WHY DO WE WEAR THE POPPY The tradition began with a poem written in 1915 by Canadian doctor and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. McCrae grew up writing poetry and some of his works were published by Canadian periodicals. The son of a soldier, McCrae fought with Canadian forces in the Second Boer War. He was 41 at the outbreak of WWI and as a physician, qualified to join the medical corps. He declined and instead volunteered for a fighting unit where he served as a gunner and medical officer. Germany launched one of the first chemical attacks of the war at the Second Battle of Ypres in the Flanders region of Belgium. Despite being assaulted with deadly chlorine gas, the Canadian forces held the line for over two weeks. McCrae wrote to his mother from the battlefield, “For seventeen days and seventeen nights none of us have had our clothes off, nor our boots even, except occasionally. In all that time while I was awake, gunfire and rifle fire never ceased for sixty seconds…. And behind it all was the constant background of the sights of the dead, the wounded, the maimed, and a terrible anxiety lest the line should give way.” McCrae’s close friend, Alexis Helmer, was killed during the battle. After conducting the funeral, he noted how quickly the red poppies grew over the graves of the fallen. It is said he wrote the poem the next day, while riding in the back of an ambulance. The story goes that McCrae wasn’t satisfied with it, and the powerful poem was crumpled and thrown in the trash. A member of his unit retrieved it and submitted it for publication. The rest is history. The poem would go on to become the most popular of its era and would be used worldwide in ad campaigns for war bonds and recruitment. When the war ended in 1918, American professor Moina Michael started wearing a red poppy to honor soldiers who died in the war. She gave silk poppies to her friends and worked to have it adopted as an official symbol by the American Legion. The movement grew. Soon Madame E. Guérin was inspired to sell poppies in France to raise money for war orphans. In 1921, Field Marshall Douglas Haig, co-founder of The Royal British Legion, supported and encouraged the sale of poppies to raise money for veterans and their families. Poppy programs and appeals all over the world still take place every year to help raise awareness and money to assist our veterans. Many of the poppies are handmade by the veterans themselves. When you see the red poppies, please remember the sacrifice they represent. If you would like to help, I have attached links to several poppy programs below. 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. John McCrae
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 07:49:24 +0000
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