At home, he drove a taxi,A job he’d now disdain;He’s learning (on a queer machine)To drive an aeroplane.It doesn’t fly–it glumps alongAnd bumps him, ev’ry chance;His tumbling, rumbling “Penguin”Out there–Somewhere in France. It isn’t fun to drive it,But he’s not out for fun;He’s going to learn to drop good bombsUpon the no-good Hun!And so, until […]

It may be that you know him. A slim and likely kid;Red-headed, tall, and soft of speech and glance.He never took a prize at school (his talents always hid),And yet he’s got a medal from the Government of France! He didn’t kill a lot of men;He never injured one;He didn’t hold a trench alone;He never […]

We slid into the harbor here,A line of battle-cruisers gray,With hungry guns as silent asThe bands aboard that did not play.The fog was soft, the fog was damp,The hush was thick and wide as space,But ev’ry man was standing atAttention in his given place. We’d made the port, with time to spare–And Uncle Sam’s first […]

Since Johnny has joined the Marine corps,Of course he will do what he’s told,And Johnny will be at home on the seaThe day he is eighteen years old.Just what they expect of my babyAin’t clear to his maw; my, oh, my!But Johnny’s a-wearin’ the blue–and ain’t carin’–He’s gone! Is it wrong if I cry? It […]

We meet ev’ry week to make surgical dressings–And one woman does it dead wrong;I watched her a day–then I just had to say,“My dear! If I may–that’s too long!”While I was explaining the teacher came by–She’s so cross that her mouth’s just a line —And found fault with me and my work….After thatI’ll mind no […]

“I wasn’t so much of a soldier,” said the soul of Sergeant Todd,(Fumbling at his medal, that statement sounded odd.)“I wasn’t so much of a fighter, but when they came, and came,Yelling and shooting, I just got mad, and I reckon I did the same.Into my trench they piled–just boys–Making a most outlandish noise.” A […]

Sister Susie’s sittin’ knittin’Sweaters, wristlets, scarfs, an’ socks;She ain’t “sewin’ shirts for soldiers”‘Cause she got so many knocksFrom th’ papers ’bout her sewin’–Now she’s knittin’ pounds of yarnInto things to send away…. Well,I don’t care,Don’t care a darn! Hasn’t knit no scarf or sweater,Hasn’t made no socks for me;Little brother, he can rustleFor himself alone, […]

What’s th’ meanin’ of the look you see in soldiers’ eyes?Some of them you thought would kick an’ stall around an’ howl;But just listen (if they’ll talk) an’ hear, to your surprise,A lot of laughs, a lot o’ tales–but never once a growl! Business man and bell hop,Farmer boy and clerk;Easy-going spendthrifts,Men that have to […]

This horrid old war is right in our houseMaking itself at home, goodness sakes!The scraps from our table won’t feed a mouseWe’ve cut out desserts, salads, and cakes.Monday is meatless and Tuesday is dry,Wednesday is sugarless, too, gee whiz!Our plates must be cleaned, they tell us. That’s whyWe eat the garbage before it is ! […]

There’s a Red Cross Button on his left lapel,And a Liberty Bond pin on his right;There’s a U. S. flag above the Red Cross, too;His patriotism’s never out of sight!His loyalty is spread on his hollow breast(And sometimes he’s pathetic, I confess),But the button that he’s most ashamed to wearIs the one that reads EXEMPTU. […]

We number hundreds of thousands, and we’re nowhere near the front;We’re pen and pencil pushers, or “serving” the adding machines;We’ll never reach the firing-line, nor bear its hellish brunt–But where’d they be if it weren’t for us, workers behind the scenes? Book-keeper, paymaster, spectacled clerk,Doing our bit, though it’s every day work–We’re all of us […]

A simple ditty Private Smithy sang for me,Entitled “Beans.”… The tune was not a joy;The words were commonplace as they could be,But just to hear his earnest voice–“Oh, Boy!” When first I went a-sojerin’I couldn’t eat the stuffThe cookies gave the bunch of us,For it was rough and tough.But since I’ve been a-sojerin’And learned what […]

We’re not a bit deluded by the notionThat this is just a picnic, or that weEnlisted for a trip across the ocean–There’s work ahead, not just a joyous spree.Of course we sing and talk and sometimes dance;But get this in your mind–that when we hear“Hullo, Soldier! How’s the boy?” as we disembark in France,They will […]

“I’ve given a lot of my time and work To helping my country,” says he; “No one can tell you that I am a shirk In the great cause of Liberty!” (Perhaps you have met him? Well, then, forget him!) John Lampas was a Greek,John Lampas isn’t now;He’s just a plain AmericanAnd eating soldier chow.He […]