Oh! it is not just the men who face the guns, <br />Not the fighters at the Front alone, to-day <br />Who will bring the longed-for close to the bloody fray, for those <br />Could not carry on that fray without the ones <br />Who are working at war's problems far away. <br /> <br /> <br />You are all our splendid heroes in the strife, <br />And we class you with the warriors maimed and scarred, <br />Though you never have been near enough the battle din to hear, <br />While you laboured in the dull routine of life <br />In your khaki suits with sleeves that are not barred. <br /> <br /> <br />You have offered up yourselves to save the world; <br />You have felt the abnegation of the Christ: <br />And whatever work you do is a noble work and true; <br />Though it be not done with banners all unfurled, <br />You will find it has, in sight of God, sufficed. <br /> <br /> <br />While you carry back no medals when you go, <br />Not without you had the fighters borne war's brunt: <br />So just lift your heads uncowed, for your country will be proud <br />And its lasting love and honour will bestow <br />On the khaki boys who were not at the Front.<br /><br />Ella Wheeler Wilcox<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-khaki-boys-who-were-not-at-the-front/
