Memorial Day

On Friday, May 26th, Post 388 and Auxiliary will be distributing Buddy Poppies throughout the Wausau area. 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.

Watch for us on Friday, May 27th, and please help us support this worthy cause. 

To find out more about the VFW and the Buddy Poppy, visit: https://www.vfw.org/community/community-initiatives/buddy-poppy