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MAY= POPPY DAYS AND MEMORIAL DAY |
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Memorial Day is May 31. As we look ahead to Memorial Day Weekend with its countdown to the last day of school, please stop for just a moment and look back to the month of May in another time. May, 1918. America was engaged in a World War-- the first time this young country had joined forces with other nations to defend a free society. The young men of the American Expeditionary Forces faced a war in France more cruel than they could have imagined… war fought from trenches that stretched from Switzerland to the North Sea. That May of 1918, they spent week after week crouched in trenches filling with spring rain, turning the earth that had been frozen to mud. On those spring breezes came waves of mustard gas -- and the smell of death. That same rain and warm sun that added to the terrible conditions in the trenches made the wild poppies grow -- field after field of bright red poppies growing where thousands had died. It was nature's memorial to the lost friends and comrades -- a symbol of their sacrifice -- a symbol that is now a memorial to all men and women who have died serving their country in war time. It is a small reminder to the American public that millions have died so there could be a San Juan Marathon, so children could go to school… so there would be an America as we know it today. For the next two weekends, May 22—23 and May 29-30 and then on Memorial Day, the members of American Legion Auxiliary Unit 163, the mothers, wives, and daughters of the men and women who have honorably served their country during war time, will once again ask the citizens of Friday Harbor to remember the sacrifice that has been made for America by wearing a poppy.
You will also be pleased to know that every cent we collect for poppies is spent on veterans and their families right here on San Juan Island. We provide for veterans in need, for scholarships and assistance for veteran families and for our veterans in convalescent center and adult family care homes here on San Juan Island. When you wear this little red flower it helps to keep alive the kind of patriotism so necessary in this great country of ours. As long as such a feeling exists in our hearts, we need not fear for the future of our nation for we will never forget the price of war and the responsibility of freedom. So, please when you see the veterans and Auxiliary members with poppies accept one and wear it with pride. And when you see the veterans on Memorial Day, just say, "Thank you for your service."
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