"Nice job." "Good to see you, colonel." "Welcome to Firebase Ladybird, sir." "Thank you." "It's good to be here." "I trust your briefings at MACV went well?" "They did." "Very well, thank you." "No matter how many times you see it, it always breaks your heart." "Sergeant." "Looks like you boys saw some hell." "I hope to God you gave them back some of their own medicine." "We never even saw them, sir." "You were shooting at them, though, weren't you?" "We shot up the jungle." "I don't know what we hit." "There was a blood trail, but it didn't lead to a body." "What about you, son?" "How are you feeling?" "It's spooky out there, sir." "Charlie's like a ghost." "Hang in there, soldier." "He's new, sir." "It's his third time out." "It's all right, son." "I understand." "Carry on, men." "Tony, I don't remember my men overseas looking that young." "I'm going to be looking around for a few days, colonel." "Hope I don't get in the way." "The base is all yours, general." "You'll see it like it is." "And report it the same way." "Of course." "Well, I think the occasion calls for a handshake, lieutenant." "Sir." "If that will be all, sir." "Well, shall we?" "What happened out there?" "Sniper." "We never even saw them." "Daniels, Klein, and Walker." "Daniels only had two weeks left." "Who's the VIP?" "My father." "Guy wasn't even here a week." "Sometimes you wonder if it wouldn't be easier just to get it over with, stop the waiting, always thinking who's it going to be today?" "Whose number's up?" "That's just it." "Never knowing drives you crazy." "Hey, man, you dudes sweat it out, because I ain't." "Travel light, carry a heavy bag." "Man, that's my trip." "What's coming down is already on its way." "Yeah, well, that sounds great." "We'll see how slick you are tomorrow on the firing line, because that's where we're going to be." "I'm telling you, that man has trouble written all over him." "Keep him far, far away from yours truly." "Sucker makes me nervous too." "No wonder the other company got rid of him." "Just cut him some slack, all right, Marcus?" "How many mistakes did you make your first couple times out, huh?" "Hey, where you from, man?" "Spanish Harlem, man... 115th street." "Yeah." "No kidding?" "Longwood Avenue, South Bronx." "Small world, man." "Hey, look, man, the way you've been screwing up, you don't have a lot of friends in this outfit, so you'd better take them where you can get them." "Myron, I'd like a minute." "I wasn't expecting that kind of reception." "Well, after five years, what were you expecting?" "I guess a measure of respect." "That much I deserve." "I can't believe you traveled halfway around the world just to get my approval." "What are you doing here?" "They pulled me out of mothballs for a congressional fact-finding tour." "I'm here to make sure you boys are busy winning this war." "And the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people, I suppose?" "No." "That's Westmoreland's theory." "I had lunch with him in Long Binh." "Mine runs something like," ""When you got 'em by the throat, their hearts and minds will follow."" "I'm here to check your grip." "Well, this should be an educational trip for you, then." "Well, I want it to be." "I guess it's just coincidence, you ending up in my firebase?" "I specifically requested this firebase as my next stop." "I wanted to see how you were doing, and I knew I could depend on you to give me informed, straight ahead, cold, hard facts, not some line of candy-coated bull about what's going on out here." "You just want to hear how we're winning this war." "You keep me informed." "I'll evaluate the information." "Understood?" "Yes, sir." "I'm going to be flying command and control with Colonel Dalby tomorrow, oversee your part of the battalion's mission." "I'm looking forward to watching you boys in action." "Well, we'll try and put on a good show for you... sir." "You do that, Myron." "I'm telling you, that sucker's going to get somebody killed." "He's already acting weird." "Don't say that, Danny." "You're going to bring it on, man." "You all right?" "Yeah, man." "Fine." "Fine." "Get down." "You got to keep the pin tweaked, man, unless you want to blow yourself and everybody near you all over the bush." "Somebody told me I can get it off quicker that way, man." "Yeah, so fast you won't have time to say your prayers." "Just keep it tweaked, all right?" "You're welcome." "Keep your interval up." "Get down!" "Get down!" "I see him!" "I see him!" "Alvaro!" "Cease fire!" "Cease fire!" "What the hell?" "You crazy, man?" "Give me that weapon." "Stay down, Alvaro." "I mean, stay the hell down!" "Medic!" "Medic!" "2:00!" "Treeline!" "Cease fire!" "Hold your fire!" "What in the hell do you think you're doing?" "I don't know." "It's like it wasn't even me, man!" "Don't you ever do that again, not if you plan on living, sucker, because next time, nobody in this outfit's going to risk their lives to save your tail." "You got that?" "You got it?" "Now, get out of here!" "Ruiz." "Ruiz, you get back to your weapon now, you understand me?" "I'm telling you, Percell." "They'll be sending us girl scouts next." "You know, you've been on his case since day one." "What's the matter, man?" "You don't like Puerto Ricans?" "Hey, Ru, that's not it, and you know it." "I'm telling you, that guy's gonna get somebody greased and I guarantee it." "Well, look, the guy panicked, Percell." "All cherries panic." "Why don't you guys just lighten up, man?" "Hey... how's it going?" "Hey, what's with you, man?" "Nothing." "So why don't you just keep on walking by, social worker?" "I'm trying to talk to you, man." "I've seen that look." "Your eyes are doing a tango, man." "Why don't you butt out, okay?" "Don't mess with me, Alvaro." "I'm from your neighborhood, remember?" "You want to mess with that crap, you do it on home ground, brother, but now you're in the field, and these guys depend on you for their lives." "Look, man, you want some help?" "I'll make sure you get it back at base." "But till then, just think of me as your shadow, man." "Because that's where I'm going to be... right on your tail." "You dig it?" "Don't touch me." "Bravo Two Six, this is Skylark." "Let's get the show on the road." "Over." "Skylark, this is Bravo Two Six." "We roger that." "Out." "I don't like what I'm seeing, LT." "What is it?" "It could've been an NVA camp." "Well, there's nobody there now." "Yeah, but they like to leave surprises." "I suggest we take this real slow and easy." "All right, take it easy, okay?" "Come on." "Come on." "Let's go." "Freeze!" "All right, Alvaro." "Don't move now." "Be cool, man." "Be cool." "No!" "Medic, get up here." "Everybody else, stay where you are." "LT, we could be walking right into a VC bunker." "Yeah, we just sent out one loud calling card too." "We need to find cover and we need it fast." "Skylark Six, this is Bravo Two Six." "We're checking the area for mines." "What's the word on that evac?" "Over." "Negative to both, Bravo Two Six." "Time will not allow." "Proceed as directed." "Will evac your casualty later with the rest of your unit." "Over." "Six, we've got a November Victor Alpha Camp here." "Now, there's possible bunkers, possible tunnels." "There's definitely mines." "How about sending down some engineering support?" "Over." "Bravo Two Six, you say it's abandoned." "Don't waste time on it." "Over." "Tell him we can't just keep strolling down this trail like we're back on the block." "Easy for him to say "Proceed as directed,"" "flying by in a slick." "Six, how about artillery prep first?" "We could be walking into anything." "Over." "We just did." "Bravo Two Six, negative your request." "Move to the west and engage." "Over." "Bravo Two Six, move forward." "Make them engage." "Make them commit." "Make them do something." "They are doing something..." "they're cutting us to pieces." "Now, give me the damn arty!" "Over." "Bravo Two Six, move to the west and keep the pressure on." "That's an order." "I'll get Alpha or Charlie to come in on either flank." "Over." "Bravo Two Six, we're taking some rounds and are diverting." "Over." "Sergeant, we're pulling out." "We're gonna catch hell." "What would you estimate the strength of the enemy force, lieutenant?" "Well, I'm not sure, sir." "A platoon?" "I'm not sure." "We were taking heavy fire." "What's your estimate, sergeant?" "Impossible to estimate their size, sir." "Maybe platoon size, but they had mortars." "They had us pinned down." "Did you check out the area before the firefight, lieutenant?" "Yes, sir." "And?" "And there was nothing to indicate the size of the force we were about to engage, sir." "Thank you, sergeant." "You're dismissed." "Now, I gave you a direct order out there to move forward and engage, lieutenant." "And you disobeyed that order." "No, sir, that's not the way I saw it." "Don't you "No, sir" me!" "Now, you compromised this entire operation and embarrassed this unit and a personal guest of this command." "Don't for a minute think you're going to get off easy." "That thought never crossed my mind, sir." "You got guts, lieutenant." "Too bad you don't use them when they're needed... out there in combat." "I think I should use both guts and brains, sir." "Now, I coordinated with both squads on my flank." "Both were in the same condition that we were in." "If we'd moved from those positions, we would've taken on heavy casualties." "That was some show you put on out there today." "What the hell were you trying to prove?" "Spare me the lecture, all right?" "I just had my fill for the day." "I don't think I should have to explain the concept of military discipline to you, Myron." "Then again, if you'd gone to West Point like you should have, maybe we wouldn't be having this conversation." "Are you finished?" "When I'm finished, you'll damn well know it, lieutenant." "You came within a hair of being court-martialed today, and the only reason you won't be is because I'm here." "You?" "You were about as close to the action as that ticket puncher in there." "I don't have to be on the ground to know what was right!" "Right?" "Right or wrong," "I was trying to save men's lives... and you stopped running mine a long time ago." "Now, we've both got jobs to do here." "Now, if you do yours, I'll do mine, and we'll stay out of each other's way." "No!" "LT." "LT." "Yeah." "Can I talk to you for a minute?" "Look, something's wrong with this Alvaro thing." "Like what?" "Well, you take a walk with me, please." "O'Rourke, why haven't these bodies been taken back to base camp?" "Choppers got diverted, sir." "We're all full up inside." "Got nowhere else to put them." "They tagged?" "Yes, sir." "Why don't you go get a cup of coffee." "Oh, man, needle tracks." "LT." "Man, I can't believe I missed this guy." "I mean, everything about him, LT... every sign, and I missed it." "He was like a spider on a hot stove going into battle." "Look, we've got new faces every day, guys rotating in and out." "Half of them go home in body bags." "We can't be expected to catch everything and fight the war." "I saw something like this happen after the CAV." "Like, the whole unit got jammed up because of one guy." "We got to go to battalion with this." "LT, we do that, they're going to order a shake-down of every guy in this platoon." "So what are you saying?" "All I'm saying is it's not going to matter, a couple hours one way or another." "We've got to wait till we get to the bottom of this, and then we've got something to take forward to the battalion." "I'm already in way over my head." "I know you are, but I'm in there with you." "Atten-hut!" "At ease, men." "It ain't much, sir, but it's home." "And what might this be, soldier?" "It's Jimi Hendrix." "He's a rock musician, sir." "Hendrix was in the army too, sir." "101st airborne." "Looking like that?" "I imagine not, sir." "Hendrix wrote a song called "Machine Gun", sir." "Sort of sums up how we feel about being over here." "Nobody likes war, son." "We can live with the fighting." "We'd just like somebody to explain to us what exactly it is we're fighting for." "I'll explain it to you." "You're fighting to help the Vietnamese people in their struggle against communism." "And that's worth fighting for, soldier." "I'd like to see you for a minute." "Outside." "Yes, sir." "Carry on, gentlemen." "What was that all about?" "The death of his generation, sir, and the birth of ours." "Excuse us, captain." "From where I'm standing, this whole unit is falling apart, from its leader on down." "You know, sir, your rank and your medal of honor do not guarantee you the right to pass judgment here." "Just because we don't come up to snuff in your eyes doesn't mean every damn one of these men isn't doing his job and more." "You're walking a fine line with me, Myron." "It's not only my job, it's my duty to pass judgment." "All right, you said you wanted it straight, no bull." "Well, I don't think that's entirely true." "I think what you want is a nice, neat little picture." "Well, let me tell you something." "We are nothing here but numbers and bodies." "Every day, they send us out, and every day, they add one, they subtract three, whatever the hell looks good on the books." "Now, from where I'm fighting this war." "There's no more game plan than there is to shooting craps." "In my experience, war is war." "The only thing that changes is terrain and men." "Well, we have to give back every inch of terrain we took the day before." "How do you suppose that makes the men feel?" "There's no heroes in this war." "You're the only hero here." "This seat taken?" "Don't matter." "Couple beers." "Here." "Try something cold." "Look, Roo, I got to tell you, I blame myself for Alvaro." "That was my fault." "I should have noticed the signs." "You understand?" "Yeah." "He was flying high, wasn't he?" "What was I going to do, stop the mission?" "Man, I know I should have done something, but..." "I mean, I've lived with that crap all my life, sergeant." "Junkies were as common in my neighborhood as rich ladies in Bloomingdale's." "You know, I had a cousin who shot up some bad junk." "I found him in an abandoned building, needle still in his arm." "He'd been there a day and a half." "I touched him." "He was cold as ice and white as you, man." "I was 10 years old." "You know, I knew then and there that I'd never go that way." "I seen what it can do." "Now I'm seeing it again." "Well, Ruiz, I was sort of hoping maybe you'd have an idea where he scored." "You know, sarge, a lot of guys smoke weed when they're out in the bush, but it's the first time I heard of any hard stuff passing around." "Look, we're headed into Chu Lai for a few days." "I'm taking you off the front line." "I want you to report to battalion supply in the morning." "I don't need your kid-glove treatment, sergeant." "I know you don't, and you ain't going to get it, not from Sergeant Exley you're not." "Ruiz, leave this to me." "Please, just trust me." "Fine." "You'd better do something fast, man, or it's going to do you." "You know, Alvaro may have been the first, but he's not going to be the last." "Zeke, my man, what's happening?" "Oh, man, if I knew what was happening," "I'd get Westmoreland on the phone and make him apologize." "Hey, Ruiz, how you doing?" "Making out, sarge." "Just keep it real slow here for a couple of days." "The war ain't going nowhere, all right?" "I know." "Ex, got a couple of minutes?" "Oh, yeah." "So how you doing there, Ex?" "Oh, I'm hanging in." "I just never thought I'd be in the rear with the gear." "Supply sergeant ain't exactly my style." "Got your date for your medical boards yet?" "Kind of I'd rather not." "Nah." "They're just going to boot me out anyway." "I mean, what kind of job they gonna give a cripple, huh?" "How about yourself?" "You look a little down in the mouth, son." "I think you and me ought to pay a little visit to Sin City and tie a good drunk on, get in touch with something soft and warm." "I could use a little of that." "I could use a lot of that." "But, listen, between you and me and the gatepost here, that kid Alvaro... got killed..." "he was using." "Damn, man, you talking skag?" "Yeah." "Stuff spreads like the plague." "You get one man on out there, you're a sitting duck." "Yeah, I know." "And maybe do me a little favor here." "You're in town a lot." "Maybe you could poke around, see what you could find out for me." "You're going to put up the flag?" "Well, that's not my call." "That's the lieutenant's call." "See, it's a chain of command kind of thing, but he's got to do something pretty quick." "Yeah." "What are you doing, Ruiz?" "Just checking out the crate, sarge." "Look, when I tell you to inventory jungle fatigues, that's exactly what I mean, private." "I just thought maybe..." "No, don't think, Ruiz." "No." "The only thing thinking ever got a grunt was either dead or court-martialed." "Now, why don't you stop playing with that before you turn us into dog food." "Huh?" "LT." "I talked to Exley, and he said he'd poke around town and see what he could find out for us." "LT, you with me here?" "Yeah, I'm with you." "I'm sorry." "I've just got a lot of things on my mind." "The thing with Dalby, huh?" "Yeah, the thing with Dalby." "The thing with my old man." "He's always making me feel like I'm falling short of the mark, you know?" "Well, LT, you know, it's like I always say, you can't please anybody but yourself." "You always say that, huh?" "Well, maybe not." "It's just that it's always there, you know, in my face." "I didn't even want to join the army." "That was all his idea." "Well, LT, I'm in shock here." "You mean the army's not your entire life?" "No." "I imagined myself as an English Lit teacher." "I wound up in OCS." "I guess it's in my genes." "My father always told me being a teacher was just an escape, you know." "Maybe he's right." "Well, now, LT, look here." "I'm not an expert at this." "Maybe your old man, he looks at you, he sees himself 30 years ago." "You know, like you're his future." "That's a tough cross for you to bear." "Well, I can't relive his past glories." "No, you can't." "But maybe you can see the difference between a man, you know, who had high hopes for his son and a man who's hanging on to the last thing he's got in the world." "My old man had everything in the world." "Then about six years ago, my mother took a fistful of sleeping pills." "She never woke up." "And to this day, he has never dealt with it." "You know, I look in his eyes, and... nothing." "I get nothing back." "Sarge, where are all the weapons and grenades that were there yesterday?" "They went up to Charlie company's ammo point." "Listen, I got about, oh, 40 tons of paperwork to catch up on." "And there ain't nothing happening here, so why don't you just shut her down and didi on out of here?" "All right." "Sounds good." "Yeah." "Don't mention it, son." "Thanks." "How do I look, Baker?" "You want me to tell you the truth?" "Hey, Ru." "How's supply treating you?" "I mean, talk about a cushy gig, huh?" "You can have it, man, believe me." "You know what this man needs, Baker?" "This man needs something with the curves in the right place to put a smile on his face." "Yeah, yeah." "And a nice tall glass of beer to wash it all down with." "Yeah." "Let's get it together, Ru." "We're going to Sin City." "Whoo-hoo!" "Sin City." "Yeow!" "Close your eyes, and it's like a dream, baby." "Detroit City, here I come." "Where's the little GI's room in this joint?" "GI's room is right over there, Baker." "It happens every time you drink beer." "Well, someone told me there's barley in this stuff there, Taylor." "Wash your hands." "Excuse me." "Who's that dude?" "He looks important." "Papa-san." "Cat's got his hands into everything." "Black market, you name it." "I wish I could say the same thing for myself, Ru." "When I get home, I'll get me a gig that's going to keep me in plenty cash, cars, and hot and cold running women." "Yeah." "Amen to that, brother." "They say I'm a hero, but I don't pay any attention to that." "I leave you for one minute, and you go for him." "You know, baby, the more you drink, the better I look." "Take it easy, man." "There's something funny going on here." "Yeah, like what?" "I don't know." "I'll be back." "Hey, you got any friends or something?" "Excuse me, you got any friends?" "Hey, sarge." "Looking good." "I got to check something out." "Let's go." "Hey, Baker, where's Ruiz?" "Huh?" "I don't know." "He went to check something out, didn't he?" "The last thing he asked me about was papa-san." "Come on, Baker." "What, what, what?" "Come on, man." "Thank you very much." "Till next time, sir." "Come on." "Lieutenant." "Recon patrol found a bunker complex a half klick up the trail you were on." "Marine phantoms took it out late this afternoon." "Which means if we'd continued as ordered, we would have been wiped out." "Which means you lucked out this time." "But not in your eyes, right?" "What you did was wrong, no matter how you look at it." "You had your orders and you failed to carry them out." "You can't make up rules as you go along." "I don't expect you to understand this, but this war has no rules." "I executed my job as best as I knew how." "What I see, Myron, is I see someone who still refuses to take responsibility for his actions." "How about you accepting responsibility for your actions?" "I did what I thought was best." "Maybe it wasn't right, but I can't change that now." "All I wanted was to make it less painful, easier for you." "Easier?" "How the..." "How the hell do you expect not knowing something to make it easier?" "I tried, son." "What more can you ask?" "You can ask for the truth." "Just the same thing you're looking for here." "That's all I've ever asked for." "Your mother knew she was marrying a professional soldier." "She knew I would always put my duty to the Army first and foremost." "I did what I could, and so did she, under extremely difficult circumstances." "You want to know what I remember?" "I remember a lonely woman." "I remember growing up without a father while you were gone for months on end." "That's what I remember." "I have my regrets, Myron... about your mother's death." "Certainly." "And I don't need you to tell me I was a lousy father." "I know I was." "Yeah, but you can't admit you were wrong, can you?" "You can't stoop to letting..." "Excuse me, sir." "I hate to interrupt, but I'm going to have to." "What is it, sergeant?" "Ruiz is in Sin City." "He's in trouble." "We've got to get there fast." "What's this about?" "The truth." "You're on a fact-finding mission, right?" "Let's go find some facts." "What's it feel like, huh, Exley, having all that blood on your hands?" "Black market guns, grenades to the VC, selling dope to our guys." "You just couldn't keep your nose out of it, could you, Ruiz?" "I'm telling you, man, you don't know the first thing about what's going on here." "Yeah, but I do know that you're a lowlife bastard who sells out his own men." "Listen, man, I took my hit for the Army, God, and country." "I took a good one." "What did it get me, huh?" "What's my future?" "No, man." "Those men, they were going to die anyway." "I just found a way to make a profit." "You maggot." "You killed Alvaro by selling him that crap to pump in his veins." "I gave him what he asked me for- a little recreation." "How many are you responsible for?" "How many?" "None." "I'm responsible for me, man, me." "And what Dang does with his profits," "I don't even want to know." "Until you're standing where I'm at, you got no right to say nothing to me about nothing." "Charlie's in town, guaranteed." "Just keep your eyes open." "It's like Dodge City waiting for the James gang." "Where are the MPs?" "There are no MPs." "This is Sin City." "It's off-limits at night." "Well now, what do we got going on here?" "Let it go, son." "Hey, man." "Let it go." "Now, get out of here." "Get out of here." "I'm looking for the GI that came in with these two men." "Maybe you can help me." "You'd better start talking real fast." "You bi..." "Easy, Myron." "This isn't Paris, 1944." "You talk now!" "Papa-san." "Try Papa-san Dang." "Is he the supplier?" "Huh?" "Yes, yes, yes... yes." "You understand what's happening here?" "Obviously some sort of dope deal is being transacted, but I can't say that I fully comprehend." "The irony of it is we are being victimized." "Everybody's looking the other way." "Even the VC don't come in here." "The dealers are allowed to trade openly." "Now maybe you can understand why war has changed." "I see things are different, but there are some areas that I still just don't understand." "That's the problem." "Nobody understands." "I've never liked eating alone." "Would you gentlemen care to share some rice with me?" "Why don't you tell me what you're looking for?" "Dang, you know exactly what we're looking for, don't you?" "Please, I'm an old man." "All this excitement is too much for me." "Let me tell you something, old man, and this is a promise," "If you've messed with Ruiz, you're going to pay." "I'm merely a businessman." "You don't want me." "You want Sergeant Exley." "Exley?" "Well, maybe we want both of you then." "Does Exley have Ruiz?" "Does Exley have Ruiz?" "Where?" "Not a sound, Ex." "Not a sound, old buddy." "This is an old drop-off spot, ain't it?" "Oh, man, the least Dang could have done is picked a new one." "Hey, Zeke, come on, man..." "Shut up!" "Where's Ruiz?" "Where is he?" "Come on, Zeke." "Look, man, cut me some slack here." "No." "You come on." "Look, they'll kill him, Exley." "They got him in Dang's warehouse." "Taylor, don't let him move." "You all right, Ruiz?" "Come on." "Let's get out of here." "Don't send me to supply no more." "I got the same picture." "I loved your mother very much, Myron." "I think more than you realize." "Your chopper's waiting." "Want me to hold it?" "No." "I'm ready." "Captain, take my bags to the chopper, please." "Yes, sir." "At least you're not walking away empty-handed." "You were right, you know." "In the wars I fought, it was a lot clearer." "We took ground." "Every damned inch we grabbed from the enemy was a victory." "And here I've seen men give their lives for temporary objectives." "Well, I appreciate your finally realizing that, sir." "I don't know, sometimes, I think the people at the Pentagon, the people in Washington, they don't know what the hell's going on over here." "Maybe not, but you're in the field, you've got a better handle on it." "I'll tell you one thing, on the rest of my tour," "I'll be looking at it in a different light."