Memorial Day

Rico says it's easy to forget those who paid the price for our freedom, but we shouldn't:

One action by a single person can reverberate across decades. When America entered the Great War in 1917, Moina Michael was deeply moved by a poem entitled In Flanders Fields. Written by the Canadian physician Lieutenant Colonel John McCrea following the death and subsequent burial of his friend on the battlefield at Ypres, France, the poem exhorted the living to remember the dead and honor their cause. Moina Michael was so inspired by the poem's eloquence and the imagery of the red poppies that she wrote a response and pledge entitled We Shall Keep the Faith:

"And now the torch and Poppy red;
Wear in honour of our dead.
Fear not the ye have died for naught:
We've learned the lesson that ye taught…"

After that, Moina Michael always wore a red poppy to remember those who had served and given their all. She used the red poppy for fundraising campaigns to help those returning from war transition back into everyday life. She died nearly thirty years later on 10 May 1944, less than one month before the D-Day landings at Normandy in France, and the beginning of the liberation of Europe from tyranny.
Today we, along with many others around the world, wear red poppies to remember our fallen servicemen and women. At The National World Wart Two Museum, we are dedicated to ensuring that those who made the ultimate sacrifice during World War Two are remembered today and for generations to come. Moina's gift to those who served has lasted lifetimes.
Your contribution of ten dollars or more can be just as powerful, because it will tell younger generations that the men and women of World War Two did not die for naught, and that we will continue to remember and honor their cause.

Sincerely,
Dr. Gordon "Nick" Mueller, Ph.d
President & CEO
The National WWII Museum