Honoring The Dead By Helping The Living

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae was a Canadian soldier during World War I. He is best known as the man who wrote the famous war memorial poem, In Flanders Fields:

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.

More than 13 million people each year purchase and wear a VFW Buddy Poppy to renew their pledge to Col. McCrae’s fallen soldier. Since the first nation wide sale was conducted in 1922, nearly a half a billion Buddy Poppies have been distributed and worn by concerned Americans.

The VFW Byddy Popp is made by patients in veterans hospitals throughout the United States. The work provides needed therapy for hands and minds crippled by the ravages of war, and pay earned provides a few simple luxuries to ease the boredom of hospital life.

In keeping with the pledge to “Honor the Dead by Helping the Living”, the sale is conducted exclusively by volunteers, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars dedicates the profits to the aid and assistance of disabled and needy servicemen and veterans, and the widows and orphans of deceased veterans.

The years of war had worn McCrae down. He contracted pneumonia on Jan. 13, 1918, the same day he was appointed acting Colonel. He later came down with cerebral meningitis, and died on Jan. 28, 1918. He never saw the end of World War I.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars, Plymouth Post 6695 and their affiliates will be selling Buddy Poppies at the following local business locations on Thursday, May 7th, Friday May, 8th, and Saturday, May 9th, from 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM :

Dunkin Donuts- Ann Arbor Road, Plymouth

Holiday Market- Lilley Road, Canton

Kroger’s- Ann Arbor Road, Plymouth

Kroger’s- Ford Road, Canton

Kroger’s- Michigan Avenue, Canton

Kmart- Ann Arbor Road, Plymouth

Ace Hardware- Ann Arbor Road, Plymouth

Busch’s- Sheldon Road, Plymouth (Saturday Only)

Leo’s- Ford Road, Canton (Collection Center)