The Deserter Poem by Francis Duggan

He was a coward the unenlightened say
He should have fought he chose to run away
In choosing life he sacrificed his pride
And he fled the battle where his comrades died.

At their memorial service the army general said
We have come today to honour our brave dead
Such noble men their lives were far too brief
And our hearts go to their families in their grief.

Their courage we can only now admire
And they died the death of heroes under fire
And they gave their lives for what was good and right
And though outnumbered they put up good fight.

But the army general neglected to say
That his soldiers died in battle far away
Thousands of miles from their beloved Homeland
For cause they were not meant to understand.

The deserter now lives in a foreign place
Where he doesn't feel ashamed to show his face
A very happy and contented man
And no one care if he once turned and ran.