"Just like From Here to Eternity, huh?" "But I'm not Deborah Kerr, and I don't think anyone would mistake you for Burt Lancaster." "It happens all the time." "All the time." "It's beautiful here, isn't it?" "Yeah." "I keep thinking about the platoon." "Well, we're only here until tomorrow, so I think we're entitled to enjoy today." "It's gonna require a special effort, though, to keep my mind occupied." "I think I can handle it." "Think so?" "I don't know." "Thank you." "You're welcome, sir." "To the real life." "I think I could get used to this." "And to us." "You're gonna be with me." "It's just so hard to think about a future after 'Nam." "Sometimes I think I'm gonna be in that hospital the rest of my life." "Hey, I'm gonna make it back." "It's weird, but I was thinking about it on the beach today." "I'm gonna get out of there." "Will you still stay in the army?" "You're not listening to me." "I said, "I'm gonna get out of there,"" "and I want you to marry me." "How can you say that?" "I can't believe you're doing this to me." "Wasn't he on the plane?" "Yeah, he's the captain from the 173rd." "I don't care if I'm making a scene!" "I've been in the jungle for seven months, and you meet me here to tell me it's over?" "Welcome home, soldier!" "Please, the last thing I wanted to do was to hurt you." "Oh, thank you." "That's just a little side benefit." "What did you think, I'd feel good about it?" "I can't take this anymore." "You can't take it anymore?" "She can't take it anymore." "She runs off with Jody while I'm fighting the war, and she can't take it anymore." "I'm sorry." "You're sorry." "She's sorry." "Everybody's sorry." "Well, buddy, I ain't sorry, because I get to go back to Vietnam and serve my country, and now I don't have to worry about anybody getting upset if Charlie eats my lunch!" "Ain't life grand!" "Hey..." "Hey, let me handle this, all right?" "Sir, you don't want to do this." "Who the hell are you?" "Just a lieutenant from the 196th." "Don't do this to yourself, man." "She's done with me." "Just like that." "What the hell did I do to deserve this?" "I don't know." "Busting this place up isn't the answer." "Come on, I'll buy you a drink somewhere." "Someplace else." "Come on back to bed." "I was just thinking about that guy." "It's sad, I know, but you did all that you could do." "Yeah, I put him to bed, talked to his wife." "She was really kind of nice, you know?" "Things happen." "It's not really a matter of blaming anyone." "How about blaming the war?" "Maybe it would've happened even without the war." "It's not just him." "You know, guys losing their wives and their girlfriends... it's guys losing their lives and their limbs... get their emotional life ripped to shreds, for what?" "I mean, it just gets harder and harder." "I don't see any good coming out of this." "We got each other." "That's something good come out of all this." "Amen." "How you guys doing up here, huh?" "Oh, never better, sir." "Sweating out those poisons that pollute our body and weaken our mind." "Don't listen to him, Mitchell." "He'll have you eating the local insects in with your c-rats." "Hey, I ain't listening to nothing but all that gunfire up there, man." "Hey, what is this place, anyway, huh?" "It's hill 1,000." "It's 1,000 feet from top to bottom." "Maybe 998 after that napalm last September." "We took it once before." "Then why are we taking it again?" "Because we left it after we took it." "Say what?" "That's the way we fight this war, Mitchell, we give things up so no one'll think that we're the bad guys." "Hey, don't be messing with my head like that, okay, man?" "We can't occupy every hill we take, Horn." "Well, then it seems kind of stupid to take them." "I'll tell you what, Horn." "When they put you on Westmoreland's staff, then you can figure out how to win this thing." "Now, let's go." "Come on, Fuller, you're gonna be all right." "Yeah, okay." "Come on." "You guys first squad?" "Yeah." "How bad?" "Gut shot." "He'll make it if we can get him on a dustoff." "Hey, what's going on up there, man?" "We done had three KIA already, and I ain't seen one lousy Cong yet." "They dug in?" "Man, who knows?" "It's so thick up there, you can't even see three feet in front of you." "Could be 10, maybe 10,000 VC." "What we're doing up there in the first place, man," "I'll never know." "This place is creepy, man." "It's just too creepy." "Let it go, baby." "Just another operation." "All right, Johnson, take a break, now." "Percell, when we move out, you got the point." "I heard that, sarge." "Dan, that's one you can have, boy." "This yours?" "How was the R and R?" "Well, it's sort of like the war... you know, it's okay for the moment, but a little bit cloudy in the future." "I hope that bird's seeing more than we are." "Bravo 26, this is Spider 29er." "Over." "Roger, 29er." "This is 26." "Go." "26, give me a sit-rep." "Over." "We're about 200 meters from the summit." "Go." "Roger, 26." "Proceed same heading another 50 meters." "First platoon's coming down, and Arty'll soften the top." "You go in after that." "Over." "29er, what's it look like up there?" "Go." "Can't be too many, 26." "The canopy's so thick we can't even see muzzle flashes." "Let me know when you've covered the 50 meters." "Out." "Roger." "Out." "Oh, boy, I just came back from R and R just in time!" "All right, sergeant, let's rock 'n' roll!" "Percell!" "Let's get it done!" "Lieutenant, first platoon's coming down." "Your turn, Myron." "What's it like up there, Pete?" "Oh, I wish I could tell you." "All we're getting's small arms fire and grenades." "There's nothing big up there." "What's the size of their force?" "Probably a platoon, but that's just a guess." "It's like fighting ghosts." "I don't know about you, Myron, but I didn't sign up to fight ghosts." "Go easy." "Yeah." "I'll see you." "Yeah." "10 meters, sergeant." "Yes, sir." "Make sure the men get good positions." "I don't want anybody getting greased by our own artillery." "I heard that." "Hey, what's happening, man?" "I don't like this stuff." "Just keep your head down, brother, and play follow the leader." "We'll take care of you." "Hey, what's up there?" "Victor Charlie, brother." "It's like King of the Mountain." "He's up there now, but we're about to run him off." "They'll be back later, though." "Oh, man." "Stay down, man!" "Snake bit me, man!" "Stay down!" "Taylor!" "Relax, Mitchell!" "Mitchell!" "Hell, man, Mitchell!" "Taylor, what the hell's wrong with him?" "I don't know, sarge." "He said snake, but I don't see one." "Mitchell!" "Mitchell!" "Come on, Taylor." "Mitchell!" "Taylor!" "Damn, that pit viper's venom kills you faster than the electric chair." "Bravo 26, this is Spider 29er." "Over." "Roger, 29er." "Go." "26, we're dropping 50 and firing for effect." "Keep your heads down." "It'll be danger close." "Over." "29er, I got a man down from a snakebite." "Go." "Roger that, 26." "Bring him down with you after the assault." "We can't be waiting on these yard birds." "Out." "Yeah, right." "All right, keep your heads down!" "Madre mia." "Man, how close they gonna get with that stuff?" "Close enough to shave with, brother." "You see anything, Danny?" "Nothing." "Whoever's up there has got to be hamburger by now." "You been here too long to believe that, Baker." "Wishful thinking." "Affirmative, 29." "I'll radio from the top." "Out." "Two more rounds, and we go." "I want an on-line assault all the way to the summit." "I'll put people on the flank." "Let's go." "Johnson, we're going." "Ruiz, you're gonna cover." "Let's do it, sergeant!" "Go!" "Up the hill!" "Let's go!" "Let's go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Move!" "Move!" "Move!" "Go!" "Go!" "Keep it going!" "Keep it going!" "Move!" "Move!" "All right, everybody, set up a perimeter guard!" "Keep your eyes open!" "Johnson..." "It's clean." "Oh, hell, LT, they're gone." "They deedee'd." "Goddamn it." "They were here!" "They were shooting at us!" "Oh, sure, they were here." "There's sandal prints all over the place." "There's some blood." "No bodies, LT." "There ain't no bodies here." "There ain't no bodies anywhere around here!" "Well, maybe we're lucky, but next time, somebody's gonna be unlucky when they got to come up the hill to take it again!" "We can't get 'em to stay in one place." "Run away, live to fight another day." "All right, what are we supposed to do?" "Are we supposed to leave now, or raise the flag like at Iwo Jima, huh?" "Hey, we took the hill, LT!" "The only thing that got took here was us!" "Sergeant, put a lid on it." "Horn, Horn, Horn..." "Bravo 26, this is Spider 29er." "Over." "Roger, 29er." "Go." "What you got, 26?" "I got zip, 29er." "Over." "Say again, 26?" "I say I got zip, 29er." "I got an abandoned bunker." "I got no enemy." "The enemy is gone." "Over." "What's the body count?" "Over." "I got nothing, 29er!" "I say again, I got nothing!" "I got no body count." "I got no bodies." "I got no body parts." "Nobody's here." "I don't even have any shell casings." "Do you read me?" "Over." "Uh, roger, 26." "Stand by." "I bet the Cong's back up there already!" "Orders are orders, Horn!" "There's nothing I can do about it!" "I can't stage a sit-down strike!" "It's so stupid!" "Four guys died on that hill." "We turn around, and we walk away." "I want to know why?" "Look, Horn, I realize every decision in this army is not Phi Beta Kappa." "They had us clear the hill so they could spray it with defoliants, and Charlie's got no place to hide." "Well, then, why didn't we do that in the first place?" "I don't know, Horn." "They failed to let me in on it." "Well, maybe they can tell Mitchell's parents or the parents of the guys from the first platoon." "I mean, what'd those guys die for?" "I know it's tough, Horn, but just let it be." "Yeah, well, what about..." "Horn, let it be!" "Sir." "Whoa, there, soldier." "Aren't you forgetting something?" "I asked you a question, Specialist." "I don't know what you've done today, sir, but we've been out fighting the war, and the last thing I need is a salute..." "I asked you a question!" "Excuse me, sir." "What is it, sergeant?" "With all respect, sir, these men are all very tired." "We've lost some of our people today, and usually, at the firebase, we don't usually salute officers." "I appreciate what you've been through, sergeant." "I really do, but this is not a firebase, and we can't let all our discipline go just because we had a bad day." "Yes, sir." "Now, I want this soldier to render a proper hand salute to a superior officer." "Do it, Horn." "Look here, Horn, now, there ain't... there's no getting around this thing." "You're gonna have to give the lieutenant his salute, then we can get back, get this dirt cleaned off." "And we can get on about our business." "Come on, get it done." "Soldier!" "Look, sir..." "Stay out of it, sergeant!" "Dismissed!" "Come back here, soldier!" "I don't know where you learned to salute, and I don't much care how lax discipline is in your platoon, but you're gonna give me a proper hand salute, and you're gonna hold that salute" "until I return it, and if we have to, we'll stay out here until you get it right." "Yes, sir." "Afternoon, sir!" "Afternoon, Specialist." "Carry on." "Well, I know one thing..." "I'm going to go over to the club, wash this nasty funk off me, and get me a case of beer." "You're all welcome to join me if you like." "Well, as funky as you are, Taylor, that could take you a couple hours." "Yeah, I just want to get over there and see that stripper." "Start thinking about all the joy I'm gonna bring them girls in sin city tomorrow." "Well, now, wait a minute, y'all." "Now, you might have to wait till tomorrow afternoon on this sin city business, because you got an awards ceremony tomorrow morning right before breakfast." "Awards ceremony?" "Yeah, awards ceremony." "All these valiant warriors here among you are gonna get some medals to pin on your chests, so when you go on back, you can impress the women." "I don't believe this." "What are we gonna get for today, sarge, the silver shaft with a cow-pie cluster?" "Man, this army's getting to be too much for me." "Aw, come on, Horn, lighten up a little bit." "You're gonna give yourself a hernia, there." "I want you all looking your best, now, because you're all good soldiers." "You're damn good soldiers, and that ain't nothing to be ashamed of." "Staff Sergeant Clayton E. Anderson, the Silver Star." "For gallantry and heroism in ground combat in the Binh Khe Valley, Nine, December, 1967." "Sergeant Anderson took his flame thrower, and with complete disregard for his own personal safety, single-handedly assaulted and destroyed the NVA position, saving his platoon and killing a large number of enemy soldiers." "His heroism also resulted in the discovery of critical intelligence that saved other American lives." "Sergeant Anderson's actions are in the highest traditions of military service, and reflect great credit on himself, his unit, and the United States Army." "The Purple Heart, for wounds sustained in action." "Congratulations, sergeant." "Thank you, sir." "Private First Class Daniel Percell." "The Bronze Star for heroism in ground combat." "With complete disregard for his own personal safety..." "Congratulations." "Thank you, sir." "...gallantly rescued a downed pilot from behind enemy lines." "He is a credit to himself Private Alberto Ruiz, the Bronze Star for valor." "With the rest of his unit pinned down," "Private Ruiz unselfishly ran from his position to rescue a fallen comrade." "His actions are in the highest tradition Private First Class Marcus Taylor." "The Army Commendation Medal for heroism in ground combat." "While cut off from his unit, he single-handedly assaulted a fortified Specialist Fourth Class Roger Horn." "The Army Commendation Medal for valor." "With complete disregard of his personal safety, he saved the life of fellow soldier Specialist Fourth Class, Marvin Johnson." "The Purple Heart for wounds sustained in action behind enemy lines..." "Thank you, sir." "...Private Scott Baker." "The Bronze Star for heroism in ground combat..." "Thank you, sir." "...Private Baker escaped from the enemy in the Khe Sha valley, and was instrumental in destroying an enemy convoy Lieutenant Myron Goldman." "The Bronze Star for valor." "Lieutenant Goldman's actions are in the highest tradition of military service," "And reflect credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army." "I'm not buying it." "You know, I'm supposed to be the platoon leader." "I'm supposed to know what's going on." "Instead, I know absolutely nothing." "LT, now, the men don't expect you to have all the answers, they just expect you to do your job." "No, but how are they supposed to have any confidence in what I'm telling them, when I don't have confidence in what I'm telling them myself?" "I can't keep sending them out on missions that have absolutely no purpose." "LT, those are the orders." "Yeah, but I don't believe in the orders, and neither do you." "Horn's absolutely right, and I got to write a letter to the parents of the guys that we lost." ""Dear Mrs. Mitchell," ""I'm sorry your son died in Vietnam," ""but it wasn't the Vietcong" ""that killed him, it was, you know, a damn snake."" "Wait a second, LT." "I got to tell you something, here, you're gonna make yourself crazy." "Am I interrupting?" "No, it's okay." "Can I talk to you?" "Yeah, we're done now." "This isn't exactly how I planned it, but you're here and I don't know when you're moving out, so... here it goes." "I'm not going to marry you, Myron." "I can't." "Wait a minute." "Wait." "Just... hang on." "Hang on." "Wait." "No, no." "Let me talk." "Just let me get this out." "Okay." "I've really tried to think this through, and I'm trying put that fear out of my mind that the next dead guy coming in could be you, but I can't." "I cannot live every day in that fear, and I won't pretend I can." "It's just not fair..." "to me or to you." "I've put in for a transfer, so I'll be leaving as soon as it comes in." "I'm sorry." "Wait..." "Wait a minute." "Come on." "I..." "I love you, you know?" "I know." "She looked like Ruiz." "You kissed her." "Hey, guys, I think I'm going to go AWOL." "I'm hanging out with this baby-san, because I love her so much." "She treats me better than Uncle Sam." "Hey, there's gonna be new girls in at the Dixie, man." "I don't want any new girls." "I like this one." "I'm a bona fide war hero." "I'm a real war hero." "I'm going to make your country safe for democracy." "I'm going to protect your virtue." "Come on, Horn." "Horn.." "You're making a fool of yourself, man." "Me?" "Making a fool of myself?" "Man, this is the best thing I've done since I've been in country." "I made a fool of myself walking up hill 1,000, and so did you... and you... and you and you." "We all made fools of ourselves winning these stupid little things." "Damn, y'all look like a nice cheery group." "What's going on here?" "I think, uh, Horn's gonna get married, sarge." "Yeah, and stay in this country, because I love it so much." "Well, Horn, I got some good news and I got some bad news." "Good news is, it's a nice day to get married." "The bad news is you ain't getting married today." "Y'all better sober up, because we're moving out at first light." "Where, sarge, back to hill 1,000?" "Damn, that boy's psychic." "Look, you're joking, huh?" "No." "I want some answers, sarge, and I want 'em now!" "Hey, Horn, haven't you heard?" "In the army you get orders, you don't get answers." "So we're going back?" "The dinks shot down the chopper that was spraying the area." "Now we've got to go secure the hill." "And we're elected." "Hey, we know the terrain." "Yeah, and we'll never forget it." "God..." "This is spooky, man." "No sign of the pilot." "It's like the jungle just swallowed him up." "Stuff sure smells sweet, don't it?" "This is some serious poison, dude." "I wouldn't be filling my canteen from the local stream." "Hey, man, ain't no big thing." "Oh, yeah, I'd think even Marcus Taylor would be afraid of something that kills 100, 200-foot trees." "I wonder if they're gonna spray this stuff all over this country." "Sure, turn this place into a desert, man." "Those guys'd have no place to hide." "They'd go underground, Baker." "They'll always find a way." "Always." "All right, come on, Let's get out of this stuff." "All right, y'all, we're headed up." "Recon's already taken fire, and they've reported seeing NVA regulars up there." "How many, sarge?" "I don't know." "One squad, maybe two, but I'll tell you what, we've got to be careful up there." "Intelligence says they're in the valleys too." "They're getting ready for a major push." "Then let's get up there, sarge, and kick their butts back to Hanoi." "Well, bless your heart, Taylor, that's a point-man's enthusiasm." "Why don't you lead the way." "Baker, you got slack." "Johnson, cover the rear, will you?" "Keep your eyes open." "Let's do it." "I'm okay." "Thanks, man." "It feels like we've been through this movie before, huh?" "Yeah, and it's getting old in a hurry." "McNair!" "Ooh!" "I got him!" "Taylor!" "Yo!" "You see where I'm firing?" "Yo!" "Blooper!" "Stay down, stay down." "Keep cover!" "We got 'em!" "Horn, get the XO on the line." "Tell him we got two men down." "I want Dudley and McNair," "I want 'em in those ferns over there." "We'll get them on the way back." "We're moving up 20 meters, then hold our position through an air strike..." "Sergeant!" "Yo!" "I don't want one single dink slipping around our flanks." "I want 'em all." "Oh, yeah." "...LT requests Tac Air at Alpha Lima 3079." "Over." "Roger, 26." "Tac Air at alpha lima 3079er." "That one shook loose a filling." "Shook loose my brains." "Hey..." "Johnson, you okay?" "I can't take much more of this." "Relax, Johnson, at least we're not up there with recon." "Ain't nothing shaking but the peas in the pod." "Yeah, and they wouldn't be shaking if Mama hadn't put wood in the stove." "You all right?" "Oh, God, what happened to him?" "Boy lost his head, that's what." "That's not funny, soldier." "Well, excuse me, sir." "One of those 750-pounders that zoomie was dropping blew up in a tree." "Piece sliced his head right off." "Six other guys took shrapnel too." "Charlie ought to leave us alone to beat each other to death." "Come on, Earl, let's get off this hill." "You got it." "Horn..." "What are you doing, Horn?" "I'm not going, Lieutenant." "I'm sorry." "I'm just not doing it." "I haven't got time for this, Horn." "Come on." "Well, then you'd better move on out, because I'm not going, no matter what you say." "What's going on?" "So stupid, sarge." "We've taken this hill twice, and we've abandoned it twice." "For what?" "Because those are orders, Horn..." "For nothing!" "You know that." "I'm not going to sacrifice my life for nothing." "All right, now, Horn, don't blow it here." "Now, listen to me, if you're tired, you need a break," "I can clear it with the LT." "I don't need a break." "I'm finished." "Period." "I'm sorry, guys." "I just can't do this anymore." "Horn, listen to me, do you know what this means?" "I'll take the consequences." "Get these men moving now, sergeant." "Come on!" "All right." "Come on." "Up the hill." "Come on." "Horn... where the hell do you get off walking out on these guys, huh?" "They've always been there for you." "Always." "Now, come on." "You don't want to do this." "You don't want to ruin your life, Horn, and believe me, this is gonna ruin your life." "I'll take the chance." "Get on down the hill." "We'll deal with this back in Chu Lai." "What's this I hear about some yellow-belly refusing to fight?" "This the coward?" "You don't want to fight anymore, boy?" "Yeah, that's right." "Somebody ought to shoot you down right here!" "It's my man." "This is family, here." "Now, you get out of my house." "It's okay, sarge." "Let him." "At least I'll know who did it... and what it's for." "But if I die on this hill," "I won't know who did it, and I sure as hell won't know the reason why." "Let's get up the hill." "Come on, move it, move it!" "That's you too, sergeant." "Straight to the top!" "Keep them on-line, sergeant!" "On-line!" "Aah!" "Ow!" "Ow!" "Taylor?" "All right, Taylor, get down out of this mess." "I'll be all right, sarge." "Not for a while, you won't." "I can still fight!" "Get on down the hill, Taylor!" "We'll pick you up with the wounded later." "You done good." "You done good." "Watch yourselves!" "Move!" "Move!" "Move!" "Keep covered!" ""I hate That drum's discordant sound," ""Parading round And round, and round" ""To thoughtless youth It pleasure yields" ""And lures from cities And from fields" ""To sell their liberty For charms" ""Of tawdry lace And glittering arms" ""And when ambition's Voice commands" ""To march, and fight" "And fall, in foreign lands"" "Taylor!" "A..." "Are you all right?" "I'll be okay." "What's it like up there?" "It's bad." "I think Charlie's gonna try to hold onto it this time." "How are the guys?" "Our guys are fine." "A few others down." "That's too bad." "Damn!" "See you later, Taylor." "What are you doing?" "Horn!" "Horn." "Horn!" "Look, Marcus..." "I don't believe in this war." "I never did." "I never will, but I do believe in helping my friends... and I guess that's worth fighting for." "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Ah!" "Ruiz, cover me!" "Go, Baker, go!" "Ah!" "Ah!" "Hickory!" "We got to get closer!" "I know, I know." "I'll cover you, okay?" "Ah!" "No way, man!" "No way!" "Okay, look, sit tight." "They can't get to us here." "Yeah, and now we can't get out." "Baker, what's going on up there?" "Bunker, sarge!" "It ain't gonna work from here!" "I'm gonna try something else!" "Horn!" "Horn, get out of there!" "Horn!" "Come on!" "Come on!" "All right, come on!" "Horn, where the hell did you come from?" "Good question." "Hey, guys, I need some help." "Medic!" "Medic!" "Come on, there." "Come on!" "All right, Ruiz, Baker, go check the bunker, there." "Go on." "How's he doing?" "He'll live, but we got to get him out of here." "Yeah, but how bad is it?" "His war's over, that's for sure." "Horn, how come you came back up here?" "I knew you needed my help." "We took the hill, Horn." "We took it back thanks to you, man." "Let's see if you can hold on to it this time." "Yeah, third time's a charm." "We're digging in up here." "Over." "Evacuate the area." "Colonel Downing's coming for inspection." "All right, let's get dug in here!" "Forget it." "Sir?" "I said forget it." "We're not digging in." "We're going back down the hill." "What?" "Wait... this has got to be somebody's idea of a joke." "I wish it was." "Saddle the men up." "The Colonel's coming up the hill." "What, did he give you any idea why?" "You know better." "All right!" "Second platoon!" "Form up here!" "Come on, listen up." "I'm only gonna say this one time." "We're headed back down the hill." "That's right." "Come on, Percell, you lead the way." "Come on." "I don't suppose you could..." "Don't ask me questions, Ruiz." "I ain't got any answers." "Good job, soldier." "Good work, men." "Sir." "Lieutenant." "A job well done, men." "Colonel?" "Yeah?" "What is it, soldier?" "Why do they keep having us take this hill and then giving it right back to the enemy?" "Soldier, I don't think that you're..." "Colonel, please!" "Answer my question." "Objectives change." "When you don't have the whole picture, it's hard to understand." "Sir, you pinned medals on my chest yesterday." "I think I'm willing to give my life for my country, but I've got to know that it's got to matter!" "Of course it matters." "A lot of men lost their lives on this hill, sir." "One of my best buddies got all shot up, and we go and give it right back to the enemy." "It's as if it were all for nothing!" "I think you're out of line, here, soldier." "Just remember, sir, that our lives mean something too." "Good afternoon... sir!"