"Well done, Bo Tat" "Linh, time to go home On your feet!" "I'm Doyle, you're my ride." "Let's go!" "Captain Doyle sir, straight approach to the LZ is out" "Beaucoup N.V.A. We're gonna have to take a scenic route" "2 o'clock!" "Old friend, my Charlie's got a 51." "He's down there every day, hopin' and waitin'." "Couldn't hit the broadside of a..." "Whoo!" "Come on, Charlie!" "You son..." "Come on, Charlie!" "Got another?" "Thanks for the ride!" "Bad rat?" "Rat here no good, makes people sick, stick to snake" "No!" "No, thanks" " You're Captain Doyle" "I am Jhon" "Where is Captain Cahill?" "Uptrail, but you rest." "We eat then go" "I'll wait for you at the top" "Try it with 60-pounds pack!" "Not your fault." "You're not used to air, up high" "You know Captain Sam?" "I know of him" "Where i'm from, everybody knows of him, he is a legend." "So where is he?" "Cahill" " Sam right there" "Where?" "which hut?" "Where is he?" " No, no, Sam right there." "Captain Samuel Cahill?" "SOG / AT 39?" "Stop" "This is Doyle" "He is my replacement" "You're the guest of honour" "Thanks for the reception" "Took you longer than expected, we are waiting for you, have a little trouble on the hill?" "Uh, they always have a wine ceremony, to celebrate the arrival of an important visitor" "Of course, they'd have a wine ceremony to celebrate the arrival of Tuesday" "It's numpai, rice wine." "It tastes like combination of sugar water and vomit" "It's a little early in the day to be hammered, isn't?" " You have to drink it, all of it" "And whatever you do, don't spit it out." "It's incredible insult to the chief" "If that's it maybe we could go, we have to..." " Not quiet, you have to meet Po" "Po?" "He's a village elder or what?" " Kinda, here he comes" "Don't turn around, close your eyes, Po want to touch your face" "You don't want to insult Po." "It's worse then spit out the wine" "Close your eyes" " Close my eyes..." "This is serious NVA teritory Captain" "They know the Montagnard are helping us so they come around here all the time lookin' for any excuse to give 'em hell" "Rule 1:" "Don't give 'em one" "That's why you couldn't fly here direct, or why I only come here when it's safe" "And rule number two?" " Never forget rule number one" "I think i can remember that" "I leave here Saturday, That gives me a week to get you ready" " Oh, I'm prepared, Captain." "I can do the job." "And how you gonna do it?" "By the book?" " There's a better way?" "Look, I've got few things to tie up, Jhon will show you around and answer any questions" "Captain, i didn't come here for a village tour My order are go to the trail" "They don't start moving the big stuff until after midnight" "Until then Captain Doyle, i suggest you start getting know about this village" "These people have been in difference between life and death for me" "What's that?" " The forest gives us so much" "We pay tribute for protection of the good spirits" "So she's not just a big pet?" " No no, We use elephants" "My father, his father, his father, forever." "War drive elephants south" "Dak Nhe lucky to have one, Dak Nhe are blessed" "I am happy for ya, look let's..." "Let's go see the trail" " Sam say we go later" "I know but you're working for me now right?" "Forget Sam, where's the trail?" "I forget" "Candy you got?" "No!" "No, Get..." "No candy, get away" "I only have one, understand?" "One?" "One" "This is great..." "That's it?" "Ho Chi Minh trail, disappointed?" "I was" "I expect to something a little bit more established, that's the beauty of it" "You call in an airstrike, blow the heck out of it, and they move it" "They use it to supply entire of the army, it never stops" "Oh, look at that, shoulder-fire surface-to-air missiles" "Second set of SA-7 s we've seen come south this week" " Really?" "America does not care gift" "Remember that" "No, no" " Shut up" "Because you help Americans, we have to punish you" "Colonel Nguyen, you will find this really necessary?" "Do you think I will not do it Quang?" "I will" "You do it then" "You bring bad spirits!" " It wasn't my fault!" "The kid took at me, he stole the candy and he ran off" "Ok, it was my fault!" "I'm sorry about the elephant" "If i could bring him back to life, i would" "We no want you, you go!" "Fine!" " Maybe you can" "The tradition here is that at high noon on the last day of wapasat, the new moon festival" "The King of Fire enters on top of the village elephant, now we have to do it by Friday" "That's pushin' it" " Wait, do what by friday?" "Duan, I give you my word, that when the King of Fire enters the village this wapasat" "He will not do so on his own feet, he is going to get you a new elephant" "I'm not getting them an elephant, no!" "no!" "These people have risked their lives helping us" " Let's get them a tractor" "A tractor would last eight minutes in that vil..." " So don't get them anything!" "Will you both shut up?" "!" "The village provides important support for our operations in the region" "If we don't get them an elephant by Friday afternoon, we lose the village" "We don't need the village, it's as simple as that" "Maybe we don't need the village but then again maybe we do, and i think we err on the side of caution this time Captain Doyle" "You two go out and get 'em their elephant" " We'll need some men sir, five should do it" "You get two, two of the very best and brightest I can borrow" "Now get out of here Whatever you do, don't embarass me" "Don't worry sir" "Hold on a second" "Aren't we forgetting something?" "Who's gonna lead this delightful little operation?" " I am" " I am" "Oh, I'm sure you both have a very good reason." "The thing is i really don't care" "So, odd or even?" " Evens" "Spec-4 Ashford?" " No sir, he's in the hooch" "Ashford!" "Haul your butt out of here!" " Sir, he ain't coming out" "Why is that red?" " Well, he's short... seven days" "He goes back to the world next Monday, this man taking no chances, he ain't coming out of his hooch for two days" "Grenade!" "Oh that's really funny, who's the hillarious son of a..." "My mistake" "Pack your gear and be ready to move out at 1300 hours, you've been reassigned" "This is some kind of joke, right?" " It's a joke alright" "You can't reassigned me, Sir..." "i'm catching the freedom bird in 7 days" "168 hours, man" "I'm so short of it, you know" " For 1300 hours, Ashford" "Dang it!" "Spec-5 Farley?" " Yes, sir!" "So, what's the mission, sir?" "Unless you can't tell me like if we're operating' on a need-to-know basis" " We are, and you don't." " Yes, sir." "Where are you from farley?" " Iowa sir, or as my Uncle Fergus likes to put it:" ""I owe a hell of a lot of money on them farm loans." He doesn't say much of nothin' since the thresher accident" "My mama likes to say you can hardly tell anything happened to Fergus unless you get up real close, but I beg to differ" " You been on a farm?" " Yes, sir." "My daddy owns a dairy farm seeing's I being from the Corn State" " So you've had experience with animals" " Yes, sir" "There's none of 'em good, I don't know what it is, animals don't seem to like me, never have, probably never will" "And that didn't make life easy growin' up on a farm, tell you that" "Shoot, one of the main reasons why I joined the army in the first place, to get away from all them dang animals" "Gilman, hey, I need 25 Submariners at $300 per, okay?" "Gilman, may I remind you I have friends with absolutely no regard for the sanctity of human life, okay?" "I say the word, I have your head in a bag on my desk tomorrow morning, hang on..." "General, it's done, $425 per" "Pleasure doing business with you, sir, Yes, sir" "And give my regards to your lovely wife and daugh..." "I didn't mean anything by that, sir." "I just..." "Sir, I gotta go." "I got a call on the other line." "All right, thank you." "Gilman, say, where were we?" "I think I had your head in a bag, $350?" "Done" "All right, send them to General John Richardson in Da Nang, please, thanks pal" "And, oh, by the way, Gilman, I'd still have somebody taste your food" " I thought you were dead" " You mean, you hoped I was dead" "What can I do for you guys?" "You're a requisitions officer." "Well, we require something" "Not even funny" " We need an elephant by tomorrow" "Or you don't think you can do it?" "Please, spare me the "I dare you crap," Cahill, everybody knows I can get anything, anywhere, anytime" "Just so happens, I'm startin' five days R  R" "This time tomorrow, I'll be sitting on a beach in Hawaii, my friend" " You're getting us the elephant." " Or what?" "You're not still gonna try to hold that business with the 64th over my head?" "Come on" "So the pork was a little off!" " A little off?" "I know men who spent a week on the latrine because of that pork" "It's old news, Cahill, I got too many friends in high places to go down for something small-time like that now" "Oh, I know other things about you, Poole" " Let me tell you somethin', Cahill" "There isn't anything you know that's gonna keep me from gettin' on that plane to Honolulu" "[Doyle] A hundred eighty miles in the middle of a war" " We can get a truck and drive it up close to Dak Nhe that'd take about three days" "And another day to walk it in, We'll get there by Friday" " Actually, I was thinkin' more along the lines of air travel" "I lined up a cargo plane to meet us at an airstrip near Ban Don, okay?" "We fly the elephant down to this old C.I.A. Airstrip about a three-hour walk from Dak Nhe" "Then your Montagnard friends have their elephant by 2:00 this afternoon, I'm sitting on the beach in Waikiki in time to see the sunset" "And you wanted a week!" "Good job, Poole!" "We're comin' up on Ban Don now, there's no place to land in the rice paddies" "We'll have to go to an L.Z. behind the village" "It was real hot here two weeks ago, probably okay now" "Probably?" "We're gonna land on a "probably"?" " Lock and load!" "Hey, this isn't..." "This isn't that bad." "I-lt's kinda, kinda peaceful, really" "All right, move out" "Well, Cahill?" "You want elephants, I give you elephants" "Beautiful elephants, i might add, at no extra cost" "Knowing you, Poole, they're probably big puppets with men inside" " Let's go!" "Y B'ham?" "Let me handle the negotiation, I already talked to this guy on the radio" "Thinks he's tough, but I'm gonna crack him like a walnut" "Hello, sir, we were agreed at 40,000" "There are additional costs, tax, cleaning" "I understand that - 60,000 so" "No, 45,000 - 60,000" "50,000" "What's the problem?" "I thought you could negotiate anything" " I can, with leverage, the problem is, we don't have any" "He doesn't care if he sells the elephant or not, I don't make his price, he blows the deal" "What's his price?" " Problem number two:" "He wants 60,000 piasters" "The requisition form Capt. Doyle gave him is only good for 50,000, so..." " That's it?" "10,000 piasters, that's only about 150 bucks" " We can raise that between us" " No, you tell him 50,000 is our final offer" " We can do it" "Private funds can't be used for an official purchase as per regulations, it's also an order" "Understood?" "Tell him" "I get it, it's a perfect way out for you, you blow the deal and the mission's over" "It's what you've wanted from the beginning" "We're going back to the L.Z. and call for a ride, let's go!" " Poole, let's move it" " Okay, 50,000" "You're quite a negotiator, Doyle" "Gracious sir, perhaps now we could go to the river and pick our elephant" "River?" "50,000 no get elephant in river, 50,000 get you Bo Tat, Bo Tat!" "Bo Tat is she, not he." "Boy is Linh, Boy go with Bo Tat" "What?" "No, boy no go with Bo Tat" " Boy go with Bo Tat" "We're going to a village far away." "I'm sure Linh's family would..." " Boy has no family, all killed" "In the war?" " No, hit by falling star" "Yes, in war..." " Which side?" "It matter?" " I think it's better if the boy stays here" "He not belong here, from north, not our people" "We might as well take him with us" " No!" "We're not taking a kid with us" " He'll be my responsibility" " No, Captain!" "Anyone else here know how to work an elephant?" "I was in love with a fat woman once, but she never listened to me" "Oh, Mr Y B'ham, you must know how to work an elephant, right, sir?" "I live with elephants all my life, I learn nothing?" "Is this guy sarcastic, or is it just me?" "Great, would you like to come with us, sir?" " 20,000 piasters" "Deal!" " Good job, Doyle" "I think Mr Y B'ham would be a wonderful choice, just one problem" " What?" "He stares not because he was so wise, he is blind as a bat" "Y B'ham not blind!" "Y B'ham can..." "Y B'ham is blind" "10,000 piastres?" " [Farley] It's a nice view." " [Ashford] What nice view?" "All I can see is an elephant's butt!" "[Doyle] Any luck?" "I've tried Vietnamese, Cambodian, French, and three dialects of Jeh" " Keep an eye on 'im" " He's on an elephant." "He's hard to miss" "You know what I mean, we don't know which side killed his family, it could've been us" "He might hate Americans, we don't know, and until we do, he can't be trusted" " Doyle!" "He right, Linh can't be trusted" "Linh not trust Americans, Americans not trust Linh" "Everything's number one A-okay" "Uh, that elephant just came along to say goodbye, right?" "You're not actually thinkin' of puttin' that on my plane?" "What's the problem?" "It's an elephant" " Yeah, but, Major..." " No, no." "You see!" "You cannot put an elephant on an aeroplane, suppose it starts to panic and starts movin' around?" "I lose trim, the plane goes down!" "We all by the farm..." " That's important, what he just said" " I, I mean..." "No, no, no!" "It's not gettin' aboard the plane unless it's dead, now..." "I'd be happy to oblige, if you've all grown too attached to it" " No!" "Linh, it's okay, no one's gonna shoot Bo Tat" "Do you have a package for Dr David Poole, D.V.M. on board?" "Yeah, I do" "Here we go gentlemen, animal tranquillizer, she won't move an inch" "Bo Tat's gonna take a big nap-nap" "Yeah, nice try, but I don't care." "See, my orders say nothing about lifting an elephant" "Gentlemen, you have a good war" "Major, maybe you should read... this" "This operation's top secret, and that's why you never heard anything about our large mammal friend over there" "As a matter of fact, if anybody asks, you're movin' a shipment of tuna" "Tuna?" " Tuna" "Movin' an elephant" " What elephant?" "You got ten minutes" "Gentlemen, I'm responsible for anything that goes on in the cargo hold" "Now, if that thing even twitches, you're gonna see an elephant fly" "Hey, that's funny" "All right, yeah." "What's with the letter?" "General Westmoreland, top priority, got eight left, now" "I couldn't get elephant tranquillizers because the only place that has it is the London Zoo and it would take too long to ship, so..." "And what's that?" " Water buffalo tranquillizer" "It's not as strong, but my vet guy says you just give her a bit more, it should work" "My word!" " I guess we give her one now, and then we give her... one later if she needs it" "How are we supposed to get her to swallow one of these?" "Well, actually, according to this, she's not supposed to... swallow it" "Well, Dr David Poole!" " No!" "Oh, no, no, no, no, I told..." "I said I would help you guys out but putting my hand up an elephant's ass was never part of the deal, no" "On three" " Oh, no" "What do you have?" " Evens" " Okay." "One, mmm, uh!" "Don't you move, you big suitcase" "Oh, that's horrible!" "Yech!" "You weird" "Good thinkin', Poole" "Well, come on, let's go." "Let's get her on the plane before this stuff kicks in" "Linh thought you jokin', Bo Tat not get on plane" "Excuse me?" " Bo Tat no like be in plane" "How often does she fly?" " Bo Tat no like plane!" "The kid's right, let's get a truck" " The plane is here, we're taking the plane" "Bo Tat no like plane!" " Kid!" "I'll handle it." " Well, then, handle it" "Hurry up." "If she goes down out here, you'll never get her inside" "You nice American?" "You think you number one?" "You number ten!" "You all number ten!" " Cahill!" "Heads up" " You number ten!" "Tell her to lie down" " What you do to Bo Tat?" "Tell her to lie down so she doesn't hurt herself" "T.K.0." "What'd you do?" " She's okay, Linh." "Not dead" "You kill!" "Americans kill everything!" "You kill everything!" "You kill Bo Tat!" " Hey, hey, hey!" "You kill Bo Tat!" "She's fine" "She's just sleeping" "What's the first thing you're gonna do when you get home?" "First thing?" "Hug my mama, and give her a big kiss" "Second thing." " Second thing?" "Get her some Kleenex" "She gonna be bawling' her eyes out." "What about you, Captain?" "What's waitin' for you back in the world?" "A hammer" "My brother's got a roofing company in Fort Lauderdale, he wants me to be a partner, I can't wait" "Been dressed in green too long, time to get a real life" "Hey, hey, hey, hey!" "What are you kissin'?" "What is that?" "Oh, it's nothin'" " What?" "Come on, what is it?" "It's stupid, it's, uh..." "When I first got to Nam, I was in the main administration building in Da Nang... feelin' scared and nervous like we all do, and thinkin' about home" "I was walkin' past this Coke machine, A bottle of Coke just dropped down, so..." "I drank that bottle of Coke, and kept the cap for luck" "So, has it worked?" "Well, I, I don't really believe in that stuff, but, you know two years without a scratch, who knows?" "I'll buy it." " Nah, man." "I couldn't." "Forget it" "C'mon, I got $20." "I'll buy it" "Nah." "Keep your money, man" " Uh, $40?" "Well, hell, if it means that much to you." "I mean..." " He just got it off the bottle he's been drinkin'" "Captain, the Major wants a word with you" "Hey, Farley, look at this great big beautiful beast, how can you not like something like that?" " Well, sir, I tell ya..." "We got a nasty head wind, give baby the other dose, Captain" "Poole, we have to give the elephant the second pill" "Farley had a little run-in with the second pill, Captain" "Well, how much longer will she stay out?" "If one of these things is supposed to knock out a water buffalo for six hours, and Bo Tat's about the size of three water buffaloes..." "How much longer do we have?" " We got another hour... easy" "I was usin' the metric system" "Tell me you did that" "It's awake!" " What was your first clue?" "Dump it" "Hit the button!" "Hit the button!" "Get back there and shoot it!" "Shut it!" " We're gonna die!" "Go back in the pit, pilot boy" " All right" "Wait!" "Wait a minute!" "You can't leave me here!" "Hey!" "I'm gonna call L.B.J.!" "I knew it!" "Agh!" "Guys?" "Guys!" "Wait up!" "Bo Tat scared." "Bo Tat need me." " Well, all I need is for you to run off and get lost" "Let me go!" " Doyle, let him go." " If I let him go, we might never see him or the elephant again" "If you don't let him go, you'll never see Bo Tat again, that's for sure, I'll go with him" "We have each other" "And I will not let anything happen to you" "I tell them you don't like Aircraft" "And they learned, right?" "Bo Tat" "I'm sorry that you were afraid" "Bo Tat understand American" "Bo Tat, we're gonna take you to a beautiful land high in the mountains where you'll be loved and respected" "Where the air is cold and fresh, and the water is cool and sweet" "It's the land where you came from, Bo Tat." "It's where you belong" "Come with me" "I saw them from a plane" "An elephant, you sure?" " Yes" "Why an elephant?" "I know" "That is the symbol of the Republican Party" " So what?" "Nixon is Republican" "That is crazy" "Say it to Colonel Nguyen" "And we're about here" "Which means we're not that far from Tuy Hoa." "Maybe about ten miles" "We can get there tomorrow, and get ourselves a truck" "An elephant on a truck for 150 miles in the middle of a war" "Piece of cake" " Gilman, you know the solid gold dog tags?" "They're yours, all you gotta do is get me outta here" "Man, I just can't spend the night in here." "Just send somebody" " Poole." "Poole!" "Poole!" "Gimme that" " Hang on a second" "What are you doin'?" " Rustlin' up some accommodations, Captain." "I can have beer and steak, and padded cots here in like half an hour, maybe even some ice cream." "And then I figured since you guys... don't really need me any more, I could sorta head back with the pilot..." "If all the enemy within five miles doesn't already know we're here, they sure as hell will when a Huey lands" "C'mon, gimme a break, will ya?" "I got ya the elephant" "I'm supposed to be sittin' in the middle of a beach now, worrying about my tan line, not out here in Boonieville worrying about snakes" "Snakes?" " You're right, Poole." "You shouldn't be here." "Give me the radio" "I call General Richardson" "I'm sure he can get you reassigned" "Break out rations, gentlemen." "This is home tonight" "Bet you wish you had your lucky bottle cap now, don't you, you smart ass" "What you doin'?" "H.A.'s goin' home soon, Linh, he wants good luck to make sure he gets there safe" "You want good luck?" "Don't tell me." "You have an ancient Vietnamese bottle cap you're willin' to sell me" "Linh not sell anything" "Here elephant is good luck" "You want good luck, you touch Bo Tat" "Yeah, right" "So, what's bad luck?" "Um, don't whistle in dark, snake will come out and bite you" " Snakes" "It get worse" " Yeah?" " If you see owl at night, someone in your family die" "Wow, so that's the worst" " No!" " No?" "Owl nothing compared to crow, you see crow anytime..." "That very, very bad luck" " So, what happens when you see a crow?" "I tell you, if you see a big black bird, you run away!" "You know what?" "This country's really beautiful, I mean, I am shocked" "Yeah, it is great, isn't it?" "Kinda reminds me of home" " Oh, yeah?" "Got a lot of rice paddies in corn pone Iowa, do they, Farley?" "No, that's Arkansas." "I just meant, you know..." " Meant what?" "Tell me exactly what you meant." "Tell me exactly what it is about this place that reminds you of home, huh?" "What is it?" "The spirit-crushing humidity?" "The disease-bearing insects?" "Or is it the special feeling that comes from the knowledge that at any given moment a sniper's bullet could come spiraling towards your forehead?" "Is that it?" "Poole, I'm getting this weird feeling you don't like it here, what's wrong with you?" "I love it." "Everybody loves it" "Bet you're the only American in Vietnam who'd rather be someplace else, enough!" "Hey!" "Hey, come on!" "Gimme..." "Get..." "Ooh!" "Let's keep moving" "Where're you going?" "Hey!" " They're going to help" "For the love of..." "Cahill, don't get me wrong" "I would like nothing more than to skip through the countryside doing good deeds, but we don't have the time." "We have to get a truck, remember?" "It won't take long." "Besides, we might even get something out of it" "Maybe they'll give you the stump" "You go play Good Samaritan." "I'm gonna go to the road and do our job." "Okay?" "Go!" "Go play!" "Go play!" "They go with the elephant to replace the dead elephant?" " Yes, now they're on the way to replace the one we kill" "You kill the elephant" "We make sure that the Americans not fulfill their promise" "Then they will not have support anymore from that village!" "Where is everyone?" " They'll be back any minute" "Big stump" " America won something today" "And we didn't even have to shoot anyone" "Well, we lost two hours, and we still don't have ourselves a truck, so..." "How 'bout an old diesel with a 16-foot flatbed?" "You think that oughta do?" "One of our development agencies gave them a truck" "So they gave it to us for pulling out the stump" "So, how long have you had Bo Tat?" " Forever, she belong father" "What happened to your father?" " He die" "Well, how'd that happen?" "Do you think it was our side?" "I don't know" "I hope not" "Colonel, I have the Americans and found the elephant" "They will not leave from here" "We got a leaky radiator, I'll try to patch it" "What do you need?" "I need to Saigon." "These men have captured me" "Poole, I speak the language" " It's a joke" "Any more joking', I'll call you-know-who" "We need food for the elephant" "Bo Tat need move" "Food!" "Water!" "She hungry" "She thirsty" "Now!" " All right, all right" "All right, H.A., Farley, take her down to that fountain there, and give her some water, we'll give her food when we get it" "Ooh!" "Oh, Bo Tat, geez!" "What you been eatin', baby?" "One, one minute? One moment?" "Surround them and attack if I give the word" "Farley, where does she go?" "Captain Doyle, Captain Cahill, help!" "Linh, stop that elephant!" " Come back here!" "Watch out for the elephant!" "Hey, I'm sorry about your chickens" " Linh, we need to turn the elephant back this way" "We need to bring it back, we need to bring the elephant back this way" "Turn it around and bring it back!" "We gotta go this way!" "Let's go!" "But you haven't even done the..." "Let's go!" "Gimme your hand" "Look out!" " Captain, slow down!" "Come on, Farley!" "That doesn't sound very good" " I know, but we don't have time to stop" "If they weren't after us before, they will be now." "That guy at the feed depot wasn't the only N.V.A" "They try to blend in, but they all got that same damn haircut" "Hey, w-where's he goin'?" " Poole, where're you going?" " Saigon" "Get back here!" " Poole, do you want me to call Gen. Richardson?" "Yeah Cahill, yeah I do." "Okay?" "Call Gen. Richardson, let me get him on the line here for you, okay?" "Because I am sick and tired..." "That's it!" "I've had it, okay?" "okay?" "I was on a plane that almost crashed!" "I came this close to being killed by an angry mob, and now look at my uniform" "It's covered in elephant crap!" "So, if you think that I really give a damn whether or not you call Gen. Richardson and tell him that I slept with his wife, huh?" "Hold on." "Hold on." "Hold on." "Hold on" "You slept with the wife of General "Kill 'em all and let God sort it out" Richardson?" "I thought it was his daughter" " Oh, yeah, he would've been fine with that" "First off, Poole, Saigon's the other way." "Second..." "The nearest town in any direction is Hau Bon, which is 30 miles upstream." "And third... the only hope in hell you have of getting out of here alive is to stay with us" "It's cooked!" "What are we gonna do, Captain?" "We wait." "Things come along when you need 'em" "My motto is:" "Have a little faith" " Well, my motto is:" "Explosives, and plenty of 'em!" "Load the truck with all the claymores and grenades we've got" "String one of the claymore's trigger wires to the door, N.V.A. Comes along, goes to open the door... kaboom!" "If we're lucky, it might even take out the bridge" " Lucky for who?" "People around here use this bridge every day" " That's enough already!" "We're in a war here, in case you don't remember" "If you're right about the N.V.A. Being after us, they're gonna be coming down that road for one reason, and one reason only..." "To kill us!" "Their lives are my responsibility!" "So excuse me if I don't get all choked up at the thought of disrupting some local peasant's daily commute" "How do you know the N.V.A. Is gonna be the first ones here?" "What if it's a bunch of school kids who are goin' home?" "You ever think about that?" "No!" "Why?" "Because guys like you don't think things through!" "Me?" "What about you?" "You've got five people and an elephant risking their lives so you can go home with a clear conscience" "You're afraid when you're up on the roof with your brother in Fort Lauderdale and you're lookin' back over your sparkling' military career you're not gonna like what you see!" "You're afraid Vietnam's gonna wipe out everything you did before so you want to do one good thing before you go, Which is great!" "But your one good thing isn't pulling a kid out of a burning building, or diving on a grenade, it's this!" "And because it's this, it means it involves us!" "But you didn't think about that, did you?" "No!" "Why?" "!" "Because guys like you don't think things through!" "Hey, come on, sirs, break it up Break it up, sirs" "Pull me up!" " Just give me your hand" "You okay?" " Whew!" "I'm real happy about my decision to stick with you guys" "At the risk of rekindling hostilities, what do we do now?" "Like I said, have a little faith." "Is that my ears, or has your singing actually gotten worse?" "Must be your ears, 'Twas already as bad as it could be." ""Have a little faith," my eye!" "You knew this boat was coming!" "My first tour, I was stationed at Hau Bon" "Every Wednesday afternoon, Monsieur Goddard and the Marie Antoinette would drop in" "He gave us the best intelligence on the location of the V.C. We ever got" "What can I say?" "I love America." "You gave the V.C. Their best intelligence on our location too!" "I can't help it, you know, I love everybody." "Would anyone like some wine?" "Wine?" "No!" "What is this, the opening of an art gallery?" "No!" "This is a war, the Green Beret motto is "Free the oppressed", Not, "Eat, drink and be merry"" "Yeah." "Now it is!" "What did I do?" "What did I do?" "I should be on some high-priority mission with a group of crack commandos" "Instead I'm in an episode of McHale's Navy, starring Dumbo, Mr French and the Three Stooges!" "D'ng lai, that mean stop" " D'ng lai" "Dee, that mean go" " Dee" "You try" " Dee!" "Good!" "You know two of three most important words for elephant" "What's the third?" "It means "get off me"" "Can you get more of that water buffalo tranquillizer?" " Really enjoyed that, didn't you, Doyle?" "Linh was right, you are weird." "Yeah, yeah." "As much as you want" " We get off past Hau Bon tonight" "Tomorrow we take one of these trails which, God willing, isn't in enemy hands, over one of these ridges down into Pleiku" "Friday morning we fly Bo Tat to the airstrip near the village." "By noon, we walk her in" "Piece of cake" "Get down!" "Stay down!" "Everyone, stay down!" "Farley, hold your fire!" "They're out of range" "They're gonna have us in five rounds!" "I know this." "I'm artillery" "Give them a moving target, zigzag" "Keep moving!" "Linh, what's wrong with Bo Tat?" " She's hurt here" "Oh, no, she's seasick!" "Look out, she's gonna blow!" " Yech!" "A year from now, my kid's gonna ask me, "Daddy, what's the worst thing you saw in the war?" After this, there's no contest!" "Can't you get this tub to go any faster?" "You are going to sink my boat!" " Maybe not" "Gilman, who would actually know they could get me your head in a bag?" "It was a joke, pal." "Yeah, I was kidding you" "I love you, man, like a brother" "What are you, nuts?" "Where am I gonna find a Triumph Spitfire in the middle of Vietnam?" "You rotten little rat!" "Okay, okay, I'm sorry." "I apologize, okay." "All right." "You got it." "Just patch me through to a firebase now." "Direct to artillery, I don't have time for channels or anything." "Okay." "He's puttin' me through." "Son of a..." "He's right here." "Hang on." "Uh, yeah." "We're on the Song Ba River being pursued by N.V.A. In a boat." "What?" "Yeah, this is Hotel Alpha." "Who's this?" "Barney?" "Hey, Barney, what's up?" "What's you doin' in Hau Bon?" "Sorry." "We need your help pronto" "Request fire mission and expedite, call for battery fire at grid coordinates" "Bravo Romeo 35411059er, fire one marking round" "Barney, that was perfect, man!" " It wasn't!" "It almost hit us!" "Give him the coordinates!" "Captain, we're moving." "Those coordinates are gonna be perfect right about... fire for effect!" "Now" "Off the boat!" "Yeah!" "Hey, hey." "I'm gonna start calling you the Brown Bomber" "Want to try it on?" "I found the place where we can spend the night" "Hey, sir, what is this place?" " An ancient temple" "Buddhist?" " Actually, it's Tam Giao" "A little Buddhism, a little Confucianism and a little Tao" "What's with all the elephants?" "The elephant is the god in Tam Giao" "Not a god, Father of god" "In beginning, elephant were white." "And they fly in the air with the clouds and the rain" "One day, elephant fly down and go into side of Queen Maya while she sleep and dream" "She have a baby, Prince Siddhartha, the Gautama Buddha" "Elephant father of god" "Linh, that story you told was great." "I loved the bit about the flying elephants" "Just one thing." "It might be better if you started "In the beginning, all elephants were black."" "This is our only option." "We have to take this trail over this pass into Pleiku" "Is the pass secure?" " I don't know" "We could find out at this village, unless you think five Americans and an elephant waltzing into town might arouse suspicion" "Huh." "Not at all." "We could send in Linh." "No one would suspect him" "No, we can't do that." " Why not?" " You know why, we can't take that chance" "I got him" "It doesn't matter to me who killed your family, i imagine it doesn't matter to you, either" "V.C. kill mother and sister, but Linh not know who kill father" "Linh and father going home, there was big light" "Everything happen fast." "People yell Shoot gun." "Father hold Linh tight" "Bo Tat run." "They shoot Bo Tat" "Father and Linh land apart Father get up, run to Linh." "Then fall down" "He shot." "Linh not move" "Bo Tat save Linh" "Men shoot Bo Tat more times Bo Tat no stop for many miles" "Bo Tat save me" "Were you hurt?" "You said you couldn't move" " No!" "I said I not move because I too scared!" "Father die because I not help him!" "I scared!" " No, no, Linh, that's not why!" " Yes!" "I scared!" "Of course you were scared." "I'd be scared." "Anyone'd be scared" "Linh, it wasn't your fault" " Who fault?" "People" "People far away, Linh" "People who've never been here" " Linh no understand!" "How did you get to Ban Don?" " American take Linh" "Said take Linh back to mountains someday." "Never did." "Lie to Linh" "I'm going to take you back to the mountains, Linh" "I promise you" "Linh father was a good father." "Number one father!" "I'm sure he was" "I'm sure he was" "Is it safe path to Pleiku?" "Yes, the path is safe." "There is no Vietcong" "Man, I just wanted to go take a whiz" "I didn't want to desecrate the temple" " Forget about it, it's done" "Probably went to get some food or somethin." "Whatever the reason, they're gonna find out we're here pretty damn soon, he's just a kid." " I know" "I have to go get him" " I'll get the elephant to Pleiku." "We'll meet you there" "Excuse me, guys." "Uno momento." "But how are we gonna move old Bo here?" " Linh taught Farley the basic commands" "No, he didn't" "Okay, sir, he did, but..." "Take someone with you" " I screwed up." "I'll go" "Th-That's funny." "My..." "My legs don't work" "Ah, hell, I'll go" "Kid's got my watch" "Where are your American friends?" " I don't know!" "Okay, do the foot." "Get her to do the foot." "Get up." "Let's go." "Come on!" "I don't know that one." "Can you give me a hand?" " Yeah, yeah, yeah." "Here, take the gun." "Put your foot on my leg." "Okay." "One..." "You wanna jump in?" "On three, H.A. One, two, three." "Push" "Yeah." "Okay, I'm up." " Good job." "Okay" "I don't know about this, sir" "I guess that means she's ready." " I think she's mad" "This way, it'll take us around the village" "Farley, this way!" " He didn't teach me how to turn" "Then stop her!" " Okay, okay." "Uh, dee!" "I mean, I mean, dee d'ng" " Farley!" "Tell my mom I love her!" "Stop, darn it, you crazy animal!" "Farley, you are a driver" "You all right, huh?" " Yeah" "They worked him over pretty good" " He hit me this many" "So, when I tell him you in Hau Bon, he believe" "You told him we were in Hau Bon?" "Kid, why did you come here?" " You wanted to find out if trail okay" "But Linh is the only one who can ask." "Before Linh caught, Linh find out trail okay" "You trust Linh now?" "I trust Linh now" "You guys do this hug a lot" "Cancelled?" "What do you mean the mission is cancelled?" " Turns out Doyle was right, we don't need the village." "While you two were off on safari, the Ho Chi Minh Trail moved again, and intelligence estimates are it's gonna stay where it is" "The village is of no further strategic interest" " No further strategic interest?" "Major Pederson, sir, we're so close" "Let us finish what we started" "We just have to fly the elephant..." " To where, Cahill?" "To that old C.I.A. Airstrip near the village?" "The N.V.A. Blew the heck out of it three days ago" "You have no place to land your elephant." "The airstrip's gone, end of mission." "What about Linh and Bo Tat?" " Who?" "The boy and the elephant, sir" " We'll just ship them back to where you picked them up" "Where're you goin'?" " I can't tell ya" " Why not?" "'Cause if I tell ya, you'll try to stop me." "If you don't try to stop me, you'll be court-martialled" "The mission's been cancelled." "I have a feeling the Captain's gonna ignore that" "What are you gonna do?" "Steal a truck from the motor pool?" " If that's what it takes" " Oh, hell!" "If we're gonna steal a truck, we might as well steal a plane" "What?" "You worried because there's no airstrip?" "We don't need one" "Remember when we first went to Pederson and I said let's get them a tractor?" "What if we had?" "How would we have gotten a tractor in?" "Tractors don't need airstrips." "Poole?" "Okay." "We're gonna need parachutes..." " We?" "Yeah, Captain" "We" "H.A., Farley, are you in?" "You take one step toward Dak Nhe with that elephant, you can kiss your sweet military career goodbye" "Yeah, well, maybe we all need to do one good thing before we go" "Which way did they go?" " Over the mountains to Pleiku" "This is insane." "Bo Tat's not a tractor" "Poole, did we just hear a heartfelt human emotion come out of you?" " Yeah, it was!" "I feel bad for her" "Don't tell anybody I said that." "Okay, you guys?" "It's top secret, okay?" "So top secret we're not even gettin' clearance from the tower." "Radio silence and nobody knows anything." "As a matter of fact, this never happened." "Sir, they stole a 123 out of Pleiku" " When?" " About five minutes ago, sir" " Dammit!" "Get on the radio, tell 'em to get back." "That whole area's jammed with N.V.A. Antiaircraft" " Yes, sir!" "An enemy unit comes to Pleiku, shoot on sight!" "Don't be nervous, Poole" " I just never jumped before" "Well, neither has she." "Does she look nervous?" "All right, listen up!" "Bo Tat and the crate are on a static line" "The drogue will trigger the parachute to open the second she's out of the plane" "Now, you three are gonna jump before Bo Tat" "Free fall for a count of ten, and then pull." "Okay?" "Got it?" "We want to make sure you don't get tangled in Bo Tat's lines going down." "And we want you to be clear of our large friend before she lands" "Captain Cahill and I are gonna stay on board until Bo Tat gets off." "Once she's off, we're gonna go" "Any Questions?" " Linh get one?" "No, Linh, you have to stay on the plane" "M-M-Maybe Linh could take mine, and I could, uh, stay on the plane" "But Linh go with Bo Tat!" " I'm sorry, Linh." "It's too dangerous." "You can't" "You promised you'd take Linh and Bo Tat home to mountain!" " You will go home" "You'll see Bo Tat in a day or two" "But first you have to go back to the base with the pilot" " You lie!" "You lie!" "Hey, you're right" "I did say I'd get you home, and I will." "I'll stay with you on the plane" "I'll get you to the mountains, I'll get you back to Bo Tat" "You just can't go with her now" "Here comes another one!" "Take us down below the radar" " This isn't a fighter, this is a cargo plane" " Do it!" "You can't drop from this altitude" " We'll go back up when we get closer to the village" "Now!" "Do it now!" "Now!" "Looks like we're all gonna be jumping" " Get us in over the village" " One pass, then we bail" "We're going now!" " Get ready!" "Change of plans, Linh" " We're comin' in on the village" " I'll be right down" "Stand by!" "Ready?" " Yeah" "Go!" "Go!" "I can't go, guys." "I left something back inside" "I'm an office guy, man I work in an office behind a desk!" "Isn't this great, chief?" "It's moving!" "Is this fun, Poole?" "Hold on tight" "Hold on!" "Get it!" " Go!" "Hold on, Bo Tat, I..." "I'll get you" "I have the sight, ready to fire!" "Target in sight, waiting for command!" "Comrade Quang?" "Let him go" "I didn't join army to shoot elephants, especially flying elephants" "Please, God, get me through this, I'll never lie again." "Please?" "Farley, you're dead, I swear to God I'm gonna kill ya" "Linh like hug." "Hug good" "Be careful, be careful" "Keep everybody back" "Is she okay?" " Everything number one A-okay!" "Hey, where's H.A.?" " Get me a ladder!" "Back her up, Linh" " Come on, sweetheart." "We gotta get you ready for the ceremony." "Good girl" "Drop your weapons!" "You bring elephant very far." "Very admirable." "I congratulate you." "Too bad you go to all this trouble for nothing!" "Bird, if I were you, I'd get the hell outta here" "Elephant going to die" "Drop your guns!" "Drop, drop 'em!" "Roger, Whisky Tango." "Over" "Crossbow 6 out" "What'd he say?" "Well, the good news is that capturing Nguyen and his men has made you a hero" "And the bad?" "Recon photos have indicated the trail was moved back this way again." "Pederson wants you to stay" "That is bad news" "I have to go now, Linh" " You not like it here" "I love it here." "I love this place more than anyplace I've ever been" "You not like Linh" "You know that's not true" " Then why you go?" "Just like you had to go where you belong" "I have to go where I belong" "You forget Linh?" "When I forget how to breathe" "Take her easy, Linh" "Safe trip home, old man" " Good luck" " Thank you" "I hope to be in Special Forces too one day, sir" " Thanks." "Good job, soldier" " Thanks" "Captain." "Ever need anything..." " Okay" "When you're standing on a roof with your brother in Fort Lauderdale" "I think you're gonna like the view" "You watch Bo Tat?" "Yeah." "I'll watch Bo Tat." "Have fun"