"Hi Lieut." "You know how long we're gonna be here?" "No, I don't know." "We got the krauts on the run but Love Company's pinned down on the other side of the canal." "And we stay here until they hook up with us." "I'd like to get over to Field Hospital and check up on Howie." "Sure." "Put Caje in charge." "Alright, thanks." "Hi Collins." "Where's the Captain?" "Still on the other side of the canal." "What's your rush?" "Well, if you really want to know Hanley, I'm on my way to press charges against one of your NC.O.'s." "You..." "Which one?" "Your boy, Saunders." "Are you serious?" "Lieutenant," "Two of my men died on that patrol this morning because of him." "Newton and Scott." "Saunders told me they'd died." "But did he say how they'd died." "Look, I don't know what Article of war this mess comes under, but I'll find one and when I do, so help me, I'll use it to skin Saunders alive." "Doctor, I'm wondering if you can help me." "I'm looking for a Private Howie Parker." "We got so many names right now, I can hardly remember my own." "Well, um, Sir, he's with the 2nd Platoon K company and he was wounded earlier this morning out on patrol." "Mid chest, machine gun?" "Yes Sir, yes Sir." "I think he's dead, Sergeant." "Howie!" "Howie?" "Howie." "I don't know why they..." "took me back Sarge." "I've already been here before." "Where's that?" "The operating table?" "Yes, Sir." "He wants another look at him." "Just a routine check." "No sweat." "Feel like I'm on fire." "Alright, this'll be okay." "Be back in England before you know it." "Uh huh." "I'm scared Sarge." "Howie." "Listen to me." "Believe me Howie." "Everything's gonna be okay." "Pretty soon..." "Hey Sarge." "Oh, how's Parker?" "Ah he's not so good." "Oh." "The Lieut. wants to see you right away." "He said, that O'Neill, that machine-gun Sergeant..." "What about him?" "Well, he's pressing charges." "His Platoon leader, Lieut." "Collins he... said he's gonna Court Martial you." "Aired Sept. 22, 1964" "Let's get one thing absolutely clear Sergeant." "I agreed to see you strictly as a favor to Lieut." "Hanley." "I've heard Sergeant O'Neill's story and I believe him." "Go ahead." "Speak your piece." "Lieut." "Collins." "Let's remember one thing." "According to the Articles of War, Sergeant Saunders doesn't have to say one word without the advice of counsel." "I know that Lieut." "Hanley." "I'm willing to wait for a Court Martial." "You're the one who asked for this, this unofficial hearing." "Only because I thought it would help to air the facts...calmly." "Alright." "Let's air the facts, calmly." "Sergeant Saunders..." "Alright Sergeant Saunders, speak your piece." "Before I do Lieutenant, I would like to know what the charge against me is." "I can't give you the exact Article but I can give you a few general headings." "Negligence." "Poor judgment," "The death of 2 men." "The Germans killed them." "You set them up." "(2 voices)" "Knock it off." "If you want a fight, there's lots of krauts out there." "Get back to your chair." "Lieut." "Collins." "Since your man is making all the accusations, let's hear his story first, in detail." "Fair enough." "Go ahead Sergeant." "My machine gun squad was attached to his squad, for the combat patrol." "We know all that." "Just tell us what happened on the hill." "Well, the assault went off like clockwork." "My people fired support." "His people took the hill." "Later when I brought my squad up on the hill he told me to lay my gun in on the road up front." "Then he sent 3 of his own people out to scout up ahead." "(German machine gun opens fire)" "(A tank can be heard)" "Over there." "It's a Mark IV tank." "I'll bet my last dollar on it." "Littlejohn, bazooka." "Sarge." "We don't have any ammo for it." "Where is it?" "Parker, he was carrying it." "He forgot to leave it." "Well that's great, just great." "Machine gun squad." "Prepare to withdraw." "Keep firing." "What's the matter with you Saunders." "We can't hold out against armor without a bazooka." "Well you can sit here and watch your own people get sacrificed." "But I'm not gonna see mine get slaughtered." "Now let's move." "We're not leaving this hill." "I'll get the ammo." "That's stupid." "It won't work." "You just give me cover." "He'll never get back in time." "What the heck is he doing?" "Ammo." "We need the ammo." "He's coming." "Howdy." "See that." "I got it, one round." "Hey hey." "Love ya." "Ha." "Woo hoo." "Nice shot." "I was scared I'm gonna get my big tail around..." "I'm gonna put your name on it." "You..." "You killed Newton and Scott." "My orders were to take that hill and hold it and that's just what I did." "Two men are dead who shouldn't be dead, it could've been ten." "Lieutenant." "It's all his fault. huh." "Uh, we just forget all about the kraut tank." "Is that what you're saying?" "Did you or did you not check to see if the bazooka ammunition was left behind when you sent your men down the hill." "No I didn't." "When you went down the hill for the ammunition did you or did you not return with it immediately." "I couldn't." "I had to get Parker behind cover first." "So, for the sake of one individual you neglected all of your men." "I thought I could do both, save Parker and get back before the tank showed." "You thought wrong." "You exercised poor judgment." "You're dangerous Saunders." "Lieut." "Do I have to stay here for this?" "No." "But uh," "I think you should." "Lieut. with your permission." "Well," "I guess that's that." "I'm going over to talk to the C.O." "Sorry." "Collins." "Give me 5 minutes." "What for?" "Bring your boy back?" "That's right." "5 minutes, that's all." "Alright, 5 minutes." "I want you to come back Saunders." "What's the use Lieut." "They've made up their minds." "You heard what Lieut." "Collins said about me in there." "Poor judgment, negligence." "And I'm dangerous." "Collins is just doing his job." "O'Neill's his man and..." "you're mine." "Don't keep me from doing my job." "Come back Saunders." "Lieut there's only one thing on my mind." "That's a kid at the aid station by the name of Howie Parker." "Well you can't do anything for Parker now." "If O'Neill makes those charges stick, you won't be around to later." "Come back Saunders." "No Saunders." "Now wait a minute..." "Sir." "I don't blame Sarge for walking out of here." "Lieutenant." "If I did what he did this morning and then heard all this" "I think I'd do more than just walk." "You want to know when the trouble started." "And it wasn't on that hill." "It was right here, early this morning, before dawn." "I knew even then we was gonna have some trouble." "Right after you've taken the hill, dig in and form a perimeter." "I'll be with the 2nd and 3rd squads." "We can't count on direct radio communications." "Be prepared on orders, to move out to our next objective." "Any questions?" "Lieutenant, I'd feel better with a bazooka team along." "Well, I can't get you a team, but I'll requisition a bazooka." "Lieutenant." "How long will it be before my machine gun section can be detached?" "Oh you'll be with us all day Sergeant." "Don't worry." "I've talked to Lieut." "Collins about it." "Any more questions?" "Saddle them up." "Okay, let's go." "Sir." "Kirby." "Yes Sir." "Stand by." "I want you to shoot a message over to the Captain." "Yes Sergeant." "I've been having a lot of bad luck on patrol lately." "I've taken a lot of casualties." "Well, that happens." "I mean stupid casualties." "See, these squad leaders that I've been attached to recently haven't been too bright." "Well you don't have to worry about Saunders." "Maybe." "Just in case things get too hot, I was wondering if the Lieut." "would give me permission to uh, make decisions concerning the safety of my own men." "You know that's impossible." "My men mean a lot to me Sir." "Well, split leadership is suicide." "Now Saunders is the best N.C.O. I've got." "I hope so." "Now that was his beef Lieut." "He was sore right from the start cause Saunders was put in charge, that's all." "And I was right, wasn't I." "His stupidity cost me 2 men." "Stupidity?" "The only stupid thing I saw was done by you." "May I say something Sir." "Alright Caje." "Well when we finally spotted the hill" "Sergeant Saunders ordered Sergeant O'Neill here to place his machine gun so they could fire support." "Now Sergeant Saunders definitely told him not to open fire until we finally reached our assault position at the bottom of the hill." "Hold it." "Trip wire." "Well we can't go over this yet from the hill." "We don't have any choice, do we?" "We have to go under it." "Littlejohn, come on." "I can't make it." "I'm too big." "You can make it." "Come on." "Stay low." "Come on." "It's no good." "Keep going." "(French) Keep going." "Keep going." "Tell him, get down." "Get down." "(French)" "(French)" "Tell him to keep going." "(French) Continuez." "(French) Continuer." "(American machine gun opens fire)" "Why did he open up." "(German)" "Uh." "Follow me." "The Germans were fooled." "They hadn't seen us." "But you opened fire." "You forced us to start our attack 50 yards too soon." "We could all have been killed." "And you call Saunders stupid after a thing like that." "Now wait a minute." "Maybe the Germans weren't fooled." "Maybe they did see you before I opened fire." "Then maybe if I hadn't every one of you would've been killed." "Maybe maybe maybe." "That's just the point O'Neill." "In this war there's an awful lot of maybe's." "What about it, Sergeant O'Neill." "Were you right or wrong opening fire when you did?" "Like I say..." "I don't..." "I don't understand what all this has to do with what happened on that hill." "Oh, I do." "Your charge against Sergeant Saunders is poor judgment." "How much weight would that carry from a man guilty of the same thing himself." "Sir, I'm not exactly new in the army." "I've had a lot of time in combat and I've lived." "And maybe that was luck." "Or maybe it's because I've made a study of war." "Even when I was a kid I read about every book I get my hands on about war." "And I've learned one thing." "Never underestimate your enemy." "Meaning?" "Meaning I saw sunlight reflecting on a pair of field glasses." "German field glasses." "And that was good enough for me." "Are you uh, positive the krauts saw the men in a ditch then?" "They must have." "But you were'nt sure?" "Of course I'm sure." "How could you be sure?" "Because Sir, the krauts are not stupid." "Lieut Collins." "How can I get a straight answer out of this man?" "I haven't heard Sergeant Saunders give any answers so far." "Were you right or wrong, O'Neill?" "We took the hill Sir, without a single casualty." "I think that's a pretty fair answer." "Not to me." "What do you say Saunders?" "Was O'Neill right or wrong?" "Lieut." "I didn't come back to judge Sgt. O'Neill." "Came back to tell my side of it." "That is if Lieut." "Collins is still interested." "I'm still interested." "After O'Neill opened up, we had no choice." "We couldn't stay in the ditch, we couldn't retreat." "We were committed to take the hill." "And we had to do it the hard way." "We gotta go straight up the face of it." "And after the krauts took off, I signaled to O'Neill to bring his machine gun squad forward." "What's taking him so long?" "He must have seen your smoke signal." "This is it." "Dig in deep." "This is crazy Saunders." "Your men..." "All your guns in on that road down there." "We could have covered that road from where we were." "For a counter attack we want all our firepower right up here." "If you get forced off this hill you're gonna wish you had something to your rear." "First rule of a good defense, strength in depth." "Listen O'Neill." "Ever since we started all you've done is to complain." "Well I've had it." "You've got it?" "Now you put your guns over there and dig 'em in." "What's the matter with that guy?" "Who knows." "Want me to go down there and check around?" "Yeah, take Parker and Kirby." "Kirby?" "Parker?" "(German gun opens fire)" "Fire!" "(Tank is heard approaching)" "It's a Mark IV tank." "I'd bet my last dollar on it." "Littlejohn." "Bazooka." "Sarge." "We don't have any ammo for it." "Where is it?" "Parker was carrying it and he forgot to...forgot to leave it." "Now that's great." "Machine gun section." "Prepare to withdraw." "Stay there." "(clink)" "What's the matter with you?" "We can't hold out against armor without a bazooka." "Look Saunders" "You can sit here and sacrifice your own people but I'm not gonna see mine get slaughtered." "Now come on." "Let's go." "We're not leaving this hill." "I'll get the ammo." "That's crazy." "It won't work." "Now you just give me cover." "That's right." "And I told him it would never work." "That's where he made his mistake." "What did you expect him to do?" "The only way to beat that tank was to get the ammo." "Now what else could he have done." "Pull back into the woods, Sir." "The kraut tank could never touch us there." "But no, he had to be a hero." "And that's what cost the lives of 2 of my men." "Well, how about it Lieut." "Are we gonna hear both sides of the story." "Of course Hanley." "O'Neill." "I'm sorry Sir." "But every time I think back to this morning when Newton and Scott were still alive I..." "Alright." "Go ahead." "Tell your story." "Like I said." "I told Sgt. O'Neill we weren't leaving the hill, that we were staying." "I went down to get the ammo." "I figured I still had time." "I hurt Sarge." "You're gonna be alright Howie." "Oh god it hurts." "Come on." "I'll be back for you Howie." "Hey." "Still got him one round." "(Cheering)" "Hey." "I'm gonna put your name on that with a full star." "(chatter)" "(Many talking)" "You did this." "You did this." "Lieut Collins." "You said that I was negligent." "Because I let Parker leave with the ammo when I shouldn't have." "Everybody here knows that you... got to be lucky if you get half the job done in combat." "Lieut." "If you want me for that one you can have me." "I accept the blame." "But not the rest of it." "Not one part of it." "You said that if I didn't take the time to try to save Parker, your men would still be alive." "You sure of that?" "We stopped that tank with one bazooka round." "One." "Even if we had the ammo when that tank showed, it might have taken five, or ten" "Maybe we never would have got him." "And..." "And O'Neill, that is fate, not judgment." "Let me tell you something else." "When I was a kid I didn't read about the war." "Furthest thing from my mind." "And yet here I am." "A Sergeant." "And I have a responsibility to a squad of men." "And then I'll tell you something else." "I'm gonna keep 'em." "I guess it's up to you O'Neill." "(phone buzzer)" "Uh, thanks." "Saunders." "Howie Parker's dead." "I'm sorry Sergeant." "Lieutenant." "I'm gonna drop the charges." "Okay." "Why?" "I said why, O'Neill." "Why change your mind." "Because Howie Parker's dead, huh?" "Up to one minute ago you saw it as me and a kid by the name of Parker against you and two of your men that are now dead." "And you blamed me for it." "What happened?" "Feel sorry for me now?" "Is that why you want to let me off the hook?" "Maybe." "It won't work..." "'cause I won't accept it." "You hear me, I won't accept it because I would do it again and again and again." "And I would do it for another Parker." "I would do it for a Kirby." "I'd do it for Caje." "I'd do it for you." "Your squad or mine." "It makes no difference." "As long as he wears this uniform." "Saunders." "No charges." "No charges, not because Parker's dead." "But because of you, he might have lived." "Saunders." "Go on." "You know, this whole affair boils down to one issue." "We care for our people." "First time somebody shoots at you, you don't have a command anymore." "You have a family." "Buy you a drink, Collins." "Subs by Jack T"