5/25/09

Where Have All the Red Poppies Gone?


Actually, Veterans Day is the day we give thanks for all who have fought; Memorial Day is the day we pay tribute to those who have given their all, the ultimate sacrifice, for what we enjoy (and sometimes fail to appreciate) today.
Do you remember when there were red poppies everywhere as part of Memorial Day observances? I do. It was a nice tradition but one which seems to have disappeared.
As Moina Michael wrote in "In Flanders Field" --
We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.
Memorial Day is also a good time to remember words from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address:
"That from these honored dead we take increased devotion
to that cause which they gave the last full measure of devotion...
that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom..."

4 comments:

storyteller said...

Lovely thoughts for Memorial Day ... perfect cartoon!
Hugs and blessings,

Sarge Charlie said...

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.


Thanks for this post

Syd said...

I do remember those red poppies. I thought that they were given out by the VFW but perhaps I'm mistaken. I can remember my uncle wearing one.

Kranky Granny said...

I do remember those red poppies. There was a time when every stop light in town and the entry to every store on main street had a volunteer collecting and dispensing poppies to raise fund for veterans organizations.

I had not thought about them in years. I wonder why they quit using them. We still have the collections but just not as many since the average age of the members of the VFW is about eighty.

The Vietnam veterans like my brothers and BIL's still do not want to be connected with anything that reminds them of there military service, so I guess that explains why we no longer see the poppies,

 
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