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The Truth

I opened my eyes
That cold winter's morning
Unable to tell
If it were day or night

It was dark and damp
Where I was hidden
In the foxhole I had dug
With my faithful comrade in arms

The night was still
When we began our watch
And as the cold settled in
I struggled to stay awake

Falling asleep on watch
Is a capital offense
I was on the front line
I could not desert my friends

But my friend could see
How dead tired I was
And sometime around midnight
He told me to take a nap

He would stand watch

At first I resisted
But then reluctantly agreed
That I wasn't doing anyone any good
Barely able to keep my eyes open

I'd been up for three days straight
And had been digging with my friend all day
I couldn't stay on my feet
The whole ground seemed to move

So I crawled down
Into the bottom of the hole
Pulled my jacket close
In a feeble effort to keep warm

The damp smell of the fresh earth filled my nostrils
Reminding me of different times
As sleep finally overtook me
And I slipped into oblivion

Yet somehow I awoke
In spite of my tired body
I stiffly rose to my feet
To allow my buddy some sleep

While I stood watch

But as I reached for his shoulder
His head rolled to one side
And revealed the glassy, unblinking eyes
Of my friend

Sometime in the night
While I slept
He'd been killed
By a sniper

Extremely alarmed
But aware of the danger
I quietly, but anxiously waited
For the turn of the watch

They would help me remove my friend
And get him a proper burial
So I waited into the dawn
For my relief

And as I stood there for hours
Reflecting on my fate
I began to know of something
I had before only guessed at

I prayed to my God
A God I barely knew
Asking Him to preserve my life
So that I could serve Him

I would find the Truth
I plead with the Almighty
I would dedicate myself
To that Truth

If only I could live
If only I survived
That horrible, hellish night
In a foxhole with my dead friend

God, please stand this watch with me

I survived that night
And many others besides
But I never forgot my oath
My promise to my God

And when the war was over
The Great War
To end all wars
I sought the Truth

I found it in the young faces
Of missionaries from Utah
And Idaho
Who taught me the Truth

Now I've gone on
To my eternal reward
And it's my turn
To stand watch.

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