The nurse brought a chair, so the marine could sit by the bed. Nights are long in hospitals, but all through the night the young marine sat there in the dimly lit ward, holding the old man's hand and offering words of hope and strength. Occasionally, the nurse urged the marine to rest for a while. He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the marine was there, but he paid no attention to her and the night noises of the hospital — the banging of an oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff exchanging greetings, the cries and moans and breathing of other patients. Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son through most of the night.