Sargent Wilford Niles
March 9 , 1888 - June 18 , 1918
Buried somewhere in France
I gaze into the sullen dreams
I wonder about his shallow age
So far from family and all his friends
Did with God he make amends
What a journey did he make
When he left home he made a stake
Left to go fight in a foreign land
So far from these United States
Only thirty years so long
Thirty Happy Birthdays for a song
He hopped the train and then was gone
And left us wondering , right or wrong
Sargent Niles died of wounds received in one of the bloodiest battle of the war . He lingered for two weeks before dying .He was buried in a mass grave . The cenotaph was erected in Sadler's Cemetery in rememberance . You can see the cenotaph if you Google Sargent Wilford Niles . He was an only child . His mother died of a broken heart six months later .
