Why Wear Poppies on Memorial Day?
The wearing of small paper poppies, known as “Buddy Poppies” has been a patriotic Memorial Day tradition since 1923. Made by disabled and aging veterans in VA Hospitals and homes across the country, the poppies provide money to assist the veterans and their families. Sold by local VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) posts, Buddy Poppy proceeds do not profit any VFW unit, but rather go directly to help veterans in need. The VFW was granted all Trademark Rights to the name “Buddy Poppy” in 1924, which means no other organization or individual can use that name. The “Buddy Poppy” label provides the public a way of knowing they are getting the real deal. So why poppies? The tradition stems from John McCrae’s 1915 war poem “In Flanders Field,” which speaks of the poppy covered Flanders Field United States military cemetery in Belgium, where the bodies of 368 World War I veterans are buried. It seems poppies only grow in rooted up soil, and because of the war, the soil had been churned to such a
