What's Up With the Poppy?

Curious minds have been wondering...

"What’s the deal with Rangers and Rockers putting flowers on everything?”

Besides their beauty, the flower holds meaning to us as warriors, dreamers, and believers.

The Fallen.   

In Flanders Fields 
by John McCrae

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.

 

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Opportunity.

Opium is the number one export from Afghanistan.  In addition to funding fighting, it enslaves entire valleys—financially and chemically. With no production or export opportunities, these remote areas of the world have no other choice but to farm opium.

When we started this mission, we thought it symbolic to put the poppy on everything.  We even packed the first 2000 pair in burlap opium sacks.  This is an opportunity to get hooked on something else.


Photo Respect: Jed Conklin

Enlightenment.

The flower represents one symbol of fortune.  It grows in dirt, and it is this environment that gives forth the flower’s first and most literal meaning: rising and blooming above the murk to achieve enlightenment. 


Photo: Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes

Enlist in the #UnarmedForces today.

Past.

Present.

Future.

#Peace

 


3 comments


  • Skip Newman

    So I googled Combat Flip Flops because I heard of your product. One of the first things I saw was “what’s up with the poppy”, hear in Canada the poppy is held very dear and near to our hearts. November 11 is Remembrance Day, and the poem you just read was a written by a Canadian Army Doctor during WW1. I cannot remember how many Americians asked me this past Nov 11 what was the red flower we wore on our uniforms here in Iraq. As a Canadian medic, I need no other prompting to make my first purchace.


  • Tim Sharron

    Bought my first pair of AK’s because of the mission and being veteran owned. Now we have 5 different pairs floperating in the family. The AK’s are so protective and sturdy that feel like a pair of shoes. The poppies make a great part of the mission story. Keep up the good work!


  • Chas Richardson

    Bought my first pair because of the mission. Bought my second pair of flip-flops because of the poppy…and the quality. The quality is better than anything I have found in N. America or Europe.


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