Memorial Day poppies honor those who died in service to their country (2024)

STRASBURG — Poppies have long been associated with those who died in service to their country, who are honored on Memorial Day.

The association was immortalized in the poem “In Flanders Fields,” by John McCrae, written to honor the World War I soldiers buried in France, and describes the bright poppies as the only color among the graves.

The American Legion typically distributes paper poppies for Memorial Day, made by members of the Disabled American Veterans, and accepts donations — the poppies are not “sold” — which go toward veterans' organizations and which cannot be used for any other purpose.

“The funds can only be used for certain things,” said Linda Oakley, a member of the American Legion Auxiliary 289 in Strasburg. “They're allowing us to make donations for the honor flight and help guardians go on the honor flight. We can't use it for something we need, or that a unit or post would need for building. It has to be used for a veteran.”

Funds the auxiliary has collected have also supported the Mattoon Veterans Administration Clinic and the Illiana Veterans Administration in Danville. Honor flights transport veterans and a companion to the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC.

In Strasburg, poppies are available at Porterformance Auto Repair, at the post office, at Shelby State Bank and the Marathon station. Donation cans are nearby, and the statewide winner of the poppy poster contest sponsored by the American Legion is on display, drawn by recent Stewardson-Strasburg High School graduate Estephani Cuatzozon.

Macon American Legion Post 72 representatives will be at Decatur Farm and Fleet and Kenney's Ace Hardware from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 25.

“We've sent several members on the honor flights and we use the money to pay for the guardians,” said Pat Warnick, president of the auxiliary. “We sent a gentleman two years ago who is 98 years old, a World War II veteran, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. He keeps talking about it. We had two or three go last year and another is on the list this year to go. People are really generous (with donations), and the older fellas love to tell you stories while you're handing out the poppies. It's a time for them to reminisce.”

People often confuse the purpose of Memorial Day and Veterans Day, said Ayn Owens of History of the Heartland in Decatur.

“Memorial Day is the day that you honor the fallen,” Owens said. “Veterans Day is the day you look a veteran in the eye, shake their hand and tell them thank you. I think to me personally, while it's not appropriate (to thank veterans on Memorial Day), it's not that anybody is doing it in a bad way. They just haven't learned the difference.”

Memorial Day began after the Civil War, in May 1868, when General John Logan, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, called for a day of remembrance which he dubbed “Decoration Day.”

The date chosen for this remembrance was May 30, which was not the anniversary of any battles, so that all the fallen would be remembered together. Over the years, the name gradually came to be Memorial Day, and as other wars were fought and other members of the military were honored along with the Civil War dead, it came to be known as the day to honor them all.

It continued to be observed on May 30 until 1968, when Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established the last Monday in May as the day to observe Memorial Day and to create a three-day weekend for federal employees. That act took effect in 1971 and the day was also established as a federal holiday.

The poppy was chosen as the American Legion's memorial flower in 1921, and the poppies were first worn to honor the World War I fallen. Today they stand for remembrance of anyone who died in a war in service to the country.