Poppies And Taps

Memorial Day weekend is considered the unofficial start of summer vacation for many.  Labor Day marks the end of the season.  Tomorrow, the last Monday in May, is Memorial Day (my mother always called it “Decoration Day”).  It became a federal holiday back in 1971. Prior to 1971,  Memorial Day was observed on May 30th (1868 to 1970).   It is a day for remembering and honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military.  It was originally called Decoration Day, based on the practice of placing flowers or flags at the graves of the fallen.

In 1915, a Canadian Lieutenant Colonel, John McCrae, wrote a poem, “In Flanders Fields.”  The opening lines refer to the fields of poppies that grew among the soldiers’ graves in that cemetery:

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place…

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….

In 1918, a woman, inspired by the poem, attended a conference wearing a silk poppy pinned to her coat and distributed a few poppies to others present.  In 1920, the National American Legion adopted the poppy as their official symbol of remembrance.  It was the practice of the American Legion in my hometown to visit the public schools and  distribute poppies made of crepe paper to the students—reminding us of the sacrifice made by those who gave their lives on our behalf.  We wore those  poppies on our shirts and dresses with a sense of pride and gratitude.  So it is, even now, when Memorial Day comes, I remember (no doubt with countless others) that crepe paper poppy and what it symbolized, both then and now..

We are all familiar with the bugle call “Taps” played at dusk, during flag ceremonies, and at military funerals.  It is a bugle call—a signal, not a song.  Sometimes words (not lyrics) are given as a mnemonic device.  The words given to Taps are appropriate as we remember on  this Memorial Day:

Day is done, gone the sun,

From the lake, from the hills, from the sky;

All is well, safely rest, God is nigh….

Thanks and praise for our days,

‘Neath the sun, ‘neath the stars, ‘neath the sky;

As we go, this we know, God is nigh.