Welcome to VFW Post 388

Memorial Day is observed annually on the last Monday in May. It is a day to honor all those that have died while serving in the United States military. Memorial Day was originally known as “Decoration Day” and came about after the Civil War from a desire to remember those servicemembers that died during the war. It was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of an organization founded by Union veterans called the Grand Army of the Republic. In General Order No. 11 Logan stated, “The 30^th of May, 1868, is designated 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, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land.” He chose the date because it wasn’t the anniversary date of any particular battle. Memorial Day is not to be confused with Veterans Day which celebrates the service of all U.S. Military veterans. In 1971 congress passed the National Holiday Act which moved the observance of Memorial Day from May 30^th, to the last Monday in May.

One of the cherished activities of the Veterans Of Foreign Wars, is its annual Poppy Distribution generally held on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. In 1922, the VFW became the first veterans’ organization to distribute poppies nationally. Also known as “The Flower of Remembrance,” the poppies are assembled by disabled veterans and proceeds go to provide financial assistance to maintain state and national veteran’s rehabilitation and service programs, support the VFW National Home for Children, and also provides some compensation to those veterans that assemble the poppies. Click this link to watch a short video on "The Veterans Behind the Buddy Poppy."

Buddy Poppy is the official flower of the VFW and is one of the most recognized memorial symbols for servicemembers that have died in conflict with help in part from the poem “In Flanders Fields” by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae. John McCrae was a Canadian physician that served in the Flanders region of Belgium in the first World War where the German army launched one of the first chemical attacks in the history of war. It is said that he was inspired to write the poem after presiding at the funeral of a friend and fellow soldier and after noting how quickly poppies grew around the graves of those who died. It is written from the point of view of the dead and serves as a command for the living to press on. The poem, along with the poppy, have become almost synonymous with Memorial Day. The words from Colonel McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields” follow.

In Flanders Fields

by John McCrae, May 1915

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.