May is a time of renewal and celebration; there is sunshine and flowers blooming, and we acknowledge that most important person—mother. It’s also a time to reflect upon the freedom that we enjoy; a legacy paid for in years past by the supreme sacrifice of patriots.
A few days after Memorial Day, another day of unparalleled significance comes when we consider the high cost of liberty—June 6th. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy—D-Day—the day the marked the beginning of the end of WWII. In this issue of ALIVE, beginning on page 18, you’ll read Anita Venezia’s superb account of the D Day invasion. Her article includes several first-hand interviews with some of the brave men who fought in the cause to liberate Europe from the scourge of the ruthless Nazi war machine.
As the American flag serves as our symbol of remembrance, so the red poppy serves as the symbol for our 
Commonwealth allies, as they observe Remembrance Day on November 11 (our Veteran’s Day). The poignant story of how the red poppy came to be a memorial symbol clearly tells of the enormous value of, and price paid for, liberty.
Red poppies grow naturally throughout Western Europe in areas where the soil has been disturbed. In the early 19th Century, vast blankets of scarlet poppies appeared in battlefields after the Napoleonic wars, as they sprouted up around the remains of fallen soldiers. World War I brought the same type of destruction, and later, the poppy was again one of the only plants to grow on the desolate battlefields. After the war, the symbolism of the red poppy was captured in the poem, In Flanders Fields, by Canadian surgeon and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. It came to represent the enormous sacrifices made by his fellow soldiers and soon became a lasting memorial to those who died in World War One and later wars and conflicts.
How do we measure the value of freedom? How do we calculate the worth of peace and liberty? We enjoy these fruits today because someone in the past gave their all. They paid the supreme price, and their loved ones bore or now bear the weight of profound sorrow.
So this Memorial Day, wave the flag and don a red poppy as we recommit ourselves to honoring the fallen, including our comrades in arms—the allies who fought alongside American troops.
As past patriots did their duty, ours is to forever honor and never forget their sacrifice.
Leave a Reply