There are bonds of all sorts in this world of ours,
Fetters of friendship and ties of flowers,
    And true lover’s knots, I ween;
The girl and the boy are bound by a kiss,
But there’s never a bond, old friend, like this,
    We have drank from the same Canteen!

It was sometimes water, and sometimes milk,
And sometimes apple-jack “fine as silk;”
    But whatever the tipple has been
We shared it together in bane or bliss,
And I warm to you, friend, when I think of this,
    We drank from the same Canteen!

The rich and great sit down to dine,
They quaff to each other in sparkling wine,
    From glasses of crystal and green;
But I guess in their golden potations they miss
The warmth of regard to be found in this,
    We drank from the same Canteen!

We have shared our blankets and tents together,
And have marched and fought in all kinds of weather,
    And hungry and full we have been;
Had days of battle and days of rest,
But this memory I cling to and love the best,
    We drank from the same Canteen!

For when wounded I lay on the center slope,
With my blood flowing fast and so little hope
    Upon which my faint spirit could lean;
Oh! then I remember you crawled to my side,
And bleeding so fast it seemed both must have died,
    We drank from the same Canteen!

~Charles Graham Halpine

“Private Miles O’Reilly,” a purported member of the 47th New York Infantry (the Washington Grays), was actually the pseudonym of Charles Graham Halpine (1829-1868), an Irish emigrant whose various occupations included journalist, copywriter, and Army officer.

When Halpine first came to this country, he wrote advertising copy in verse and later worked as a private secretary for P.T. Barnum.

On April 20, 1861, shortly after the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter, Halpine became the lieutenant of Company D of the 69th New York State Militia, which would later become the 69th New York Volunteer Infantry and gain reknown as part of the famous Irish Brigade.

He was twice breveted for gallantry and distinguished service and ended the War as a brigadier general. Halpine resigned from the service on July 31, 1864, when his eyesight began to fail. He died in 1868, the victim of an accidental overdose of chloroform intended to cure a severe headache.

https://allpoetry.com/Charles-Graham-Halpine

Did you know that something like 25% of Americans do not understand the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day? We need some sort barrier to prevent people like that from voting. How about this for starters, US citizens not alive shall no longer be permitted to vote after being laid to rest? This could even get bipartisan support because illegal aliens, both dead and alive, will still be allowed to vote.