At midnight Jim Ware begins a daily routine of feeding the 17 dogs that share his Blocker Community home with him and his wife, Connie.

"That takes me until one (a.m.)," Ware said, and Ms. Ware explained: "He cooks hamburgers and hot dogs for them. Each one has a special bowl in its own special place.

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And while he lies in a state "half wake; half sleep," Ware revisits his youth.

He is a young Marine of 20.

He may be again keeping watch in a trench on Iwo Jima, sharing the space with a dead enemy soldier.