Saturday, May 19, 2012

Remember What Memorial Day Is All About

It's that time of the year again. This weekend and next, all over the country, Veteran's will be outside supermarkets, at bridges and in other assorted places looking for donations in exchange for a red paper poppy.

The story of the poppy is something like this. In Belgium during World War I, in the midst of the war ravaged battlefields, wild poppies grew. Their bright red color served as a reminder of the blood shed in the fight for freedom. The poppy has since become a symbol of all the human sacrifice by the men and women in uniform.

The poppies that are distributed today are made by hospitalized veterans and they receive a small stipend for their work. For some, this is the only supplemental income they receive. All funds taken in by the sale of the poppies are used exclusively for the therapeutic and financial benefit of veterans.

Each day we lose more and more men and women from the generation who fought in World War II. Those that are left grow more tired every day.  As we get closer to Memorial Day Weekend, please take a poppy from one of these brave veterans and give a donation.

And when the veteran looks at you and says thanks...please look back at him, straight in the eye and say "No, Thank You."

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4 comments:

  1. as a vietnam era vet,did not know the history of poppy.allways donated.back then we were not welcome&hated.most of us were young dreamy kids draftees who wanted no part of southeast asia.respect and honor all vets,especially my man the gipp-love ya,ya old ww2 sea bee

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  2. The more you read about the sacrifices of those people the more you appreciate what you have today.

    It saddens me to see all of the vets from the World Wars drift away and the best we can give them for their sacrifice is a day off from work for us.

    Instead of having ticker tape parades for sports teams that win championships (that mean nothing in the grand scheme of things) wouldn't it be nice to have one in every big city every memorial day to celebrate the accomplishments of the greatest generation?

    I think that might be better than sitting in the back yard grilling burgers. Because as far as children these days are concerned...all Memorial Day is is a day off from school.

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  3. my hometown used to have a memorial day parade every year. it was discontinued a few years ago as the local veterans became too old to participate. seems the younger generation was not all that interested in keeping up the tradition.

    memorial day is the one holiday i have big issues with turning into a day for retail sales events. too many have died for what we take for granted, to let it become so trivial. thanks for your thoughts jim.

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  4. Kudos to you for getting this out there! I couldn't agree more....too many times we not only neglect to remember and honor what they did for us during wartimes, but we disregard their struggles in everyday life when they return home.

    As the daughter of a man who served in WWII, I say THANK YOU for this blog! I hope many, many read it and put action to its meaning in their own lives.

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