How to Save a Life

<p>There is a bronze soldier standing on the courthouse lawn in Smithfield. He has been there since 1926. He stands at parade rest — chin up, eyes forward — with the posture of a man who doesn&#39;t yet know what&#39;s waiting for him.</p><p>On the stone beneath his feet: forty-seven names.</p><p>Buck Hill. Pearlie H. Harris. Maudius Godwin. Charlie Wall.</p><p>Tobacco farmers. Mill workers. Farm boys from Four Oaks and Kenly and the banks of the Little River. They went to France. They did not come home.</p><p></p>