Life, 1927-09-08 · page 9 of 36
Life — September 8, 1927 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The cartoon "Still Dodging" depicts two well-dressed men on a ship's deck, one holding what appears to be a fish. The dialogue references "The Plump One" complaining about returning home soon because "American Legion rowdies are there," while "The Other One" reminds him he felt similarly about being in France. This satirizes wealthy or prominent figures who avoided military service during WWI (1917-1927, per the page heading). "Still Dodging" suggests these men are evading consequences or accountability. The poem "Back in France" below contrasts peaceful post-war conditions with wartime realities, emphasizing those who died waiting for comrades who never returned—a pointed critique of draft-dodgers' cowardice versus soldiers' sacrifice.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Still Dodging The Plump One: ov COURSE, 1 ATED TO COME HOME. £0 600N—RUT 1 REALLY COULDN'T BEAR TO BE IN FRANCE WHILE THOSE AMERICAN LEGION ROWpINS ARE THERE! The Other One: Ast REMEMBER, YOU FELT THE SAME WAY ABOUT IT WHEN TILEY WERE THERE BEFORE. Back in France 1917-1927 T is different now—where the guns are still, No call comes out for the sudden thrust I It is different now, by valley and hill, Of rifles stained with a ten-year rust; Where no one slogs through the rain and mud And no patrol now holds its beat To hold some trench that is red with blood, Through No-Man’s Land where the gray ts meet; Red with the blood of a million men And out of the night no sudden flare Who sleep—and wait for their mates again. Sends up its flame on the midnight air. It is different now—by the Meuse and Aisne To-day as they turn to the eastward track Where the fields are ripe with the harvest. grain; . ald pals, and old days come back For the harvest then was a shattered wood f 3 ht old wars in the ancient stress Where only the rain-washed crosses stood From the Argonne drifts to the S. O. S., keep their guard for the ghosts of men As they dream old dreams in the haunts of men Who sleep—and wait for their mates again, Who sleep—and wait for their mates again, Grantland Rice. comicbooks.com