It's called the USAA Poppy Wall of Honor, a majestic exhibit of more than 645,000 bright red poppy flowers to honor all U.S. service members who have died since World War I. On display for the second consecutive Memorial Day weekend at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., it's a moving and hopefully lasting addition to the traditions that honor our fallen heroes.
The symbolism of the Memorial Day poppy, John Bird, a retired Navy vice admiral and USAA's senior vice president for military affairs, told us, dates back to Lt. Col.
John McCrae's World War I poem "In Flanders Fields." "McRae," said Bird, "a Canadian doctor in the Canadian military, was burying a comrade of his in Flanders Fields, Belgium, and he noted all the red poppies growing among the rows of crosses."
Several years later, Moina Michael, an American professor and humanitarian, wrote a corresponding poem, "We Shall Keep the Faith," and, with the help of the American Legion, was instrumental in making the red poppy a symbol of remembrance for fallen soldiers - not just in the U.S. but in Canada, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
With the Poppy Wall of Honor, USAA hopes to revive this meaningful tradition.
"You go down one side of this wall that's 133 feet long, 9-feet high, and there's panels that educate you on the history of the poppy," said Bird, "And the number of men and women who have died in each one of our wars. And then when you turn the corner, for the full length of the wall there is the 645,000 poppies behind plexiglass. It is moving, it is inspiring."
Bird says the USAA partnered with the American Legion and VFW to fill the wall with synthetic poppies, which visitors can then dedicate to a fallen service member.
https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2019/05/27/flanders-fields-recognizing-importance-honoring-dead-memorial-day
The symbolism of the Memorial Day poppy, John Bird, a retired Navy vice admiral and USAA's senior vice president for military affairs, told us, dates back to Lt. Col.
John McCrae's World War I poem "In Flanders Fields." "McRae," said Bird, "a Canadian doctor in the Canadian military, was burying a comrade of his in Flanders Fields, Belgium, and he noted all the red poppies growing among the rows of crosses."
Several years later, Moina Michael, an American professor and humanitarian, wrote a corresponding poem, "We Shall Keep the Faith," and, with the help of the American Legion, was instrumental in making the red poppy a symbol of remembrance for fallen soldiers - not just in the U.S. but in Canada, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
With the Poppy Wall of Honor, USAA hopes to revive this meaningful tradition.
"You go down one side of this wall that's 133 feet long, 9-feet high, and there's panels that educate you on the history of the poppy," said Bird, "And the number of men and women who have died in each one of our wars. And then when you turn the corner, for the full length of the wall there is the 645,000 poppies behind plexiglass. It is moving, it is inspiring."
Bird says the USAA partnered with the American Legion and VFW to fill the wall with synthetic poppies, which visitors can then dedicate to a fallen service member.
https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2019/05/27/flanders-fields-recognizing-importance-honoring-dead-memorial-day
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