No war is won by cannon fire alone; <br /> The soldier bears the grim and dreary role; <br /> He dies to serve the Flag that he has known; <br /> His duty is to gain the distant goal. <br /> But if the toiler in his homeland fair <br /> Falter in faith and shrink from every test, <br /> If he be not on duty ever there, <br /> Lost to the cause is every soldier's best. <br /> <br /> The men at home, the toiler in the shop, <br /> The keen-eyed watcher of the spinning drill <br /> Hear no command to vault the trench's top; <br /> They know not what it is to die or kill, <br /> And yet they must be brave and constant, too. <br /> Upon them lies their precious country's fate; <br /> They also serve the Flag as soldiers do, <br /> 'Tis theirs to make a nation's army great. <br /> <br /> You hold your country's honor in your care. <br /> Her glory you shall help to make or mar; <br /> For they, who now her uniforms must wear <br /> Can be no braver soldiers than you are. <br /> From day to day, in big and little deeds, <br /> At bench or lathe or desk or stretch of soil, <br /> You are the man your country sorely needs! <br /> Will you not give to her your finest toil? <br /> <br /> No war is won by cannon fire alone. <br /> The men at home must also share the fight. <br /> By what they are, a nation's strength is shown, <br /> The army but reflects their love of right. <br /> Will you not help to hold our battle line, <br /> Will you not give the fullest of your powers <br /> In sacrifice and service that is fine <br /> That victory shall speedily be ours?<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/to-the-men-at-home/
