"To banish war, he must a warrior be" ~ Remembering Sgt. Joyce Kilmer on Veteran's Day

Gloria Romanorum ^ | November 11, 2019 | Florentius

[Antoninus]

In honor of Veteran's Day, let us remember a soul so brave and so brilliant whose brief life-course flared too briefly across the early 20th century firmament before he met his merciful Maker. To this day, he is best known for his familiar poem entitled Trees which begins: “I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree…”

Joyce Kilmer was of a breed of men that seems practically extinct today. He was a New Jersey Catholic husband and father of an artistic and literary bent who, nonetheless, was able to summon courage and charity in the superlative as enunciated by Our Lord in John 15:13.

Though married with four children and widely regarded as one of the outstanding poets of his generation, Kilmer enlisted in the U.S. Army when war was declared between the United States and the Central Powers in 1917. He requested to be assigned to the infantry and though he was recommended for promotion to officer status, he refused and was deployed at the front in France as a sergeant. He was given dangerous duty, often acting as a scout operating in no-man’s land.

His division, the Fighting 69th, was immortalized after the war in a film of the same name starring James Cagney. Kilmer was portrayed in the movie by Jeffrey Lynn, and his poem, The Rouge Bouquet, is featured in this poignant scene, based on an actual event:

[Clip from The Fighting 69th]

Kilmer wrote numerous charming letters from the front to his wife, Aline, which may be found collected here. Writing in one such letter on May 18, 1918, Kilmer draws a distinction between pacifism and peacemaking as follows:

P. C. ought to know the distinction between peacemakers and pacifists. I wonder he didn’t include St. Michael in his catalogue of pacifists. We are peace-makers, the soldiers of the 69th, we are risking our lives to bring peace to the simple, generous, gay, pious people of France, who anyone (knowing them as I have come to know them in the last six months) must pity and admire and love. They are an invaded people—and invaded people always are right….

Here are nice old ladies, fat babies, jovial humorous men, and little girls just making their First Communions. They’ve been driven out of their pretty sleepy little villages. They want to get back and mend the shell holes in the roof and go to school and take their place drinking red wine of an evening according to their tastes and ages. Well, we men of the 69th are helping to give these people back their homes—and perhaps to prevent our homes from one day being taken from us by the same Power—of whom nothing at all worse need be said than that it is an invader. And St. Patrick, and St. Bridgid, and St. Columkill and all the other Saints are with us—they are no more pacifists than they are Roycrofters! [an arts and crafts guild in New York around the turn of the 20th century founded by self-styled anarchist, Elbert Hubbard] ~ Taken from Joyce Kilmer: Prose Works

Perhaps not coincidentally, Kilmer's last poem was entitled The Peacemaker which I present here in full:

The Peacemaker by Sergeant Joyce Kilmer

Upon his will he binds a radiant chain,
For Freedom’s sake he is no longer free.
It is his task, the slave of Liberty,
With his own blood to wipe away a stain.
That pain may cease, he yields his flesh to pain.
To banish war, he must a warrior be.
He dwells in Night, eternal Dawn to see,
And gladly dies, abundant life to gain.

What matters Death, if Freedom be not dead?
No flags are fair, if Freedom’s flag be furled.
Who fights for Freedom, goes with joyful tread
To meet the fires of Hell against him hurled,
And has for captain Him whose thorn-wreathed head
Smiles from the Cross upon a conquered world.

[Taken from Joyce Kilmer: Memoir and Poems]

While on a scouting mission in no-man's land on July 30, 1918, Joyce Kilmer was shot and killed by a German sniper.

For more about Joyce Kilmer, click here.

[Antoninus]

For Veteran's Day 2019. Sgt. Joyce Kilmer is well worth remembering.

[Antoninus]

Catholic ping!

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Heart-ache.

[JBW1949]

In western North Carolina near Santeetla Lake and south of the Smoky Mtns National Park, lies the Joyce Kilmer National Forest. Very beautiful area with hiking trails, water falls, and excellent trout fishing...Campsites are also available...

[MarvinStinson]

JOYCE KILMER

[MarvinStinson]

TREES

Joyce Kilmer - 1886-1918

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth’s flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

[Antoninus]

Wow. Great photo!

[silverleaf]

Thanks for this

[elcid1970]

We were taught in grade school that Sgt. Kilmer came upon a blasted, shrapnel-riddled tree in no-man’s-land, which inspired him to write the poem.

It was also the first time I learned that the poet Joyce Kilmer was not a woman. Joyce was a family surname.

Not unrelated: there are several new vids and articles on how many soldiers were killed on November 11, 1918 between the armistice being announced at 5:00 a.m. and when it took effect at 11:00 a.m.

It should have been, “oh, well, it’s over; let’s stand down now and just wait for eleven o’clock”. No, the war went viciously on with charges and artillery bombardments until IIRC more than 3,000 additional deaths resulted before the final hour. Senseless.

[JOHN ADAMS]

Thank you for this post, from which I learned things I’m very glad I know.

[stubernx98]

I remember as he is my great great Uncle. The Kilmer’s came to the continent in the late 1700”s. half moved to Canada when the revolutionary war broke out as they were Royalists. There is a monument to him in NJ. My Kilmer grandfather was a Dr. in Canada.

[Antoninus]

I remember as he is my great great Uncle. The Kilmer’s came to the continent in the late 1700”s. half moved to Canada when the revolutionary war broke out as they were Royalists. There is a monument to him in NJ. My Kilmer grandfather was a Dr. in Canada.

Very cool. Thanks for the comment.

There's a middle school about 10 minutes from my house here in south Jersey named after Sgt. Kilmer. For most of my life, I thought it was named after a woman. I am embarrassed of my past ignorance!

[Antoninus]

No, the war went viciously on with charges and artillery bombardments until IIRC more than 3,000 additional deaths resulted before the final hour. Senseless.

Crazy, isn't it? How would you like to be one of the families who found out that their loved one was killed in the war's final minutes.

[Sacajaweau]

One of the first poems I learned. But it would be 40 years until I learned that Joyce...was a man.

[elcid1970]

There is a vid on youtube with original footage of the Canadian trenches; soldiers are gazing at the body of a comrade killed by a sniper less than four minutes before the armistice horns sounded.

Their relief at the arrival of war’s end must have been bittersweet.

[beelzepug]

“... more than 3,000 additional deaths resulted before the final hour. Senseless.”

Talk about the futility of war.

[Antoninus]

One of the first poems I learned. But it would be 40 years until I learned that Joyce...was a man.

Me too. Kind of embarrassing, isn't it?

[vpintheak]

This is true for every veteran that served honorably:

Upon his will he binds a radiant chain, For Freedom’s sake he is no longer free. It is his task, the slave of Liberty,

While you serve, you're not free. You loaned yourself to Uncle Sam until your service is done.

[M Kehoe]

Bttt.

5.56mm

[victim soul]

Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention.

I forwarded to my four sons.