Editing Joyce Kilmer (section)

===War years: 1917–1918===
[[File:Joyce Kilmer.jpg|thumb|Sgt. Joyce Kilmer, as a member of the [[165th Infantry Regiment]], United States Army, c. 1918]]

In April 1917, a few days after the United States entered [[World War I]], Kilmer enlisted in the Seventh Regiment of the [[New York National Guard]]. In August, Kilmer was assigned as a statistician with the [[165th Infantry Regiment]] (better known as the re-designated "Fighting 69th", the [[69th New York Infantry Regiment]]), of the [[42nd Infantry Division (United States)|42nd "Rainbow" Division]], and quickly rose to the rank of [[Sergeant#United States|sergeant]]. Though he was eligible for commission as an officer and often recommended for such posts during the course of the war, Kilmer refused, stating that he would rather be a sergeant in the Fighting 69th than an officer in any other regiment.<ref name="Hillis" />{{rp|p.35}}

Shortly before his deployment to Europe, the Kilmers' daughter Rose died, and twelve days later their son Christopher was born.<ref name="Hillis" />{{rp|p.32}} Before his departure, Kilmer had contracted with publishers to write a book about the war, deciding upon the title ''Here and There with the Fighting Sixty-Ninth''. The regiment arrived in France in November 1917, and Kilmer wrote to his wife that he had not written "anything in prose or verse since I got here—except statistics—but I've stored up a lot of memories to turn into copy when I get a chance."<ref>Letter from Joyce Kilmer to Aline Kilmer, November 24, 1917 in Kilmer, Joyce with Holliday, Robert Cortes (editor). ''Poems, Essays and Letters in Two Volumes.'' (1918).</ref> Kilmer did not write such a book; however, toward the end of the year, he did find time to write prose sketches and poetry. The most notable of his poems during this period was "[[Rouge Bouquet (poem)|Rouge Bouquet]]" (1918) which commemorated the deaths of two dozen members of his regiment in a German artillery barrage on American trench positions in the [[Rouge Bouquet|Rouge Bouquet forest]] north-east of the French village of [[Baccarat, Meurthe-et-Moselle|Baccarat]]. At the time, this was a relatively quiet sector of the front, but the first battalion was struck by a German [[heavy artillery]] [[bombardment]] on the afternoon of March 7, 1918, that buried 21 men of the unit, killing 19 (of which 14 remained entombed).<ref>[http://www.aboutjonesfamily.com/PAGES/DIARY3.HTM World War I Diary of Joseph J. Jones Sr.], published at website "One Jones Family" by Joseph J. Jones III. Retrieved December 27, 2006.</ref><ref>[http://www.69thny.com/rouge_bouquet.htm The History of the Fighting 69th: Rouge Bouquet] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929201057/http://www.69thny.com/rouge_bouquet.htm |date=September 29, 2007 }} (no further authorship information given). Retrieved December 27, 2006.</ref><ref name="Duffy">{{cite book|author= Duffy, Francis Patrick|title=Father Duffy's Story|url=https://archive.org/stream/fatherduffysstor00duffuoft/fatherduffysstor00duffuoft_djvu.txt|year=1919|publisher=New York: George H. Doran Company}}</ref>{{rp|p.350}}

Kilmer sought more hazardous duty and was transferred to the [[military intelligence]] section of his regiment, in April 1918. In a letter to his wife, Aline, he remarked: "Now I'm doing work I love – and work you may be proud of. None of the drudgery of soldiering, but a double share of glory and thrills."<ref name="Hillis" />{{rp|p.36}} According to Hillis, Kilmer's fellow soldiers had accorded him much respect for his battlefield demeanour—"He was worshipped by the men about him. I have heard them speak with awe of his coolness and his nerve in scouting patrols in [[no man's land]]. This coolness and his habit of choosing, with typical enthusiasm, the most dangerous and difficult missions, led to his death."<ref name="Hillis" />{{rp|p.36}}