"I've served my time in Hell"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Sat, 7 May 2005 06:06:24 -0700, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM> wrote:

>I know the name of the author of this line, but can't bring it to mind.
>Somewhere in the house I have a Xerox of the original publication and
>will search for it today.
>
>As I recall, "Our Hitch in Hell" is the name of the poem, written on
>the Mexican Border in 1916. The 3rd Wyoming Infantry Regiment (National
>Guard) is mentioned.

There may be multiple claims of authorship for this one.  According to
this site, it was written by Albert P. Schoo:

http://www.thetroubleshooters.com/history089.html

But this site says it was by F. B. Camp:

http://www.rootsweb.com/~txbell/nannie12.htm

The poem appears in the (Elyria, Ohio) _Evening Telegram_ of Sep. 20,
1917, attributed to F. B. Camp.  In the _Clearfield (Pa.) Progress_  of
Dec. 10, 1917, the attribution is simply "Border Experiences, 1916."


--Ben Zimmer