Who started the custom of wearing red poppies?
In 1915, inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields,” Moina Michael replied with her own poem. We cherish too, the Poppy red That grows on fields where valor led, It seems to signal to the skies That blood of heroes never dies. She then came up with an idea of wearing red poppies on Memorial day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. • How is the 3rd U.S. Infantry associated with memorial day? Since the late 1950’s on the Thursday just before the Memorial day, around 1200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annua
