermaster general Montgomery Meigs held to Decoration Day ceremonies, and at the time it became a small venue. Every year thousands of people would show up to arlington. One year we found that 25,000 people showed up to decorate the graves, so in 1913 congress authorize this memorial amphitheater where we are standing. And in 1950, is part of the laying of the cornerstone, this memor