Thursday, November 2, 2017

A 1944 Poem for Remembrance Day 2017


What did you do today? I died today!
Lt. Dean Shatlain was a tank commander, and in 1944 on the battlefield in Africa his tank was hit. He amputated his own foot with a jackknife. Thinking he was dying, he wrote the following poem. He did survive.

What did you do today, my friend,
From morning till the night?
How many times did you complain
That rationing is too tight?
When are you going to start to do
All of the things you say?
A soldier would like to know, my
friend,
What did you do today?

We met the enemy today
And took the town by storm
Happy reading it will make
For you tomorrow morn.
You’ll read with satisfaction
The brief communiqué
We fought but are you fighting?
What did you do today?

My gunner died in my arms today
I feel his warm blood yet:
Your neighbors dying boy gave out
A scream I’ll never forget.
On my right a tank was hit,
A flash and then a fire,
The stench of burning flesh
Still rises from the pyre.

What did you do today, my friend,
To help us with the task?
Did you work longer and harder for
less, Or is that too much to ask?
What right have I to ask you this,
You probably will say,
Maybe now you’ll understand,
You see…I died today.