Memorial Day 2018 - USAA Poppy Tribute

[Hayata]

Saw this as a trailer at the movie theater today.

So moved by the representation that this country has paid by the individuals willing to sacrifice it all for FREEDOM.

 

[USUK]

Question (as an ex-Brit): so are poppies a symbol of war dead/remembrance in America, or is this a new thing? (They are used as such in the U.K./commonwealth - since the First World War) (annual poppy appeals are held, to raise money for veterans, around armistice day each year).

 

[palmettomoon]

First adopted by the American Legion as symbol of Armistice Day, then adopted in the Empire. Sadly most Americans have no idea of the significance, the sacrifices or horror that was WWI and how it shaped the Twentieth Century.

 

[pavogrande]

As I recall, The poppy was symbolic for "Flanders fields" casualties in WWI ---

 

[palmettomoon]

"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, May 1915