In 2017, pottery artist Julianne Hansen's stepson Kyle, a captain in the Air Force, suddenly passed away. In order to handle the grief that came with her loss, the Alabama Poppy Project was born.

Over Memorial Day weekend from May 22 through May 26, the grounds of the USS Alabama in Mobile were covered in stoneware remembrance poppies, with Hansen and a group of volunteers honoring the many men and women who served the country and are no longer walking with us, one poppy at a time.

The project was inspired by the poppy displays in London, England, commemorating the end of World War I. Lt. Col. John McCrae, a Canadian physician and poet who fought in the war, penned the poem "In Flanders Fields" after presiding over the funeral of his friend and fellow soldier, Lt. Alexis Helmer, who died in combat during the Second Battle of Ypres. The poem references red poppies, which grew over the graves of fallen soldiers.

His poem became one of the most quoted poems from the war and helped bolster the poppy into prominence as a symbol of remembrance for those who have fallen in battle.

Originally starting with around 1,000 poppies, the Alabama Poppy Project has since grown to 2,026 handmade, red stoneware flowers. Each is mounted on a steel rod and adorned with a white ribbon that bears a name in gold.

"Every time the wind would catch the ribbon, it just reminded me of how that person's legacy is now being able to float and fly because somebody physically sponsored that person and got that ribbon and tied it on that poppy," Hansen said. "It just reminded me that it's our responsibility to share these people's legacy. Not everybody got a Congressional Medal of Honor. Not everybody got a Purple Heart, but all these people who have signed up and served, they've put themselves in harm's way or they put themselves through some really grueling processes. We need to honor that."

The annual display started in Hansen's hometown of Prattville, but following construction and changes to local municipal code, this year's event was moved to the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, where Hansen said the red carpet was rolled out for them, praising the park on how they deliver a message that honors the present and the past.

"When we came in the gates and I saw the profile of the USS Alabama and the C-47 and the props, just all of the machinery and the aircraft, it took my breath away," Hansen said. "It really did, and I really do feel like this is where it belongs."

Hansen said a portion of the proceeds made from each poppy is donated to several nonprofit organizations dedicated to veterans and the families of those who are gone. She said what keeps her going is the stories people tell her and her team every year.

"When we question ourselves and say, 'Are we going to do this again?' then we remember the people we talk to," Hansen said. "We remember the people who stood here in tears. We remember the people who knelt in honor of their buddy that passed and didn't come home but they did. There are so many stories like that, and if there's a way we can help these people work through their grief like the poppies help me work through mine, then we've done our job, and service is really the greatest way that we can get through grief."