The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1921-06-10

of many wars this year were marked
perhaps not by an unusual solemnity,
but certainly by q seemingly larger
appreciation Of Americas duty to its
dead.
Within a few days there reached
the United States the bodies Of over
5000 American soldiers who obeyed
the last call In France while serving
their country and sister republic in
the hour Of need. Many Of these
bodies have been brought to Wash
ington for interment in the great ma
tional cemetery at Arlington.
Everywhere in Washington ut this
present time there is in evidence the
red poppy Of Europe. 1t is the poppy
Of Flanders field, the poppy Of the
valleys of the Marne and the Moselle,
and of the fields bordering the
stretches of the Mouse and the for
ests of the Argonne. 40
1t seems to me that this flower,
which has been adopted as the Me-
mortal Day flower by the American
Legion, deserves Of itself some spe-
cial consideration. It was remarkable
how the blood-red poppy Of France
took hold of the imagination OF the
American soldiers. For centuries in
France it has been regarded IN
sense as the war flower, or perhaps
rather as the flower Of wars after
math. Its color likewise has been
significant of sacrifice, and as 1t
grows abundantly on virtually all the
battlefields Of France, and the whole
country ut one time or another has
been a battlefield, it has come to be
looked upon as at once a companion
and a memorial to the dead heroes
Of the land.
1 have found that many Americans
believe that the red poppy of France,
which blows also in Flanders fields. is
essentially a spring blossom. 1t Is
true that the poppy is more abundant
in the spring than at other seasons OF
the year, but from April until Novem-
Der here and there through the fields,
the red poppy always may be seen.
1 have seen it in profusion growing
in the fields between the lines of the
French and the German armies, in
the foot hills Of the Vosges, in late
April and in early May. / have seen
it nodding with the passing winds IN
the fields of the advanced zone north
Of the Marine in the months of Sep
TENDER, October and November.
The French soldiers look on the
poppy as symbolic flower. They
have an extreme sympathy with 1t
and their feeling toward the blossom
quickly extended itself to the ranks
of the American armies. The BIOS
SONS Of this plant which has been
the theme of soldier and civilian poets
for years is single, and yet its petals
have a tenacity Of adherence to the
stem which is unusual in flowers SO
sparsely leaved. The American sol
der, not over given in the main to
sentiment, used to pluck and wear
the peoples. Many IN American went
into battle with poppy in the button
hole Of his blouse.
The American Legion took cogni
zance of these things when it adopted
the poppy as its memorial flower So
far as know the European poppy Of
this species does not grow in Amer
lea. ..-1. ... ...lE
Flowers Profuse in France.
In France as in America today at
this time of the year natures Horal
feast Is spread. In 1915, two years
lpefore the United States entered the
war, 1 was with the French armies in
the fields along the Moselle river near
Pont.a-Mousson, and not, far from the
great city Of Nancy, which ut that
time was only eight miles from the
German line. In that year my So
journ on the eastern front included
a part of April and part Of May.
Looking over the fields which were
semipeaceful, because at that time
the Moselle region was comparative
~ quiet sector, one easily could i'm
agine himself to be back in the
meadows OF America. The blood-red
poppy was the only floral stranger to
the eye.
The dandelions, the buttercups, the
daisies and the clover all grew abund-
antly in the fields, and 50 far lis the
unsclentiflc eye could determine, there
was no difference between the species
Of these plants growing there in the
embattled fields Of France, and; those
growing in the peaceful fields OF
America.
In the spring of 1915 at memorial
time, the thought came to me for
chilly that perhaps before long in
those fields would be enacted the trag-
edies which would add to the solem-
nifty and the Significance of future
Memorial days in the United States.
The Lusitania had just been sunk.
and news of it had come to France.
From that hour it seemed to be the
belief of Frenchmen, and of such
Americans as were in France. that
the entrance of the United States in.
to the war WAS inevitable. The ftl-
ture gave substance to the thought.