Show DISBANDMENT OF THE VOLUNTEER VOLUN-TEER ARMY Soon the volunteer army will be disbanded dis-banded that is all but a hundred thousand thou-sand which will include the regulars no doubt and those who offered their services to their country will soon be returning home They will all comeback come-back heroes though comparatively few have been on the field of battle Those volunteers who have been on the field of battle have acquitted themselves with distinguishd honor the only exception ex-ception being the first battalion of the Seventyfirst New York Had all the volunteers been called to the front the story would have been as it Is only It would have been a longer story i Many of the volunteers feel some disappointment dis-appointment that they were not in battle bat-tle That isa natural feeling for men who volunteer for war long for the excitement ex-citement of armed conflict and are ambitious am-bitious to achieve fame But the volunteers vol-unteers who have not been to the front but have remained in the camps of instruction in-struction are as truly patriotic as those volunteers who gave up their lives at Santiago and Manila and the country so regards them There is not a man among them who would not have faced the cannons mouth had there been occasion oc-casion for them to It is by no means necessary that a soldier be wounded maimed or killed to show his patriotism patriot-Ism The volunteers have given every evidence possible of their patriotism They may be disappointed that they have not all been to the front but they should be thankful that the war terminated ter-minated so soon as it did and that the sacrifice of life was not greater than I it has been How glad all will be to see the volunteers volun-teers back and to welcome and honor them as they deserve |