Life, 1917-11-15 · page 7 of 40
Life — November 15, 1917 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents a patriotic poem by Edmund Kiefer titled "Courage, Dear!" addressing someone (likely a soldier) departing for military service, presumably during World War I given the historical context of Life magazine. The satirical cartoon below depicts a military recruitment or conscription scene. An official appears to be rejecting an applicant, declaring him "REJECTED, AM I? PHYSICALLY UNFIT, AM I?" The figures surrounding him—appearing disheveled and desperate—suggest men anxious about or struggling with military acceptance standards. The satire likely mocks the tension between patriotic calls for service and the physical examination process that determined eligibility. It contrasts the emotional rhetoric of courage with the bureaucratic reality of fitness assessments, poking fun at both recruiting protocols and applicants' reactions to rejection or acceptance.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
yE SALUTE OUR SUPERIORS Courage, Dear! ONE are the days when my heart just sang all day; Sing, then, my heart—be glad again and irce! Gone is my fad from his Home, Sweet Home, away; For he, so brave, comes back one day to me. Gone from his work to a task that knows small cheer— On France's shore my soul now him clear; I still can hear my Hero saying, “ Courage, dear.” I still can hear my Hero saying, “ Courage, dear.” Why should I weep?—it cannot bring me gain: I'm smiling, I'm smiling, though my heart is torn with Why should Is he will come back again! ar Love spans the en now he seems so near... I still can hear my Hero saying, “Courage, dear.” I still can hear my Hero saying. “ Courage, dear.” Edmund J. Kiefer. Applicant for Enlistment: weyectep, AM 1? PHYSICALLY UNFIT, AM 1? comicbooks.com