Clearing my basement,
I discover Claude’s letter.
He enlist to fly.
“…you rave about the Australian women,
they must be unreal. I can hardly wait to go there.”
I smile.
“…afraid I’m no longer
a virgin.
Had a great time
and paid for it.
Didn’t study.
Blew the navigation quiz.”
Over beers, we'd spoke of girls,
laughed as college boys
with lives ahead.
“See you for sure at Christmas
around the 21st.”
Then, my unread response,
sadly returned and kept.
The real price of war.
* Claude Dennison and I became friends while studying at Seattle University. Following graduation, he enlisted in the Naval Air while I served aboard the USS McMorris (DE-1036). We kept in communication. I was coming off active duty and he was planning leave in 1968. We planned to grab a Christmas drink and relive old times. He was killed when his plane crashed.
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