Lest We Forget

So begins what is perhaps one of the best known poems in the English speaking world. Canadian surgeon Lt-Col. John McCrae penned the verses in Ypres, Belgium during World War I. The day before he had seen his friend die on the battlefield, and that day presided over his friend's funeral. McCrae rejected the poem, ripping it out of his notebook and throwing it away. A fellow officer saw him do it, and retrieved it. Months later it was published by Punch magazine.

Why a Poppy?

The poppy is today a symbol of Remembrance. Because of John McCrae's poem many of us believe the flower's connection to war and commemoration begins with the Battle of Ypres, however this is a blossom that has long been known as one of the battlefield. Poppies were associated with war dead as early as the Napoleonic Wars, as these "weeds" grow widely in Europe and tend to pop up unexpectedly when a battle disturbs their dormant seeds in the earth.

The red of the poppy reminds us of the blood shed by the wounded and the dead. The fact that they can pop up so suddenly and then disappear very quickly once their blooms wither away, is an apt reminder that a battle may be over within a very short time - but the damage done by that battle continues to be felt long after the guns are silenced.

Legacy of the Poppy

When we were kids in school we would cut a construction paper poppy each year and pin it on proudly. We would recite "In Flanders Fields" - probably in that terrible, choppy cadence I have come to find horribly irritating since I learned how to properly read poetry, and certainly without really understanding the sacrifice of the many who fought in the World Wars or subsequent conflicts.

When I was a little older I would look for the Legion members selling poppies at a table in the shopping center, or I would find a poppy in a countertop display at a favourite boutique. Plunking a coin into a collection bank and pinning that scarlet bloom to my lapel has been a perennial ritual, and I have felt naked on occasions in recent years when we have been unable to find a poppy sale.

Funds from poppy sales goes to the veterans themselves. In the United States, disabled veterans assemble the poppies and receive compensation for their work. Other monies are used to maintain facilities and to fund programs of benefit to veterans and their families. In Canada, the Royal Canadian Legion uses funds from the poppy sales to assist former servicemen and servicewomen in need, and to offer comforts to hospitalized veterans. Similar campaigns also exist in the United Kingdom, in Australia and New Zealand.

Pride of a Mother

Yesterday my eldest child donned her poppy and headed out to the armoury, where she met her cadet unit and went to march in her very first Remembrance Day parade. In preparation, the day before her unit spoke about Remembrance Day and listened to Terry Kelly's "A Pittance of Time." When she came home we spoke about what she might expect at the ceremony.

We played the Last Post and read The Act of Remembrance. She had learned to sing O Canada as a small child, but we played God Save the Queen so she could learn the words. She chose pictures of her Grammy and Grandpapa in uniform, to carry with her during the parade. My heart swelled as I watched her singing with a tear on her cheek, and later the next day when she returned from the parade to tell me about a fellow cadet who carries his grandfather's dog tags whenever he dons his uniform. It is not that I would be disappointed if she had other interests and priorities, but I feel proud that she uses these opportunities to find meaning and to connect with those who have gone before her.

Teach Your Children Well

About two weeks ago my husband was helping to chaperone a school field trip and the route the school bus took on the way back at the end of the day found the group stopped in traffic, right in front of the armoury. As the kids looked down to the street a reservist in fatigues walked by and one of the boys on the bus called out, "I salute you, you dirty soldier."

Of course, the windows were closed and the only people who heard the words he uttered were his classmates and the adults on the bus. Still, it is sad for any child to speak so shamefully. It stands in such stark contrast with the pride we feel in our daughter.

It has been several decades since Graham Nash told parents to, "Teach your children well," but the message is still relevant today. Our children learn by example, and with the current unpopularity of the war in Iraq - and now even the military involvement in Afghanistan - it is easy for our children to learn to hold soldiers in disdain.

No matter what we feel about the actions of our respective armed forces, it is important to recall that the men and women who serve here and abroad are all human beings. Every soldier is somebody's daughter or somebody's son. How would any one of us feel, if our child were called a "dirty soldier"?

Let us teach our children to have respect for themselves and for others, if nothing else. Let us teach our children well to recall what men and women have given over the decades for them to enjoy the rights and freedoms they have today - not to mention the luxuries. Let us teach them to wear the poppy as an act of Remembrance, even if they don't necessarily agree with the politics behind the war. Lest we forget.

Sources:

"Bakery told to nix poppy tribute" Joe Warmington (Toronto Sun)

"Buddy Poppy" Veterans of Foreign Wars

"In Flanders Fields" Arlington National Cemetery

"John McCrae" Historica Minutes

"Papaver rhoeas" Wikipedia

"The Poppy Campaign" Royal Canadian Legion