Americans are being asked to stop whatever they are doing at 3 p.m. local time Monday to share a minute on Memorial Day and honor those who have died in the cause of freedom.

"The time 3 p.m. was chosen because it is the time when most Americans are enjoying their freedoms on the national holiday," according to the White House Commission on Remembrance. Congress established the National Moment of 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 on Remembrance said on its Web site.