Hope glimmers on the horizon,
As we yearn to be free.
But failure waits at any turn,
Looming ominously.

We only push forward with hope,
Thinking we cannot die
Because we are invincible.
And we’re wondering why

We are here in this foreign land.
We are only young boys,
Fighting the war of other men.
We just gave up our toys,

And picked up guns to fight this war.
We ducks as shells soar past,
Death narrowly missing our heads,
Our buddies getting gassed.

No time to stop, we must press on,
Leaving the dead to rot,
Not feeling a thing, we are numb.
Can’t stay long in one spot

Because the shells are still flying.
This war is dragging on,
Seeming to have no end in sight.
When finally, it’s dawn,

We have made it to safe haven
And the shelling has quit.
We sit down to have our breakfast,
In our home trench’s pit.

Our worries are now tossed aside.
Behind us lurks a Kraut.
We happily play our card games,
Never hearing the shout,

“Watch out behind you, a grenade!”
But now it’s too late.
The bomb exploded and we died.
Inevitably fate.

The war has claimed our lives as well
As thousands of others.
This land is gone, leaving only
Many grieving mothers.