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This is a riddle inspired by @PerpetualJ's story riddles (e.g. here and here. If you like this riddle, I suggest checking out the linked riddles!). It was originally my assignment, hahah, but I decided to turn it into a riddle. I expect this to be really hard. You literally have to get letters, add and remove more letters, and then make a name, all from reading the riddle.

And it has a story.

Son at War

$\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad$ August 6, 1917

I shot one, two, three at some rivals but stopped.
One fell to his knees, looked at me, and then dropped.
Struck in the heart, I was filled with regret.
I then took apart the installed bayonet.

I asked a friend if he knew whom I had shot.
He had not a clue, so he checked out the spot,
To which he yelled back, crying, "What have you done?
The man you attacked is, but sadly, your son!"

What was the son's name?

Because this is difficult, I will give a $100$ rep bounty to whoever solves this. Other answers that may also have a name and explain every line (except the last, because that is where you must already have the name) will earn a $50$ rep bounty.

Little knowledge is required, but so little, I have not included the tag.

Hint 1:

One, two, three is A, B, C,
Then drop a letter 'cause you'll see,
That you must fill it with regret,
Or with a ruined triple set.

(Oh, and most importantly,
Every word's deliberate.)

Hint 2:

One, two, three is A, B, C,
Then drop a letter 'cause you'll see,
That you must fill it with regret,
Or with a ruined triple set.

(Oh, and most importantly,
Every word's deliberate.)

Hint 3:

Things to know of: Bee's Knees, rue, "friend", "crying".

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    $\begingroup$ Like the rhyming :P $\endgroup$ Sep 15, 2018 at 11:06
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    $\begingroup$ @ShahriarMahmudSajid By the way, u iuxx nq ymwuzs yk ragdft mzmsdmy bgllxq (mzp ftue fuyq U iuxx nq mgfaemhuzs ftq bdasdqee!) $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Sep 15, 2018 at 11:22
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    $\begingroup$ looking forward to it $\endgroup$ Sep 15, 2018 at 11:24
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    $\begingroup$ @KevinL My favourite secret puzzle is this (made up the backstory): One day, all the students at a school were asked to answer a brief survey. One of the questions on the survey was: What has been your most important takeaways of school, thus far? One clever student wrote, "School has taught me the meaning of friendship, understanding, community, kindness, youth, optimism and unity." When the teacher read it, the student immediately got a detention. Why? $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Sep 15, 2018 at 12:40
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    $\begingroup$ @user477343 I suggest you not to post it. Trust me, you're gonna be immediately reported lol :D $\endgroup$
    – Kevin L
    Sep 16, 2018 at 12:12

3 Answers 3

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I know this isn't what you're looking for but the son's name is:

One

If you look at the poem litterally:

You shoot three people One, Two, and Three. Quickly followed by One dropping to his knees and you developing regret. From this and the second stanza, it can be assumed that One was your son. You're friend is rightly outraged at your filicide of One, and calls you out on it. What really emphasises his name is One is the second line. Why would you continue refering to him as One, if he is your son? You'd probably call him something else. But as even more evidence, One and son rhyme.

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    $\begingroup$ I like this answer, but you are right: this is not what I'm looking for. I do love the thinking, though, and it is a great answer! But unfortunately, I cannot upvote now (DVL21). Consider this hint: (ROT13) Ernq gur frpbaq uvag pnershyyl; r.t., jung flyynoyr (be yrggre...) unf orra qebccrq? Sebz guvf, lbh jvyy cebonoyl haqrefgnaq jung gur "xarrf" ner nyfb ersreevat gb. This would be a good start :D $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Sep 16, 2018 at 3:00
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Partial Answer

I believe this may be in reference to the Civil War in which bayonets were heavily used, and as an iconic weapon, is mostly referenced around this time. However, based on the date of the letter; the United States had just entered World War I. The most significant death of a child during this time (well, the most noted anyways) was the death of Quinten Roosevelt; however, this happened just under a year after the date on the letter on July 14th, 1918.

I shot one, two, three at some rivals but stopped.

This is a reference to the first three letters of the alphabet; A, B, and C.

One fell to his knees, looked at me, and then dropped.

This is a reference to the bee's knees and is telling us to drop one of the letters. Since the first line gives us A, B, and C, I'll drop B since it's the only one available from our list here. This leaves us with A and C.

Struck in the heart, I was filled with regret.

Fill the remaining two letters with regret. This means that regret should be placed between A and C giving us AregretC which doesn't make much sense, so looking at synonyms, the most likely to be used is rue giving us aruec to work with from here on out.

I then took apart the installed bayonet.

More on this later.

The man you attacked is, but sadly, your son!"

Hrmmmm.

What was the son's name?

Ace; A shot in the dark here but since I've been dabbling on this again for a few days I need to draw up a new answer and see if I'm even close to the target.


Interesting Finds

On the 1st of July in 1862, Sergeant Driscoll shot his son, Private Edwin Jemison at the battle of Malvern Hill. This is the only evidence of a man shooting and killing his son during a time of war (that I can find).

The major significance of August 6th, 1917 (aside from the United States entering the war) was the Battle of Mărășești which literally started that day between Romania and Germany.


Notes

I think at this point I will wait for some feedback before I dive into the rabbit hole and reach a point of no return as I did with your other riddle.

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  • $\begingroup$ For the first part, you literally have it correct, but did not answer it correctly. (ROT13) Gur "orr'f xarrf" jnf n pbeerpg ersrerapr... fb jung yrggre qb lbh qebc? V'z abg fnlvat juvpu bar, ohg guvf fubhyq or n ovt uvag sbe gung... Also, you are looking in exactly the right area! (ROT13) Bar bs gur flabalzf sbe "erterg" arrqf gb or hfrq. Guvax bs gur jbeq "ehvarq gevcyr frg" va gur uvag. But, there is one thing that isn't correct: (ROT13) gur vqrn bs Oehpr. Apart from that, beautiful answer! The WW1 idea is by far correct! DVL1 :D $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Sep 17, 2018 at 22:43
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Partial Answer

August 6, 1917

You had hinted that august and 6 were important. Possibly the name is 6 letters long?

I shot one, two, three at some rivals but stopped.

I agree that this is likely in reference to the letter A, B and C

One fell to his knees, looked at me, and then dropped.

One of the letters from 'A', 'B' and 'C' is dropped. The letter B is dropped from because in the hint, also 'bees knees'.

Struck in the heart, I was filled with regret.

synonym for regret rue, hint with bolded ru in ruined and highlighting of triple (3 letters).

I then took apart the installed bayonet.

I asked a friend if he knew whom I had shot.

He had not a clue, so he checked out the spot,

To which he yelled back, crying, "What have you done?

The man you attacked is, but sadly, your son!"

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    $\begingroup$ You are focusing on one of the right areas, but in the wrong way. (ROT13) Gur anzr unf gb jvgu Nhthfg, naq lbh zvtug yvxryl thrff jul gur 6 vf gurer :D $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Sep 17, 2018 at 22:06
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    $\begingroup$ Now every part is correct. Keep going! (ROT13) jung qbrf "ehr" fbhaqf yvxr? Jurer jbhyq lbh cynpr gung va? Read the Rot13 part carefully... $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Sep 21, 2018 at 13:21

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