IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow

Between the crosses row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly. . .

So begins the poem In Flanders Field by Canadian Physician

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae,

in May of 1915 upon witnessing the battles in Ypres salient, France.

One of the most recognized symbols of Veterans Day is the corn poppy,

or red poppy Papaver rhoeas.

It grows on the battlefields of Europe, blooming from March-July. Soldiers returning home from World War I reported the awesome sight of the battlefields bereft of any life, covered from end to end with delicate red poppies. In their hearts and minds, the red poppy symbolized the blood shed and the sacrifice made by the soldiers buried beneath the surface.