resignation

His title was Mr. Harding, but to the inhabitants of the Hiram's Hospital, he was much more than that. He was their warden, their guardian, and in many ways, their savior. His life was devoted to the twelve old men who had found solace under the grand arches of the hospital.

As the rooster crowed its warning of the coming dawn, Private Hutchins felt a cold pang of dread. The jungle around him was filled with the eerie silence that followed a night filled with artillery fire. His sweaty hands tightened around the worn grips of his M-16, the blackened metal cool against his feverish skin. Today, they were heading into the heart of the conflict, a place where the enemy was as numerous as the trees in the jungle. A place the soldiers referred to as 'Hades on Earth'. Hutchins was scared. More scared than he had ever been. He remembered the man from his town who had enlisted and then come back in a box. The man was a hero, but all Hutchins could see was a white cross and a flag-draped coffin.