In Memory of the Poppy, the People, the Purpose.
The Poppy Flower, specifically the Flanders Poppy with its delicate orange-red petals, which grew wild on the Belgium battlefields of World War I, came to symbolize remembrance, resilience, and peace and has been internationally associated with Memorial Day ever since.
The Flanders Poppy was first commemorated in a poem written by Canadian lieutenant colonel John McCrae called “In Flanders Fields” in reference to how quickly the flowers grew around the graves of fallen soldiers on battlefields.
American Professor Moina Michael was so inspired by McCrae’s poem she resolved to wear a red poppy year-round to honor those who had died in the war. She then wrote a poem of her own in response and distributed silk poppies to friends and colleagues as she campaigned to have them adopted as official symbols of remembrance by the American Legion. After seeing the poppies at a convention in 1920, Madame E. Guerin was inspired to sell them in her native country (France) to raise money for orphans of war.
Known originally as Decoration Day, Memorial Day has been observed here, in the United States, since the spring of 1865, which marked the ending of the Civil War, a years-long battle that freed the slaves and claimed more lives than any other conflict in American history. It also necessitated the creation of the country’s first national cemeteries.
Mary Ann Williams, a former soldier’s wife, and frequent civic activist, is noted as the first proponent for Memorial Day as a national holiday to decorate the graves of American soldiers killed in the line of duty.
General John A. Logan proclaimed, “The 30th 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,”
The National Moment of Remembrance Act passed in 2000, asks everyone across the nation to pause and remember at 3:pm (local time) on Memorial Day
May 26, 1983: “I don’t have to tell you how fragile this precious gift of freedom is. Every time we hear, watch, or read the news, we are reminded that liberty is a rare commodity in this world.” ~ President Ronald Reagan (ThoughtCo.com)
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