A Country Boy’s Yearning for War
Youthful Naivety Leads to Horrors a Young Man Didn’t Bargain For.
Historical Performance Monologue — Written and Performed by Gregory Cade at the Historic Avoca Museum, during Night at the Museum Lantern Tours, in Celebration of the 100 Year Anniversary of the Ending of WW 1.
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Good evening — Ladies, Gentlemen, young ones. I am honored by your presence this evening, and by your interest in hearing of an exciting, yet tumultuous time in my life.
Allow me to introduce myself. To my family, I am simply Albert. As I stand before you, I am Cpl. John A. McCutchen of Company F of the 60th Regiment Artillery, United States Army. Prior to retiring from military service, I obtained the rank of captain, but most of my time in uniform was spent at ever-higher ranks of sergeant, and it is by this moniker which I am most affectionately known — and truth be told, the one of which I am most proud.
While my family too, in time, grew to be very proud of the man and Soldier I became, they were initially filled with trepidation concerning my desire to seek what I felt to be the grand and noble calling of my country, by going off to war. Of special consternation to them was my intention to join the ranks of the enlisted Soldiers, in order to hasten…
