Synopsis / Summary / Plot
As the claustrophobic Corporal Jimmy Newman contemplates the very narrow tunnel he must crawl through to save his trapped men, the dying Captain America tries to encourage him. Cap tells him he can overcome the fear by concentrating on those who are depending on him. As Jimmy begins his desperate crawl, he asks Cap to tell him of the times when he was afraid; Cap relates his failure to save Colonel Fletcher from assassination and of the death of Bucky. With many others—even the entire country—depending on him, his greatest fear was of failing. When Jimmy gets stuck, Cap talks him into squeezing his way through until he reaches an exit. Facing a chasm in the cliffs, Cap tells him to jump across. As Jimmy hesitates, Cap assures him he has what it takes to be a hero; that’s why Cap chose him. Continuing his own story, Cap explains how he was hidden on a military base with other GIs to protect him from Nazi assassins, which also gave him time and opportunity to learn how to use his new enhanced body. To further protect him the Army used him as a public relations figure but as his shame over inaction against the enemy mounted, Cap demanded a more active role in the War. At first he was an inspiring symbol—and at the point in Cap’s story, Jimmy leaps the chasm—but later as Steve Rogers he began to use his amazing abilities more and more in combat situations. When Jimmy asks what Cap meant by "choosing" him, Cap mentions one last part of the story to tell: how he got sick….