History of the Memorial Day Poppy
Poppy Day is a Time to Honor Those Fallen in Service to Their Nation
May 3, 2009
In the United States, Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday of May to honor military personnel who have died while serving their country. Originally called Decoration Day, this holiday was established shortly after the Civil War as a time to place flowers on the graves of those fallen. This day was initially celebrated on May 30 as it was thought that on this day flowers would be blooming throughout the country. Flowers continue to be an important part of this national holiday and many veterans will wear poppy flowers to commemorate the day. In fact, Memorial Day is sometimes known as Poppy Day.
The Memorial Day Poppy Started With a Poem
The origins of Poppy Day begin with a poem written by a Canadian Army colonel during the First World War. Colonel John McRae’s “In Flander Fields” was first published in December of 1915 in a British magazine called Punch. The poem expressed the colonel’s grief over the many soldiers who died on the Flander battlefields which were located in an area between western Belgium and northern France. In the poem the colonel describes how poppies grow among the rows and rows of graves.
Poppy Day was Started by Two Women
"In Flander Fields" left a strong impression on two women – Anna E. Guerin in France and Moina Michael in the US state of Georgia. These two women worked hard to sell artificial poppies in order to help children left as orphans or people made impoverished by World War I. In 1922 Moina Michael thought the flowers should be used as a symbol in remembrance of the war. She turned to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) who helped make the Memorial Day poppy official. Although poppies are used to honor both Veterans’ Day and Memorial Day, it is traditionally done on the latter.
How are Memorial Day Poppies Used Today?
In the 1920s there weren’t enough artificial poppies to go around. So in 1924 a poppy factory was created in Pittsburgh, PA. Unemployed and disabled veterans were employed to create the flowers, thus providing them with a practical way to support themselves. Today veterans continue to create these artificial flowers for Poppy Day – primarily at Department of Veterans Affairs’ medical facilities and veteran homes. These flowers are then distributed by veterans service organizations throughout the nation. Donations received for these flowers help veterans, as well as the widows, widowers, and orphans left behind by those who fell. The Memorial Day poppy itself serves as a way to honor those who died serving their country
Finding a Memorial Day Poppy
These poppies can be obtained through veterans service organizations. The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) continues to distribute the poppy flower as it did in the 1920s. The American Legion also distributes the flower as do other veterans organizations. A person interested in celebrating Memorial Day with a poppy can look up his or her nearest Veterans Service Organization in a local phone book under a heading such as “Veterans and Military Organizations”.
 |
