Middletown transcript., 1921-11-12
THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER
SELECTED BY REV. E. w. CASWELL

HE OVNNVVN 0VADA1AS
SELECTED BY REV. E. W. cAswELL
HoNoRs TO SOLDIERS
O brave young faces, battle worn i
o laughing lads, now grave-eyed men
So great burden have ye borne
Life cannot be the same again
Thought of that land beyond the seas
Shall color all your memories
Ever beside your feet shall march
The steadfast step of comrades gone.
Or We shall see, in heavens clear arcn,
Their ships still circling 'gainst the
dawn!
Ye pray, "God keep us free from stain,
That these shall not have died in vain
They are not dead, who gave their all
To save world in bitter strife;
To our faint hearts we hear them call
Their message of victorious life:
Fear not that path of sacrifice
We followed, steadfast, to the skies.
Premier Lloyd George expressed the
profound gratitude" of the British
government and people ''for this strlk,
ing act of homage to our valiant dead,
which "will be reminder not only to
this generation but to all generations to
come, that the fundamental aims OF
these two democracies are the same,
and will be interpreted as solemn
pledge given to the valiant dead that
these two mighty peoples who were
comrades in the great war have resolved
to remain comrades to guarantee
great peace" The British government
decided to confer the Victoria Cross
upon the American Unknown Soldier
when his body was inferred in Arlington
cemetery on Arn,istice Day. The hom-
age which General Pershing offered in
Westminster Abbey was preceded by a
similar service in Paris few days
after his arrival in France, when he
placed the Congressional Medal upon
the tomb of the Unknown Poilu who
lies under the Arch of Triumph. AS
recognition of the distinguished honor
the United States has conferred upon
this immortalized soldier of France, a
group of military decorations was
conferred upon the American Unknown
Soldier. The decoration Of the Legion
of Honor was placed upon the casket
at Havre before it was taken aboard the
U. S. S. Olympia for transportation to
this country, and at the burial at Ar
lington Cemetery Marshal Focf
added to this distinction the Medaille
Militaire and the Croix de Guerre.
HEROES
Mother Earth, are the heroes dead?
Do they thrill the soul of the years NJ
more?
Are the cleaning SHOWS and the pop
pies red
All that is left of the brave of yore
Are there none to fight as Theseu
fought,
Far in the young worlds misty dawn
Or teach as gray-haired Nestor taught
Mother Earth, are the heroes gone
Gone? In grander form they rise.
Dead? We may clasp their hands
ours.
And catch the light of their cleare
eyes,
mortal flowers.
Where'er noble deed is done,
'Tis the pulse of herO's heart
;: stirred;
Wherever right has triumph won,
There are the heroes voices heard.
Their armor rings on fairer field
Than the Greek and the Trojan fierc
ly trod;
For freedoms sword is the blade the
WELD,
And the the CLEAN above is the smile
So in his isle of calm delight,
Jason may sleep the years away;
For the heroes live, and the sky
bright,
And the world is braver world
day. Edna Dean Procto
The Unknown Soldier is reverence
not because he is unknown-though ce
tainly the element of mystery surroun'
the grave with certain glamor-b
because in his person is recognized tt
part which the private soldier played
the Great War; He bore the brunt
the working and the fighting, but Fl
him there can be no individual fame.
few won commissions and medals. b
the millions simply did their duty al
died, without expecting or receivir
recognition or reward. In their beha
the Unknown Dead wears the Medal
Honor and the Victoria Cross.
Christian AdrOcd
WHAT SCARS?
If Thou, my Christ, to-day
Should st speak to me and say:
What battles hast thou fought for nj
Show me Thy scars; l fain would see
Loves depth of victory.
If Thou should'st speak, my Christ;
MY leader and my King;
And bid me lay my wounds in sight,
The scars borne just for Thee in figl
What love-scars could bring :?