"Everybody ready?" "All right, then." "Let's do it now." "Percell, you and Griner are left-flank security." "Fong Ki, right-flank." "LT, Dunn, Pritchard, holding back door open." "I'm up the middle with Fontaine and Hoyt." "Taylor, you got Ruiz, Wozniak, and Lem, and you know what to do now." "Get in close." "I mean, real close." "We don't knock out this SAM site, the B-52 jockey's gonna pay tonight." "Plant the plastic, kick the fuse, and run like hell." "PZ's got a small window, so nobody's stopping to pick no flowers out there." "You understand me?" "Any questions?" "All right, then." "Do right, do fast, and do good." "Go!" "The first chopper's gone." "We're all here except for Taylor's group." "Lem, Wozniak, pull back!" "Move!" "Go!" "Ow!" "I gotta move." "Goldman, let's go!" "Hang on!" "They're coming!" "We gotta get Lem!" "Woz!" "Woz!" "Taylor, he's gone!" "We got to move, Ru!" "We got to move!" "Go!" "Lieutenant!" "Write 'em off!" "Time to haul ass, son." "Get in, Goldman!" "I'm taking off!" "Let's go!" "Taylor, we left the radio." "Forget it, Ru." "We missed it." "Secondary pick-up zone!" "Let's move, let's move!" "That's affirmative, Phoenix Light." "We've got four on the ground." "We're moving toward secondary rendezvous at 1400." "Chopper destroyed, Angel 9." "Hope you get to fly in." "Over." "No, no." "You tell them to stay on the pad, McKay." "We're coming out again." "Okay." "MACV's been notified." "Mighty unhappy at the thought of calling this one off." "You bring your men out so we can bomb holy hell out of that NVA regimental headquarters in Cambodia tonight." "Yes, sir." "You got a problem, Fontaine?" "I'm going back out there with you." "What for?" "'Cause this can't be just a sniff-and-run." "You got to set down and find those men." "I'm not having this thing canned for four dead bodies." "They might still be alive, Fontaine." "Even so, with what we stand to gain, they're acceptable losses." "Fontaine, someday it's gonna be you out there." "It has been." "I always find a way." "Gentlemen, Lieutenant McKay's ready to lift off." "We are on a timetable." "I can't believe I got wounded." "I can't believe where you got wounded." "You know they got a medal for this, Wozniak?" "The purple cheek." "I'm scared, man." "Hey, man, come on." "It's just like training." "You stay calm." "You move to the secondary position." "It happens all the time, man." "You ever been on EE?" "Hell, man, every time out in the boonies is like the EE." "That's not what I mean." "I mean, real escape and evasion, you know?" "When you know there's no one coming to get you." "That's why we don't want to be late for PZ Beta." "You ready, Dr. Ru?" "Yeah, right." "You see anybody out there?" "Nah." "I think we lost them when we doubled back along the river." "You all right, Woz?" "All right." "We got to move." "All right." "Let's do it." "We're on it!" "Viking 4, this is Goldilocks." "Come in." "Over." "Goldilocks calling Viking 4." "Come in, Viking 4." " Goldilocks, Goldilocks." " This is Viking 4." "Sit-rep, 4." "Need help, Goldilocks." "Request pick-up." "Where's Sergeant Taylor?" "Over." "We're dead." "We're wounded." "Goldilocks, need help." "Do you recognize him?" "I can't tell." "We never went out with that RTO before." "Viking 4, identify yourself." "One more!" "Hurry." "They coming." "Those bastards." "They got Lem's radio." "We didn't escape from these guys." "They tracked us." "Too many." "They kill us." "Smoke, 4." "Throw smoke." "They're going to jerk them down, Taylor." "No." "No, no, no, no." "That won't do." "Come on." "All right." "We read your red smoke, 4." "We're coming in." "Be real sharp." "This one's funny." "Viking 4, we're circling the north side of your red smoke." "Over." "What the..." "Purple smoke." "Anybody see anything?" "I've got green smoke." "Hold on." "I knew it was a damn trap." "Come on, Wozniak." "Move it!" "Move it!" "Come on!" "We're not leaving you!" "Go!" "Move!" "I can't see anything." "The canopy's too thick." "Time to head back." "Let them bomb this place flat." "What are you talking about, Fontaine?" "I got people down there!" "There was no visual I.D." "Well, who the hell do you think popped the smoke?" "This is a war." "People die." "Once you get past that, the object is to win." ""To win"?" "Where have you been for the last year?" "Listen here, Fontaine, you lifeless spook!" "One of my men just saved your butt with that smoke!" "Now, they're gonna get every chance they deserve." "You got that?" "Taylor!" "Taylor!" ""And to Sergeant First Class Clayton Ezekiel Anderson," ""for extraordinary gallantry" ""in the face of supreme enemy fire power," ""the Distinguished Service Cross awarded this day in the freedom-loving country of South Viet Cong."" "Uh, senator... that's "Vietnam."" "South Vietnam." "Whatever." "He knows where he is." "Is this boy a constituent?" "I can check on that, sir." "We're due at the embassy in 20 minutes." "You know, in the Old Testament," "Ezekiel was a prophet." "He warned his people that their evil conduct would bring them to ruin." "What did this boy do?" "He led a unit with over 100 confirmed enemy kills, sir." "The unit missed the secondary pick-up." "I need a window to give the men time to clear the area." "The army's not about to write them off." "You telling me the Air Force is?" "The objective of this mission is to destroy Charlie's regional headquarters, and we're giving them time to mail change-of-address cards." "You've worked a lot on your own, haven't you, Fontaine?" "I prefer it that way." "Out." "The Air Force is gonna delay the run for 96 hours, and they'll double their spotter flights in the interim." "Yes, sir." "These men are well trained in escape and evasion." "The NVA have got a hold of one of their radios and some smoke cans, so I think it's safe for us to assume we've got at least one casualty." "Now, Sergeant Taylor will probably head north, and then move east to the Qui Long River." "That way, he'll throw the enemy off his trail." "If he moves up this direction, we should be able to link up at the border." "I'll authorize chopper flights in that sector." "Everything you're talking about is based on assumption." "Meanwhile, a concrete target is slipping away." "If that NVA regiment kills 100 Americans, will the trade-off be worthwhile then?" "Ironically enough, if that was him out there," "I'd probably do the same thing." "Sir." "Oh, man." "You know what those boys are doing right now?" "They're out there practicing the rules of movement, concealment, and camouflage." "That's right." "They got themselves a safe place to spend the night, taking inventory of all their equipment, and conserving their food, and if I know Ruiz and Taylor at all, they probably got them a little fire out there," "a couple of long sticks, and are roasting marshmallows." "Yeah, right, sarge." "You know, Griner, you didn't, um... you didn't know Taylor and Ruiz all that long, but once they get back here and everything... you're probably gonna wish they'd been gone a little longer." "Uh, say, is there any particular reason why y'all ain't drinking beer tonight?" "I just don't want to get tanked up." "I mean, you know, in case we got to go run after them." "Oh." "Well, hey, when Goldman and I, when we were captured, did y'all stop drinking then?" "No." "I didn't think so." "Whiskey." "Coming up." "No, the bottle." "Okay." "Found this on one of the dead NVA at that SAM site." "Thought you might want it." "A wanted poster." "Yes!" "What's it say?" "10,000 piasters for my head, and a bonus if it's separated from the rest of my body." "Whoo!" "Yeah, well, glad I could help." "Fontaine kind of grows on you, doesn't he?" "These survival vests never have what you need." "What's that, Taylor?" "A plane ticket to Detroit." "You wish." "Compasses, Ru." "All right." "There's too many clouds." "We'll have to navigate in the morning." "Do you think we should head straight in?" "What do you think?" "I think the NVA will be waiting." "We'll have to follow the river." "Good on food for about a day." "Potable water's gonna be a problem." "Halazone tablets?" "Enough for about three canteens." "We'll have to take time and boil some." "Hey, sarge." "Are they gonna call my mom?" "List me as M.I.A.?" " Come on now, y'all." " This gig isn't optional." "Let's go." "Let's go." "Why we gotta do this today, sarge?" "None of us are in the mood for it." "Percell, it's business as usual until they tell us to saddle up." "Well, they sure got a lousy sense of timing." "I'll second that one." ""And Sergeant First Class Anderson's" ""extraordinary gallantry under fire," ""was in keeping with the highest traditions" ""of the military service," ""and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army."" "Congratulations, sergeant." "Well earned, and richly deserved." "Thank you, sir." "Sergeant, you're a credit to the fighting men in our great country." "Sir." ""The President of the United States of America," ""authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918," ""has awarded the Silver Star" ""to Sergeant Marcus Taylor," ""United States Army, for gallantry in action..."" "Senator." "This is Specialist 4 Percell." "Well, where's Sergeant Taylor?" "Sergeant Taylor didn't return from our last mission, sir." "Sergeant Marcus Taylor, United States Army." "Posthumous Silver Star is..." "Senator..." "Sergeant Taylor is missing in action." "He is not dead." ""By direction of the President of the United States," ""the Bronze Star for Valor" ""is awarded to Specialist Fourth Class Daniel Percell" ""for heroism in connection with ground operations" ""against a hostile enemy force in the republic of South Vietnam."" "Thank you, sir." "This ain't gonna be the best time to get typhoid or dysentery, Taylor." "Got no choice, Ru." "We can't risk starting a fire here." "This is really dumb." "The water looks clean." "Wozniak, there's parasites in that water that can kill you as dead as Charlie's bullets." "You do like we asked you?" "Mm-hmm." "I just took fruits I saw the birds eating, and no plants with milky sap." "Good." "How we doing, Ru?" "It's gonna be a while." "You know what, Wozniak?" "When we get out of here," "I'm gonna make sure you get every Boy Scout patch there is." "Boy, it's hotter than the devil." "Let's get going." "Get them stacked up." "Goldman." "Who'd have thought a chopper would be a quiet place to think?" "You working?" "No, checking, re-checking, just like you." "You know, McKay," "I keep thinking about yesterday." "You know, we did everything tactically correct, and those guys are still out there." "I see." "Is this gonna be another one of those" "Myron Goldman-versus- the-system speeches?" "No, I just want to make sure that what happened doesn't happen again." "Well, you want a simple man's opinion?" "Sure." "Don't go out in the field." "Of course." "I'm serious, Goldman." "It's your only guarantee." "I don't know, McKay." "I just keep running it over and over in my head, step by step, and I keep thinking there's something that I missed." "Well, you can be sure of one thing." "If they find it before you do, they're gonna keep it a secret." "You take away the bodies, how are they gonna be able to tell who's winning?" "How do they know now?" "I don't know." "I just work here." "You gonna get an accurate reading with these clouds?" "Sun pokes through for a second, Ru, we got it." "Chopper!" "Wozniak, don't!" "What the hell are you doing?" "It was one of ours." "Listen, a chopper can't stop without radio or visual confirmation." "Charlie can pop smoke too." "Remember?" "Wozniak, all you did was let them know where we were, man." "Due north." "Come on." "Mama always told me never eat anything raw, especially if it walks, crawls, or swims." "My mom told me not to enlist." "Your mama was a wise woman." "We're not gonna make it, are we, sarge?" "Sure." "We'll make it." "He's right, and you should've listened to your mother." "Hey, Taylor." "I got one." "I got one." "Get it." "Yeah!" "All right." "Whoo!" "Look, I know I been slowing you guys down, so the least I can do is go upstream and try to catch a fish, huh?" "All right." "Tuna on white toast, lots of mayo." "Yeah, I'll see what I can do." "Be careful." "Sarge!" "Sarge!" "Sarge!" "Sarge!" "Sarge!" "Don't move, Woz!" "Don't move!" "Aah!" "It bit me, sarge!" "The damn thing bit me!" "It hurts!" "It hurts, sarge!" "Pit viper!" "Ru, tourniquet!" "Don't let me die, sarge, please!" "You're gonna be all right, Woz!" "We gotta make that, Ru." "You're gonna be all right." "No, that's different, Griner." "You tell me you'll buy the next round, and the next round never comes." "I've bought more rounds than..." "You mind telling me what the hell you're doing?" "Uh, Sergeant Hannegan told me to pack up Spec 4 Ruiz's stuff and use his bunk." "Yeah?" "Well, I'm telling you, forget about it." "Ease off, sport." "It ain't his fault." "Maybe you want to go ahead and get your stuff off Taylor's bunk." "Well, it ain't Taylor's no more." "It's Scarlet's." "It's mine." "That's how it is, huh?" "Now, you want me to get off this bunk and fight you, boy," "I'm gonna tear your arm off and beat you to death with it." "Um, look, man..." "Taylor and Ruiz are our buddies." "Well, that's good for them." "They come back, I move." "Meanwhile, me and the kid here, we need a place to sleep." "It don't bother you sleeping on our friend's bunk?" "I've slept in more friends' bunks than you've had nights, reb." "The war don't stop because someone don't come back." "You get used to that." "Let's go, Dan." "Come on." "Griner, let's go, man." " I mean, it's wrong." " It doesn't make any sense." "It's like the Army's writing them off or something." "Hockenbury, please." "Now, nobody is writing anybody off here." "I mean, they've been missing for five days, and nothing stands still." "What about Ruiz and Taylor's stuff?" "It's not gonna hurt their stuff any to be packed in boxes." "Now, their families have been all notified that they're M.I.A." "Stop worrying about this." "It's not doing any good." "Just do your jobs." "Sarge, have you met the new replacements?" "Mm-hmm." "Checked them out while y'all were having breakfast." "This guy, Scarlet, is just a private." "Yeah, he's older than you, Sarge." "Well, take my advice, Griner." "Learn something from him." "Yeah." "Learn what?" "Well, either how to or how not to." "You figure it out." "All right, gentlemen, we are up." "The colonel's sending us out to seed an NVA ammo dump with some bum mortar shells." "Why, LT?" "Well, Griner, when your own weapons start blowing up in your face, your army loses its morale real fast." "Aw, come on, Ru." "We got to keep walking." "No." "Come on." "No." "You think we're gonna make it out of here?" "If we don't freak." "Let's stick together." "Are you scared?" "Are you?" "Uh-uh." "I used to be." "Now I'm just living it." "Whatever happens, Taylor." "If we're going down, man... maybe it ain't so bad." "But it's permanent." "It's worse than dying." "Okay, two rigged shells per crate." "We cart the real ones off so their inventory matches." "Shells." "Come on, Scarlet." "Let's go." "Percell and reb's got my shells." "All right, give it to me." "Why are these things so heavy?" "You son of a..." "Let's go." "We got eight klicks of humping to the PZ." "I want us out of here before the dinks come home." "Take it easy, Fontaine." "We're on schedule." "I got it." "I'm watching them." "That's affirmative, Goldilocks." "The nuts have been planted, and no squirrels in sight." "Withholding smoke at PZ Calcutta." "Roger, out." "What's that?" "I doubled the reward." "Makes them crazy." "And they busted you for that?" "Yep, 13th time." "Thirteenth time?" "Man..." "Don't laugh." "I may be shooting for the record." "When did they take your first stripe?" "Forty... '44." "Forty-four?" "My mom was only 15 then." "I may have dated her." "What's with this guy, Fontaine?" "Fontaine..." "Hell, just your average, ordinary, garden variety kind of psychopath." "Your sergeant hates him." "Yeah, well, see, when Taylor and Ruiz didn't make it back to the ship, old Fontaine figured we ought to bomb the area anyhow." "Didn't make no difference anyhow." "They ain't coming back." "Let me tell you boys something." "I've learned a lot in my years in the army." "One of them is, don't dwell on your losses... but don't write them off either." "Near the end of World War II, my unit was part of a spearhead landing on Okinawa." "Now, those Japs, they make these gooks look like Girl Scouts." "Anyway, two of our guys got separated during the battle." "After we secured the island about a week later, they... they still hadn't come back." "Everybody shrugged... and wrote them off for dead..." "But that's the way it is in the Army." "You get close... but not too close." "Did you ever learn what happened to them?" "Nobody ever heard from Maloney again." "No dog tags." "No body." "No nothing." "I crawled out after 29 days." "I'm not gonna do that." "You're gonna have to learn to, Ru." "This jungle can keep us alive, but we got to follow its rules." "Yeah, well, there's just some lines" "I'm not crossing, Taylor." "You know what kills me about dying?" "We're not gonna die." "I don't mean here." "I mean whenever it happens." "What?" "All the things we won't get to know." "You know what I mean?" "All the questions that won't get answered." "Like, is there life on Mars?" "Is there gonna be a first black president?" "Or a Puerto Rican president." "What's Spiro Agnew's real name?" "Stuff like that." "Just 'cause he's crazy doesn't mean I am." "I'm crazy?" "You prove to me you ain't crazy." "I been saving it." "Sort of like a reward." "Mm." "You let me eat a bug." "You let me eat that bug." "My dad fought in WWII." "Battle of the Bulge." "He got a story for every day he's over there." "Always preaching about the glory of war." "My old man was an expert on it too." "Real tough guy till he had his heart attack." "Now he tries to convince me that the only glory in war is surviving." "I agree with him, Danny." "I don't." "I'm surviving." "There ain't no glory in it." "I wish my dad could be over here, just for a day, to see what it's really like." "You seen them all, Pop." "What do you think?" "Greatest sin is dying a useless death." "As long as the Army can tell me what I'm dying for," "I don't ask any questions." "You ever ask any questions about the 'Nam?" "Crapper full, boy." "They're all around us, Ru." "We gotta play dead." "I'm getting real tired of this game." "The NVA will see it, Taylor." "Not if they're looking up." "Do you think they saw it?" "You think it was really your guys?" "Well, it could've been." "It could've been NVA." "Hell, it could've been anything." "Copy that, Bluebird." "We'll rendezvous with the gunships 10 klicks east of the border." "Goldilocks out." "Goddamn." "Say what?" "This is my last war." "I'm too old for this crap." "You think we should cross the river?" "And go where, Ru?" "They're all around us." "Goldman, spotter reports three flash signals in the past day and a half, moving northeast along the river." "Let's take a look, huh?" "What are we looking for?" "Single strobe." "Mirror flash." "Anything." "You get the jams, boys." "Something's burning." "Let's have cover and be smart." "I want visual I.D." "He's coming back, Ru." "We gotta go." "The bad guys will be coming." "Whatever happens, Taylor." "McKay!" "McKay!" "There!" "There!" "All right, we got 'em, Bluebird." "We're going in." "Goldilocks, Goldilocks." "I've been hit." "I'm losing pressure." "I gotta..." "I gotta pull up!" "I read you, Bluebird." "Get safe." "I'm going back in." "Taylor, I'm almost out of ammo." "Maybe we better pull back, Ru." "Here they come." "Rockets!" "Rockets!" "We're close!" "We're close!" "Stay down, Ru!" "We can't make it." "Let's go, let's go, let's go!" "Come on!" "Let's go!" "Taylor!" "Look out!" "They got the oil line!" "We've been hit!" "We gotta go!" "Let's go!" "Let's go!" "Taylor, we're gonna get them killed!" "No, we're not, Ru." "No, we're not." "Let's go!" "If I can't hang on, we might not make it back." "Yeah, well, at least we can give them a head start!" "Hit 'em!" "Goldman." "They're on their own, man." "Oh, man." "They're not even headed toward our lines."