PART 2 My hands were shaking when I opened the envelope. Inside was an old black-and-white photograph. Two young Marines in jungle fatigues, arms around each other’s shoulders, squinting into the sun. Somewhere hot. Palm trees behind them. One of them was a young Cyrus Lambert.

The emotional conclusion of the story reveals that the mysterious veteran, Cyrus Lambert, was actually his late best friend James Kane’s wartime companion who had sacrificed his life […]