Somehow This Poem Sticks With Me

Tommy

by Rudyard Kipling

I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!

Maybe it's my years of government service, but this poem seems to say it all.

Reporters Jobs Are To Sell The News, Not Deliver The Story

VIRGINIA TECH IS NOT THE WORST SCHOOL MASSACRE IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES

For those who doubt; Google "Worst US School Massacre"

You should soon be able to identify the "Bath School Disaster" which occurred in Bath Township, Michigan on May 18, 1927.

On this day, Andrew Kehoe, a member of the school board of the Bath Consolidated School, who was upset by a an additional tax levied to construct an additional school building used three dynamite and/or pyrotol bombs in his attack at the school. The majority of his victims were grade school students in the second through six grades killed when one of his explosive devices went off under the North wing of the school.

Andrew Kehoe thereby committed the single deadliest act of mass murder in US history. This is a fact any high school reporter could have identified on the Internet with less than five minutes of effort.

Kehoe also used a firearm to initiate his second explosive device which he detonated by shooting into at the scene of the school explosion.

There was a third device found in the remains of the school that did not detonate. During the scene search to ensure all victims had been located another 500 pounds of dynamite and/or pyrotol was discovered in the schools South wing.

To initiate this disaster, Kehoe killed his wife and burned down his house and farm buildings. While the local firefighters were responding to the fire at Kehoe's farm the initial explosion detonated under the North wing of the school. Later, Pyrotol was also discovered to have been used in the destruction of Kehoe's farm property.