Can you imagine the Chairman of the JCS standing on the streets of Washington without a full military escort and kevlar armour, armed only with a bunch of plastic poppies and a money tin?

Perhaps since he is still on actve duty he has yet to join the VFW.

We have the poppy sale around Memorial Day. (Late weekend in May) They are paper poppies with two leafs and a wire stem.Not many realize the connection to Flanders Field but even youngest know the poppies are to help veterans of all wars. Around here they're sold by members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).

There is a poem Wait! I found it: (Bless Google)

"In Flanders Field"
Written in by John McCrae (1915)
After witnessing the carnage of WWI John McCrae wrote "In Flanders Field." McCrae, a Canadian, was a medical officer in the Boer War and World War I.

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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.

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Flanders Field is in France and part of southwest Belgium. There, many battles took place in first World War.
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