Part 12 (1/2)

Of other men the Flag has told; It flies for others' deeds; Its pride is born of heroes bold Who served its by-gone needs.

But now our blood shall mingle there With blood of patriots dead, And through the years each stripe shall wear A deeper, truer red.

The splendor of the flag shall gleam In every radiant star, And finer shall the banner seem Because of what we are.

To-day new glory for the Flag We give our best to build; Of us shall future ages brag, By us their blood be thrilled; And as to us the flag has meant The greatness of the past, The Stars and Stripes shall represent Our courage to the last.

The children in the years to be Our trials shall discuss, And cheer the emblem of the free, In part, because of us.

To the Men at Home

No war is won by cannon fire alone; The soldier bears the grim and dreary role; He dies to serve the Flag that he has known; His duty is to gain the distant goal.

But if the toiler in his homeland fair Falter in faith and shrink from every test, If he be not on duty ever there, Lost to the cause is every soldier's best.

The men at home, the toiler in the shop, The keen-eyed watcher of the spinning drill Hear no command to vault the trench's top; They know not what it is to die or kill, And yet they must be brave and constant, too.

Upon them lies their precious country's fate; They also serve the Flag as soldiers do, 'Tis theirs to make a nation's army great.

You hold your country's honor in your care.

Her glory you shall help to make or mar; For they, who now her uniforms must wear Can be no braver soldiers than you are.

From day to day, in big and little deeds, At bench or lathe or desk or stretch of soil, You are the man your country sorely needs!

Will you not give to her your finest toil?

No war is won by cannon fire alone.

The men at home must also share the fight.

By what they are, a nation's strength is shown, The army but reflects their love of right.

Will you not help to hold our battle line, Will you not give the fullest of your powers In sacrifice and service that is fine That victory shall speedily be ours?

From Laughter to Labor

We have wandered afar in our hunting for pleasure, We have scorned the soul's duty to gather up treasure; We have lived for our laughter and toiled for our winning And paid little heed to the soul's simple sinning.

But light were the burdens that freighted us then, G.o.d and country, to-day let us prove we are men!

We have idled and dreamed in life's merriest places, The years have writ little of care in our faces; We have brought up our children, expectant of gladness, And little we've taught them of life and its sadness.

For distant and dim seemed the forces of wrong, G.o.d and country, to-day let us prove we are strong!

We have had our glad years, now the sad years are coming, We have danced to gay tunes, now we march to war's drumming.

We have laughed and have loved as we pleasantly toiled, And now we must show that our souls are unspoiled.

We must work that our Flag shall in honor still wave, G.o.d and country, to-day let us prove we are brave!

United

Forgotten petty difference now, The larger purpose glows, The storm is here, a common fear Its deadly lightning shows.

The s.h.i.+p of State must bear us all And danger makes us kin, As one, we all shall rise or fall, So shall we strive to win.

Our banner's flying at the mast, Our course lies straight ahead; The ocean's trough is deep and rough, The waves are stained with red.

The bond of danger tighter grows, We serve a common plan; Send o'er the sea the word that we Are all American.