We recently received this information from Julie Glueck Rash:
I am transcribing letters I inherited from a great uncle Raymond Sansom who served in WWI Company G, 11th Infantry Regiment, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). In the letters I also found this handwritten poem by a fellow soldier, George Reitz, who was killed in action in the St. Mihiel Sector, France, on September 12, 1918. My ancestor was wounded in the battle of St. Miheil so this poem probably meant a lot to him and that’s why it was kept.
If possible I’d like to share it since it doesn’t seem to be known on the internet.
A Soldiers day in the Trenches
When its morning in the Trenches and the sun is shining through
And the pounds begin to glisten like that home town dew
And I look across the trenches and it makes me kind of blue
When its morning in the trenches, my thoughts go back to you.
When its evening in the trenches, and the after glow is red
And the silvery moon is shining on the fields of ghastly dead,
I am feeling kind of lonely and I know you’re lonely, too.
When its evening in the trenches, love, my thoughts go back to you.
What a lot there is in a letter from some one far away
Especially to a soldier when he leaves Dear old U. S. A.
Do you know that all these letters mean an awful lot to me?
They tell me I’m not forgotten, though I’m far across the sea.
I am in a dugout writing and the shells are screaming high,
But I dont even mind them, as they go whizzing by.
We have been now in this section about three weeks or so;
But where we are going when we leave here is a thing I hardly know.
I dont really mind the danger, or the or the drilling in the sun
For I’m thinking where I’m going when the glorious victory is won.
Now the hour is getting late and I’m tired of candle light
So with best and fondest wishes, I will bid you all good night.
Composed by Private George Reitz; Co. I. 11th Infantry A.E.F. Killed in Action, St. Mihiel Sector, France. September 12, 1918.
From the collection of Gerald and Martha Sansom Glueck then David and Julie Glueck Rash