‍Today is Memorial Day here in the United States. It's a federal holiday, so the Certification Magazine home office is closed until Tuesday. Memorial Day honors the American citizens, both men and women, who died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. It is spiritually akin to Veteran's Day (Nov. 11), which honors all Armed Forces members, including those who did not die while serving.

We'll return to our regular schedule of operations tomorrow. Until then, why not enjoy this Memorial Day-themed quiz, courtesy of our friends at GoCertify?

1) How many cemeteries are part of the United States National Cemetery System?

2) How many U.S. military cemeteries and memorials are there outside the United States?

3) How many war memorial parks or sites are maintained by the U.S. National Park Service?

4) How many of the aforementioned war memorial parks or sites do NOT commemorate events of the American Civil War?

5) Not including sites that honor individuals connected to American wars, how many of the 35 national memorials administered by or affiliated with the U.S. National Park Service are war memorials?

6) How many national war memorials have been authorized, but not yet constructed?

7) Which national battlefield site was eventually incorporated into a national park named in honor of a French pirate?

8) Not including monuments for historic forts that do not directly commemorate key battles or wartime turning points, how many national monuments administered by the National Parks Service are war memorials?

9) How many war memorial national monuments have been declared, but not are not yet established?

10) True or False: There is national war memorial park at the site of the Alamo Mission in San Antonio, Texas.‍

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ANSWERS‍

1) 147. Most are maintained by the National Cemetery Administration or the Department of Veterans Affairs.

2) 24. These sites are maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

3) The National Park Service administers 25 war memorial parks or sites. There are 11 National Battlefields (Antietam, Big Hole, Cowpens, Fort Donelson, Fort Necessity, Monocacy, Moores Creek, Petersburg, Stones River, Tupelo, and Wilson's Creek), nine National Military Parks (Chickamauga and Chattanooga; Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County; Gettysburg; Guilford Courthouse; Horseshoe Bend; Kings Mountain; Pea Ridge; Shiloh; and Vicksburg), four National Battlefield Parks (Kennesaw Mountain, Manassas, Richmond, and River Raisin), and one National Battlefield Site (Brices Cross).

4) Seven. River Raisin National Battlefield Park commemorates the Battle of Frenchtown during the War of 1812. Cowpens National Battlefield, Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, and Kings Mountain National Military Park commemorate events of the American Revolutionary War. Horseshoe Bend National Military Park (Creek War) and Big Hole National Battlefield (Nez Perce War) commemorate wars against American Indian tribes. Fort Necessity National Battlefield commemorates an early clash of the French and Indian War, during which American combatants fought as subjects of the British crown.

5) Eight. They are: American Memorial Park (Northern Mariana Islands), Korean War Veterans Memorial (Washington, D.C.), Pearl Harbor National Memorial (Hawaii), Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial (Ohio), Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial (California), Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Washington, D.C.), World War I Memorial (Washington, D.C.), and World War II Memorial (Washington, D.C.).

6) Congress authorized a memorial in 2014 that commemorates American involvement in the Gulf War (1990-1991), but no memorial has yet been constructed.

7) Chalmette Battlefield and National Cemetery, near the site of the Battle of New Orleans (fought during the War of 1812) were incorporated into Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in 1978. Lafitte and his brother, Pierre, secured a legal pardon for various smuggling offenses by assisting U.S. forces under General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans.

8) Five. They are: Camp Nelson Heritage National Monument (Kentucky), Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument (Ohio), Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine (Maryland), Fort Pulaski National Monument (Georgia), and Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (Montana).

9) One. Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument, commemorating the Battle of Mill Springs during the American Civil War, was declared a national monument earlier this year. Establishment of the monument is pending acquisition of certain parcels of monument land.

10) False. Despite the legendary status it attained during the Texas Revolution, the Alamo Mission was originally abandoned by the U.S. Army, beginning in 1876. The buildings of the Alamo Mission, with the exception of its chapel, were sold to a mercantile company. The chapel, sold to the state of Texas, was eventually preserved and restored and incorporated into San Antonio Missions National Historic Park.

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