WHAT A SOLDIER GIVES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 89, 11 July 1944, Page 6

WHAT A SOLDIER GIVES

(Contributed) How many of Ave "stay at homes" realise or ever think of what sacrifices our overseas .soldier makes. First, and I suppose mostly, lie feels his absence from his native land and the companionship of his loved ones. He gi\ r es. the best years of his life from a business and money-making point of view,, and often returns to find his business gone, or his competitors solidly established while he has to start again and reconstruct his life. He endures mental discomfort, pain and hardships; the mental strain caused by the horrors of Avar; grief at the loss of his mates; the constant anxiety of being maimed or disfigured for life. He .sutlers painful Avounds and illnesses, and finally in many instances gi\'e his young life and Avith it all his youthful hopes of happiness,, love and of success. Remember this, Avhen you grouse about this or that restriction, the shortage of certain commodities, or how much tax you lurve to pay. No matter how bad tilings appear to you at home you are in heaven compared with the soldier in the trenches,, the airman battling for you in the skies over Europe, or the Pacific, or the sailor bnrving the mine-in fested seas to guard our shores and bring you the commodities you use.