Lew Powell's Frostbitten Feet

[Natty]

perhaps they were talking about how strong people thought or perceived he was, and he related that tale as a balance to some misconceptions.. He seemed rather self effacing. It seems he showed a very vulnerable side in that cell, just before he died.

That sounds reasonable. Perhaps he was just trying to demonstrate that he was no different from other soldiers and was not the cold, hard individual many had him out to be. If that is the case, then this reference wasn't necessarily an indication of bad health, just the effects of malnutrition and enormous amounts of physical strain.

PS: I would really love to know more about the conversation so that I could see the exact context within which it was mentioned.