History behind the poppies

May 25—PICKENS COUNTY — There are several traditions associated with Memorial Day in America, but one in particular — the red poppy — stands out.

The poppy we are familiar with today is believed to have come from the World War I poem "In Flanders Fields," by John McCrae. But McCrae wasn't a poet by profession, he was a doctor.

Major McCrae was second in command of the 1st Brigade Canadian Field Artillery stationed near Ypres, in West Flanders, Belgium according to published accounts.

During the the Second Battle of Ypres a Canadian artillery officer in the same unit named Lieutenant Alexis Helmer — a friend of McCrae's — was killed on May 2, 1915 after a German artillery shell landed near him.

With the chaplain away — and as the brigade doctor — it fell to McCrae to conduct the burial service for Helmer.

Although there are a few different accounts of how the poem ultimately came to be, it is generally believed that later that evening, after his friend's burial, McCrae wrote the first draft of what was to become "In Flanders Fields."

Some varying stories claim McCrae wrote the poem sitting sitting on an ambulance the next day while looking at Helmer's grave. It is said red poppies were springing up all around the fresh graves.

Another story states McCrae wrote the poem in twenty minutes in an attempt to compose himself following Helmer's death.

A third account, this one given by his commanding officer, states that McCrae told him he drafted the poem partly to pass the time between the arrival of two groups of wounded at the first aid post.

No matter how it came to be, "In Flanders Fields" was written, and the significance of red poppy was born. Or, it would be shortly after ...

TIME magazine reported that while reading Ladies' Home Journal, an overseas war secretary named Moina Michael came across the poem.

"Moved, she vowed always to wear a silk poppy in honor of the American soldiers who gave up their lives for their country," the article reads. "She started selling them to friends and co-workers and campaigned for the red flowers to become an official memorial emblem. The American Legion embraced the symbol in 1921, and the tradition has spread to more than 50 other countries, including England, France and Australia."

"In Flanders Fields" by Maj. John McCrae

May, 1915.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Reach Kasie Strickland at 864-855-0355.