I Am One of the Fellows Who Made The World Safe for Democracy , A Partial Story

Publication Date: 1948

About this Item

A humorous retelling of the day August Child enlisted in the US Army for WWI, written by an unknown individual. The complete story, only half of which appears on this page, was printed in a variety of newsletters and newspapers from 1942-1948, and most often billed as a "fine example of Yankee humor, found in a soldier boy's letter". There are variations in the story across the different printings, but the majority of it remains the same. For example, sometimes it is like this item's version where the story is from the point of view of a WWI soldier who went to France, while in others it is clearly a WWII soldier who first went to Australia and then fought the Japanese. The humor in this short story not only comes from the actions of the main character, but also from the plays on words found throughout. Single page, double sided. Measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2". Below is an excerpt from the story: "I was called in Class A. I wanted to be put in class 2-B, 2-B here when they go and 2-B here when they come back. I went up to a desk and the man in charge was my milkman. He said 'What is your name?' I said, 'You know my name.' 'What's your name?' he barked; so I told him 'August Childs.' He asked, 'Are you an alien?' I said 'No I feel fine.' . He asked me how old I was, so I told him '23' the first of September. He said, 'the first of Sept. you'll be in France and that will be the last of August.' . one morning they called me for an underwear inspection. You talk about scenery - red flannel, B. V. D's all kinds. The union suit I had on would fit Tony Galento. The Lieutenant lined us up and told me to stand up. I said 'I am up sir. It's the underwear that makes you think I'm sitting down.' " General wear due to age. Letter folds. Seller Inventory # 29012804

Bibliographic Details

Title: I Am One of the Fellows Who Made The World ...

Publication Date: 1948