She stopped talking and, in the silence, a dripping tap counted away the seconds. Her eyes were full of tears now.
"The thing that bothers me a whole lot," she said, "he died among strangers, all alone."
"He fought for freedom, Polly," I said. "He had company."
"I'm sorry John," she took my hand again. "I forget other people in my own selfish worries." She wiped away the tears. "Did you lose many men in your unit?"
"Eight killed out of thirty ... and a few more wounded; one died of the bleeding death. We were lucky compared to some of the other Ranger teams I hear."
"We don't know much about these things," she said. "The papers talk of the hidden war in a vague sort of way but nobody has come right out with it yet."
"It won't be long now," I said grimly. "I think we've got them by the short hairs." I picked up an unopened morning paper lying on the table and looked at the headline. "There you are!" I showed it to her. "Revolt Rumored in Russia!"
She looked in silence and then got up. "Let's forget war for today. Let's celebrate your homecoming and the new baby. I'm going to get George right now and we'll all go over to see that baby and Pat and then take off for the rest of the day."
"Suits me fine," I said and followed her out the door.