Question for English People
Dec 17, 2016 10:27:36 #
I've been watching a series on Netflix about "999" rescues, and most of the people in the 999 Center are wearing these paper badges. What's the story?
Dec 17, 2016 10:34:22 #
jerryc41 wrote:
I've been watching a series on Netflix about "999" rescues, and most of the people in the 999 Center are wearing these paper badges. What's the story?
I am not English but the badges are 'poppies'. They are worn to commemorate those lost in WW1.
Dec 17, 2016 10:36:05 #
Dec 17, 2016 10:42:20 #
yes they are poppies made by disabled folk for the armed servicesu. The organisation for veterans is the British Legion and they look after the service veterans in many ways. Eavh November the poppies are sold and worn by mkst people and bring in millions for the Legion. I believe the poppies represent the poppy fields of tbe battlegrounds of Flanders.I am a proud member.
Dec 17, 2016 10:48:09 #
...I believe the American Legion does the same (the poppies) but don't know the history...it would be neat if they were also WWI in origin *and* have crossed the pond, so to speak!
Dec 17, 2016 12:16:43 #
From the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Public Affairs
https://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetday_faq.asp
Q. Why are red poppies worn on Veterans Day, and where can I obtain them?
A. The wearing of poppies in honor of America's war dead is traditionally done on Memorial Day, not Veterans Day. The practice of wearing of poppies takes its origin from the poem In Flanders Fields, written in 1915 by John McCrae. For information on how to obtain poppies for use on Memorial Day, contact a veterans service organization, such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW) or The American Legion, as a number of veterans organizations distribute poppies annually on Memorial Day. You can find veterans groups in the Veterans Service Organization link on VA's Veterans Day web page. Veterans groups in your area can be found in your local phone book. Look in the yellow pages under "Veterans and Military Organizations" or a similar heading.
https://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/flanders.asp
https://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetday_faq.asp
Q. Why are red poppies worn on Veterans Day, and where can I obtain them?
A. The wearing of poppies in honor of America's war dead is traditionally done on Memorial Day, not Veterans Day. The practice of wearing of poppies takes its origin from the poem In Flanders Fields, written in 1915 by John McCrae. For information on how to obtain poppies for use on Memorial Day, contact a veterans service organization, such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW) or The American Legion, as a number of veterans organizations distribute poppies annually on Memorial Day. You can find veterans groups in the Veterans Service Organization link on VA's Veterans Day web page. Veterans groups in your area can be found in your local phone book. Look in the yellow pages under "Veterans and Military Organizations" or a similar heading.
https://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/flanders.asp
Dec 17, 2016 13:55:06 #
St3v3M wrote:
From the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Offic... (show quote)
In Flanders Field
by John McCrae, May 1915
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.
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-mccrae-in-flanders-fields.htm
Dec 17, 2016 13:59:04 #
repleo wrote:
I am not English but the badges are 'poppies'. They are worn to commemorate those lost in WW1.
Understood. The vets here used to sell real poppies around Memorial Day, but now they sell paper poppies that look almost like the real thing.
https://www.alaforveterans.org/poppy/
Dec 17, 2016 15:45:42 #
When I was a kid I remember paper poppies being sold for a donation to the American Legion, however, I haven't seen anyone in years either selling or wearing a paper poppy. 
Dec 17, 2016 15:49:16 #
2Dragons wrote:
When I was a kid I remember paper poppies being sold for a donation to the American Legion, however, I haven't seen anyone in years either selling or wearing a paper poppy.
I think it's your location, "Back of Beyond." Come to the Catskills. Vets sell them outside supermarkets and other stores.
Dec 17, 2016 16:38:03 #
A reason poppies are used is that they will flower on torn up ground. They are often the first flower to reappear on building sites etc. As a blood red flower it is quite symbolic for counting the cost of those who were killed in those battlefields and places of conflict.
It is all to do with WW1 as are the cenotaphs (War Memorials) that list those killed. No other war has been immortalised in such a way. Every town and village in the UK probably has a plaque or monument listing the names of those local men who did not return. At 11 am on the 11th of November every year there are marches and or simply prayers at these monuments to show 'That we still remember' the human price that was paid in that war (to end all wars). WW2 has the official War grave markers around airfields used or where people died in a particular incident of that war. For those killed in conflicts since then there is little evidence on public display.
NB we still have ex servicemen from that war. They march in London at the head of the parade!
It is all to do with WW1 as are the cenotaphs (War Memorials) that list those killed. No other war has been immortalised in such a way. Every town and village in the UK probably has a plaque or monument listing the names of those local men who did not return. At 11 am on the 11th of November every year there are marches and or simply prayers at these monuments to show 'That we still remember' the human price that was paid in that war (to end all wars). WW2 has the official War grave markers around airfields used or where people died in a particular incident of that war. For those killed in conflicts since then there is little evidence on public display.
NB we still have ex servicemen from that war. They march in London at the head of the parade!
Dec 17, 2016 17:33:31 #
G Brown wrote:
... Every town and village in the UK probably has a plaque or monument listing the names of those local men who did not return...
Towns in the USA also have such monuments. Our town lists names back to the French and Indian wars (1754-1783). Surrounding towns also include King Philip's war (1672-1675) but our area was not a town until 1683, although there were residents who were killed in that war.
None of those wars matched WWI.
Dec 17, 2016 17:43:05 #
Back when Nov 11 was Armistice Day for the end of official fighting in WW I here in the US they picked up the wearing of the Red Poppies, officially in 1921 I think. Some called it Poppy Day.
When Nov 11 became Veterans Day the Red Poppies migrated to Memorial Day but many places and people bring them out on both days.
When Nov 11 became Veterans Day the Red Poppies migrated to Memorial Day but many places and people bring them out on both days.
Dec 18, 2016 06:16:05 #
It's not just WWI war dead that are remembered now, all conflicts are treated similarly. There's a white poppy for pacifists and even a purple one to commemorate animals lost in any war.
Dec 18, 2016 07:27:40 #
G Brown wrote:
A reason poppies are used is that they will flower... (show quote)
Our plaques tend to list those who served in the various wars, whether they returned home or not. My father is listed twice, with and without his middle initial - funny.
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