Posted: May 12, 2021 21 Nothing appears to symbolize the true meaning of Memorial Day in our country more than the beautiful and poignant poem In Flanders Fields. This poem was written 106 years ago by Canadian poet and WWI battlefield surgeon Lt. Col. John McCrae, after he had seen a field of colorful red poppies blooming on what shortly before had been a war-torn battlefield in West Flanders, Belgium. The poem In Flanders Fields and the red poppy later became symbols of remembrance of the wartime deaths of our country’s service men and women. Now, on Memorial Day, we honor all veterans.