Memorial Day Poppies

 

On Memorial Day we had a special opportunity to join the American Legion Auxiliary in their tribute to fallen soldiers and sailors.  We took a boat around the edge of Tybee Island to place an anchor-shaped flotilla of poppies in the Atlantic Ocean.  

  

  

Highway 80 and the Tybee Causeway fell away behind us.

  

 

 

 

 

  

 

There were dolphins rolling along in the waves between boats and ships.  And Eli loved the big brown pelicans.  He laughed every time one plummeted from the sky to make a splash while fishing.

  

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Finally it was time to slip the poppies overboard.

  

 

  

Playing "Taps." 

  

 

 

  

  

 

The float was truly a beautiful gesture.  The blood-red raft rose and fell with the gentle waves, resting on such a huge body of water.  The outgoing tide pulled it out to sea and it quickly became smaller and smaller to the eye.

   

 

 

 

(Note:  I must admit that I worried about the core of the float being made of foam -- not something you want to turn loose in the marine environment.  But during their routine patrols, the Coast Guard does the service of later picking up the foam anchor for reuse.  Thanks, Coast Guard!)

Comments

[Norma McCoy]

What a day it must have been. Thankful for your sharing.

[Heidi]

I wore my poppies necklace from the British War Museum over the weekend with the rest of my American red, white and blue. Felt like honoring all sorts of soldiers. :)

[Valerie J. Frey]

Thanks, Norma. And that must look lovely, Heidi!