I know statues are my main subject 😉...but stamps salute many people and events too! Just wanted to share this as Memorial Day approaches.
Moina Michael began the tradition of wearing red poppies in remembrance and honor of those who had given their lives for their country. She was inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields”, and wrote a poem of her own in November 1918, “We Shall Keep the Faith”, to honor those who had lost their lives in service to their country.
I read that Moina Michael’s ancestry included the revolutionary General Francis Marion. He was called the “Swamp Fox” by the British because of his clever “guerilla” type tactics. Moina’s father, John Marion Michael fought in the Civil War, serving with the Confederate States Army in the 9th Georgia Infantry and then the 2nd Georgia Cavalry.
Known as the "Poppy Lady", Michael received numerous awards during her lifetime, and published an autobiography in 1941, "The Miracle Flower: The Story of the Flanders Fields Memorial Poppy"
This Memorial Day, let us all remember and honor those who sacrificed so much.🇺🇸
This is the poem
We Shall Keep the Faith
by Moina Michael
Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
Sleep sweet - to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died.
We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.
And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Fields.
*****
Here’s the link to the Table of Contents for my Blog series about the subjects of statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection. I’ve written up 70 of 100 so far... https://dianaerbio.wordpress.com/2017/01/16/statues-the-people-they-salute/?fbclid=IwAR1ABobxHGWaTUrxd4sC6pRyO5puDOBBOiFopUsZ6pxkd-ePrlZ-HQ6xE3M
Diana Erbio is a freelance writer and author of “Coming to America: A Girl Struggles to Find her Way in a New World”. Visit her on Facebook and read her blog series “Statues: The People They Salute” . Subscribe to her Substack Newsletter
Have a happy Memorial Day weekend.
Thank you for posting! Thanking all the patriots that sacrificed this Memorial Day!