World War Two had been declared, our hearts were filled with fear.
Our sons and husbands were being called, and Easter-time was near.
The Easter Parade I saw that year, I never shall forget,
My emotions were mingled with pride, joy, heartache and regret.
A parade of splendid manhood, soldier boys, two thousand or more,
In jeeps, in peeps, in army trucks went sailing by my door.
I had a lovely chicken dinner, I couldn’t stay in to cook,
I had to get out on the sidewalk and look and look and look.
Laugh, wave, smile and pray, yes I did a little weeping too,
Some boys would wave back and other boys looked blue
We didn’t know where they were going or just where they were from,
But we did know that everyone of them was some mother’s son.
They had sacrificed good jobs, good homes, some left families too,
To fight a war, to save a land for every me and you,
As I watched these boys in the prime of life, ready to sacrifice all,
I might look pretty big to you but I did feel mighty small.
Oh! that Easter Parade really did things to me,
It made me more war minded than I thought I could be,
Made me feel it was our duty to give and give and give,
To make the lives of those boys a little easier to live.
To buy War Bonds and Stamps until it really hurts,
To give our blood to save their lives, our time for Red Cross work.
And to breathe a little prayer that before so very long,
God would send them back victorious, healthy, well and strong.
