To America's soldier dead was added, on January 6, 1919, a valiant and righteous warrior, Theodore Roosevelt, whose sudden death at the age of sixty-one was a shock to the whole country.
THE STAR
[January 6, 1919]
Great soul, to all brave souls akin,
High bearer of the torch of truth,
Have you not gone to marshal in
Those eager hosts of youth?
Flung outward by the battle's tide,
They met in regions dim and far;
And you—in whom youth never died—
Shall lead them, as a star!
Marion Couthouy Smith.
Arrangements for sending home the American army were begun immediately after the armistice, and within a few months a steady stream of khaki-clad troops was flowing through the port of Brest, bound for America.
BREST LEFT BEHIND
The sun strikes gold the dirty street,
The band blares, the drums insist,
And brown legs twinkle and muscles twist—
Pound!—Pound!—the rhythmic feet.
The laughing street-boys shout,
And a couple of hags come out
To grin and bob and clap.
Stiff rusty black their dresses,
And crispy white their Breton cap,
Prim on white, smooth tresses.
Wait!... Wait!... While dun clouds droop
Over the sunlit docks,
Over the wet gray rocks
And mast of steamer and sloop,
And the old squat towers,
Damp gray and mossy brown,
Where lovely Ann looked down
And dreamed rich dreams through long luxurious hours.