At Flanders School the poppies go to soldiers standing in a row
Students honor vets before Memorial Day
East Lyme — Flanders Elementary School students on Tuesday carried handmade red poppies and walked single file from the field outside the school’s gym to the memorial garden outside the Board of Education building on Boston Post Road.
On their route, the students — dressed in red, white and blue — passed signs that said “We Remember” and “Home of the Free because of the Brave.”
When they reached the garden, one by one, they handed a red poppy to a veteran or current service member and thanked them for their service.
The Flanders School community held an All School Meeting on Tuesday that concluded with a moment of silence and the playing of taps outside the garden to commemorate the upcoming Memorial Day holiday.
During the assembly in the field outside the gym, students sang “Yankee Doodle” and “Bless our Troops,” performed a patriotic dance and read a poem in Spanish and English. They stood near a replica of the Statue of Liberty and a board decorated with red poppies that said “We Honor Those Who Have Served.”
Members of the Silver Dolphins Navy Drill Team performed at the assembly. U.S. Navy Seaman Darron Dean, Seaman Brian Aragon, Seaman Apprentice Sebastian Lopera and Seaman Apprentice Anthony Fugatt then shared with the students why they serve and said it was an honor to be at the Memorial Day assembly.
“It’s a holiday that really means a lot to me, and those of us who have family members who served,” Dean told the students. He added that he joined the Navy to keep everyone safe and happy and so they can have freedoms.
Connecticut National Guard Major Giancarlo D’Angelo, also a member of the East Lyme Police Commission and a father to a Flanders student, read aloud the poem “In Flanders Fields” by Lt. Colonel John McCrae. He then told the students that the red poppy is the symbol of the fallen soldiers after World War I.
He said the war had destroyed the land. But as winter and then summer came along, it was discovered that all the damage — the heavy machinery, bombing and artillery — had turned up the soil and provided the perfect opportunity for poppies to grow.
“All the beautiful red flowers covered the war-torn ground,” he said. “It seemed like a cue from nature to reflect all the sacrifices that were made.”
Members of the Connecticut National Guard, local chapters of the American Legion and VFW, East Lyme Veterans Council and other local officials were among those in attendance.
Service members who were family members or friends of the Flanders students also