You fellows that are in--have a heart for those Who want to be, but can't! For they must know A bitterness of soul you can never feel-- _They_ haven't got a chance on earth to go! So it's, "Stay back home with the old and unfit," (There's nothing else to do but that, I guess!) The badge he'd be glad to throw a mile away Is the one that reads EXEMPT U. S. GOODBYE, BOYS! Line after line, you swung along, You men, who only a while ago Were just a part of the city's throng Working for self, sedate and slow. But now--what a diff'rence! Living throbs Of the Nation's heart! Her reborn men; And some who saw you gulped back sobs-- And wished you were marching home again! Our eyes were dim as you went past, For we _knew you_--at last! We felt that every senseless joke About a soldier, wherever made, Would make _us_ ashamed.... For now we choke Whenever the Colors and _you_ parade! Wherever that O. D. uniform Shall gladden the eyes of we useless men We can't forget who is meeting the storm-- That some of you won't come home again! You went.... We talked.... God blot the past! For _we_ know _you_--at last! THAT'S ALL To take this trouble seriously, But not to gloom or whine; To never overestimate Our strength, or to decline To see this is no picnic, But do our earnest part With brain and muscles, newly trained-- To keep a steady heart! To fight, but not to lower Our standards in the dust; To meet a savage enemy Whose words the world can't trust. To guard our foolish tempers-- Or keep them out of sight! To never falter, doubt, or fear The outcome will be _right_! To laugh--whenever laughter Is best to keep us fit; To shake hands with privation When face to face with it. To give without complaining Or boasting what we give; To make this world a safer world For those who have to live! To part with old traditions That hampered in the past; To see that heart-wrung "aliens" As enemies aren't classed, But treated--while deserving it-- As human beings, too; * * * * * Just to _be clean_--in mind and soul-- That's _all_ we have to do! AN AMERICAN CREED Straight thinking, Straight talking, Straight doing, And a firm belief in the might of right. Patience linked with patriotism, Justice added to kindliness, Uncompromising devotion to this country, And active, not passive, Americanism. To talk less, to mean more, To complain less, to accomplish more, And to so live that every one of us is ready to look Eternity in the face at any moment, and be unafraid! IN OTHER KEYS YOUTH O' THE YEAR