THE VOLUNTEER
What are you doing out here my boy;
Out here in the slime and foam?
You are lost, though the night be clear, my boy,
And you.re miles and miles from home.
But he spake no word,
Though my voice was heard
By the sentinel and his mate
Just held his face
To the trigger- place
And stared in the eyes of Fate.
Why do you stay out here, my boy?
Or is it you.ve lost your way?
But little you seem to care, my boy,
As fast to the gun you stay.
Then in star- shell light
I saw through the night,
( My head bowed in reverence.)
He was not khaki- clad
But a peasant lad.
Dead. And a child of France.
I carried him back to soft earth, this boy,
And laid him away to rest
In the land that had claimed by birth, this boy,
And nestled him close to her breast.
A mere slip of a lad
Who willing had
Invaded our lines for the chance
To stand with the rest
And give his best
For the sake of his .Patria.- France.
By 1st Lt. Joseph R. Cushing
Company G 314th Infantry
79th Division AEF
From the book DOUGHBOY DITTIES- 1927
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