Memorial Day also designated as "POPPY DAY"

After World War I the day was set aside to honor the dead of all U.S. wars, and the custom was extended to pay homage to deceased relatives and friends, both military and civilian. Memorial Day was also designated Poppy Day; volunteers sell small red, artificial flowers to help disabled veterans.

... I read this very interesting article on the Memorial day by this lady veteran called Dana Briggs, which I produce for everybody's perusal. What she writes makes great sense to my pacifist and anti-war mind. Hope it appeals to readers at Quoteland too. Disclaimer: This is not an attempt to unglorify US sentiments. Thank you.

quote:

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In President Bush's 2002 Memorial Day proclamation, he made reference to a call for peace. Presidents since 1950 have similarly done so. Given our national history since that time, the question is whether they, and we, meant it.

If you use Memorial Day as simply a day off, recognize it as the "official" beginning of the summer season, spend the day with family, friends and others or don't think about it at all, I would suggest you might look again at the original reasons for this holiday.

I would ask all of you to spend some time at a national cemetery, visit veterans in a hospital, comfort refugees who come to the United States from conflicts across the planet or remember and honor everyone who "died" from the ultimate obscenity.

The last stanza of Angela Morgan's poem "Mothers with Little Sons" reads:

For war is a knave's design
And a coward's brutal scheme,
And men whose courage is divine
Shall foster a noble dream.

O mothers with little sons,
The years lie in your hands.
You are the chosen ones,
Men wait for your commands.

Not till your lips declare:
"Our sons no more shall fight!
Shall the crimson soil be fair
And the ravaged earth be right.

I will spend this day contributing in my own small way to furthering this sentiment and create a new world where we remember the past and use it as a catalyst to finally prevent adding anyone else to the list of those who are honored on this day.
-- Dana Briggs, a member of Veterans for Peace, Western Washington --- > source

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much love, light and laughter,
ananya.

*~Come play with my children feel the peace and Scatter some joy.~*
~*Blowing out someone else's candle doesn't make your's burn any brighter.*~

I could be wrong, but Poppy Day in England is also Remembrance Day, which is held in November, here in America the paper Poppy is sold for Veteran's Day, also held in November.
There is a site on the subject, but I don't have the time right now, I'll check later on and post.

"Do all things with love." Og Mandino

Yes rememberance day is also known as poppy day.....
It is on the 11th day of the 11th month, which is as Alice rightly said...in November. There is a two minute silence in most schools and workplaces on the 11th hour of the day.

I got some history on it from a website, the following is a copy and paste:

Remembrance Day Tradition
At 11 am on 11 November 1918 the guns of the Western Front fell silent after more than four years continuous warfare. The allied armies had driven the German invaders back, having inflicted heavy defeats upon them over the preceding four months. In November the Germans called for an armistice (suspension of fighting) in order to secure a peace settlement. They accepted the allied terms of unconditional surrender.

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month attained a special significance in the post-war years. The moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front became universally associated with the remembrance of those who had died in the war. This first modern world conflict had brought about the mobilisation of over 70 million people and left between 9 and 13 million dead, perhaps as many as one-third of them with no known grave. The allied nations chose this day and time for the commemoration of their war dead.

On the first anniversary of the armistice, 11 November 1919, the two minutes’ silence was instituted as part of the main commemorative ceremony at the new Cenotaph in London. The silence was proposed by an Australian journalist working in Fleet Street, Edward Honey. At about the same time, a South African statesman made a similar proposal to the British Cabinet, which endorsed it. King George V personally requested all the people of the British Empire to suspend normal activities for two minutes on the hour of the armistice "which stayed the world wide carnage of the four preceding years and marked the victory of Right and Freedom." The two minutes’ silence was popularly adopted and it became a central feature of commemorations on Armistice Day.

On the second anniversary of the armistice, 11 November 1920, the commemoration was given added significance when it became a funeral, with the return of the remains of an Unknown Soldier from the battlefields of the Western Front. Unknown soldiers were interred with full military honours in Westminster Abbey in London and at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The entombment in London attracted over one million people within a week to pay their respects at the Unknown Soldier’s tomb. Most other allied nations adopted the tradition of entombing unknown soldiers over the following decade.

In Australia on the 75th anniversary of the armistice, 11 November 1993, Remembrance Day ceremonies again became the focus of national attention. On that day the remains of an unknown Australian soldier, exhumed from a First World War military cemetery in France, were ceremonially entombed in the Australian War Memorial. Remembrance Day ceremonies were conducted simultaneously in towns and cities all over the country, culminating at the moment of burial at 11 am and coinciding with the traditional two minutes’ silence. This ceremony, which touched a chord across the Australian nation, re-established Remembrance Day as a significant day of commemoration.

Four years later, in November 1997, the Governor-General, Sir William Deane, issued a proclamation formally declaring 11 November Remembrance Day and urging all Australians to observe one minute’s silence at 11 am on 11 November each year to remember those who died or suffered for Australia’s cause in all wars and armed conflicts.

http://www.defence.gov.au/army/traditions/documents/RemembranceDayTradition.htm

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"Give me a firm point to stand on, and I will move the earth" - Archimedes (287 BC - 212 BC)
"For me, insanity is super sanity. The normal is psychotic. Normal means lack of imagination, lack of creativity" - Jean Dubuffet

Greekboy post is on the stop. Veteran's Day is known as Remembrance Day in the UK, and was formerly known as Armistice Day in the United States. There is a link to the Veteran’s Day thread a couple of posts before this one, it’s a pretty good thread and worth a read.

Memorial Day, on the other hand is strictly an American holiday, it has it’s roots in Decoration Day, which honored those who died during the Civil War, today, it honors all who lost their life in the service of our country.
More about the history of Memorial Day: Here

The Poppy became a symbol of World War I after a bloody battle in a field of poppies called Flanders Field in Belgium. On Veteran's Day often wreaths of poppies are used as gravesite decorations, and paper poppies are given to everyone that attends ceremonies, On Veterans' Day, the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars raise funds for their charitable activities by selling paper poppies made by disabled veterans. Memorial Day is more solemn, and while poppies are indeed worn, the ceremonies are mostly held by the gravesites, there is not as much selling/fund raising as during Veteran’s Day.

This site has a little more information on: Remembrance Day (Veteran’s Day) and poppies:

"Do all things with love." Og Mandino

Greekboy post is on the stop. Veteran's Day is known as Remembrance Day in the UK, and was formerly known as Armistice Day in the United States. There is a link to the Veteran’s Day thread a couple of posts before this one, it’s a pretty good thread and worth a read.

Memorial Day, on the other hand is strictly an American holiday, it has it’s roots in Decoration Day, which honored those who died during the Civil War, today, it honors all who lost their life in the service of our country.
More about the history of Memorial Day: http://pages.ivillage.com/activityideas/holidaypages/id4.html

The Poppy became a symbol of World War I after a bloody battle in a field of poppies called Flanders Field in Belgium. On Veteran's Day often wreaths of poppies are used as gravesite decorations, and paper poppies are given to everyone that attends ceremonies, On Veterans' Day, the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars raise funds for their charitable activities by selling paper poppies made by disabled veterans. Memorial Day is more solemn, and while poppies are indeed worn, the ceremonies are mostly held by the gravesites, there is not as much selling/fund raising as during Veteran’s Day.

This site has a little more information on: http://homepages.tesco.net/~derek.berger/holidays/remembrance.html

Excerpt from Ananya's post:

quote:

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If you use Memorial Day as simply a day off, recognize it as the "official" beginning of the summer season, spend the day with family, friends and others or don't think about it at all, I would suggest you might look again at the original reasons for this holiday.

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I am sure that as Ms. Briggs says, Americans celebrate Memorial Day as a kick start of the summer season, which indeed it is, and while the great majority spend the day with their families and friends, most everyone either attends graveside ceremonies, a simple church services, or just say a prayer. A lot of us do volunteer work, not just for Memorial Day, but year round.
I don't have any statistics, but I'm sure most of us have had a friend or relative lose their life in one war or another, I know I have, and while we all express ourselves in diverse forms, I know that Americans respect and honor those who gave their lives in the service of their country, very few of us forget the reason for "Memorial Day".

It is not a matter honoring in just one particular day, but it is a matter of always keeping them in your heart and prayers.

"Do all things with love." Og Mandino

Even out here where all the days run together, we managed to have a little celebration. Mostly just food that's better than normal and a little cake. Nothin' too outlandish. But you all brought up some better points, so thanks.

Harv
So I lost my mind now I'm ready to find my way/Back home/Today/To stay/
The way you wished I would/And I swear/To stay/The way you wished I would
Train,I Wish You Would

Try this!

I would like to share with you the story of the Birthplace of Memorial Day, Waterloo Village, N.Y. I was there years ago on a little week-end trip, I remember it as a lovely quiet little place with lots of history, and lovely people that very proud of their heritage. I wish I had a little more time to do more research, since I don’t I will do a little magical copy/paste from this source

So, on this Memorial Day, let’s visit it’s birthplace, all I ask is that this thread be treated with the respect the memory of fallen men and women in arms deserve, that regardless of personal views on wars, past or present, we remember that the thread is meant as a tribute to those who gave their lives in the service of their country, and respect it as such.

The Village of Waterloo, New York, Population 5,118, is situated in the heart of the Finger Lakes area, a community with a rich historic heritage.
Its location between the northern-most tips of Seneca and Cayuga Lakes makes it a center for those interested in recreational facilities which abound in this area. But Waterloo Village is more than a vacation place, it is the birthplace of many historial events, Memorial Day being one of them.

History of the Village of Waterloo

The story of Waterloo begins with the Cayuga Indian village of Skoi-Yase, established about the year 1500, and located near the rapids of the Seneca River, near the present location of Locust Street in Waterloo. The Cayugas valued Skoi-Yase, meaning "flowing water" because of the abundant supply of fish, especially eels, in the Seneca River. Many great Indian councils were held at Skoi-Yase; the national Indian leaders Red Jacket and Chief Corn Planter attended some of the deliberative sessions.

Because of the Iroquois Indian's support of the British during the American Revolutionary War, General George Washington in 1779 ordered General Sullivan to destroy Iroquois villages and crops in upstate New York. Thus, in 1779 Revolutionary soldiers destroyed Skoi-Yase. Chief Corn Planter

In 1792, a white man named Samuel Bear reached this site, looking for a place to settle. He saw the possibilities in the water of the river to use for himself as power for a grist mill and to sell to others who might come later. In this first year he made friends with the Cayuga's, cleared land for a settlement and built his home before returning to his home in Pennsylvania for the winter. The next spring, he returned to Skoi-Yase with three millers, Casper, John and George Yost, and with his cousins John and Ephraim Bear. With the help of the neighboring Cayuga Indians, they continued the work of digging raceways to harness the water power and built his mill. With crude stones, he began to grind grain into meal. It was the only grist mill within several miles and brought in many early pioneers. Bear started a general store in Skoi-Yase and was the first merchant in town. Waterloo's earliest industries, such as distilleries and tanneries sprang up along the Seneca River, utilizing the water power of the river.

In 1807, Elisha Williams, of Hudson, NY purchased land on the north side of the river. He and his agent, Reuben Swift, developed the north side of the town. Early Waterloo was a thriving industrial village.
Historical events of national importance have occurred here and given birth to many "firsts."
Much of the planning for the first Woman's Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls, NY in 1848, took place in Waterloo at the Hunt and McClintock houses.
The most significant Waterloo first is the birth of Memorial Day. On May 5, 1866, Waterloo conducted the nation's first formal, continuing remembrance of veterans who had died in war. The Federal Government in 1966 formally recognized Waterloo as the Birthplace of Memorial Day.
The Mormon religion had its birth on the Peter Whitmer farm two miles south of Waterloo and tile drainage in America was originated by John Johnston on his farm a few miles west of this village. The first Pullman car was conceived and constructed by a Waterloo man, Major Frederick Furniss. In the 1890's, funeral directors Mr. Genung of Waterloo and Mr. Eckels of Philadelphia developed the first modern method of embalming.

Waterloo boasted many thriving industries, which manufactured wooden goods, wagons, pianos, organs, and other products.





The Memorial Day Centennial Emblem
designed by the late Roger Meadway Jr.

The Origin of Memorial Day in Waterloo

And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights the soldier's tomb, and beauty weeps the brave.
~Joseph Drake~

Never seem more learned than the people you are with. Wear your learning like a pocket watch and keep it hidden. Do not pull it out to count the hours, but give the time when you are asked. ~Lord Chesterfield~

"Do all things with love." Og Mandino

Wow!! I learned so much about Memorial Day! Thanks Alice, I never buy/donate from people outside of stores, but I always give generously to those selling the poppies because I know what it is for, the money will go for a good cause, and I am a vetern of foreign war myself. But I never knew what they stood for or that they were made by disabled veterans. I had the honor of working with the Veterans of Foreign Wars group and they are just the kindest and sweetest people I have met. I just have a huge soft spot when I see a tough old man wearing a heavily decorated little hat holding a tiny delicate paper poppy. I was sent to the recent war we are having now, and it was scary, but I couldn't imagine fighting a war like they did back then.

During funerals at Arlington National Cemetery, a lady escorted by a member of the army stands near the grave of a soldier being interred. She is part of a group of ladies known as the Arlington Ladies. They volunteer to attend Army funerals held at Arlington National Cemetery for every soldier laid to rest, every soldier. They are not related to the soldiers who are interred. They have been doing this 1973. Monday thru Friday. No matter the weather. When a soldier is laid to rest there is an Arlington Lady present.
For more info on these very special Ladies see the link be low.

http://www.army.mil/-news/2008/05/05/8968-ladies-of-arlington-never-miss-final-salute/

For all those who have severed, then and now. Thank you.

We can't all be heroes because somebody has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by.
~ Will Rogers

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Things ain't what they used to be and probably never was. ~ Will Rogers