A simple gesture of respect cost veteran journalist Marie Colvin her life.

Long Island native Colvin, 56, was killed Wednesday in Syria during a rocket attack on a makeshift media center.

She had made a mad dash for the hallway, where she had left her shoes — conforming to local custom. At that moment, a rocket hit the building, reports The Sunday Times of London, where Colvin worked as a foreign correspondent for 25 years.