ALLIES
The French, the British, and the Portugee,
Captain, or colonel, or king though he be,
Gives a salute in response to me,
Buck private in Uncle Sam’s Infantry.
There’s much that a soldier’s salute implies,
But it means the most when it means, “We’re Allies!”
In Belgium and France and Italy
They talk in ways that are Greek to me,
But the speech of soldiers’ courtesy
Is a Lingua Franca wherever you be.
With a single gesture, I recognize
That I am one of the Twenty Allies.
I never could tell just why it should be
That the first salute should be up to me
In this queer, new army democracy,
But every commander must answer me,
British, or French, or Indo-Chinee,
Captain, or colonel, or king though he be.
There’s much that a soldier’s salute implies,
But it means the most when it means, “We’re Allies!”
Merritt Y. Hughes, Pvt., Inf.