A Poem A Day from the George Hail Library ~ Selected by Maria Horvath: Rue

A Poem A Day from the George Hail Library ~ Selected by Maria Horvath: Rue
Excerpt:
As an infantryman during the Second World War, Samuel Menashe (1925-2011) fought in France, Belgium, and Germany. He took part in one of the bloodiest conflicts, the Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944. In that battle, in just one day, only 29 of Menashe’s company of 190 men were not killed, wounded, or taken prisoner.

“When I came back, I heard people talking about what they were going to do next summer,” he later said. “I was amazed that they could talk of that future, next summer. As a result, I lived in the day. For the first few years after the war, each day was the last day. And then it changed. Each day was the only day.”