I saw a post on Facebook that caught my interest about the American Legion and their Poppy Project.

While the post did not have an original author that I could track down, I was completely amazed and enlightened as to why those incredible men from the American Legion do a Poppy Drive on Memorial Weekend.  What is the meaning and why a Poppy?

Today, I was reading the newspaper and saw a local post that stated that members of the American Legion would be at a local grocery store kicking off their Poppy Project Fundraiser.  We frequently attend our local American Legion's events, such as breakfast and their Chicken BBQ fundraisers but I was curious as to how this particular fundraiser started and why the Poppy was a symbol used in their fundraiser.  A Facebook Post that was floating around caught my eye a while back and I believe that it deserves reposting.  Here is an excerpt of the story that I saw that taught me the meaning of the Poppy Project.

 

"A lovely military man selling poppies was asking people to please re-position the poppies that they were wearing. He said that women should wear their poppy on their right side. The red represents the blood of all those who gave their lives, the black represents the mourning of those who didn’t have their loved ones return, and the green leaf represents the grass and crops growing and future prosperity after the war destroyed so much. The leaf on the poppy should be positioned at the 11 o’clock to represent the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the time that WWI formally ended.  He was worried that the younger generations wouldn’t understand this and his generation wouldn’t be around for much longer to teach them.
God Bless our Soldiers and their loved ones."

---author unknown

I'm including a link to the American Legion Flag and Emblem online store where merchandise can be purchased that directly benefits our past and present servicemen and servicewomen.  Please consider purchasing:   AMERICAN FLAG AND EMBLEM ONLINE STORE