"ALAS!"
by Harold A. Siege 1945 15 years old

Me pop's been in the navy
since back in '42
An now that he's discharged
I'm a civilian too.
No mo' high allowance
Like the one I used to get.
No mo' can free movies
help reduce my post war debt
I've got to learn ta get along
widout the benefit of Navy things
And look ahead to darker days
to see what da future brings.
I'll have to travel not aroun' da land
but have to be content
To read about other people
and the places wo which they went.
And mom can no longer make me wear
da clothes like me dad;
Now I'll have to be myself,
Gosh! Dat makes me sad.
For goils will no longer be attracted
by my partly Navy garb--
Dey'll never again go out with me
'cause I wont look like a gob
And since my pop aint gonna join
up with the Navy again,
I'll have to wait till I'm of age
to join up (where men are really men).
It's not that I aint content
to live a truly civilian life...
But widout a uniform-how else in da heck
Am I gonna git me a wife?

Dedicated to me old man to fifteen years of faithful guidance above and beyond the call of duty.