Wear A Poppy

[thedrifter]

WHY WEAR A POPPY - Author: Unknown

"Please wear a poppy", the lady said
and held one forth, but I shook my head.
Then I stopped and watched as she offered them there,
And her face was old and lined with care;
But beneath the scars the years had made
There remained a smile that refused to fade.

A boy came whistling down the street
Bouncing along on care-free feet
His smile was full of joy and fun,
"Lady", said he, "May I have one?"
When she's pinned it on he turned to say,
"Why do we wear a poppy today?"

The lady smiled in her wistful way
And answered, "This is Remembrance Day,
And the poppy there is the symbol for
The gallant men and women who died in war,
And because they did, you and I are free --
That's why we wear a poppy, you see".

"I had a boy about your size,
With golden hair and big blue eyes.
He loved to play and jump and shout,
Free as a bird he would race about.
As the years went by he learned and grew
And became a man -- as you will, too."

"He was fine and strong, with a boyish smile,
But he'd seemed with us such a little while
When war broke out and he went away.
I still remember his face that day
When he smiled at me and said "Good-bye,
I'll soon be back, Mom, so please don't cry".

"But the war went on and he had to stay,
And all I could do was wait and pray.
His letters told of the awful fight,
(I can see it still in my dreams at night),
With the tanks and guns and cruel barbed wire,
And the mines and bullets, the bombs and fire".

"Till at last, the war was won -
And that's why we wear a poppy son".
The small boy turned as if to go,
Then said "Thanks, lady, I'm glad to know.
That sure did sound like an awful fight,
But your son -- did he come back all right?"

A tear rolled down each faded cheek;
She shook her head, but didn't speak.
I slunk away in a sort of shame,
And if you were me you'd have done the same;
For our thanks, in giving, is oft delayed,
Though our freedom was bought - And thousands paid.

And so when we see a poppy worn,
Let us reflect on the burden borne
By those who gave their very all
And asked to answer their country's call
That we at home in peace might live.
Then wear a poppy. Remember -- and Give!

Lest we forget.

Sempers,

Roger

[Packo]

That's wonderful.

THANKS!

Packo

[SEATJERKER]

...Thank you Rodger for all you bring to this site...

...It is a day for those to be remembered, for one day a year, and millions of tears...

...

[DMZ-LT]

Thank you. Last few years I have had to seek them out , but I always try to wear one. When we joined the legion - before the incident - we met an old guy who had been on a PT boat during WW II. He had a lot of good stories. I asked him if they all made it home. He stopped and tears started to flow down his face. Two of his ship mates had been killed one night and 59 years later it still moved him to tears. We will probably be the same. Going back to the Legion this Sat. for another b- day party - if I see him again we'll sit and talk

[Wazza]

On and around 11 November each year, the Returned Services League sells millions of red poppies for Australians to pin on their lapels. Proceeds go to RSL welfare work.

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.

At the second battle of Ypres in 1915, when in charge of a small first-aid post, he wrote in pencil on a page torn from his dispatch book:


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.

The verses were apparently sent anonymously to the English magazine, Punch, which published them under the title . "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.

[eMOM PAO]

That was wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing that and thank you so much for serving this great country!

Happy 227th Marines!