In Flanders fields the poppies grow
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.
John McCrae
The
History of Memorial Day
Originally a day to commemorate soldiers killed in the Civil War, Memorial Day
now honors all U.S. war casualties. It officially became a holiday in 1868
when Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic issued
an order designating a day "…for the purpose of strewing with flowers
or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their
country during the late rebellion."
Today, one of the most well-known Memorial Day traditions takes place at
Arlington National Cemetery where the Tomb of the Unknowns is decorated with
memorial wreaths.
The
Story Behind the Memorial Day Poppy
One
of the most popular ways to recognize Memorial Day is to wear a poppy as a
sign of remembrance. The story behind this tradition is that of a Georgia
teacher named Moina Michael.
In 1918, Moina was supporting the war effort by working at YMCA headquarters
when she was deeply touched by a poem called We Shall Not Sleep. The
poem began, "In Flanders fields the poppies grow, between the crosses,
row on row."
After reading the poem, Moina pledged to always wear a red poppy as a memorial
to fallen soldiers. She soon began a tireless campaign to make the poppy a
national memorial symbol; she hoped it would remember the fallen and symbolize
a new optimism for a country recovering from war.
In 1920 the American Legion adopted the Flanders Fields Poppy as its official
memorial flower and, to this day, raise money for veteran's causes by
distributing the flower.
To me the South is unexplainable. All I can say is that there's a sweetness
here, a Southern sweetness - that makes sweet music. If I had to tell
somebody who had never been to the South what it was, I'd just have to tell
him that it's music from the heart, from the pulse - from the innermost
feeling. That's my soul, that's how I sing. And that's the South.
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