The red poppy story

National Poppy Day is celebrated each year on the Friday before Memorial Day.

Shortly after World War I ended, an American military officer noticed thousands of red poppies growing among rows of small wooden crosses lining what was a battlefield in Belgium. The officer, Lt. Col. John McCrae wrote a poem titled "In Flanders Field" which was published in 1915. A few years later the red poppy was designated as the U.S. National Emblem of Remembrance. Each year the American Veterans of Foreign Wars pass out paper red poppies and ask for donations to help wounded American veterans.

I took this photo of a red poppy on National Poppy Day. It is growing in my garden.