04/26/2026
I almost missed this. I was photographing the Western Front map at the WWI Memorial. The campaign maps etched in granite show where American troops fought and died in France between 1917 and 1918. Then I saw it, someone had left a red poppy at the base of the map. Just one, leaning against the stone. In the tradition of Flanders Fields, red poppies have been left at war memorials since John McCrae wrote his poem from the trenches in 1915. Someone came to this memorial, stood in front of this map, and left a flower for soldiers who have been dead for over a century. I don’t know who that person was. I don’t know whose grandfather or great-grandfather they were honoring. But they came and paid their respects by remembering. That is what this channel is for.
