You looked so pitiful in your torn and dirty rags
Your face was scratched and filthy,your skinny body sags.
How the Russians screamed and wanted me to send you back
When I put you in the safety of my waiting halftrack.
Remember the D ration I gave you from my pack?
You thought it such a delicious snack.

Remember in the creek how I washed your dirty hair
How the guys got together and gave you things to wear?
When cleaned up you sure didn't look to bad
Then you ate up everything we had.
The story you told that made us so mad
The English you spoke that made us feel glad.

I remember your skinny little frame
And Gabriele Conrad was your name.
In May nineteen hundred and forty five
You were lucky just to be alive
The bombing of Dresden that you did survive
And escape from the Russians that you did contrive.

Our Captain was a man honest and fair
When he saw you he almost pulled out his hair.
After he heard your story and said you could stay
He told me to keep you hid out of the way.
If the Col. catch's her there will be hell to pay
He will lock you up till you are old and gray.

This little girl so pale and scrawny
All the guys liked,they called her Connie.
We liked you because you were so smart
And because you were such a funny little tart.
We could see you had a loving heart
And dreaded the day when we would have to part.

You took my sleeping bag at night
After you ate everything in sight.
You were really such a loving child
And at times kept us all beguiled
You didn't need womanly wiles
Just the tenderness of your smile.

As I look back over the long passed years
I see your face among my souvenirs.
No matter how fast time fly's
I still see your soft gray eyes.
Still hear your happy delighted cry's
And hear the sadness of your sighs.

It's hard to think your life was for naught
You lost every thing for which you fought.
Your home your family the one's you loved so well
All disappeared the night the bombs fell
The things you could never say or tell
The horror you kept locked within your shell.

Connie it was a long time ago
I held you close and loved you so.
And now when shadows walk across your land
Do you never want to reach and hold my hand?
Or do you wear anothers wedding band?
Is my memory just another grain of sand?

I remember a long ago December day
It was time for me to pack and go away.
You were so brave you didn't cry
But I felt the teardrops in my eye.
And for all these years I wondered why
You shed no tears at our last goodby.

I hope some where you found happiness
Some one you could love and caress.
Some times my memories make me sad
Then I think of little things that made me glad.
All the times I shared,the good and the bad
With a dear girl named,Gabriele Conrad.
~Elmer Ake~