The homely simplicity of the rhymes and meter did well to emphasize the childhood angle, especially with the unexpected final rhyme and switch of focus. Switching to a feminine rhyme for the final pair also helped kick the ending.
What I think makes this poem work is the fact that the manner and the mode makes one expect the ending to be a hollow homily or distasteful sugarcoating--or worse, both mixed with kitsch piety of the Precious Moments school--but instead ends with a very real and immediate thought about death and the realities of war.
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Threaded Mode
