The men and women who dedicate their time to serve and protect their country hold a very dear place in all of our hearts.
We love to hear stories of brave men and women of uniform returning home, like this dad who was stationed in Afghanistan and surprised his family at Florida Gators football game.
But of course it's equally important to remember the serviceman and servicewomen who don't get to return home.
A year ago, Julia Cooper held an event at her pub, the Don Bar, where she offered free hot soup for military veterans, and hot-glued a few red poppies on the wall.
By the end of 2014, the bar had 40,000 red poppies covering its walls, and now it's up to 70,000 — and looking to enter into the Guinness World Records with 100,000 red poppies.
Scroll through to see the photos of the moving memorial and to hear more of Julia's story.
How do you honor our veterans? Let us know in the comments, and please SHARE!
The Don Bar in Stockton-on-Tees, England, has been the home of a gorgeous memorial to our veterans for over a year.
Owner Julia Cooper began hot-gluing poppies to the wall of the pub as a decoration for an event for veterans.
The poppies are handmade in nearby Richmond by disabled ex-servicemen and -servicewomen at the Poppy Factory. 'When I started last year, I asked John, a friend of mine in the British Legion, for a small box — and now we get 2,000 poppies at a time,' Julia said.
Parents of military servicemen and servicewomen began sending photos and flags to add to the poppies. 'Parents asking me to put them up is an honor for us,' Julia said. 'They've all got the same look in their eyes — of pride.'
'I get veterans coming here and crying when they see the photographs I have on the walls along with the poppies,' said Julia.
'One actually broke down in front of me and said that the memorabilia meant so much to him and that he was overjoyed to be able to see it,' Julia said.
'I think the public should be aware of these people that have given their lives for us and have fought very hard to keep this country safe.'
Although Julia has lost the fingerprints on her fingers from hot gluing so many red poppies, she is determined to honor our veterans, no matter what the cost.
Hopefully bars and restaurants around the world will take a page from Julia's book! What a beautiful way to honor our veterans.
Please SHARE if you would like to see more poppies in our world!
