Perhaps we garden bloggers can help remember our veterans and war dead by posting a picture of a poppy today?

Many years ago, on my first trip to the U.K. during this time of year, I was struck by the fact that everyone from all walks of life wears artificial poppies in honor of those who died at war for Remembrance Day or Poppy Day. I later learned that these artificial poppies are sold as an annual fundraiser by the Royal British Legion, a charity dedicated to helping war veterans.
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According to Wikipedia: "The poppy's significance to Remembrance Day is a result of Canadian military physician John McCrae's poem In Flanders Fields. The poppy emblem was chosen because of the poppies that bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their red colour an appropriate symbol for the bloodshed of trench warfare. A Frenchwoman, Anna E. Guérin, introduced the widely used artificial poppies given out today."
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In the U.S., we celebrate Veterans' Day today for the living and reserve Memorial Day in May for the dead. Unfortunately, we do too little--we do not wear poppies or pause for two minutes of silence at eleven o'clock--on both of these holidays to truly celebrate, remember, or honor those who served and returned or those who died. Fortunately, Zoe over at Garden Hopping helped me to remember this holiday today with a picture of a poppy and this poem: Garden Hopping: Lest We Forget.