The shells exploded all around,
The young man covered his head.
"Get down!" he yelled to other boys
Who dumbly staggered, shocked, instead.

Yet still they stood in trenches full
Of crimson blood the darkest red.
The soldier ran crouched to shell-shocked friends
Who dumbly staggered, shocked, instead.

"Private! Private! You're hit! You're hit!"
A nearby officer said.
But the brave young soldier charged toward his brothers
Who dumbly staggered, shocked, instead.

He reached the boys and forced them down
In pits where blood had ere been shed.
"You'll bleed to death!" warned to Captain to Hero
Who dumbly staggered, shocked, instead.

"Here lies a soldier, hero true,"
One father in Arlington later said,
Remembering the boy who wounded ran
To the dumbly staggering and shocked instead.