It might have been merely one photograph 
in an album of long ago memories
had you not died

Instead it became the last image etched in Kodachrome 
of a life cut short
for a friend who still mourns your loss

No one could know 
as you stood in that Honolulu airport 
holding the baby of a stranger
(because you were going to Vietnam for a year 
and might not get to hold a baby)

that in a few short weeks you would be killed,
ironically stabbed to death 
by one of the soldiers you had come to help

Many years after the shutter snapped shut
that photo forged a treasured bond 
between your family who had never seen it
and your friend who was finally able to give it to them

Even in death you have helped to heal the living

Thank you for posing 

			emily strange
			© 2000
-------------------------
Virginia E. (Ginny) Kirsch served with the American 
Red Cross as a "Donut Dollie" in Vietnam. She was killed 
August 17, 1970 in Cu Chi, RVN.   Susan McLean was
her friend who took the picture during their lay over on 
the way to Vietnam.

For more of the story go to:  
http://www.war-stories.com/donut-dollie-diary-ii.htm