Life — January 8, 1920 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Page Analysis: "Question—Question" by Joseph Andrew Galahad This page satirizes **World War I soldiers** returning home. The poem critiques public indifference to veterans' sacrifices, repeatedly asking "Do they knock the Regular Army?"—meaning do citizens respect or acknowledge soldiers' service. The poem contrasts soldiers' hardships (fighting in France, chasing Villa, casualties) with civilians' comfortable complaints about "hard luck and bacon for breakfast." It sarcastically suggests soldiers deserve medals but would accept merely being "seen through" windows or acknowledged. The two illustrations depict working-class humor: one shows men discussing a haunted house, the other shows an "Alien Agitator" wasting time shaking a tree. **The central message**: Veterans' sacrifices are forgotten by a civilian population more concerned with petty grievances—a common post-WWI complaint about public gratitude.