"Sometimes Charlie puts a thin sheet of tin over the top of the detonator and the sweepers can pick it up." "But if he uses wood, no way." "So how do they find those?" "We look real close." "So they sweep for mines every day?" "Charlie puts them out every night." "It's the VC way of letting us know they go where they want to." "A pain in the butt is what it is." "Ought to be out in the bush doing damage instead of standing around here playing with ourselves." "Keep it tight." "What's his problem?" "He's a short-timer." "Stone killer." "Thirty-nine confirmed kills." "That's his good side." "Sniper!" "Get down!" "Hell of a shot." "1200 yards if it was a foot." "I think I can get to the radio!" "Johnson, stay down!" "At my 3 o'clock!" "Can you see him?" "No... but it's where I'd be." "Move it on out!" "Taylor!" "Percell!" "You're with me!" "All right, somebody put some cover out there!" "Let's keep them honest!" "Head down to the left!" "Got him spotted, sarge?" "This gook is my meat." "Don't crowd me." "What are you doing, Taylor, taking a break?" "Just giving the dude a little room to work, sarge." "Let's move." "You guys see anything?" "What the hell are you doing here?" "What are you doing?" "What?" "If I watch through binoculars, I might as well sit and wait for you to tell me..." "I've gotta worry about what's in front of me." "I don't want to worry about what's behind me." "Stay put!" "All right." "All right, stay down!" "Huh?" "Hey, Block, he's dead, man." "He ain't dead enough." "Two different caliber cartridges." "Two snipers." "LT, there were two of them." "This is a perfect spot for capping that road." "Any chance of catching the other one?" "Probably not now, but he'll be around." "Look here, LT, if you want to head on back, we'll check this guy for documents." "Make it quick." "Percell, Taylor, let's go." "Keep your eyes peeled." "Alex?" "Did you get the sniper?" "Yeah, Sergeant Block got him." "Look, um, I'm sorry I..." "Let's go." "Sergeant Block seemed to know right where he was going, like he knew exactly where that sniper was." "That's why he's got 39 kills, because he's a sniper too." "But that's a logical place for a sniper to be?" "It doesn't have anything to do with logic." "The good ones work on instinct." "They got a sixth sense." "Yeah, like me when I smell a terrific feature article." "Trust me, you don't want to write about Block." "He's bad news, no pun." "You know, word is Block takes a finger off every one of his kills, and he keeps them in a bag on his belt." "That other cartridge looked like it was from a Springfield." "Probably belonged to some paddy daddy." "Hey, tell me something, Greg." "How come you're making cowboy moves, like going after this sniper by yourself?" "You're going home in a few days." "I ain't going home." "Extended my tour again." "Why?" "I need the extra money." "Combat pay, man." "You know what I think, old buddy?" "I think you're starting to like this." "It's what I learned over here." "Some guys play pinball, some guys go fishing." "I kill zips... because that's what I'm good at." "Greg, why don't you put in for a promotion to staff sergeant?" "That'll bump you up a pay grade." "When you go on back to the world, you'll still make what you're making now." "You're the kind of guy... that sees rainbows in hurricanes, Zeke." "No, I'm serious." "I'll stand behind you for promotion." "Then you go on back to the world, you, uh, get 30 days off for starters, then you..." "What?" "You work two or three days a week in a training group." "All you need is one more stripe, buddy." "Man, I earned a dozen more stripes." "The kills I got..." "things I did..." "They sent me out after this big-shot VC honcho once." "I laid in my own filth for three days... before I got a clear shot." "As long as my promotion's up to Sergeant Major Toliver," "I haven't got a prayer." "What's your problem with Toliver?" "I don't have a problem with Toliver." "He's got a problem with me." "I was his driver when I first came over, running truckloads of supplies down to Mu Bakh Street every week... till I found out he was hustling Army goods to peddlers." "There was grunts running around with boots on you wouldn't even want to stick your foot in." "I gave him some grief about it." "Next thing I know, I'm toting a rifle." "He just can't stand it that I lived this long." "Why do a story on snipers?" "A sniper is a perfect example of the effect of this war on the individual." "Pretty extreme example." "Yeah, but it brings some crucial points out." "I mean, for example, it's tough enough for the average soldier to go back home and deal with everything that's going on back in the States." "Here's a man who's killed 39 people." "I know better than to suspect you of going for the sensational." "The truth is often sensational over here." "I hear he's taken a finger off of every one of his kills." "That kind of thing happens." "Why would he do something like that?" "I mean, is he trying to prove how frightening he is?" "If he sees himself as a predator, then it could represent consuming the kill, or it could simply be that fingers have a personal significance for him." "Maybe he'll talk to me about it." "You know, I've wanted to talk to some of the guys who maybe knew him first..." "Mm-hm." "...but apparently, nobody knows him that well." "He's a complete loner over here." "Snipers are often shunned because what they do is so close to actual murder, and it's not necessarily conscious on the part of the other soldiers." "Well, hopefully, this article will help them understand a little bit." "You know, I'm trying to find some humanity in every situation over here." "In this case, I think you'll find the lack of it." "Hustle, Marvin." "It's chow time." "Yeah, okay, uh, hold the phone." "I'm coming, man." "You should have seen this guy." "I mean, this sniper's dead as a doornail, and he keeps blasting away at him with his shotgun." "He's doing what he's trained to do." "They keep telling us to make sure." "Yeah, well, there's sure and then there's sure." "Talk about sure, two minutes before that, he was waving that shotgun in my direction, and I'm sure I don't want no more of that dude." "Hey, sarge!" "Can you help me out with something?" "Yeah." "I need some time off tomorrow to kind of sort some things out." "What, a personal matter?" "Yeah, like that." "Hey, I'll handle any extra duty if I have to." "Must be pretty important to you, Johnson." "Well, I hear a friend of mine back in Saigon needs some help." "All right, then, uh, take what you need." "Thanks." "Hey, Johnson, you all right?" "Yeah." "You don't seem all right." "Thanks, sarge, I'm okay." "All right." "Thanks." "Come." "LT, you got a minute?" "Oh, I'm glad it's you." "Listen, was there an identification card on that sniper?" "Yeah." "Here." "All right, great." "Goes with this." "Now the Vietnamese authorities can, uh, find their loyal citizen." "What's on your mind?" "Greg Block." "He's losing it, LT." "He's close to the edge." "I figure the only chance he's gotta survive is to get on back to the world, where he can get some help." "Well, his tour's almost up, isn't it?" "Nah." "He extended it." "He says he needs the combat pay." "Well, we're not doing anybody any favors back there sending him home." "If he stays here, he's gonna get himself killed, maybe other GIs." "What are you getting at?" "Well, he can get that sniper, LT, I know he can." "Then we can put him up for promotion, he can feel good about going back to the world, where he can get help." "Promotions aren't charity." "I don't like the idea of giving a guy more responsibility just because he's a good assassin." "He's done a damn good job, LT." "We at least owe him a chance to survive." "You don't get promoted just because you've done a good job." "There has to be some indication that you can perform the duties of a higher rank." "I want you to keep that in mind because I'm gonna let you make this call." "It's just your basic drop-off patrol." "I'm gonna go out with Block and a handful of guys, just like a recon patrol, then when we head back," "Block's gonna stay behind and track down the sniper." "Greg Block is a crazy, boneheaded malcontent." "He loves you too, just about like that." "But you are his sergeant major now, and he needs your help." "I wouldn't walk across the street to spit on him if he was on fire." "Take it easy with that, now." "He's a good soldier, and you know he is." "Now, he just finished two tours out there in the bush." "He deserves your help, sergeant major." "He deserves nothing." "There's more to being a good soldier than just carrying a weapon." "Hey, you're right." "I forgot." "The Army needs us all... no matter what we carry." "The Army's my home, sergeant, and I enjoy all the comforts of home." "I cleaned toilets, I shuffled papers, and I paid attention to see how it all works to get where I am." "So don't give me the holy roller combat." "Sergeant Major Toliver, if Block kills this sniper, he saves GI lives." "You understand what I'm saying?" "And if he gets this stripe," "I'd consider it a personal favor to me." "Okay." "I won't stand in his way." "Just remember, I call what I'm owed." "I'll remember." "Sergeant Block." "Hi, I'm Alex Devlin." "I was on the... mine-sweeping detail this morning." "Hey, check it out." "Listen, I'm a correspondent for the wire service." "I was wondering if, um... we could talk." "What do I want to talk to you about, sweetie?" "Well..." "Unless, of course, you want to talk a little boom-boom." "No, no." "No, I'm afraid not." "Well... then get out of my face." "Hey, you owe an apology here, sport." "Just stay out of it, Johnny." "Go ahead, leave it alone." "Sorry to bother you, sergeant." "Come on." "I don't want to totally alienate him." "What is total to you?" "I'm doing a story, and he's the one..." "I know who he is..." "and what he does." "That's all I want to know about him." "A lot of people seem to feel that way." "You know, I don't know if guys like that are crazy when they come here, or if what they have to do makes them crazy." "I just keep my distance." "I'm taking him out with a patrol in the morning." "I hope that's the last I see of him." "Johnny, you gotta get me on that chopper." "Sorry about that." "I gotta get on that chopper." "No!" "McKay..." "I know for a fact that all my male colleagues hop all over this country with you guys, whether the LZs are hot or cold, and I'm telling you," "I will not be treated any differently." "You cannot go on that mission." "Okay, maybe, if it's cool when I go to pick them up." "All right." "You just got yourself a beer." "All right, we're going in!" "Lock and load!" "Lay down some cover!" "I said, put some fire on that tree line!" "Get out of the way." "Hey..." "What the hell is going on back there?" "We're gonna quick stop." "Hang on!" "Hey, hey!" "What's the matter with you?" "Have you lost your mind?" "Sergeant!" "You pull a stunt like that again and I'll have your hide!" "That doesn't play with me." "You got that?" "You know, you could screw up a two-car funeral, buddy." "If this thing works out, I ought to get the stripe." "This is pretty good cover here, Block." "You just give us the word, and we'll be ready to diddy bop on out of here." "All right." "Let's get on back to the LZ." "We've done our job." "Hey, Ling." "Johnson, you surprised me." "Well, your brother told me you were sick." "Just sick with baby." "No, no." "Sick with baby is only in the beginning." "This is something else." "Is not your problem." "Hey, hey, hey, hey." "Come on." "Look, just tell me what's the matter." "Is nothing." "Nothing?" "Look at you." "You're as poor as a lizard." "Is something wrong with the baby?" "Doctor say baby wrong side up." "Doctor?" "Was that him leaving when I came?" "No." "Doctor come last night." "Give me bark tea." "Make baby move right." "Why didn't you just come and tell me instead of going to some damn witch doctor?" "Baby come soon." "No problem." "Is okay." "No, it's not okay." "Look, I'm gonna get you a real doctor somehow, okay?" "You know, Ru, I'm gonna organize a pool on how long it takes Sergeant Block to get his man." "Sure wouldn't want to be in that sniper's place with Block coming after me." "Man's good as dead." "I don't know." "He was shooting pretty straight at us down on that road yesterday." "You got a point." "Mortar!" "Move!" "Move!" "Move!" "Move!" "Move!" "Over here!" "Over here!" "I think they stopped, sarge." "Yeah." "Those were 60s." "We're out of their range now." "Yeah, and we're all in one piece." "Where's Percell?" "No noise." "Not a sound." "I thought you were part of my squad." "You're in my jungle now, boy." "I'll leave." "You're apt to draw Charlie's attention." "You mess this up for me, you stop me from getting that sniper, and you're gonna sentence me to six more months in this godforsaken place." "That ain't gonna happen." "Negate, 2-6." "Percell did not make it back to Lima Zulu." "Request permission to go back in after him." "Over." "All right, you got one hour, 2-5." "Over." "Roger, 2-6." "Going back in now." "Over." "Requesting assistance from Blue Velvet en route to your Alpha Oscar." "He'll be in touch." "Over." "Roger, 2-6." "Red Dog 2-5 out." "I knew it was a farmer." "Tracks lead right to him." "Sergeant." "Sergeant, check out the tree line." "Get the one in front." "I'll get the other two." "They may not even see us." "Well, if they do, there's gonna be a ruckus, and that sniper's gonna be in the next county in a heartbeat." "Just take your knife... and if they get me, use that." "I thought I told you to grease this dink." "Standing order is to take prisoners." "I don't think you quite got a handle on what's going on here, son." "Go hide the other two." "Shake a leg and stay down." "Turn around." "Red Dog 2-5, this is Blue Velvet." "What's your location?" "Over." "This is 2-5, Blue Velvet." "You just flew over us." "We're at your 4 o'clock." "We found boot prints headed my November." "We're proceeding in that direction now." "Over." "I'll take a look, Red Dog." "Stay in touch." "Blue Velvet out." "Here's our sniper, and I got him." "What happened to the prisoner?" "He tried to run." "So long, Papa-san." "Really good to see you, lieutenant!" "Really good to see you." "Where's Block?" "He took off out that way." "Well, I sure as hell can't wait here all day." "You see any trouble, you get her up quick!" "Let's get under way, sergeant." "Move out now!" "That's an order." "So you're the one that wants a piece of my hide, huh, lieutenant?" "Well, come on over." "Take a big piece." "You back off, sergeant." "Hey, Greg." "We're not in your toy chopper now, son." "This is my house." "There ain't no bad guys here, Greg." "LT, why don't you go on back to the chopper now?" "We'll take care of things here." "If he likes it here, we can leave him." "You just about blew it there." "Get your head together, now." "This is the Armed Forces Radio Network." "Hey, man, you okay?" "Bad night." "Keep thinking about yesterday and Sergeant Block." "Concentrate on the good things, Dan." "You got through it, man." "We took a prisoner yesterday, Ru." "Sergeant Block said he tried to run... and killed him." "How do you know he didn't try to run?" "I just know that Block gets off on the killing." "You think I should go to the sarge?" "No... not unless you can prove he wasn't trying to escape." "Look, it'll just be your word against his, and all you'll get is a crazy man on your case." "Yeah." "Where you going in such a hurry?" "What's it to you, man?" "What?" "You heard me." "You must be going to see Ling." "Look, where I go and what I do is my business." "Take it easy, brother." "Something's wrong, isn't it?" "Man, look," "I know I give you too much advice about your personal life, and I know I give it with too much enthusiasm." "So, you know, if you don't want to talk about what's going on, that's cool." "But I hope you know I'm in your corner, man." "Yeah, I know." "I mean, it don't matter what you do about the girl or anybody else." "I'm always gonna be there for you, brother." "I'm there for you too, man." "So can I owe you 20 bucks at payday?" "What's going on?" "Today is my day, buddy." "I want all of it." "What are you talking about?" "Well, first order of business is I want those papers signed, and I want that stripe in my fist today." "Hey, Greg, now, calm down a moment, now." "It doesn't work like that." "This isn't instant coffee we're talking about here." "We gotta get papers, we gotta get signatures..." "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Jim." "You're not trying to waffle on me here, are you?" "No, no." "Nobody's trying to waffle on you." "Hey, I did my part, Zeke." "I'm gonna do what I said I was gonna to do." "Come on, Zeke, I got his finger." "I don't want to hear about it." "Now, just between you and me, old buddy, people don't appreciate that kind of thing." "It's important." "No, a trip to the stockade is what it is." "Now, just calm down." "Give this whole thing a chance to work." "Man..." "Zeke, I'm counting on you." "All right, all right." "Look, Greg..." "Do..." "Do us both a favor here." "Go on back to your quarters, relax, let me take care of things, huh?" "I got this friend." "A local." "She's fixing to have a baby." "But she's sick." "See, the baby ain't sitting right." "She needs a doctor." "What she needs is an obstetrician, which is a kind of doctor we don't have here." "How sick is your girlfriend?" "Oh, she's not my girlfriend." "She's... just a friend." "Is this your child?" "No, ma'am." "At least, she don't think so." "I'm gonna help you find a doctor, but do you know what you're getting yourself into?" "What do you mean?" "I know how you feel about her, but I don't want you to forget about yourself." "Are you saying I shouldn't do it?" "I'm saying that in helping her, you might feel responsible for her, which is a big decision to make any time, much less when you're 19 years old, you're in a foreign country and you're fighting a war." "I..." "I think all of us are some responsible for the way things are here." "I guess I am too." "Lieutenant." "Hi." "Hi." "Can I ask you something?" "Yeah, but you gotta walk with me." "The brass wants a personal report on that sniper from the mine-sweeping detail." "I gotta get my notes." "High-profile action with the brass, huh?" "Very impressive." "Listen, have you heard the stories about Sergeant Block's collection of fingers?" "Yeah." "What do you think?" "Rumors or what?" "I think it's a brutal and barbaric war." "Is that part of your story?" "I don't know." "I don't even know if I have a story." "I can't seem to get a personal side to it." "I haven't been able to interview Sergeant Block himself, and nobody seems to want to talk to me on the record about what a sniper does." "Well, I'm not surprised." "Well, I guess I'm just gonna go back to my office and sit at the typewriter and just see what I can come up with." "Look, for the record," "I won't stand for taking war trophies, and I don't know an officer that would." "It's on the record, but I already knew that." "I don't care if you just killed Ho Chi Minh!" "You knock before you come in my quarters!" "Hey!" "What I did ain't funny, and it wasn't easy!" "I'd like to see you go up against a sniper!" "What would you do, kill him with paper cuts?" "Blow that cheap cigar smoke in his face until he puked himself to death?" "Knock it off!" "I'm sure you got a real good reason, Sergeant Block." "This scumwad is backing out of my promotion... after I already delivered my end." "I think maybe you better go back to your quarters and rethink your strategy." "I don't believe this is helping your case." "You just keep it up." "You're gonna stay out in the bush till Charlie peels you like a grape." "You've seen the States for the last time!" "What's this all about, sergeant major?" "Oh, nothing, lieutenant, just personal business." "Is what he said about his promotion true?" "That's right." "The deal's off." "What's it to you?" "For starters, you made a deal with one of my sergeants, and I back my people up." "Really?" "Well, lieutenant, you may outrank me, but your unit's payroll can still get sidetracked... or their mail not show up... or you might find yourself transferred someplace where they just love having a big-city boy tell them what to do." "Afternoon, lieutenant." "Sergeant major, you show me the proper salute." "Now, you hold that, mister." "Are you threatening me, sergeant major?" "No, I..." "I think I heard you threaten me, sergeant major!" "No, sir, I don't think so." "Well, you better not think it!" "You better know." "Now, I am willing to let this little lapse in judgment slide for now, but if you let down Sergeant Anderson, all the paper-pushing in the world isn't gonna protect you from me." "Are we communicating, sergeant major?" "Yes, sir." "Good." "Sergeant Block!" "Listen, I saw what happened with Toliver." "If you talk to me, maybe I could help you." "If you would just give me a minute..." "There was a kid in my dream last night." "He didn't say nothing." "He just pointed his finger at me." "You're hurting me." "Eighteen months ago, I watched that VC boy for 30 minutes... while he read his mail, scratched his butt, picked his nose... and then I gave him a third eye... right there." "After that, he came every night." "But I fixed it." "Nobody points at me anymore." "If I could tell that story, it would help people understand you a lot easier." "Maybe when you feel up to it, if, um... we could sit down for a few minutes and talk..." "I highly doubt it." "Yo!" "Hey." "Hey." "Something wrong, LT?" "Yeah." "I want you to reel Block in." "Hang it up." "He went nose-to-nose with Toliver today." "There's no way he's gonna get his promotion." "I told him to stay away from Toliver." "The guy can't seem to do anything right." "Well, look, LT, if you had to be perfect to join the Army," "I'd have been someplace else." "Listen, I can understand why helping the guy out means a lot to you, but he is out of control." "Give me one more chance." "Maybe I can turn Toliver around." "Hey, sarge." "Hey." "Aah!" "Ugh!" "Aah!" "Where's that son of a bitch?" "Wait." "Who are you talking about?" "Block." "He's going to Long Binh Jail tonight!" "I was coming to talk to you about Block." "I'm hitting the sack, right?" "So I turn off the lights, crawl in..." "What the hell is this?" "There's something in my sheets." "So I turn the light back on, and..." "And my bed is full of fingers!" "Oh." "Uh, look, maybe if I talked to..." "Sniper!" "Block, stop shooting!" "Damn it." "I told the MPs where I thought he was going, but they didn't agree." "They thought he was going to Chi Lon." "So maybe I can find him myself." "I still think you ought to take somebody with you." "No, I'm faster by myself, LT." "Maybe you're right." "Block's still on the loose." "He'll be back here tonight with that rifle." "Yeah, you can count on that." "If I don't hear from you by 1500 hours," "I'm coming after you." "You better." "Take care of yourself, sergeant." "Thanks." "Come on, guys!" "Hold it down and tear it up!" "That sucker just blew a hole through my canopy." "Guess you were right about where Block would be, sergeant." "All right, now, Greg." "We gotta talk now." "There are circumstances to consider." "In spite of everything you did," "Dr. Seymour, she wants to help you get right." "No doctors, Zeke." "They'll put me in a place with high fences and soft walls." "I promise you, I will do everything I can to get you treated fairly." "Just come on back with me." "Come back where?" "Huh?" "This is where I belong." "Alone, in the jungle... with the other animals." "This is home now." "That's not right, and you know it." "You could have killed me easy last night." "You could have killed me easy ten times this morning." "We both know that." "There's a part of you that's still trying real hard, you know." "He stays here." "Greg." "Greg." "Greg, please." "Please just come on back in with me." "It's not gonna happen." "Uggh!" "Greg." "Hey." "No." "Ahhhh!" "Oh, man, why did you make me do this?" "We'll take care of him now, sergeant." "If he ever tells you what happened out there," "I'd like to write the story." "Even for Anderson, it's gonna take a while to put this craziness behind him." "There's so much that's crazy here." "I guess it makes every little bit of sanity that much more important." "Yeah." "That's what I always liked about you." "You were crazy before you got here." "Hey, Vinh." "Is your sister here?" "I got some good news." "You go now." "Not come back." "No." "Hell, no." "What's wrong?" "Is something wrong with Ling?" "You be quiet." "Baby come." "Ling and baby asleep." "You must go, please." "I don't understand." "Baby no black." "Baby Vietnamese." "Mr. Fong will marry Ling now and have family again." "What are you talking about?" "Mr. Fong wife, child dead." "Very sad man." "He say if Ling's baby okay, Vietnamese baby, he marry Ling and have family." "This his baby now." "Please, you must go and not upset Mr. Fong." "C-c-can't I just tell her I'm happy?" "If you want her happy, you must go." "Now." "I keep trying to tell myself that..." "That things would have gotten worse if I, you know, hadn't gotten involved." "I'm not sure I believe it." "Maybe I just should have left it alone." "Maybe... but you wouldn't be the man I know if you hadn't tried to help." "I don't know," "I just keep thinking about what they say about letting sleeping dogs lie." "Who are "they"?" "A hundred times out of a hundred, you would have done exactly the same thing... and I'd be right behind you every time." "My hands are even shaking." "Let them shake."