nsortdpeoS0mt9am553tihmhflmtat23ltmtgahu57li5hcgm4l8ga2u118f ·
I thought I would share one of Dominic Sheridan’s Great War poems in order to remember man’s best friend who serves us in peace and in war, and sometimes makes the ultimate sacrifice.
And my heart just broke in pieces … By D.P.G. Sheridan … 11/5/2015
Did you know they used young healthy dogs to work the lines of war?
They ran with note and message quick as no one had before.
They got between the trenches there and made their desperate run,
And made the dash through no-man’s-land beneath the barking gun.
They used the dog to search for men; the wounded out in front,
Where shells had killed and maimed young men who braved the deadly stunt.
These dogs were used to go to hell where men could hardly go,
And find the wounded soldier who had fallen in the show.
They braved all sorts of dangers and they never let you down;
The dog was man’s best friend in war; in snow or muddy brown.
It wore a white cloth siding with a red cross clear to see,
No better friend to man there was; no other could there be.
They sent the dog with messages to rear or forward post,
To tell some urgent words of need lest sender turn to ghost.
And often they were shot at so the message not get through,
And snipers earned their money then with quick eyes in the hue.
Yet loyal was this dog to man, who brought it to the war.
It took no oath and signed no pledge to country or to corps.
It merely trusted man with life and for him would it run
Where wounded men lay lost in mud beneath the sounding gun.
But there upon the running dog, the sniper marked his spot;
A big red cross on canvas white was where the sniper shot.
And down it went; it yelped in pain, and fell upon the ground,
A slow and painful death was all this friend of man had found.
Yet nothing could we do for it; us stood in trenches safe,
For there in front of all of us machine guns wind and strafe.
So there it lay upon the mud beneath the bright blue sky,
And my heart just broke in pieces as I watched the poor thing die.
Nelle's journey 