Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1918-08-22
LOVE And UNCLE SAM
RT s.atharine EsgIestor
II The ,Yigilante5

=
Of soldier men, sweethearts of soldier
lovers. with the arms: of our love round
each other, let as reason together.
From some Of US surely, loTe's, su-
preme sacrifice will be demanded. But
it is not giving our best to DEATH 1t
IS seeing the soldier come home Grip
Piled or blind or deaf. Every heart
among ours aches in the giant grasp
of pain at the thought.
In the streets Of London before this
war began, there We're crippled and
blinded men, pitifully capitalizing
their infrmity as they thrust their
Lit of green or bunch of lead pencils
forward to cover the fact that they
were beggars. In every other coun-
try where war has laid its devastating
weight, there are such men. Even
here. where we have pensioned the
veterans Of the civil war, we have the
tragic evidences consequent on mems
knowing that they arc not helping in
the worlds work.
These were the SONS Of mothers like
YOU. the husbands Of wives like you,
the lovers of sweethearHs. For n
month or year, the glory of their
sacrifice burned brightly around them.
Trey were heroes in loves eyes. They
were petted and appreciated. Then,
the routine of life swept on. The
other men went hack to business.
Their wives and their mothers and
their sweethearts went on with life
accompanied by the agreeable support
of their money-producing efforts. Per-
haps, the men tried to make places
FOR the manned companions. But the
dimming thoughts Of the war were the
mist that began to shut the MANNED
ones away from participation in the
life where they could render no SER
vice. The women who loved and chung
to them had to find work to support
themselves and the heroes. And, even
they grew less conscious of the hero
ism and more conscious of the strain
of making ends meet.
Worse yet, deterioration set in
within the mind and heart of the hero.
It was not his fault that he could be
of so little use. He had given more
for his country than some of the men
who were blessed with the favor and
comfort resulting from active service
and the accumulation of a competency.
Bitter or discouraged or else just slip
ping without much resistance into the
position Of grocery-srore loafer and
courthouse lounger, the hero of a
time forgotten became a kind of toll
Grated zero in the life of his commun-
ity--or an actual nuisance.
Dear Mothers, wives, sweethearts,
this is not picture too highly COL
ored. You know of men far-fallen
from the heroic days when they: came
home bearing; the signs Of their great
giving. Them what would whisper
to the deeps. of your heart so sacred
to your soldier-men'? BY the strength
Of the, love, you bear: them. save their
glory untamished!
How? There is work that . man
without q leg can CO with his two
hands. There is work that man be-
reft of sight can do by the sense of
touch. There is work that man
whose. arms are gone can do with his
feet. Our blessed heroes can be taught
work that will, in some instances,
make them even more able to earn
than they were before the war. The
government is looking after this.
Then what can we do, mothers, wives
and sweethearts? We can-and we |
must-give' our men to the govern
ment bit longer, give them till they
are equipped to take mems places in
the active world. 1t means holding
our hearts that yearn so terrifcally ::
to have them again, in the strong grip !
of our common sense. When you ache
to get them back, to have them right
close to you, to make it all up to them,
Just remember that the mothers and :
wives and sweetthlleeaFts of those men =
WHOM y9V new regard as ciphers, o
loved and yearned as you do. just q
keep tight hold on the thought that :,
the shiftless, unco1tyibuting member +,
IF society, who decorates a dry-goods E
oox or lunches up in a wooden chair ii
It the courthouse, came home to q
'earts that blazed with fervor as i,
ours is blazing now. And save your D,
nen from what your eyes convince ii
'ou is their certain future. Fl