Why you should buy a poppy

What an absolute credit your daughter is to you,her baby and her husband,my heart goes out to her and your family.This week we are starting our stand in the local precient to sell poppies and we hope to raise more money than last year for this very important cause.How wonderful to read about the young Muslims YA and their involvement.

Still with tears-what a brave young woman--haven't seen poppies on sale yet here only on newsreaders-always buy several as i lose them over the weeks-my last grandson born on the 11/11/09-always wish for peace in our time

Well done GNHQ for supporting the poppy appeal - all the money is wisely spent and this year the fundraising will be particularly helpful in funding the running costs of Phoenix House, the newest of the Personnel Recovery and Assessment Centres.

What a beautiful, intelligent, brave daughter you have...so young to have gone through something so terrible, you must be so proud of her.
You also have a beautiful Grandson...I have bought a poppy as I do every year as my father was in the forces and a member of The British Legion.

I send you, your daughter and family my best wishes.

I thought of you Granny A when I watched Gaareth Malone's choir yesterday evening. Those young women are amazing as your DD showed. It puts a whole new slant on Remembrabce Day.

We were in Northern Ireland (DH was in the Army ) in the 1980s. He came back almost unscathed, but I lived every day with that fear that he might not come home. I applaud your strong, wonderful daughter, and you too, GA, for carrying the torch. I shall indeed wear my poppy with pride.

GrannyA - Just listened to your beautiful daughter talking on the thread you gave. You should be very proud of her. I bought my poppy on Saturday in the town I live in from a young man who had stood out all morning firstly with his young son and then his baby daughter collecting for the RBL. I chatted briefly to him and discovered his brother is currently serving in Afghan. He said he had learned a lot from doing it - mostly that people up to about the age of 30 didn't want to buy a poppy. Sad when you think how young most of those injured and dying in Afghanistan (and Iraq previously) are.

I spent two hours yesterday with my box of poppies and got a very positive response from almost everyone. I was collecting at Waitrose, and the majority - though of course not all - of the shoppers were of the older generation. What did really surprise me was the lack of knowledge about the dead and injured from recent conflicts. Most people still seemed to think of the RBL as being there for WWII survivors and didn't realise the amazing amount of work they undertake for all our armed forces and their dependants now.

I wear a white poppy to remember all the dead in all the wars, not just the people on our side.

I've never seen white poppies being sold carbon do you make it yourself, or buy it from a charity? I personally wear my poppy with pride, not only in remembrance of those who gave their lives for their country, but also to show support for a fantastic organisation whose work is so often taken for granted.

Well said nannym ...so do I. In fact, I try to remember to take one with me, when travelling abroad ...to leave on an overseas war grave.

This year I got a wrist band too... as 90th year of RBL

grannyactivist - what an inspiration your daughter is. For as long as I can remember, a poppy has always been bought and worn with pride by my family and by my partner and myself. It goes without saying that this is the way things should be. Bless them all.

GA, what a credit your daughter is to you, and what a beautiful grandson you have, your son-in-law would have been very proud of them, and you. We always buy poppies, because I lost my father in WW2, six months before I was born.

As November and Remembrance Sunday come around again, I feel deep indignation that "old men send young men to die" and that all the wars I have known in my lifetime have never had anything to do with "defending our country". And once again I remember those young men – and women – who have dutifully faced responsibilities so lightly regarded and glibly dismissed by their political masters and suffered death and terrible injury. So for them, I shall buy and wear my poppy and for their brave families who face life without them or with their damaged bodies and souls.

carbon, the red poppy is a memorial symbol and a tribute to the war dead, but in the current economic climate it is also a much needed fund-raiser for veterans and their families. The money raised does not go to promote war or conflict in any way. The Royal British Legion spends almost £1.4 million a week delivering health and welfare support to current and ex-service personnel.

I know there are those who would say that the funds raised by the red poppy should be used to work for the end of all war, not to make up for the short-comings in the state support of military personnel, but that’s a bit like saying that funds for a hospice for cancer patients should be diverted to cancer research.

I absolutely agree that remembrance should include ALL those who have died in conflicts. I’m glad that you are wearing your white poppy and I applaud your stance in supporting peace. My husband and I have also taken an active position by helping to create a new organisation; Peace and Reconciliation for Afghanistan (PARFAN), through which we hope soon to sponsor children in Afghanistan who have lost their fathers in war.

The Peace Pledge Union supply White Poppies every year.
Benjemin Zephonia (spelt wrong I'm sure: the poet) was wearing one on television the other night I noticed.

Read about it on http://www.ppu.org.uk/whitepoppy/index.html

I don't feel it is necessary to wear a special white poppy to show that you do not approve of war and killing. There is not a single widow, orphan, or war-injured serviceman who approves of death and destruction. We wear a red poppy to symbolise the blood that was shed and the grief that was caused, not to glory in bloodshed.

Since they started selling white poppies how many wars have they actually stopped through their education for peace?

Give your money to the people who can do some good with it.

I think the red poppies are about peace and the constant reminder of the devastation that war leaves behind, and the grief of the bereaved. I don't think a white poppy is necessary, or saying anything new.

DH & I always stand by the War Memorial at 11am on Remembrance Sunday and it is good to see so many young people with their children observing the 2 minutes silence.

I haven't personally lost family in conflict (other than in WW1 long before my birth) but have great respect for those brave young men and women who have given their lives and enormous empathy for the families left bereaved. To me the poppy is a mark of respect for them all.

To me the white poppy has overtones of the white feathers which were presented to young men not in uniform during WW1. I know there is absolutely no connection - quite the opposite intention in fact - but there is disapproval echoing from them - as though those who wear a red poppy were thirsting for blood and violence, not mourning the victims of that violence.

In some cultures, white is the colour of death. I could understand it if in those countries they used a white flower, but not here - Flanders fields were filled with red poppies, not white, after the destruction and disturbance of trench warfare.

"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."

I have just got home from a meeting where a gentleman ( no other word is appropriate) talked, in a typically understated way, about his time in Stalagluft 3, and his release after 3 years. They waked for 2 weeks in deep snow. He was the same age that my father would have been, and the whole tone was "just got on with it." And they did. And they do. We must never forget.

You might like to access this site ...

www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Remembrance.html

Thank you, Jacey - a beautiful, thoughtful website.