It all made sense now. The scruffy blonde hair, the thousand-watt smile, all the odd similarities began to add up. All she was missing was a mustache.
Erin smiled, "A pleasure to finally meet you, Colonel Houlihan."
Still shocked, Margaret continued to shake her hand for an awkward amount of time. "Yes... y-you as well."
Colonel Dayton sat down in his chair, unaware of the connections the two held. "Well, you two get along back to your quarters," he turned to look at Margaret, "make sure to meet the two nurses in an hour at post op for their tour, Colonel."
Margaret finally let go of Erin's hand so she could give Dayton a salute. "Yes sir."
Dayton pulled a cigar out of his pocket and fumbled with a match. "Now go on you two, the war stops for no woman."
They both nodded and made their way out the Colonel's office. But as soon as they were on the other side of the doors, Margaret came to a halt and stopped Erin.
She almost began laughing, "What is this?! You couldn't have possibly arranged this..."
Erin shook her head. "All I was told was I was being shipped out to a MASH unit two miles from the front. I honestly had no idea that you'd be here," she smiled, "but I'm glad that you are. My father told me a lot about you."
Margaret raised an eyebrow, "All good things I hope?" She asked, a sly smile spreading across her face.
Erin chuckled and nodded, "It really is a treat to be able to meet you, to be working under you."
Margaret's grin slowly morphed into a more sullen frown. "So your dad told you a lot about me," she sighed, "did he ever tell you about how horrible Korea was?"
Erin saw where she was going and frowned as well.
"It's not going to be any better- if not worse than Korea was," Margaret shook her head, "why'd you do it? Life could be a whole lot easier being a stateside nurse..."
Erin sighed. "People aren't dying by the dozens in Mill Valley. Vietnam is where I'm needed."
Margaret nodded, but she still couldn't shake the feeling that Erin didn't know what she was getting into.