VICENZA, Italy -- Each year on Veterans Day, millions of paper poppies are handmade by veterans as part of a therapeutic rehabilitation program. Distributed throughout the United States, the donations given in exchange for the poppies are used to support hospitalized and disabled veterans.
This year, VFW Post 8862 will be distributing poppies in front of the Post Exchange on Caserma Ederle Nov. 10 and Nov. 11.
Poppies became a symbol of wartime death based on a poem called "In Flanders Fields" written by Lt. Col. John McCrae, a Canadian military surgeon, about the sight of the brilliant flowers growing on a bloody World War I battlefield. The Second Battle of Ypres took place in the province of West Flanders, Belgium, and the casualties were many, the destruction severe.
In 17 days of battle, heavy artillery uprooted the soil, causing poppies lying dormant in the field to bloom in great numbers across the war-torn meadows. Moved by the display of life anew juxtaposed against the carnage of war, McCrae penned the poem to honor the sacrifice made by the soldiers who lost their lives there.
The poem has made the red poppy the national symbol of sacrifice and remembrance of those lost to the ravages of war since 1919. On Nov. 11 that year, Armistice Day (now Veterans Day) was established because it was the day World War I formally ended.
The display of poppies has also spread to other countries, including Canada, England and Australia to honor the sacrifice of lost soldiers.
In 1921, the American Legion Auxiliary established the poppy program and in August 1922, the poppy was adopted as the official memorial flower of the Veterans of Foreign Wars at its national convention in Seattle. This was the first nationwide distribution of poppies ever conducted by any veteran organization. In 1923, faced by a shortage of poppies from French manufacturers, the VFW relied on New York florists to make up the difference. The shortage was a huge setback, however, and led to the idea by VFW officials to use unemployed and disabled veterans to produce the artificial flower.
This concept was approved later that year, and the first poppy factory was built in Pittsburgh, in 1924. This provided a practical means of assistance to veterans and ensured a steady, reliable source of poppies. Today, veterans at Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities and veterans' homes help assemble the poppies, and each year the VFW distributes roughly 14 million worldwide.
The VFW celebrates the 85th anniversary of the poppy as its official flower this year.
While profits from donations have helped countless veterans and their widows, widowers and orphans over the years, the poppy itself survives as a perpetual tribute to those who have given their lives for the nation's freedom.
On this and every day, our gratitude goes out to those who have served, those we have lost, and to those who continue to feel the impact of the sacrifices given for our country.
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