West Seattle weekend scene: Memorial Day poppies

This weekend, be part of a Memorial Day tradition – get an American Legion poppy. West Seattle’s Auxiliary Unit 160 president Andrea Geraghty and Post 160 adjutant Kyle Geraghty (a Marine Corps veteran) were at West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor) this morning with Tom Bucy (an Army veteran), assisted by their daughter Ana. Post 160 will be there until 4 today and again 8 am-4 pm on Sunday, offering the veteran-made poppies and accepting donations. Post 160 and VFW Post 2713 also will partner for Monday’s Memorial Day service/ceremony at Forest Lawn (WSB sponsor), where flags now adorn veterans’ graves:

Local Scouts place them each year and will also assist at Monday’s event, which starts at 2 pm and will be followed by a community reception at the Legion Hall (3618 SW Alaska) in The Triangle.

3 Replies to "West Seattle weekend scene: Memorial Day poppies"

  • Norskgirl May 24, 2015 (7:10 am)

    REMEMBRANCE and the RED POPPY

    MEMORIAL DAY MEMORIES-
    Every Memorial Day, I think a lot about the red poppy tradition of Memorial Day. I have memories and learnings I’d like to share:
    Annually my mother would journey to the cemetery where multi-generations of our family rests. She placed flowers, flags and poppies on the family plots. The cemetery caregivers had already placed little white wooden crosses next to headstones of each war veteran.

    Another memory I have of Memorial Day is of older men situated outside the grocery store. Proudly dressed in their assortment of uniform. Bedecked with their metals, ribbons, pins, sashes, and cords. Standing as tall as their aged backs would allow. They were selling little red paper poppies. My mom would buy several. She would tuck one into the visor of her car, twist another around the strap on her purse, and save another to give to grandmom. This ritual seemed very important to my mom. I didn’t understand. She explained: the red poppy is a symbol of soldiers who defended our country and kept us safe. We wear the poppy to remember them. She reminded me that my grandpop had been a Navy seaman in World War I, my dad a Navy officer in the Korean War, and my cousin a soldier wounded in Vietnam.

    MEMORIAL DAY HISTORY-
    In later years, I researched the red poppy and remembrance. Here is what I learned:
    In May 1868, three years after the Civil War had ended, Decoration Day was established as a time for the nation to honour the war dead by decorating their graves with flowers. In 1882, Decoration Day became known as Memorial Day, and expanded to commemorate all who died fighting for freedom in any war, not just those who died in the Civil War. In 1971, by an act of Congress, the day became a federal holiday, and was moved to the last Monday of each May. Memorial Day (as well as Veteran’s Day) continues as a day of remembrance for all who served their country.

    THE POPPY AT THE WESTERN FRONT-
    The red corn poppy is a wildflower. During World War I, they thrived in the ravaged soil of the battlefields of the northern France and Belgium (Western Front). Soldiers’ lore had it that the poppies were vivid red and so prolific from having been nurtured in ground saturated with the blood of the killed.

    IN FLANDERS FIELD-
    In 1915, surgeon Lt.Col. John McCrae was witness to the death of a soldier-friend. Coupled with the sight of the endless sea of blood red poppies on the Ypres battlefield he was moved to write “In Flanders Fields”. It was widely circulated, became very popular, and remains iconic as a remembramce poem.

    “In Flanders Fields”
    by John McCrae

    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.

    At that time, a Moina Michael was a service worker with the Oversees YMCA War Workers in NYC. She was so moved by McCrae’s poem that she wrote a reply.

    “We Shall Keep the Faith”
    by Moina Michael

    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 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.

    The FLOWER OF REMEMBRANCE-
    Michael made a personal pledge to “keep the faith for all who died”. She vowed to wear a red poppy as a sign of remembrance. She was the first to wear one in such a manner. Michael also sold poppies to her friends and co-workers to raise money as a benefit to servicemen in need. Later a Madam Guerin from France was visiting the US and learned of this new custom started by Michael. When Guerin returned to France, she also displayed and sold red poppies. The red poppy soon became widely accepted internationally as the flower of remembrance and honour of the soldier fought and fallen. This remains a custom. Each Memorial day poppies are worn in memoriam.
    NOW-
    This Memorial weekend, I’m going to buy a red poppy, have a moment of remembrance, give up a thanks and send out a prayer.

  • Heather May 24, 2015 (10:47 am)

    @Norskgirl thank you for that. The sharing of your research and memories, enlightened at least one person, myself, today.

  • Souther May 25, 2015 (3:38 pm)

    Lovely!; thanks for sharing that important information!

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