you'll either get a croix de guerre or a croix de bois
Thank you, veterans, and thank you HGC, and SK, W, MH, D, Cross, and those who want peace but are called to fight.
poppies, by the way, were noted in flanders originally because the artillery shells exposed dormant seeds and the flowers blossomed forth unexpectedly amid the battlefields.
recommended reading-- The Bowmen, by Arthur Machen (which effectually created a huge belief in the "Angel of Mons" myth)
http://www.aftermathww1.com/bowmen.asp
reading or movie: johnny got his gun by Dalton Trumbo
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/General/JohnnyGotHisGun.html
traumatizing.
Les Croix des Boix
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0CE1D7163EE633A25750C0A9629C946394D6CF
absolutely one of the most harrowing, stark, and beautiful war movies ever made. this version stars a cast of veterans, including Antonin Artaud, and much of the shocking artillery and battle footage was used for years after by American moviemakers. Reminds me of the Seventh Seal in its stunning cinematography.
it is unbelievable it is almost 100 years since the "war to end all wars" commenced. and yet we still are fighting in foreign fields of poppies.