ARLINGTON , Virginia ( CNN ) -- Barack Obama marked his first Memorial Day as president on Monday , calling on Americans to remember U.S. troops who died in the service of their country and navigating a Civil War memorial controversy . President Obama pays tribute to veterans at a wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday . The president participated at the 141st annual Memorial Day wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery 's Tomb of the Unknowns . The men and women buried at Arlington `` waged war so that we may know peace , '' Obama said . `` They were willing to give up everything for the defense of our freedom [ and ] were willing to sacrifice all for their country . ... They are the best of America . '' Also Monday , Obama decided to continue a controversial presidential tradition of honoring Southern Civil War soldiers by sending a wreath to Arlington 's Confederate Memorial , according to the White House . But the president decided to start what may become a new tradition by sending a wreath to the African-American Civil War Memorial at Vermont Avenue and U Street Northwest in Washington . See how fallen service members are being remembered » . Critics had called for an end to the longtime presidential practice of laying a wreath at the Confederate site . Last week , roughly five dozen professors sent a letter to Obama calling the tradition offensive to African-Americans . Some observers recently suggested adding the recognition of the African-American memorial as a possible compromise . Wreaths also were sent to be placed on the mast of the USS Maine and the Spanish-American War Memorial , both in Arlington National Cemetery . Obama also hosted a White House breakfast for several military Gold Star families , the relatives of service men and women killed in action . A separate Memorial Day observance was held at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at 1 p.m . ET , and the National Memorial Day Parade started an hour later . All Americans were asked to pause for a moment of remembrance at 3 p.m. local time Monday `` because it is the time when most Americans are enjoying their freedoms on the national holiday , '' according to the White House Commission on Remembrance . `` The moment does not replace traditional Memorial Day events ; rather it is an act of national unity in which all Americans , alone or with family and friends , honor those who died for our freedom , '' the commission said on its Web site . `` It will help to reclaim Memorial Day as the sacred and noble holiday it was meant to be . In this shared remembrance , we connect as Americans . '' The 3 p.m. observances included , among other things , an interruption of Major League Baseball games and the pausing of the Washington Memorial Day Parade . The National Grocers Association and Food Marketing Institute has asked shoppers to pause in stores across the nation . Memorial Day was first marked May 30 , 1868 , three years after the end of the Civil War . Congress declared it a national holiday in 1971 . CNN 's Emily Schultze contributed to this report .
Obama continues controversial sending of wreath to Confederate Memorial . President also sends wreath to African-American Civil War Memorial . Obama takes part in Memorial Day wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery . Men and women buried there `` waged war so that we may know peace , '' he said .