The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1918-10-12
John B. Ryan, il.


another life to the service of our
country The cause OF patriotism has
been enriched by the precious blood
of another of her devoted sons.
When John B. Ryan left the Sum
ter High School he entered Clemson
College where in due time ne recelv-
ed his diploma Of graduation in the
AGRICULTURAL department of this inStl-
tuition After leaving college he be-
came engaged in an essential industry
and was, therefore, placed in class
four. He heard the call Of his coun-
try, however, and with the cheerful.
consent of his wife he volunteered for
active service. He was accepted in an
Officers Training Camp at Camp Cor
don and on the first Of September
received his commission as Second
Lieutenant. On Wednesday of last
week he was taken i'll and within just
a few days had made the supreme Of
fering of his life upon the altar OF his
country's service.
Few men have a clearer record Of
disinterested patriotism than John
Ryan. He could so easily have stuck
to his essential industry and no
question could or would have been
raised. The clarion call to duty was
too loud and TOO clear not to be heed
ed by. his patriotic soul and his life
was willing offering to the love that
ne bore his country.
The parents have the deep synpa-
II IN
the son who is in the Students Army
Training Corps they have given six
sons to the service of their country.
No one can estimate what this means
to them or can count the sacrifice
that they have been called upon to
make. When we contemplate the
anguish of the mother and of the
wife, we are made to realize anew
that the real heroes of this war are
its heroines They tell their sons or
their husbands goodbye with their
faces wreathed with smiles and then
go to their closets to pour out their
broken hearts in prayer to God. And
then they wait day by day for the
news that may mean walking thence
forth within the shadow.
The example of such life volun-
tarily laid down simply for the love Of
country is an inspiration to those who
ore anxious to do what they can for
their country's welfare and an ever
lasting rebuke to those who hide be-
hind the preteXt of the shirker and
the Stacker. It makes one blush
with shame unless one is willing to do
his best for the country that he has
always professed to love.
On last Sunday morning all that
was left after the departure of this
heroic soul was laid to rest beneath
the stately pines Of the cemte1y al
Wedgefeld a large number Of SYM
pathetic friends had gathered to pay
their last tribute Of respect and to
show those who mourned that they
were not alone in their grief. II
was fitting that the body should have
been laid to rest beneath those droop-
ing pines whose stateliness manifest
ed the majesty Of consecrated grief
and whose unfading verdure typified
the immortality of the soul. A sur
cease from sorrow will be granted to
those who mourn from contempla-
ton of an earthly Immortality as
sured by a realization of plain devo-
tedness to duty and from an assur-
ance Of an endless life beyond the
stars Grief is consecrated by a
realization of duty fully and nobly
done and by the hope Of a realm
where the rainbow never fades.
S. H. Edmunds,
Superintendent.