News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
American Legion Post 46 observed National Poppy Day Friday by preparing gift bags for retired veterans.
On the Friday before Memorial Day, red poppies are worn as reminders of veterans’ sacrifices. Some 625 bags prepared for delivery to extended care, assisted living, and other senior care facilities. Second Vice Commander Robert Scott said the event boosts the morale of an often-overlooked group of veterans.
“They don’t have many family members that come and see them, they don’t have a lot of friends,” Scott said. “A lot of their friends are passed away, you know, due to Vietnam era or maybe World War Two, or Korea.”
Veterans, scouts, members of the American Legion Junior Shooting Club joined in Friday’s work. The bags contained gifts as well as a note from a local school student.
“I’ve got an uncle over here at Signature Healthcare and he’s a Korean War veteran and I just want to do for him and some of the others.” U.S. Army Veteran Danny Norrod said.
Norrod said that while World War II vets received recognition for their service, those who served in Korea and Vietnam received fewer accolades.
“Just in the last few years they’ve started getting the recognition…Vietnam veterans,” Norrod said. “They came home to a mess. But they’re… they’re getting the recognition they deserve now.”
Some of the bags will also be sent to the Veterans Home in Murfreesboro.
The red poppy is a reference to the World War One era poem “In Flanders Fields” and symbolizes the bloodshed from the battle.
“Like the old saying goes, ‘Some gave all and all gave some'” Scott said. “It’s to memorialize the ones who didn’t make it home, that’s P.O.W.s, M.I.A.s, and the ones who didn’t make it back. That’s what really Memorial Day is about.”
