Poppy Day 2010

Nationally, every year during the month of May, American Legion Auxiliary members distribute the familiar red poppy. The members of Unit 60, Berkeley Springs, will be distributing poppies on May 22. To start the poppy distribution, Unit 60 presented a poppy wreath to the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department.

The history of the red poppy goes back to World War I. In the midst of all the horror and death of battles, the poppies grew seemingly untouched. In 1915 Col. John McCrae, a surgeon in the Canadian Army, wrote the immortal poem “In Flanders Fields” when his friend was killed during battle. He dedicated the poem not only to his friend, but to all the fallen heroes. Three years later, he was killed in the war.

After World War I a few women in France and in the United States, including Moina Michael, being deeply affected by Col. McCrae’s poem, headed efforts to sell poppies to raise funds for families of war torn regions.

This continues today. When the American Legion Auxiliary was organized in October 1921, the red poppy was adopted as its Memorial Flower. The distribution of the bright red memorial poppy to the public is one of the oldest and most widely recognized program of the American Legion Auxiliary.
Each nine piece poppy is made by veterans in V.A. Medical Centers and Nursing Homes, with all the supplies donated by the Auxiliary. In the year 2009, the number of poppies actually made by the veterans was over 5,388,074 and 8,150 American Legion Auxiliary units ordered a total of 4,960,312 poppies.

Members of Unit 60 will be in front of Food Lion on May 22, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. so that everyone can accept a poppy, make a donation, pause a moment to pin it on, wear it with pride and recognize those who have served, given their lives and those who are now serving so that we all can continue to live free in the United States of America.