Memorial Day is approaching, and with it, our chance to remember those who gave their lives for our country, and thank those who have served it as part of our military. There is no simpler way to do that than to pick up a Buddy Poppy, which the township’s veterans have been selling to raise money for their fellow vets. They started distributing them, for donations, outside of ShopRite and Kings earlier this week and will continue to do so through the end of the month.Buddy Poppies are the little red paper flowers that veterans sell to raise funds for needy and disabled veterans. And they do so in a very meaningful way: The very veterans who benefit from their sale are the ones making them, assembling them at various medical facilities and veterans’ homes. They are paid for the work, which provides them with a form of financial assistance. The amount is nominal, but it enables the disabled and hospitalized vets to buy the little luxuries which make institutional life tolerable, and maybe even purchase small gifts for loved ones. But, more than just the monetary rewards, it provides them with a feeling of usefulness, because they are contributing to a worthwhile effort.The veterans who volunteer to sell the Buddy Poppies, however, are just that: Volunteers. Their only reward is the satisfaction which comes from devoting time and effort to a worthy cause.The tradition dates back to the 1920s, when the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States began promoting the nationwide distribution of Buddy Poppies.Since World War I, the red poppy has become a symbol of remembering and honoring those who have died in the service of their country during any war. The inspiration came from Col. John McCrae’s poem, “In Flanders Fields.” McCrae’s striking imagery of bright red poppies growing in the rows and rows of white crosses of Flanders Fields became a symbol of those who fought and died during World War I, which destroyed entire generations. The bright red poppies represented the blood shed by the soldiers. Time soon proved that the Great War was not to be the War to End All Wars as hoped, but just the first of two global wars and a precursor to numerous other military conflicts. The red poppies of Flanders Fields came to symbolize all those who fought and died in the service ...
