The practice of decorating soldiers graves with flowers is an ancient custom .. soldiers graves were decorated in the U.S. before and during the American civil war, but the origins of special services to honor those who die in war can be found in antiquity .. from the great funeral oration of Pericles, "For the whole earth is the tomb of famous men, not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions in their own country, but in foreign lands there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men. Make them your examples, and, esteeming courage to be freedom and freedom to be happiness, do not weigh too nicely the perils of war." that quote about the Peloponnesian War over 24 centuries ago, could be applied today to the 1.1 million Americans who have died in this nation’s wars .. three years after the civil war ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of union veterans, established "Decoration Day" as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers, and declared that the day should be observed on May 30 .. it's believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country..