The Poppy remembers

Memorial Day, or Decoration Day, as it was first known on May 30 in 1868, was proclaimed by General John Logan, the National Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, by General order number 11. The day was created to honor the dead in the Civil War and established it as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the Union war dead with flowers. By the 20th century, Decoration Day eventually extended to honor all Americans who died while in military service.

On May 2 in 1915, Canadian poet John McCrae's close friend and former student Alexis Helmer was killed by a German shell in Wo...