VFW Post 9892
Buddy Poppy History |
FROM
FLANDER'S FIELDS TO MAIN STREET... In April of 1915 a battle-weary Canadian soldier viewed the finalplace of thousands of young men who had fallen in the second Battle of Ypres in Belgium. Despondently he contemplated the rows of hastily dug graves each marked with a single white cross. In
a sudden revelation, he heard the singing of larks in the sky, and amid
the graves he saw gay little patches of red - wild poppies, struggling
through the battle-torn soil and through the clay mounds of the graves
to bring their message of life among death. Inspired,
Col. John McCrae sat down and penned the three short verses of his
famous poem "In Flanders Field". Published in PUNCH Magazine a
few months later, the poem brought a message of confidence to millions
of people in the dark hours of World War I and established the Flanders
Poppy as the symbol of faith and hope in a war-torn world. Although
Col. McRae never lived to see the end of World War I, his poem has
survived in print and in the minds and hearts of generations to whom his
personal battle were mere history. The poppies which provided his
inspiration still bloom in Flanders Fields; but their message of hope
has become reality through the Veterans of Foreign Wars Buddy Poppy.
The
VFW
Buddy Poppy is made by patients
in veterans hospitals throughout the United States. The work provides
needed therapy for hands and minds crippled by the ravages of war, and
the pay earned provides a few simple luxuries to ease the boredom of
hospital life. In
keeping with its pledge to "Honor the Dead by Helping the
Living", the sale is conducted exclusively by volunteers and the
Veterans of Foreign Wars dedicates the profits to the aid and assistance
of disabled and needy servicemen and veterans, and the widows and
orphans or deceased veterans. Counseling
service for disabled veterans, entertainment of hospital patients,
assistance to servicemen, direct aid to needy families - all are
provided in part by the sale of Buddy Poppies. After more
than half a century, the poppy still brings its message of hope to those
who have borne the brunt of battle. |