With Memorial Day upon us, you may notice members of the VFW selling poppies. There are various rumors and myths out there about where and why poppies are tied to Memorial Day. The first is the name, they are not just poppies—they are remembrance poppies. The reason they are tied to Memorial Day is much simpler than you may realize. In 1915, Canadian Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae wrote a poem about the aftermath of battle called “Flanders Fields.”
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
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.
If you see someone selling poppies this weekend, make a donation, and wear it to remember those who will forever sleep in Flanders Fields.
Memorial Day is not a day to celebrate all veterans, it is a day to remember those who are no longer with us. It was originally called Decoration Day after the Civil War, but as is the story in the United States, the North and South had different ideas about the day. The Northern and Southern traditions more or less merged toward the end of the 19th century to become the Memorial Day we know today.