Daniel Desmond Sheehan

“ I have heard them in the trenches discussing the selfishness of those at home. Even if they were obliged to exercise the strictest economy, see how much better off they are than the men in the firing line. They at least have decent roof-trees over their heads, comfortable beds to lie on, warm fire to cheer them, friends to meet, and a thousand and one ways of making life tolerable. What, on the other hand, can the men who are fighting their battles enjoy of comfort and cheeriness, or the things that conduce to content ! ”

“ They cannot understand why the folk at home will persist in ordering their lives as if no great and devastating war were being waged, in which the rights of nationalities and the very destiny of the race are involved.
I find the feeling among officers and men at the front that the people at home do not yet seem adequately to realise the appalling nature and the tremendous magnitude of this war. Those who come home on leave what do they see ? The attempt, at least, on the part of those who remain behind to live the old life of ease and comfort in the old pleasant way. ”

“ Sacrifice is their daily bread of life. They spend long and weary days and nights in the trenches in conditions that almost defy description. They endure all the multiplied horrors of continuous bombardments and rifle fire. They suffer a ceaseless round of duty and routine. ”