So November 11th is Veteran's day for most of you. You may or may not be aware that we celebrate the same day up here as Remembrance Day. The reason I bring it up, is that I was watching Jeopardy a few weeks ago, and the clue was regarding what flower is worn on Remembrance day in reference to the poem "In Flanders Fields" - the result was three contestants staring at Trebek with blank looks on thier faces. It was at that point that I realized that wearing a poppy in November is relatively unknown in the US.
Every November, members of the Royal Canadian Legion give out poppies for people to wear on their lapels, in exchange for donations to the Legion and Veterans' charities. School children on this day observe a moment of silence, and will often be taught the poem In Flanders Fields, which is where the tradition of the poppy came from.
From wikidedia:
Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae wrote it on May 3, 1915, after he witnessed the death of his friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, the day before. The poem was first published on December 8, that year in Punch magazine.
The poppies referred to in the poem grew in profusion in Flanders (Belgium) where war casualties had been buried and thus became a symbol of Remembrance Day. The poem is part of Remembrance Day solemnities in Allied countries which contributed troops to WWI, particularly in countries of the British Empire that did so.
The poem "In Flanders Fields" was written upon a scrap of paper upon the back of Colonel Lawrence Moore Cosgrave, in the trenches towards the end of WW I, during a lull in the bombings (as recited to his grandson).
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch, be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields
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