Edward M. McGuire
INFANTRYMEN
I saw them this morning
As a hundred times before
Forever walking, dragging
I wonder if they know what for.
Mechanical being they seem to be
Like men from another world
With nothing but loneliness and death
Wages for hours toiled.
©Copyright March 1944 by Edward M. McGuire
Author’s Note: I wrote the poem sometime in March 1944 while on Anzio while sitting on an M-8 tank watching an infantry company moving up to the front lines.
Itri, Italy: Painting by Tom Craig