Green Light a Vet

TIME TO HONOR OUR VETERANS

I was down at Shaws in Hillsborough on Saturday and donated for the honor of wearing a Buddy Poppy. Thanking those men who put their lives on the line to preserve our Democracy is important to me (although I am become quite discouraged about the near term future of our Great Democracy. Those who say they want to make America great again seem to have overlooked that we are the greatest nation on the face of this planet.  All I have heard is hatred. That is not representative of the Great America I have  grown up  and love).

Do you know what the Buddy Poppies represent? Red poppies are quite common in the fields of Western Europe. They were there before the insanity of  the wars of the last Century and they still blossom there.  We have come see the brilliant red blooms that carpet those meadows as representing so many dead young men. Men who died for reasons that are just not clear.

These men, and all those men and, now, women, who go into battle for our country, are brave beyond my comprehension. They have my respect.

It is worth reading the poem by World War I Colonel John McCrae, a surgeon with Canada's First Brigade Artillery, In Flanders Fields, when we see those vets asking for your support by donating to the Buddy Poppy program.

In Flanders fields

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.
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.


Since the nineteen twenties those Buddy Poppies have been assembled by disabled and needy veterans in VA Hospitals.  The funds raised by sale of the poppies

The VFW Buddy Poppy program provides compensation to the veterans who assemble the poppies, provides financial assistance in maintaining state and national veterans' rehabilitation and service programs and partially supports the VFW National Home for Children.

I hope you will not walk past the vets who are selling Buddy Poppies when you see them.

I read in the paper last week that many veterans are feeling left out and unappreciated when they return home from their war tours. We face a nasty and intractable foe this time around. These ISIS guys seem to have no real aims, their view totally dark and their methods abhorrent. Our guys and gals are making a valiant -- and winning fight. The statistics say that battle field casualties are far less frequently fatal than ever before. I guess we have had a great opportunity to improve war medicine since we have been at war for ever so long. But morality is only part of it. The repeated tours, the horribly maiming wounds, the mental anguish have lead so many vets to very bleak places.

They need more than our recognition of their sacrifice. But at the very least they do need us to let them know how much we appreciate their service.

One new program that serves to recognize our warriors is called 'Greenlight A Vet'. Greenlight A Vet is a campaign to establish visible national support for our veterans by changing one light to green. You can then display your green light on various forms of social media. Check out the link provided here. for more information and get some green light bulbs!