"Faster." "Faster, faster." "Thank you." "Thank you very much." " Did you like that?" " Good." "Very good." " How can you play so fast?" " Oh, I run faster than that." " You are amazing." " Oh, that's not amazing." "You wanna hear something truly amazing?" "Yes." " Come here." " Okay." "Sir?" "Are you all right, sir?" "Do you need any help?" "Sir?" "Following in his father's footsteps as a Naval aviator," "Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb Jr." "Suffered a crash while landing his Tomcat on a storm-tossed carrier at sea." "Diagnosed with night blindness," "Harm transferred to the Navy's Judge Advocate General Corps, which investigates, defends and prosecutes the law of the sea." "There, with fellow JAG lawyer Major Sarah MacKenzie, he now fights in and out of the courtroom with the same daring and tenacity that made him a top gun in the air." "Are those files or barricades?" "I'm up to my ears in the Jelke case." "Prelim is tomorrow." " Forensics?" " Still waiting." " Precedent research?" " Done." " You really should get his wife in here." " On her way." "Anything else?" "I am sorry." " Nice fruit salad." " Thanks." "Distinguished Flying Cross?" "Did you see action?" " Over Libya." " You did malice to the palace." " Can I help you?" " I wanna confess." " To what?" " A life of missed opportunity." "Whoa, whoa, commander, put that away." "I'm a self-reliant former Marine." "Oh, I'm sorry." "What was your rank, Marine?" "Bonehead, first class, sir." "It was a credit to imbeciles everywhere." "Toured the rice paddies." "Helped shape the character of the nation, as they say." "Of course, that gets a little lost on you when you're picking leeches out of your jock." "Lieutenant, this gentleman wants to share some information." " The name's Willie." " Lieutenant Roberts, sir." "Lieutenant Roberts will serve you, Willie." "I chose you, commander." "Lieutenant Roberts screens all the cases." "He will let me know if we can be of help." "Right this way, sir." "I see you subscribe to The War Channel." "Those are news feeds." "Well, you've got more TVs than I do." " All right." "What's all this about?" " I'm a murderer, lieutenant." "Okay." "What's your full name?" "William Harry Menkes." "M-E-N-K-E-S." "Branch of service last held, rank, year of discharge?" "Marine Corps." "Second lieutenant." "March of '70." " Service number 4111767." " Seven." "Wow, you still remember it." "Lieutenant, these digits are tattooed on my soul." "They're part of my DNA." "What was the character of the murder, sir?" "I don't understand." " Was it revenge, an act of passion?" " It was an act of weakness." "Bud." " A moment, please." " Excuse me." "I thought you had the sense to convince our friend to harass another agency." "Sir, he just confessed to a murder." " Where and when?" " He hasn't said." "He's toying with you, Bud." "I think he's looking for a little attention." " You think I should cut him loose, sir?" " That would be my suggestion." "I'll do just that, sir." "Mr. Menkes, I'm going to get you some information for the Veteran's Administration." "They have a wide variety of counselling services." "What are you implying, lieutenant?" "Well, I think you need something that we can't provide." "Bud, did you get the lab report on the Jelke court martial?" "Yes, ma'am." "It's on your desk." " Oh, bad idea, Bud." " Why, ma'am?" "Don't put things on my desk." "I'll never find them." " Where should I put them?" " Not on my desk." " Sir?" " He gone, Bud?" "Sir, he left this on my desk." ""I don't appreciate the scepticism." "You will find my handiwork at the corner of M and 21 st Street."" "Yes, sir." "I just got off the phone with the D.C. Police." "A Vietnamese man was stabbed to death at that location three hours ago." " Anything?" " Nothing, sir." " I checked all the offices." " What now, sir?" "Keep looking." "He may not be our man, but he might've witnessed something." "Yes, sir." " Willie." " Hey, hello, commander." " I thought we'd lost you." " No, just answering nature's call." "Do you wanna talk about the note, Willie?" "I got your attention now." " Why don't you come into my office?" " You sure you're not too busy?" " Do you need any help?" " No." "Hell, I've been doing this by myself since I was 2." "Did you kill someone this morning, Willie?" " Yes." " Tell us about it." "Well, I play M Street every day." "I do an eclectic mix of FM hits, light classical and ethnic standards." "Over the years, I've become familiar with the crowd." "Neighbourhood folk, mostly." "You know, people going to work, dog walkers." "The dogs are my favourite." "I know every one of them by name." "What happened today?" "Today I met a man from my past." "The Vietnamese man?" "All that time and his face still stung like a jellyfish." "He liked my music, so I engaged him in conversation." "When he got close, I took his life away." " Why?" " It was necessary." "A correction." "Retribution for all those lost souls." "Are you talking about the war in Vietnam?" "He was the enemy." "And here he was, living here, enjoying the fruits of liberty." "That didn't seem fair." "Have you killed other Vietnamese civilians?" "Do you mean do I attack fish sellers and restaurant owners?" "I knew him, commander." "He was evil." "I did the world a favour." "Well, Major Attitude." "You have an impressive bearing, ma'am." "I would like to have served under you." "This is Mr. Menkes, Mac." "Do you have the Jelke evidence list?" ""Uncommon valour with common virtue."" "Now, who said that about the Marine Corps?" "Admiral Nimitz." "I'm serenading you, major." "Mr. Menkes has just admitted to murdering a Vietnamese civilian." " I did not murder him." " You just told me that you did." "To me, murder is something you regret." "I executed a man named Li Trang today." "But I came here to confess to a murder that happened 30 years ago." "You came here to confess to a murder you committed three decades ago?" "I did." "You're not playing with us, are you, Willie?" "I can think of better playmates than JAG officers." "No offence." "I expected you to take me seriously." "So far, you have let me down." " Why did you wait until today?" " Life is a circle, major." "This morning, I completed my first revolution." "This murder, did it take place in Vietnam?" " Yes." " Where?" "Near a gravel airfield in Dong Ha." " Dong Ha?" " South of the DMZ." "There was a prisoner-of-war camp there in '70." "Now, how would you know that, commander?" "You'd be barely old enough to tie your shoes." "My father's MIA." "I've been looking for him since I was old enough to tie my shoes." "So you've researched the camps, have you?" "You wouldn't remember any of the other prisoners' names, would you?" "Some." "What about Harmon Rabb?" " Oh, it was a long time ago." " He went down Christmas Eve, '69." " Harmon Rabb?" " Naval aviator." "Oh, we had a lot of those in the camp." "Look, Willie, I have reason to believe he survived and was taken to Russia at the end of the war." "Oh, there was Russian personnel at Dong Ha." " What?" " There were Russians at the camp." "What were they doing there?" "Were they military?" "I would say yes to that." "What was their relationship with POWs?" "Willie, this is the first eyewitness account" "I've heard of Russians at the POW camps." "Now, even if my father wasn't in this one, this information could help me to figure out where he ended up." "What did you think of my version of the Marine Corps hymn there, major?" "Unique." " I was inspired by your exotic allure." " Stay with me, Willie." "Stop pushing me, commander." "This is my time." "You don't give the orders here." "You're on my turf, Marine." "I ask, you answer." "I'm sorry." "Excuse me." "My hopes are dashed." "I am so embarrassed." " You know, I figured after a half hour..." " No, I'm sorry." " I had lunch with..." " Dalton." "Thanks, yeah." "Dalton, written in my book." "I looked at it this morning." "Well, you got a lot on your mind, you know." "Yeah, it's been hell week." "All right, give me an hour to tie up loose ends and I'll meet you there." "Well, I mean, if wanna do this another time when you're less busy, we can..." "I can't imagine when that would be." " All right, come on, walk me out." " Okay." "How many cases do you handle a year?" " Thirty, 40, maybe more." " I'm around ten." " You're in private practise." " Yeah." "Should we talk about how much I make?" " No." " You're not even curious?" "It's a different world, Dalton." "Only because you're wearing the uniform." "You're relentless." "Relentless because I know that you would make a hell of a civilian lawyer." " How many times do I have to say no?" " Until you say yes." "Well, Dalton, there's a bigger issue here." "Would you rather date me or work with me?" "Well, I wanna be with you." "Well, we've been seeing each other almost every day." "Hardly enough." "Working together would change our relationship." " Agreed." " Might end it." " Who can say?" " I'm enjoying what we have." "Right, okay." "Well, I can handle that." "I mean, it's not that hard." "I can marshal my resources." "Don't hurt yourself." "You got any coffee here?" "Bud, get Mr. Menkes a cup of coffee, would you?" "Yes, sir." " Sorry." "Can I help you?" " Detective Frank Coster, D.C.P.D." "I'm looking for Lieutenant Roberts." "I'm Roberts." "I'd like to talk to you a minute, if I may." "I'm Lieutenant Commander Rabb." "What's going on?" "The lieutenant called us earlier about a homicide on M Street." "I'd like to know how he knew about it." " Or should I be talking to you?" " You should be talking to me." "Detective, can I have a moment, please?" "Who's that?" "That's the man who told us about the murder." " Then I should be talking to him." " Can I see some ID?" " What?" " I've been burned before, detective." " Licence?" "Badge?" " Can we get on with this?" "I just mopped a stiff off a Georgetown sidewalk with tourists watching." " You got a name on this stiff?" " Li Trang, Vietnamese local." "The community is already hollering about racial violence." "Look, detective, I can understand your problem, but we have a..." "The "but" leaves me the impression you don't understand." "I'm conducting a JAG enquiry." "This gentleman may be involved in a war crime." "Well, my homicide trumps your war crime." " What's going on?" " This is Major MacKenzie." " Detective..." " Coster." "Wants to question Willie." " Can you wait, detective?" " No, major." "Look, we don't wanna stand in the way of your investigation." "I don't wanna stand in the way of your enquiry." "Let me just talk to him for five minutes and you can have him back." " I can't do it." " Can't or won't?" " A.J. Chegwidden." "You are?" " Detective Coster, D.C. Police." "The man inside that room is a suspect in a civilian homicide investigation." " When did he become a suspect?" " During our conversation." "Detective, you're on federal property." "You'll have to wait your turn." "Are there any more of you people?" "I'll give you ten minutes." "You'll give me whatever I ask for." "Excuse me." "Admiral, I'm questioning a former Marine who was a POW in Vietnam." "Dong Ha, to be exact." "He says a murder took place back there." "Dong Ha?" " This is news." " I would agree, sir." "What's this about a civilian homicide?" "A Vietnamese man was found dead in Georgetown this morning." "He says he did it." " How much time are you gonna need?" " It could take awhile, sir." "Don't let it." "Detective, you'll have your man in half an hour." "Lieutenant, escort him outside while he waits." "Sir?" "Willie." "This is Admiral Chegwidden, the judge advocate general." " It's an honour to meet you, sir." " Nice to meet you." "Willie, my SEAL team was sent in to liberate the camps." "When we got to Dong Ha, all we found were empty huts." "As far as I know, no one survived." "Well, I guess that makes me a ghost, sir." "What happened to those men, Willie?" " It's a long story, sir." " Start at the beginning, Willie." "It was a planned escape." " Did anyone benefit from it?" " No." " The plan failed?" " To benefit anyone." " So you didn't escape?" " Not at that time." "Well, what?" "There was another attempt?" "What?" " That's not what I said." " Well, you're not making sense, Willie." " You're not listening." " Hey, don't screw around, Willie." "There's no reason to come on this strong, commander." "I'll tell you everything you need to know if you let me." " We have 30 minutes, Willie." " Well, I've been waiting 30 years." "Now, I would advise you to listen and not react." "You're locked into your assumptions." "Explain." "I asked for your time and you went for your wallet." " I thought you were..." " A lunatic cripple." " Those are your words." " I picked them out of your eyes." " Don't tell me what I was thinking." " Commander." "Willie, you have information that could bring relief to families who've waited, what, 30 years, without a clue as to what happened to their sons or brothers, husbands." "Why have you kept it to yourself?" "I haven't kept it, sir." "I... buried it." "Then it is time for you to remove yourself from the equation and treat this simply as information." "Now, can you do that?" "Yes, sir." "The plan was simple." "There was a guard who wore a grenade pack." "The idea was to overpower him, and set the barracks on fire and blow the bamboo fence and scatter." "The grenade was a dud." "Eight men went down in a hail of automatic fire." "And the rest of us..." "The rest of us were made to wish we had died with them." " Commander, can I see you outside?" " Yes, sir." "I have a briefing with SECNAV." "I suggest coaxing instead of yanking." " It'll get you farther." " Yes, sir." "Talk to me later, commander." "I wanna know everything he has to say." "Aye, sir." "What happened after the escape failed, Willie?" "Oh, there was a strong reaction." "They tried to break your spirit, didn't they?" " VC were master interrogators." " They were very accomplished." "Did they succeed?" "Tell me what I need to know, Willie." "Your father looked like you, didn't he?" "I look like my father." "You've studied this, commander." "You know how it's done." "The captors find a seam in the social fabric of the camp." "They seek out the most vulnerable individual." "Maybe he's wounded." "Maybe he feels guilty about something." "They treat him with respect, tell him they've got faith in him." "Eventually, they ask him questions about the men." "About things that he never thought he'd ever reveal." "Were you a collaborator, Willie?" "Your father was." " What did you say?" " What did you hear?" " My father was not a VC collaborator!" " You weren't there." " He wouldn't have done it." "Period." " You're choking me." "Sir." "Sir." "Stop!" "Sir?" " My father was in Dong Ha?" " Yes." " You remember him?" " Yes." " How old was he?" " Late 20s." " What was his rank?" " Lieutenant." " Where was he from?" " He never said." " You're lying." " Sir." "Yes." "It's easy to call me a liar than accept the unacceptable." "Then he wasn't there." "Okay." "Let's accept your story, then, huh?" "Whatever makes you comfortable." " Why are you doing this, Willie?" " You said you needed to know." "You've proven nothing." "Your father flew an F-4." "So did half the aviators in Vietnam." "There was a nickname." "Hammer." "Yeah, his nickname was The Hammer." "And he had a little moustache, correct?" "Someone could have given you this information." "Yeah." "Who might that be?" "Hey, look, I understand you're upset, okay?" "You were young." "He was your hero." "You knew him under the best of circumstances." "And I lived with him under the worst." "Now, after The Hammer punched out, some VC sympathiser on the ground skewered him with a pitchfork." "His right shoulder looked like ground chuck." "After we cleaned him up, he spent most of his time fighting off a fever." "Now, I'm telling you this because he was not always in the best frame of mind." " No notes." " Sir, I always take..." "There's nothing of value in this testimony." "We were malnourished, commander." "Many of us were stricken with malaria." "Most of us had injuries." "These were the kinds of conditions that led to compliance." "My father was strong-willed." "Surrender was not in his vocabulary." " He was a human being." " And he was a committed one." "Once he pledged his word, he could not be moved from his mark." "He was duty-bound." "I didn't say he wasn't in conflict, but there were other pressures." "Duty is often compromised by circumstance." "Anyone who goes into battle is prepared for those circumstances." "No, nothing could prepare you." "Nothing!" "Now, you know the stories, commander." "There were POWs all over Vietnam who were broken." "Now, how much pain do you believe that man could have endured?" "He was a strong man." "Once on a fishing trip, he accidentally fell on a scaling knife." "We were miles from any hospital." "I watched him sew the wound up with a bass hook." "He didn't wanna frighten me, so he told me shaggy dog stories while he was doing it." "Well, strength of character is irrelevant when you're trussed up like a chicken." "The ropes so tight that the knees are popping out of your sockets." "I know what went on." "I've spoken to other POWs from other camps." "Dong Ha had a special hellishness." "It was more than mistreatment." "There was genuine evil present." "Lieutenant, do you believe that there's evil in the world?" "I believe that some people do evil things." "What about courage?" "Do you believe that a man is capable of repelling true evil?" "Save your sermon, Willie." "Church is out." "Mac." " Hey." " Hey." "How's it going in there?" "It's all right." "He's trying to manipulate us." "Well, you have six minutes and 54 seconds." "Mac, I need your help." "If we can keep Coster busy, he'd forget about the time..." " No, I can't." "I've already..." " Got plans?" "I'm on my way out." "I wanna help, but I have someone waiting." "Fine." "Yeah, I've already wasted an hour of his day." " I'll do what I can." " Thanks." " Take a break, lieutenant." " Are you sure, sir?" "Mr. Menkes is safe." "Come on." "The commander thinks I'm a bad influence on you, lieutenant." "Bud." "Sir, do you need anything?" "Find out what you can about Li Trang." "Aye, aye, sir." "Sir, are you okay?" "Aces, Bud." " Is he done?" " Not yet." "I was just checking to see if there's anything you need." "Yeah, guy in a wheelchair." "Were you ever in the military, detective?" "No." "Got lucky in the lottery." "How long you been in law enforcement?" " Twenty-three years in June." " Wow, that's some achievement." "I actually gave some thought to entering the academy." " Is that right?" " I'm fascinated by the criminal mind." "Yeah, me too." "It's just the hands that don't thrill me." " You made the right choice." " I think so." " Is this your first time at JAG?" " Yeah, it's impressive." "Would you like me to show you around?" " That's all right." " Are you sure?" "It doesn't take long." "It'll take longer than the six minutes I have left to take custody of my suspect." "You're trying to stall me, aren't you, major?" "The commander must need more time." "Blink twice if I'm right." "What difference is a few minutes gonna make, detective?" "I've done over a thousand interrogations, major." "We're not talking about a few minutes." " We need your help." " I could say the same thing." "All right, maybe there's something we can do for you." "Is there a service we can trade?" "Actually, if you wanna know the truth, I've always wanted to drive a tank." "This is possible." "You could arrange something like that?" "I'm a Marine." "I can arrange anything." "I could dig this." "This would be worth something." "Rumbling around in one of those things." "Go ahead, make a call." "I'll wait." " What, right now?" " Sure." "Okay." "You're trying to sucker me, detective." "By the time I return, you'll already have your man in custody." "Is there anything I can do to call you off?" "Nope." "Then, if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment to keep." "You and your father must have had some relationship." "I didn't know him that long." "Well, he sure had a major influence on you." "Most parents influence their children." "Your father, I take it, was a liar." "I grew up in foster homes." "Well, that would give you a reason to resent those who came from stable ones." "Now, why the hell should I resent you, commander?" "I feel badly for you." "This is getting old, Willie." "Actually, I feel kind of fortunate." "I had to learn to take care of myself from an early age." "Many children invest too much in their parents." "When the parents fail, they have no way to recover." "It's because they lack faith." "You have to be taught that." "You learned everything about him from this photo." "You give me too much credit, commander." "That I do, Willie." "Goodbye." " What are you doing?" " I'm letting you go." " You belong to Coster now." " We got more time." "Hey, my time is too valuable to waste on you." " I came here to tell you my story." " Yeah, well, I lost interest." "Well." "Would it be of interest for you to know that I never heard of The Hammer until today?" "Why'd you do it, Willie?" "What did I do to you?" " You pushed, I pushed back." " It seems to be a theme in your life." "I've waited 30 years to get to this point and all you wanna do is talk about your father." "You had information I needed." "Yeah, well, I don't remember this ever being about you." "Say what you came to say." "Commander, I just checked on Li Trang." "He was a former member of the NLF and defected to the United States, was granted asylum in September, 1981." "Thanks, Bud." "And while I was online, sir, I thought that I'd do a standard records scan on Willie Menkes." "He's listed as MIA, sir, during the Khe Sanh siege in May '68." "His name is on the Wall." "My name is Roscoe L. Martin of Lawton, Oklahoma." "Willie Menkes is dead." "Okay, time's up." "I'm taking this man into custody." "I need more time, detective." "Come down to the precinct." "You can talk to him there." " It's motorised, Sherlock." " Well, get it going." "Detective, do you have a wheelchair-compatible vehicle?" "You know, legally, you have to have one." "You could have mentioned this before." "You should have thought of it before." "My brother's a Squid." "He's got that same smirk." "I always admired a man that could think on his feet." "You're Cerberus at the gates of Hades, lieutenant." " No one gets in here, understood?" " Explicitly, sir." " You murdered Willie Menkes." " I did not." "I found his corpse in a ditch." " Why did you steal his identity?" " I didn't at first." "I took his tags for his family." " Well, how were you discharged?" " Honourably, under my own name." "After I got home, I took Willie's." "Why?" "I just didn't wanna be Roscoe anymore." "I liked Willie better." "Still do." "How were you captured?" "A gomer stuck the point of a bayonet up my nose while I was sleeping." "They take you directly to Dong Ha?" "That camp was unlike anything I'd ever experienced." "Too many POWs in too small a space." "You could smell it from a mile off." "The officers were kept in bamboo pens and given one meal a day." "The enlisted men were fed scraps and shackled to tree trunks." "After about a week, they didn't have any feeling left in their limbs." "They couldn't sleep because if they did, the rats would gnaw them to the bone." "Escape was the only option." "Oh, Chesty Puller Was a grand old Marine" "A grand old Marine was he" "He called for his map He called for his pipe" "And he called For his sergeants three" "Oh, where's my sergeant major?" "Said the colonel" "Somebody please help me Somebody please help me" "Somebody please help..." "After the botched escape attempt the camp commander, he had us all march in a circle for 24 hours." "No food, no water." "Just him screaming "Duhng ngi!" in our faces." "That means "don't stop."" " Don't stop pushing me, commander." " Easy, Roscoe." "Not until you've heard it all." "Until every last secret of my past has been revealed to you." "Don't stop." "Well, it's about time." " You married, commander?" " No." " Lieutenant?" " Married?" "No, not yet." "Potential." "You know, of all the sins that I've committed, the worst without a doubt was driving away the good women of my life." " Dong Ha, Roscoe." " Dong Ha." "Inflection on the Ha." "Dong Ha." "One of the prisoners was a deserter, ran away from his platoon during the raid on a village." "Camp commander, he just zeroed right in on him." "He must have sensed the... guilt in his eyes." "Put him in iso for 27 days." "Interrogated him eight, ten hours a day." "When it was over, the camp commander claimed to be impressed by him." "Put him in charge of all the POWs." "Sir, I thought the highest ranking officer was obligated to take care of the other prisoners?" "That was the VC way of destroying prisoner solidarity, Bud." "Pick out the prisoner with the weakest sense of himself, put him in a position of leadership in hopes that he would collaborate." "At Dong Ha, he became known as the King of the Fleas." "Why fleas?" "It was the name the camp commander called all the prisoners." "Yeah, but if all the other prisoners knew he was a deserter, why would they accept his leadership?" " Who said they knew?" " Well, how did you find out?" "I mean, if they didn't know, then why would he tell anybody?" " Why would he even admit it?" " Actually, Bud, he didn't." " Sir?" " He kept it a secret." "Sir, it sounds like this is making sense to you." "Roscoe is speaking of himself, Bud." " You were King of the Fleas?" " I was young." "Didn't know what I was doing." "Came to believe that the camp commander respected me." "Thought I could use my position to protect the others." "I took my job seriously." "Seemed like God had given me a chance to redeem myself." "You changed tags with Willie Menkes because you didn't want anyone to know that you had deserted." "You look at me with such disgust, lieutenant." "If you deserted, how were you discharged?" " Someone would have reported it." " None of the others made it back." "I am, if anything, commander, a survivor." "Yeah?" "But at what cost?" "The story about my father, the difficult choices, you were talking about yourself." "One night, four Russian officers came to the camp." "One of them spoke English." "He had a funny little mouth with crooked teeth." "And he asked each of us our name and warfare speciality." "Despite everything that we'd been through, every man gave name, rank, service number, that's it." "What were they after?" "They were interested in certain skilled personnel." "Which ones?" "Some of the F-4 pilots were used as decoys during missions." "They were called Wild Weasels." " They'd..." " Troll for SAM sites." "Inviting the enemy to lock onto their radar." "Once attacked, he would kill the site with an anti-radiation missile." "Your father was one." "Then you know the technique required was tricky and very risky." "Many went down." "The Russians were interested in neutralising the technology." "They were very anxious to talk to these men." " We had three of them." " Did you betray them, Roscoe?" "Are you familiar with the saying:" ""If you wanna keep your friends, don't give them away"?" "Yes, I am, commander." "That's why I'm here." "Sit down, lieutenant." "This is the good part." "The camp commander came to me." "He was threatening to execute one-third of the prison population." "I protested." "He proposed a deal." "If I would reveal the names of the Wild Weasels to the Russians, they would be sent to a safe destination and the camp would be made workable." "By reducing the number of prisoners, I was saving the lives of all." "And you bought that?" "After a lance corporal was shot between the eyes for speaking out of turn." "Still took me 12 hours to decide." "But I gave them up, every one of them." "The next morning, they filed into the back of a truck." "Never been seen since." "You made a choice, Roscoe." "The best choice available." "Within the hour, the camp commander began executing all of the remaining prisoners." "Groups of five were shot under a grove of palms." " Did you try reasoning with him?" " He was unreasonable." "He pulled me out of line, separated me from the other men." "I was expecting something particularly nasty." "Turns out I was right." "He just walked away." "He left me standing there." "I was free." "I was the only one." "I had two choices:" "Stay and watch the rest of the men die, or leave." "What would you have done?" "I don't know." "I screamed." "I screamed my voice raw, begged them to take my life as well." "But he ignored me." "After it was over, he ordered his men to burn the bodies and disassemble the camp." "I was still standing there right in the middle." "Just standing there." "To him I was invisible." "What did you do?" "The next 20 hours, blur." "I wandered through the jungle and a farmer chased me into a poppy field." "I got picked up by a recon chopper." "Is that where you injured your legs?" "No." "I got meningitis four years later from shooting smack." "The man you killed this morning, Li Trang, he was the camp commander?" "Thirty years' pain and guilt came into focus on M Street." "And after I shoved that knife in his chest, I heard this sound." "It was like air whooshing out of the coffee can." "I was elated." "I thought this is the end of one story and the beginning of another." "But I was wrong." "Immediately after that, it all came back." "It all came flooding back into my head." "All those months at Dong Ha, every single moment over and over and over and over." "That's why I came to you, commander." "I want you to stop that movie from running in my head." "You didn't murder those men, Roscoe." "You need to let go of it." "I'll tell you what, commander, you stop looking for your father and I'll let go of it." "You see, we're the same, both obsessed in different ways." "You keep searching for a place that I can never leave." "It's supposed to be about starting over, beginning a new circle." "Can you do that?" "You have your closure, Roscoe." "I need to find mine." "Bud, inform Detective Coster that his suspect is ready." "Aye, aye, sir." "Also, let him know that as Mr. Martin's attorney," "I will be present during questioning." "Yes, sir." "How much time do you think I'll get?" "It's hard to say." "Sure gonna miss those dogs on M Street."