Letters to the Editor

Veterans poppies:How soon we forget

Tue, 11/22/2005 - 4:42pm
By: Letters to the ...

Perhaps because both of our fathers are veterans of World War II, or because we usually spend our wedding anniversary in Great Britain (where Remembrance Sunday is commemorated for a full week), I was saddened at how little attention is given to Veterans Day (Nov. 11) in our area.

I am not referring to organized, civic events; but to personal observances.

I had the distinct feeling that no one was quite sure why we were wearing our red poppies. I saw only one other person (besides a televised Tony Blair) sporting one.

A few folks asked us about it; some were surprised to discover it was Veterans Day; one commented, “Oh, you bought one of those from the handicapped guys.” How heart-breaking.

Parents, teachers, and pastors, please read the old poem to your charges. Veterans gave so much; more than we will ever know.

“In Flanders Fields the poppies blow,
Between the crosses, row on row ...”

Suzanne Sports
Peachtree City, Ga.

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POPPIES
Submitted by silverfox20 on Thu, 12/08/2005 - 3:35am.

Suzanne, I don't think it is not forgetting but bad example. It is outrageous that neither President Bush at his Pennsylvania Veterans Day speech nor his stand-in Vice President Cheney at Arlington National Cemetery wore red poppies - a slap in the face to all Veterans.
VFW Post 9949 distributed 3800 VFW Buddy Poppies in Peachtree City on November 5, 2005. I will bet anyone that there were not 200 of these poppies worn on Veterans Day and I was wearing 3. I'm in the picture on page 1 of the Weekend Citizen of 11/18 and you can see one poppy clearly on my blue VFW jacket and you can see the paper streamer on the one on my VFW cap, the third is on my shirt so that it is displayed when I have my cap removed and my jacket off.
For the last two years at Veterans Day I have composed an essay "Where is Our Patriotism". It was submitted to all the local papers and was not carried last year and I fear it is going to suffer the same fate this year. I attended three Veterans Day functions in PTC and at each over 95% of all in attendance wore a red VFW Buddy Poppy because I took the poppies to the fnction and had them worn. I wonder how many of those wearing them knew why.

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