Poppy Day

[Drywall]

Saturday May 10 is Poppy Day in these parts. You might have seen members of the VFW or American Legion and Auxillarys asking for a contribution in exchange for a poppy at local stores and malls.

Why a red poppy?

The red poppy, the Flanders poppy, was first described as the
flower of remembrance by Colonel John McCrae, who was
Professor of Medicine at McGill University of Canada before
World War One. Colonel McCrae had served as a gunner in the
Boer War, but went to France in World War One as a medical
officer with the first Canadian contingent.


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.


Colonel McCrae was wounded in May 1918 and died after three
days in a military hospital on the French coast. On the eve of
his death he allegedly said to his doctor, "Tell them this. If
ye break faith with us who die we shall not sleep".

An American Miss Moira Michael, read "In Flanders' Fields" and
wrote a reply entitled "We Shall Keep the Faith":


Oh! You who sleep in Flanders' fields,
Sleep sweet - to rise anew,
We caught the torch you threw,
And holding high we kept
The faith with those who died,
We cherish, too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valour led.
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders' fields.
And now the torch and poppy red
Wear in honour of our dead
Fear not that ye have died for naught
We've learned the lesson that ye taught
In Flanders' fields.

[bbeil]

I hope that every American will buy a poppy this year, it really helps the VFW to help carry on its programs.
May god bless you and all of the fallen hero's at Flanders Field!
Of course , the other fallen hero's of less significant places, you know what I am saying.