According to a recent poll conducted by The National WWII Museum in New Orleans,

Eighty percent of all Americans confess to having “little” or “some” knowledge of the holiday. Just 20 percent claim to be “very familiar” with the day’s purpose, which is to honor those who have died while fighting the nation’s wars.

From The History Channel, here’s a video about the history of Memorial Day:

You can also visit The National WWII Museum’s Memorial Day page for a list of ten ways to observe Memorial Day or to download a Memorial Day factsheet.

“Hegel was right when he said that we learn from history that man can never learn anything from history.” — George Bernard Shaw