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This picture opens with a view of a community chorus singing "The Red, White and Blue." Fred Hale and Annette Thurber are among the singers. On the way home he tells her that he is now an enlisted man in the United States Army; that he has passed his physical examination and is to report at once. She is glad that he has done his duty. Fred has now to break the news to his mother, and the natural sorrow which she feels is tempered by the announcement that he and Annette are engaged to be married. Now it is the last evening at home. Fred is in his uniform, envied by his younger brother. It is the custom of the family to sing every evening, and to relieve the strain of the fast-approaching separation Fred asks why they should not follow their usual custom. They gather around the piano and sing "Annie Laurie," his favorite. At the second verse his mother breaks down while he, himself, is overcome. Bravely Annette finishes the song alone. The regiment marches away and next we see Fred at night in a rear line trench "over there" with a few of his comrades, during a brief rest from their danger and hard work. To a banjo accompaniment they sing "Dixie." His thoughts go to the loved ones at home and the last evening when they sang "Annie Laurie." There when is a charge and Fred is wounded. He is carried from the battlefield by two of his comrades. In the hospital his nerves are found to be badly shattered. The wound itself is not necessarily fatal but, as in so many cases, the country is liable to lose his services through nerve shock. In the next room to his ward a nurse is singing with a few convalescent soldiers. One of them suggests "Annie Laurie" as his favorite. Tossing upon his cot Fred becomes conscious of the well-remembered air. He imagines that Annette is near him, singing it. His brain, tormented by suffering and weeks of dreadful sights and sounds, becomes easier, and on her next round the nurse finds, for the first time, that be is having a restful sleep. At home Fred's mother receives a letter. It tells of his wound, of the song which started him to recovery and of his leaving again for the front. As this letter is being read Annette rushes in with one she has received. In this Fred says: "Sing Annie Laurie as we used to sing it. I think I can hear you." In the fading twilight they do as he wishes sure that their boy will come back to them. Throughout the picture familiar airs are suggested, to which the scenes are synchronized.

Trivia

The Song of the Soldier

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