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VOL. 3/ISSUE 26
THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2015
‘Poppy’ poem turns 100 Patrick McCallister FOR VETERAN VOICE
patrick.mccallister@yahoo.com
pected by week’s end to have attended the 28th annual Vietnam and All Veterans of Brevard Reunion at Wickham Park, Melbourne, April 19-26. Rain on Wednesday caused a bit of anxiety, but by the afternoon it cleared, and the rest of the week saw soaring temperatures, with only occasional relief from clouds. There were certainly tens of thousands of visitors, in spite of the heat, especially on Saturday. They came to pay their respects at the Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall, based in Melbourne, as well as static display tributes to POW/MIAs, fallen veterans from other wars, and a tribute to K-9 dogs who gave their lives in combat. More than 1,500 motorcycle riders from veteran groups all over the state escorted the Traveling
It’s almost inarguably the most recoognized symbol of war remembrance in the world: the poppy. “It’s a symbol of the ultimate sacrifice and remembering the generations that went before us,” Jo Ann Maitland, president of the American Legion Auxiliary 399, Palm City, said. “The poppy is a symbol of the continuum of sacrifice generation after generation has made for us.” The post and auxiliary did their first poppy giveaway last year to raise donations. Maitland said it went very well. “That’s one thing people do recognize is the poppy,” she said. “The picture that it brings to mind of crosses in the field and all that.” The poppy’s association with rest and death goes back millennia. A Canadian, one Lt. Col. John McCrae, forever connected the poppy to war dead in his famous World War I poem, “In Flanders Fields.” May 2, 1915, is the 100th anniversary of McCrae’s inspiration — the death of friend Lt. Alexis Helmer. “There was a lot of poetry written during (World War I),” Johnathan Casey, archivist at the National World War I Museum and research center manager at the Edward Jones Research Center, said. “That is probably the most iconic one.” Helmer was killed by a
See REUNION page 6
See FLANDERS page 5
Staff photo by Mary Kemper JoAnn Wright of the Chales F. Thomas IV American Legion Post 117, Palm Bay, plays Taps during the memorial service Friday at the 28th annual Vietnam and All Veterans of Brevard Reunion at Wickham Park in Melbourne.
Thousands flock to Melbourne reunion Mary Kemper STAFF WRITER
mkemper@veteranvoiceweekly.com
By some accounts, as many as 100,000 were ex-