<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">Old Jim</h1><p class="byline"> NORMAN SHANNON HALL <br xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"/><span class="smallcaps">IN The Stars And Stripes</span><br xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"/>Permission to reproduce in this book</p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">OUT in that vague, vast "somewhere" of The Line </p><p class="line">They killed Old Jim, a proven friend of mine. </p><p class="line">Killed him at night, while he was on patrol; </p><p class="line">All the company found was just a hole </p><p class="line">A damned boche shell had dug out where he'd gone. </p><p class="line">The outfit passed the place just after dawn </p><p class="line">And saw some bodies; but they couldn't tell </p><p class="line">Which one was which. They all were smashed to hell! </p><p class="line">They put Jim on the list, "Reported Dead"; </p><p class="line">"Missing in Action," the home papers said. </p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I wasn't in The Line when Jim went out. </p><p class="line">A piece of shrapnel had hit me a clout </p><p class="line">Which kept me pretty quiet for a while--</p><p class="line">Gray days when it was mighty hard to smile. </p><p class="line">And when I learned Old Jim had topped the ridge </p><p class="line">I fell to thinking what a privilege </p><p class="line">It was to know him. Jim was just the kind </p><p class="line">That stops to pet a dog or help the blind. </p><p class="line">The sort you turn to when things don't go right, </p><p class="line">And then forget when all the world is bright. </p><p class="line">Jim had a kindly eye that seemed to see </p><p class="line">The best in men. What could he see in me? </p><p class="line">I never knew; but Jim was always glad </p><p class="line">To give me half of everything he had. </p><p class="line">That's why, you see, it cut me mighty deep </p><p class="line">To know Old Jim was Out There--in a heap. </p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I've said Old Jim was not identified. </p><p class="line">All the outfit ever knew was--he died! </p><p class="line">And though there is no way to prove it's so </p><p class="line">This Unknown Soldier is Old Jim. I know! </p><p class="line">The Congress Medal and the D. S. C., </p><p class="line">Have been given this Lost Identity; </p><p class="line">And knowing that they both were earned by him, </p><p class="line">I know the Unknown Soldier is--Old Jim! </p></div></body></html> · Great War