In Flanders Fields poem celebrated 100 years with poppies

[razz]

WW 1 was a horrible war as are all wars but the poem, In Flanders Fields by John McCrae, brought that experience/pain to the foreground that families were able to understand and helped somewhat to deal with the grief over the years for all veterans.

It is the commemorative year - 100 years later - of this poem and the Canadian community is being urged to grow poppies in honour of all veterans. Do other countries acknowledge this poem as well with poppies?
http://www.centenarynews.com/article?id=1387

[Lainey]

I hadn't heard that, but I know when I see vets from the American Legion selling poppies to raise money, I always donate in memory of my Dad, a WWII veteran. I think this year I'm going to also be thinking of the civilians in Syria, South Sudan and elsewhere who are caught in the crossfire for years. Heartbreaking.

[Gardenarian]

Yes, they sell red poppies in the U.S., though I think few are familiar with the poem.
When I went to France it broke my heart to actually see the fields of red poppies. The Somme was such a horrible battle.

[gadder]

What a beautiful powerful poem, made more poignant that McCrae died just after writing it.

I think the message has been lost a bit, or at least misappropriated by, shall I say, the "defence" industry. So I wear the white poppy (http://www.ppu.org.uk/whitepoppy/index.html) on Remembrance Day.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Misappropriated perhaps, but it's not an anti war poem at least not to modern ears (certainly some poems written then most certainly were). Yes, white poppies. Take up our quarrel with the war machine ... :~)

[Miss Cellane]

My grandfather was a WWI vet. My siblings and cousins and I were all expected to memorize "In Flanders Fields." Grandpa made us stand in the middle of the living room and recite poems and short passages that he'd assigned us, and "In Flanders Fields" was one of his favorites. Forty years later and I can still remember most of it.

I have no clue whether other people in the US know about the poem. I did read it in a history class in high school, along with some of the other well-known WWI poems.