Letter to the Editor: Wear a poppy and pause in remembrance this weekend

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American Legion Auxiliary Post 17/Unit 17 in Lewes hopes that each of you will take a moment in your heart for the parents, siblings, spouses and friends of those who served. We at Post 17/Unit 17 can’t help but think of all the men and women who have gone to fight for this great nation and didn’t return home. We especially pay tribute to our local veterans and their families and friends.

Memorial Day weekend is when Americans set aside time to honor those brave men and women who met tragic ends while defending our freedom. It is our duty to honor their sacrifices, pray for their families and bow our heads in recognition of their service.

This year, there will be two “cemeteries” created in Lewes. One at Post 17 and the other at the lighthouse triangle, as you enter Lewes or head to the ferry and state park. The banners placed with crosses and poppies in the grassy lawn will remind everyone to take a pause and bow a head. It also reminds folks that our poppy program is underway, and we hope everyone will learn the “In Flanders Field” poem and share it with a child. We hope you will get your own poppy and make a donation, so our programs to veterans and active military can continue. We will never forget.

National Poppy Day is today. Wear red, get your poppies from the past out — or get a new one from us at Post 17 — and come place an “in memory” note (provided at the post fence) on our front lawn in remembrance of any soldier you have lost.

The poppy, which bloomed on the battlefields of France and Belgium after World War I, has grown to become an internationally known and recognized symbol of the lives sacrificed in war and the hope that none died in vain.

We ask that you educate someone about the poppy first and that you take a pause on Memorial Day, face an American flag wherever you may be, place a hand over heart and say with gratitude and pride, “Thank you for your service.”

Murt Foos

American Legion Auxiliary Unit 17

Lewes

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