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A poem was given to me by a World War I veteran. He told me it was sung by the grandfather of James M. McGowan of North Quincy High, Massachucetts at a Memorial Day assembly in 1934 through 1937. The grandfather was a Spanish American war veteran. Since the poem was given to me with no name, I am going to call it “Home.”
Home
Makes no difference where you wander,
Makes no difference where you roam,
You’ve no need to stop and ponder,
For a place to call your home.
When they ask “Where were you born, Lad?”
Step right up! Be proud to say--,
That your homes the land of Uncle Sam,
The good old U.S.
This page on “Patriots,” is extracted from a book “Old Vincennes,” Vincennes, Indiana, by Joseph Henry Venderburg Somes. It speaks for itself.
“Under many places in this great country lay the ashes of unsung and unrecalled heros of the past, and from the ashes have arisen many beautiful lilies of the forest and the field. Perhaps there is none more solemn than the blue stone marker in Plot A of the Post Cemetary at West Point Military Academy. The inscription reads: ‘To the memory of Ensign Dominic Trant of the 9th Massechusetts Regiment who departed this life on the 7th day of November 1782 in the 18th year of his age. This youth was a native of Cork, Ireland, which he quitted for the thirst for military glory and an ardent desire to embrace the American cause. He died equally lamented as he was loved whilst living, by all who knew him.’ The old newspapers state that the Father of Our Country was among the military celebrities who attended the funeral. This eulogy could be repeated for thousands of others from the “Emerald Isle,” and just as truthfully for the equally great immigrants from France, Germany, Italy, Holland and other nations. The United States is so awsome in her history, that a debt of gratitude is repaid only at the individual grave of those who really gave! Some may have said, under their breaths, that some others were “cussed individuals,” but IN THOSE GREAT DAYS WHEN THE DIGNITY OF MAN WAS MOST RESPECTED, AND EVERY AMERICAN WAS A FRIEND OF EVERY OTHER AMERICAN, ALL WERE GREAT. it was in this belief that our Founding Fathers wrote the “Bill of Rights,” which comprise the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution.
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