A SOLDIER OF THE GREAT WAR
He was a soldier of 'The Great War,'
as if such could be; his men called
him Little Dibble. No one knew why.
It had just been a name that stuck.
He towered, actually, and there was
nothing little about him. Those long
back boots, military jodhpur pants,
that combat hat that almost looked
silly. He swatted flies with what
appeared to be a walking stick, yet
had a fluff upon it of some military
sig-nif-i-cance. With him, everything
was a cadence.
-
He was old when I knew him, very.
Already haggard and way past any
prime, I don't think he even had the
good sense any longer to know where
he was. Ypres? Some battlefield of
the Marne? Sitting in a straight-back
chair, he couldn't slouch if it was
demanded of him. Everything was
a cadence, yes.
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