Mother to accept medals in honor of late son killed in Vietnam

STILL WRITING AND REMEMBERING – Weehawken resident Virginia Dabonka holds
pictures of her late sons, John (left) and Joseph (right), both of whom were
victims of the Vietnam War. Dabonka, a published and accomplished poet, will
receive the Hudson County Distinguished Military Service Medal in honor of her
late son John Tuesday in Jersey City.

"Virginia Dabonka still remembers the first time she started writing poetry.

It was the summer of 1958 and the dedicated mother was sitting in a Union City baseball field watching her youngest son, John, play the sport he loved.

'John inspired me,' recalled Dabonka, who has been a Weehawken resident for almost 30 years. 'I started writing, 'God guide my kid,' as he was playing baseball. That's how it all started. I still have the card I wrote it on. It just came to me that day.'

Nearly 50 years to the very day, Dabonka is still writing poetry, even though she just turned a spry and active 85 years old.

'It's just like an outlet to me now,' Dabonka said. 'I just sit down and write. People, friends encourage me to write for them. They ask me to write something and I do. It's all entertainment for me. I keep everything I write in a book.'


Over the years, Dabonka's poetry has been featured in books and magazines, published in variety of periodicals and publications."

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