XXIAfterthoughtsSo now my story is told and as I close the pages of the book I pause to think and wonder if ever again I shall see France. I wonder if again I shall walk along the quays of the River Seine or up the sloping tree-lined Champs Elysées, or wander with friends around to the Café de la Paix, or if again I shall pass through the desolate villages at the front and hear the shrieking shells, the aeroplanes overhead singing in the night “Guerre, guerre, guerre,” their monotonous song of death. I wonder if again I shall see those noble, weary people of our Sister Country fighting bravely against the Iron Hand; whether I shall go back to see our own flag being carried on to final victory; and rejoice that America at last has ridden into the field full armed, the Savior of France, as was once the Maid of Orleans.I wonder if I shall resist or follow that invisible finger beckoning to me—whether I shall listen to that voice whispering and saying to me, “Come back”?I wonder if again I shall see the towers of Rheims Cathedral or stand upon the hill beside the resting place of Norton?I wonder if again some day I shall walk into the peaceful town of Aillianville and sit down by the crackling fire and visit my friend Tourgant, the boar hunter, and his wife; whether I shall some evening step in the “Cheval Blanc” and to Madame Julie and the patron, say, as I have said before: “Bon soir, Madame, bon soir, Monsieur”; whether sometime I shall sit with Marie and her husband, who will wear the Croix de Guerre upon his breast, and with them talk about the war. I wonder if I shall again go in the “Lion d’Or,” and, in happy memory, hear the music as I did before, and if perhaps I shall see again my friends of Section One in France?I wonder if I shall answer that voice which whispers to me as I walk along the crowded streets, which whispers as I lie awake at night, which whispers in my sleep and says to me—“Come back.”FINIS[1]Extrait de l’OrdreNo.238 du 19 Septembre, 1917Portant Citation d l’Ordre de la Division69ᵉ Division d’InfanterieEtat-Major-1ᵉʳ BureauLe Général Monroe, Commandant le 69ᵉ Division d’Infanterie, cite à l’Ordre de la Division, les militaires dont les noms suivent; RICE, Philip S., Conducteur à la Section Sanitaire Americaine, 1 (20 Escad. T. E. M.):A toujours donné l’exemple du plus grand courage et de devouement dans les circonstances les plus penibles lors des evacuations des blessés pendant les attaques d’Aout et Septembre, 1917, devant VERDUN.Le Général Commandant la 69ᵉ A. T.Signe: Monroe.Extrait certifie conforméA. G. le 29 Septembre 1917Le Chepd Etat-Major.EDMOND CHAPILLIN,69ᵉ Division D’InfanterieEtat-Major.[2]Stuart Walcott, Princeton 1917, son of Secretary Walcott of the Smithsonian Institution. The Princeton University Press has published his letters, under the title “Above the French Lines.” Walcott was killed in combat, December, 1917.
So now my story is told and as I close the pages of the book I pause to think and wonder if ever again I shall see France. I wonder if again I shall walk along the quays of the River Seine or up the sloping tree-lined Champs Elysées, or wander with friends around to the Café de la Paix, or if again I shall pass through the desolate villages at the front and hear the shrieking shells, the aeroplanes overhead singing in the night “Guerre, guerre, guerre,” their monotonous song of death. I wonder if again I shall see those noble, weary people of our Sister Country fighting bravely against the Iron Hand; whether I shall go back to see our own flag being carried on to final victory; and rejoice that America at last has ridden into the field full armed, the Savior of France, as was once the Maid of Orleans.
I wonder if I shall resist or follow that invisible finger beckoning to me—whether I shall listen to that voice whispering and saying to me, “Come back”?
I wonder if again I shall see the towers of Rheims Cathedral or stand upon the hill beside the resting place of Norton?
I wonder if again some day I shall walk into the peaceful town of Aillianville and sit down by the crackling fire and visit my friend Tourgant, the boar hunter, and his wife; whether I shall some evening step in the “Cheval Blanc” and to Madame Julie and the patron, say, as I have said before: “Bon soir, Madame, bon soir, Monsieur”; whether sometime I shall sit with Marie and her husband, who will wear the Croix de Guerre upon his breast, and with them talk about the war. I wonder if I shall again go in the “Lion d’Or,” and, in happy memory, hear the music as I did before, and if perhaps I shall see again my friends of Section One in France?
I wonder if I shall answer that voice which whispers to me as I walk along the crowded streets, which whispers as I lie awake at night, which whispers in my sleep and says to me—“Come back.”
FINIS
[1]Extrait de l’OrdreNo.238 du 19 Septembre, 1917Portant Citation d l’Ordre de la Division69ᵉ Division d’InfanterieEtat-Major-1ᵉʳ BureauLe Général Monroe, Commandant le 69ᵉ Division d’Infanterie, cite à l’Ordre de la Division, les militaires dont les noms suivent; RICE, Philip S., Conducteur à la Section Sanitaire Americaine, 1 (20 Escad. T. E. M.):A toujours donné l’exemple du plus grand courage et de devouement dans les circonstances les plus penibles lors des evacuations des blessés pendant les attaques d’Aout et Septembre, 1917, devant VERDUN.Le Général Commandant la 69ᵉ A. T.Signe: Monroe.Extrait certifie conforméA. G. le 29 Septembre 1917Le Chepd Etat-Major.EDMOND CHAPILLIN,69ᵉ Division D’InfanterieEtat-Major.
[1]Extrait de l’OrdreNo.238 du 19 Septembre, 1917Portant Citation d l’Ordre de la Division
69ᵉ Division d’Infanterie
Etat-Major-1ᵉʳ Bureau
Le Général Monroe, Commandant le 69ᵉ Division d’Infanterie, cite à l’Ordre de la Division, les militaires dont les noms suivent; RICE, Philip S., Conducteur à la Section Sanitaire Americaine, 1 (20 Escad. T. E. M.):
A toujours donné l’exemple du plus grand courage et de devouement dans les circonstances les plus penibles lors des evacuations des blessés pendant les attaques d’Aout et Septembre, 1917, devant VERDUN.
Le Général Commandant la 69ᵉ A. T.
Signe: Monroe.
Extrait certifie conforméA. G. le 29 Septembre 1917Le Chepd Etat-Major.EDMOND CHAPILLIN,69ᵉ Division D’InfanterieEtat-Major.
[2]Stuart Walcott, Princeton 1917, son of Secretary Walcott of the Smithsonian Institution. The Princeton University Press has published his letters, under the title “Above the French Lines.” Walcott was killed in combat, December, 1917.