As we look ahead to Memorial Day weekend with its countdown to the last day of school, the opening of swimming pools, and the running of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, let us stop for just a moment and look back to the month of May in another time, May 1918.
America was engaged in a world war, the first time this young country had joined forces with other nations to defend the free society. The young men of the American Expeditionary Forces faced a war in France more cruel than they could have imagined, war fought from trenches that stretched from Switzerland to the North Sea.
That May of 1918, they spent week after week crouched in trenches filling with spring rain, turning the earth that had been frozen to mud. On those spring breezes came waves of mustard gas, and the smell of death.
That same rain and warm sun that added to the terrible conditions in the trenches made the wild poppies grow, field after field of bright red poppies growing where thousands had died.
It was nature’s memorial to the lost friends and comrades, a symbol of their sacrifice, a symbol that is now a memorial to all men and women who have died serving their country in wars. It is a small reminder to the American public that millions have died so there could be a 500-mile race weekend, so children could go to school, so there would be an America as we know it today.
Saturday, May 8, the members of the American Legion Auxiliary, the mothers, wives, daughters, sisters, granddaughters or great-granddaughters of the men and women who have honorably served their country during a declared war, will once again ask the citizens of this community to remember the sacrifice that has been made for America by wearing a poppy. This memorial poppy is not only a personal tribute to the dead, but it also honors the living veteran and helps with rehabilitation work. You see, the poppy we will distribute in return for a contribution is made by veterans, to remember veterans, and to help veterans.
When you wear this little red flower, it helps to keep alive the kind of patriotism so necessary in this great country of ours. As long as such a feeling exists in our hearts, we need not fear for the future of our nation for we will never forget the price of war, and the responsibility for freedom.
Wear a poppy on Poppy Day, and show that you, too, honor the millions who served America.
Anita Hoefer,
Poppy Chairman, Unit 261
“And now the Torch and Poppy red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We’ll teach the lessonsthat ye wrought
In Flanders Fields.”
We Shall Keep Faith,
Moina Michael
In November 1918, Moina Belle Michael, “The Poppy Lady” from Georgia, distributed poppies to businessmen and asked them to wear the poppy as a tribute to those who died in battle. During the early 1920s, at its national conventions, The American Legion, and its Auxiliary adopted the poppy as its memorial flower, and mandated that contributions received from the distribution of the poppies be used for the sole purpose of aiding veterans and their families. Thus, the Poppy program began.
Through the years, the Poppy program has grown to meet the needs of America’s veterans of wars. Today, distribution of the poppy, a beautiful, petite, bright red flower, continues to assist hospitalized and disabled veterans in need of rehabilitation and financial assistance. It still remains as a symbol honoring those whose lives were sacrificed for America’s freedom during the wars.
Continued support of the Poppy program improves the lives of the veterans who make the poppies. Although the earnings are minimal, the veteran poppy-maker realizes a sense of worth as a wage earner. A mental satisfaction of financial independence is developed. The veteran poppy-maker’s therapeutic and rehabilitative healing process is also improved through the physical use of the body. Thousands of veterans and their families benefit from the proceeds of poppy distribution. The financial assistance provided to them helps to defray housing, clothing, education, medical, transportation, and many other daily expenses.
During the trying time of war and through evil acts of terrorism, it has become more apparent that we need to show our gratitude and thank those men and women in uniform, and include those who have paid the ultimate price so that we could remain living in a free country under God. There is not a better way to say THANK YOU than to wear a poppy as a reminder that we will “always remember.”
History of Poppy Day
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