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
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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
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