Lunenburg High School - Echo Yearbook (Lunenburg, MA)

Page 87 text:

fa- 'xx' f I -'ZZ4 v -5-' ff - I ,I 24 ' ig-,mL , X xl 'A 'ff ski X . ., sf 27.3 sy! d My V ,..' , ,,.-...., -.vw Y it ff-A f' A ia ww ,.,N X + X15 L. 254 I A N K ,iff 5.'.T -1 Z-za if-gd .ix X XX ?R , V' ff? x-- x X WN-1'-fi' - 2 + , f X Q f fi4f7pX f XX X, , x K '41-TN! ,.-' uf ,-'. ' -' Z' ,.-gggr ,A , 1 Z-. .. fqilffijrf - ,- .b4. --LA .V 4--ff-42? if 1555! :Qi .....,.1Q...--,...-..--f----.....- 2- - LT 1f QQ ,Q

Page 89 text:

H 54 'U' ,fd I I ' ' IJF :JI-'mis Or AN LJNKNCJWN sOLDl.f:A By Copeland Hague Hello reader! Fine day, isn't it? What? Oh yes, of course, you ask my nwne--silly that I didnit think of that. My nmno is-eahL'well, you see, I guess I really havenEtZany name in particular--it.might'be John, Jack, Bill, or mob or-mbut it really doesn't matter anyway. I can tell you, though, I did fight in the Civil War--What? Oh yes, of course I'm dead---been dead for seventy-odd years. I am now only a spirit--but wait! donft walk away, let me tell you my story. I might as well start at the beginning- I was born in a small town in America. Perhaps in Heine, Massachusetts, VirQinia,Tennessee, or, well almost any state that Civil Nur soldiers came from. I was, perhaps a strong, sturdy farmer of the south, or maybe a factory worker of the north. I had planned my life, had a little schooling, and, if my parents had the money, I may have planned to go to a University. Well, then, as fate would have it, the great Civil War broke out between the North and South, and, like most of my brothers, I joined an army to fight for what we thought was right. I was placed under the leadership of a grand general--maybe Lee, Jackson, Grant, or--of, you must have heard of him--read about him in your history books. After a few weeks in camp, our half trained detachment received orders to march on the enemy. For days we marched---sometimes I was hungry, sometimes cold, but we were fighting for what we thought was right, so it didn't matter. One morning, early, before sun-up, we were aroused by our officers, and told that today we were to attack. I marched all morning---of course I mean my whole detachment, or division. By mid-morning, we sighted the foe! We were on top of one hill, our foe, on a smaller hill across a small ravine. To my right lay a small town, its single church steeple piercing the sky through the green foliage of a few still intact trees. Yes! there had been fighting here before. Branches and leaves lay strewn about the stark trunks, as if some giant, inhuman creature had torn them limb from limb, and dropped them where they fell. -Neither army had, however, touched the peaceful church or its surroundings. This made me feel sort of queer inside. Could there still be a sacred, mutual feeling between us? There was a stone wall running diagonally across the crest of the smaller hill, and to our left, a small wooded grove. It was July, and the skies were bright and---but wait--the signal to charge! Already our batteries have opened up. I am running downhill--running faster, faster--then I pause, shoot, and reload--then run some more. There is a terrible din--my brothers screaming and falling on all sides of me. Still running through the smoke I can make out the foe running at us closer, closer. I hear a man shout---WWe're fighting for the rightI' then he falls. The thought still goes through my mind---nfighting for the right---fighting for the right.' I shoot, then run some more. I am suddenly spun around, as if some giant force is taking hold of me-- and I am no more. Well, now you've heard my story. It really isn't much, its just- what? you want to know whose side I was on. Well, that too, does not matter, I may have been on either side--fighting for what I thought was right---you see, I'm the spirit of the 'Unknown Soldier of the Civil War. 8 7