Flanders Fields, Belgium, 1915: Poppies, the hue of human blood, blow in the gentle breeze. The scarlet blooms decorate thousands of Allied soldier graves. Graves of mud transfused with the blood of fallen brothers.
1,043 American soldiers perished in Belgium during World War I, 368 of whom are interred at Flanders Field American Cemetery. Today, Memorial Day, we remember their courage—and the courage of all American veterans—by revisiting the story of the vermilion poppies of Flanders Fields.
Flanders Fields is the name for WWI battlefields on the border of northern Belgium and France. The Battle of Passchendaele and the Second Battle of Ypres are well-known battles that took place on Flanders Fields.