"[♪♪♪]" "MAN [OVER SPEAKER]:" "By direction of the President of the United States," "Bronze Star Medal for valor, First Oak Leaf Cluster, is awarded to Specialist Fourth-Class Alberto Ruiz." "Specialist Ruiz's display of personal bravery and devotion to duty is in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army." "Stop." "Congratulations, Specialist Ruiz." "You've earned this medal, and I'm proud of you." "Thank you, sir." "MAN:" "Atten-hut!" "Where'd you learn to salute, colonel?" "At the Point, sir." "Marching to the beat of a different drummer, are we?" "Raise the elbow." "General Higgins, if you have a problem, sir, perhaps we can discuss it in my office." "Release the troops, Major Duncan." "Yes, sir." "Project." "Atten-hut!" "DUNCAN:" "Dismissed!" "MAN:" "Company, watch your back." "[MEN MURMURING]" "MAN:" "Yeah, I'll do it." "Give me two hours." "What's his beef with Brewster?" "Well, don't quote me, sergeant, but I'd say the colonel pushed Command a little bit too hard about the Phu An massacre." "You mean he pushed, period." "If you're going to play the role of Benedict Arnold and leak classified information to the press, colonel, at least have the guts to do it on the record." "Sir, I filed a formal complaint with the inspector general, so how much more on the record do you want me to get?" "I don't understand you, Brewster." "I fought a lot of years as an infantryman." "I've seen my share of what could be called "atrocities,"" "but I have never seen, nor can I imagine," "American soldiers, men raised by American mothers, massacring innocent women and children!" "The point is, general," "Team Viking saw 42 Vietnamese civilian bodies buried in a ditch at Phu An, so what kind of message are we sending the men if we refuse to investigate?" "And what kind of message are we sending the American people by making a massacre out of a sweep of an enemy vill?" "Sir, if it were 42 American civilian bodies in that ditch, the Army'd call it a massacre, so how many Vietnamese does it take?" "Lieutenant Beller's unit came under fire as they entered Phu An." "They killed 42 enemy agents." "That unit was under your command." "Why don't you believe Lieutenant Beller's report?" "Because Lieutenant Goldman's unit was also under my command, and according to Lieutenant Goldman" "Now, is this the same Goldman who's been in lockstep with you on this whole Phu An business?" "Lieutenant Goldman saw no enemy weapons in the vill, sir." "Lieutenant Goldman's interpretation of the facts is one man's interpretation." "I don't buy it." "Neither does MACV headquarters." "Neither does the Public Information Office." "For God's sakes, colonel, if any part of that story you fed Sid Boyle could be substantiated, do you think they would have run it on the back page?" "Doesn't that tell you something?" "Yes, sir." "It tells me that my complaint is buried in a bureaucratic maze and that that's the end of it, general." "Your complaint will make its way through the proper channels, colonel, but I got to tell you, this sort of rabble-rousing makes for bad press and reflects badly on what we're trying very hard to do over here." "You're wrong about Phu An, colonel." "Now... you drop this crazy investigation of yours, or not only will I relieve you of command, but I will make you an orphan in this man's army." "PERCELL:" "Lieutenant McKay came to see me." "He said something about Colonel Brewster being in trouble with the higher highers." "Well, when you make your career out of sticking your neck out, sooner or later, someone's going to chop it off." "Well, sarge, I sure hope it doesn't have anything to do with me." "I owe that guy a lot." "He went above and beyond for me when I was..." "AWOL." "Well, Brewster goes above and beyond for all his men." "He's a very good officer." "Army needs more like him." "Well, Percell... this is as far as I go." "I got some things I got to do, and I suppose you ought to get on back to the ward." "Sarge..." "Hmm?" "I've been in psych more than a week now." "Cleaned up myself." "I cleaned up my act." "I-I'm feeling good." "Why do I need someone messing with my head?" "Come on, Percell, don't do this." "You got a problem." "Now, you cleaned up your act, that's the first step." "And I'm not an expert, but it seems to me the second step would be find out why you had the problem in the first place." "Huh?" "Do you trust me?" "Yeah." "Yeah, sergeant, I trust you." "All right, then." "Get on back in there." "Do some good." "MAN:" "That's what I told Michael." "They're all booked up." "Everything?" "HOCKENBURY:" "No." "No, no, no." "Goldman, Anderson?" "No." "They're not baby-killers." "They're great guys." "They are." "They're great." "So are the rest of the guys in the unit." "You'd like them." "What?" "Oh, come on." "I'm not defending the war." "God!" "It" " No." "No, I'm defending the guys in my unit." "I did not vote for Nixon." "I wrote in for Gene McCarthy." "Thank you." "Yeah, I did." "I got it." "I got it right here." "Hold on." "Oh, you look beautiful, Nance." "Uh-huh." "No." "Um, you know, the guy with his arm around you?" "Is that, um..." "Is that another grad student?" "So does this, uh... this radical dude with the high draft number have a name?" "No, I just..." "Are you and Ed friends?" "You moved in with him?" "What?" "No, no." "I have no doubt that two can live cheaper than one." "Two can definitely live cheaper than one, especially if they're sharing the same bedroom." "I know all about free love!" "I know we have an open relationship." "That's not" "I thought since I've decided to be monogamous, maybe you had too." "I guess that was my mistake." "Uh-huh." "Well, happy Thanksgiving to you too." "MAN:" "Excuse me, but are you finished?" "What?" "You finished?" "Yes." "It certainly looks to be." "Mm-hmm." "Hi, Percell." "I hear you're not into arts and crafts today." "PERCELL:" "No, sir." "May I ask why?" "It's for kids." "Sergeant Anderson tells me you're anxious to get back to your unit." "Yes, sir, I am." "The guys need me." "And you need them." "That's how it works." "Have you ever let the guys down?" "It's not a trick question." "I did everything that I was brought up to believe was...sin:" "pills, marijuana, heroin." "I even went AWOL." "Yes, sir." "I let the guys down." "It's okay, Percell." "It's not okay." "If it were okay, I wouldn't be here." "Well, everyone handles fear and disillusionment differently." "Some guys can't sleep, other guys wake up paralyzed, still others turn to drugs." "You're clean now, but we'll talk about it a few more times." "That's what we do here." "We get together and talk, so you'll be able to understand why you got hooked." "You can join in the group activities or stay on your bunk." "The choice is yours." "[DOOR OPENS]" "You got a problem?" "Yeah." "Pass the red paint." "[CLEARS THROAT]" "[PEOPLE SPEAKING IN VIETNAMESE]" "I stuck my neck out to give you the facts, Boyle." "What do I get?" "Mishmash of inaccuracies, buried between the classifieds and the stock reports!" "Wait a minute." "If anybody has got a right to be sore, colonel, it's me." "Bull!" "Bull to you!" "I could not substantiate any of your facts." "My editor crucified the article." "Thanks to you," "I'm covering some holier-than-thou congressman for the next week." "I got a two-term migraine and no story, so give me a break." "[SPEAKS VIETNAMESE]" "I got to hand it to you, Brewster." "You keep surprising me." "There aren't many officers over here with a command of the language." "Like I told you, I don't like inaccuracies." "Okay." "Maybe we both got stuck, so what do you say we give it another shot?" "You gotta be kidding." "No, I'm not kidding." "Only this time, the interview goes on the record." "And I substantiate my own story." "[WAITER SPEAKS VIETNAMESE]" "Son of a" "[SIGHS]" "An interview with Carl Brewster?" "It's his obituary." "In lieu of flowers, send donations to Brewster's whores on Pasteur Street." "[LANGUID BLUES PLAYING]" "WOMAN:" "Hey, GI, GI, GI." "Come on, come on, come on." "WOMAN:" "Doc have good back." "Strong." "Good lover." "I can tell." "Ladies, you're looking at the best lover ever to come out of Memphis." "Doc must have had lots of girls." "Lots of boom-booms?" "Doc lost count someplace around 1967." "Doc make boom-boom with me?" "On the house." "I give you good time you never forget." "What's wrong?" "You no like?" "Oh, no, no." "I" " Very much." "I just, um..." "See, we, um... have a..." "We have a medic-patient relationship, you know, and..." "You know, like when I come with Colonel Brewster, and we inoculate?" "It's, uh... uh..." "[SPEAKING VIETNAMESE]" "Um, sacred." "Doc have number-one girl back home?" "Doc used to have number-one girl back home." "I make Doc forget all about her." "I guess I'm an old-fashioned kind of guy." "We like old-fashioned kind of guys." "[KNOCK ON DOOR]" "Come." "Sir." "Come on over, sergeant." "Excuse me." "Am I interrupting?" "No, I'm just working on a theory of mine." "[SIGHS]" "Yesterday... a Chinese-made six-by... was spotted by Team Thor... here." "It had distinctive yellow markings." "It was out of gas, and that same truck was spotted here," "200 miles north, by Marine recon patrol on Sunday." "Given the average tank capacity of 30 gallons at seven miles per, logic dictates there's a major fuel depot located right there within that three-mile radius." "Yes, sir." "Charlie wouldn't send a truck down the trail just to let it run out of gas." "No, he wouldn't." "It's another thing to prove it, though." "Is there something else on your mind, sergeant?" "Yes, sir." "What happened on the parade field yesterday... it wasn't right." "It left a bad taste in everybody's mouth, sir." "[SIGHS]" "Duly noted." "The men are behind you, colonel." "[SIGHS]" "MAN:" "We were wasted." "Twenty days, living like animals." "Our tails were dragging." "A couple of days before, we had walked into this vill, tripped a booby trap." "I can still hear the screaming." "One killed, four seriously wounded." "Man, we were spooked." "We needed a break, but this colonel sent us out again as OPCON to one of his SOG teams." "Then we walked into Phu An." "I heard a grenade blow." "It was enough." "Then it was... sort of like being in a weird shooting gallery, you know?" "There was this one kid... crawling on the ground... and me and my buddy... we used him for target practice." "Oh, yeah." "We made a contest out of it." "I intentionally missed from 10 feet away, and then I walked straight up to that little sucker, and I plugged him." "Why, Budd?" "I felt the need to succeed." "You see that kid, Percell?" "I got him right through here." "Ten-pointer." "What do you mean, you felt the need to succeed?" "You tell him, Percell." "Well, maybe your team operates under different orders, huh?" "Revenge." "Payback." "Frustration." "Hell, we were so ticked off, we would have killed anybody." "And it was okay too, when we were all together." "But then we walked into the light of day, and we saw your unit, Percell." "You ever" "You ever killed a kid, Percell?" "Hmm?" "I shot the kid, but... we both died." "Do you understand that?" "The Army is pretending like it never happened, but I am dead." "I am looking to" "Man, I'm looking to crawl into one of those body bags just to go on home to my folks." "But I..." "I ain't got no bag, so... what am I supposed to do?" "I'm..." "I'm scared of myself, Percell." "What I am... capable of." "I was not this way before." "Can you understand that?" "I am not the kind of guy... who kills babies." "I'm not." "I'm not." "You know, colonel, when I was pressuring you to take some action on the Phu An incident, it never occurred to me that you might be jeopardizing your career." "I did what was necessary under the circumstances, lieutenant." "Yes, sir, but... going to the press." "Did it ever occur to you to use a rifle instead of a shotgun?" "Wait a minute." "The Army is family for me." "I love this system, but experience has taught me one thing, lieutenant." "Sometimes the system needs a little jump-start." "That's why I gave that interview." "BOYLE:" "Colonel Brewster!" "Colonel Brewster!" "Uh, Sid Boyle," "Lieutenant Myron Goldman, one of my team leaders." "Pleased to meet you." "Lieutenant." "Can I buy you a drink?" "Yeah, sure." "Come on." "So how does it, uh, feel, Colonel?" "What do you mean?" "Being relieved of command." "[♪♪♪]" "Thought you knew." "A rumor's been circulating all over town." "Then it's just a rumor, sir." "A colleague at The London Times saw a clerk at MACV Headquarters processing the orders." "Colonel... if it's true, I can help." "You're another Billy Mitchell." "I can take the case to the people." "Can you find a way back, lieutenant?" "Yes, sir." "The Army's going to crucify that poor bastard." "You bought the hammer and nails." "What does that make you?" "General?" "Carl!" "Listen, before you say" "Save it, sir." "I already heard." "I'm being relieved of my command." "I'm sorry." "I was tied up in briefings all day." "I wanted to be the one to tell you." "Jack, how do you tell a friend that he's being reprimanded for speaking the unspeakable, the truth?" "Going to the press was just the final nail in the coffin, Carl." "There was your refusal to close down those bars in Pasteur Street, your unorthodox methods of command, and that complaint you filed alleging a civilian massacre at Phu An." "Oh, hell, Carl, every time you take a deep breath, you tick somebody off." "If it's a choice between ticking somebody off and... paralysis..." "I'll take the ticking somebody off any time." "My prayers are with you, Carl." "No, Jack, you save your prayers." "Save them for the men, women and children who could die because the Army chooses to look the other way." "[SIGHS]" "[DOOR OPENS]" "BREWSTER:" "Happy Thanksgiving, lieutenant." "Colonel." "How--?" "What time is it?" "Five a.m." "How'd you like to volunteer for special assignment?" "Uh, sure." "Look, I've contacted Lieutenant McKay." "See if you can round up" "Sergeant Anderson and the men." "Meet me on the helipad in, say, 10 minutes." "Does this mean you're not being relieved of your command, sir?" "No, but if we get out of here before my orders are delivered, that gives us all day to find a major enemy fuel depot." "Yes, sir." "The blue line is the Ho Chi Minh Trail between Vinh Long and Saigon." "The Xs mark truck sightings by U.S. Intelligence." "Now, my theory is... the enemy has a half-dozen large fuel dumps in the south, located equidistant from each other," "175 klicks." "Based on the average range of the average truck, my gut tells me that one of these dumps is within a three-mile radius of point 8, so let's find it." "[♪♪♪]" "ANDERSON:" "Ho Chi Minh Trail to victory, huh?" "You're being too hard on yourself, man!" "Now, you put some of that guilt where it belongs: on the Army!" "They're the ones telling us the more gooks we kill, the sooner we can win the sucker and go home." "Army didn't pull the trigger, man." "Did you ever walk down the street in your hometown and blow away a few locals?" "No." "Well, then, there it is." "Budd can't blame the Army for his problems any more than I can." "The other guys in my unit," "Ruiz, Taylor, Johnson, they've been through the same stuff I have... and I didn't see them in some scuzzy little alley, smoking dope with some burnt-out dirt bag." "How come?" "I don't know." "What makes you different than your buddies?" "I said, I don't know." "You and me, Percell, we're the same." "No, we're not." "You still care too much." "Now, you listen to the man, Percell." "I saw it the first time I laid eyes on you." "You're one of those poor, naive suckers who bought into the lie," ""My country, always right, never wrong."" "You're like a kid, man, who finally realizes that maybe his parents aren't perfect." "Maybe they're even liars, and they're cheats, and they don't give a damn about him!" "I reckon, when you learn that late in the game, it can really mess with your mind." "[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]" "You know, doc... everything that I was brought up to believe in has been... taken away." "What have I got left?" "What we've all got:" "ourselves... and a few friends." "WOMAN:" "You want to come along with me now?" "MAN:" "Yeah." "[♪♪♪]" "[WHISPERING] What do you think, sarge?" "Looks like a graveyard." "Yeah." "Either that, or Detroit after the riots." "[SCREAM IN DISTANCE]" "[SCREAM IN DISTANCE]" "[SCREAM IN DISTANCE]" "[BIRD SQUAWKS]" "[SCREAM-LIKE SQUAWK]" "MAN:" "We still haven't raised Team Viking, sir." "HIGGINS:" "Is there anybody on this post who knows where the colonel is?" "No, sir." "Lieutenant McKay reporting as ordered, sir." "McKay, I'm looking for Colonel Brewster." "Have you seen him today?" "Yes, I have, sir." "Did you fly him and several members of Team Viking out to an LZ?" "Yes, sir." "For what purpose?" "I am not presently disposed to discuss the mission... sir." "Colonel Brewster's "mission"" "was unauthorized by MACV headquarters." "He is no longer in charge of Project Alpha." "Now, I know you have to pick him and his men up later today, but unless you want to spend the holidays in Long Binh jail, lieutenant, that better be the last thing you do for Colonel Brewster." "Yes, sir." "[♪♪♪]" "Sarge." "LT." "ANDERSON:" "Camouflage." "[METALLIC CLUNK]" "Sarge?" "Be still, now." "Don't move." "[CLUNKING]" "You're gonna live." "[EXHALES]" "Lookie here, Ruiz." "Just lookie here." "Talk about being lucky, huh?" "Luck ain't got nothing to do with it." "Brewster had a theory." "[SOLDIERS SPEAKING VIETNAMESE]" "[GRUNTS]" "[SILENCED SHOTS]" "[GROANING]" "[BONES CRUNCH]" "Three-minute time delay, sergeant." "JOHNSON:" "This place is gonna blow sky-high, sir." "Can we get out that fast?" "It depends on how fast you can run." "Charlie, three o'clock!" "[SILENCED SHOT]" "Thanks, man." "Don't worry about it!" "Just run!" "You men hold tight!" "If colonel has any more theories he'd like to check out," "I'd be happy to volunteer." "I appreciate the vote of confidence, sergeant, but after that show we put on at the fuel depot hits the fan," "I'll be lucky to stay in the Army as a hooch maid!" "Excuse me, sir, but that's a pretty big score." "Isn't that something for General Higgins?" "It is." "It'll just kill him that I did it too." "I'll bet you all the turkey's gone." "Did you ever see my turkey?" "Watch this." "[GOBBLING]" "That's as close to old Tom Turkey as we're going to get this Thanksgiving." "Man, my mom, she cooks the best turkey in the world." "She turns it nice and slow until it's golden brown, and it's never dry, always moist and juicy." "JOHNSON:" "No, no." "You fellas have not tasted cornbread stuffing till you've tasted my mother's." "I'm talking plump and tender, with just the right amount of spices to give it that extra..." "Mm!" "...kick." "Yeah, and sweet potatoes, you know?" "With some marshmallows everyplace and it's all, like..." "It's all gooey and sticky." "[LAUGHS]" "Oh, man, you can get lost in there." "Cranberry sauce." "I love cranberries." "No, wait, wait, wait, wait." "Homemade... honey...biscuits, huh?" "I'm talking soft... sweet... hot... honey biscuits." "[WHIMPERS]" "Come on, gentlemen!" "Move out." "Let's go!" "Where's he going?" "It looks like he's headed for the mess hall." "Wait, mess closes at 7." "It's after 10." "Okay, guys, let's see if we can scrounge up some food." "Leftovers for Thanksgiving, sir?" "Have you ever seen those green beanies pack it away?" "After you, Taylor." "RUIZ:" "Smell that?" "TAYLOR:" "Ahh!" "BREWSTER:" "Table for eight, sergeant major?" "Right this way, sir." "Come on, guys." "Let's not stand on formality." "Dig in." "ANDERSON:" "I don't believe this." "I do not believe this." "Where'd you find the extra turkey, sergeant major?" "That information is released on a need-to-know basis, sir, but I'm sure you'll find it to be a "four-star" bird." "I was able to, uh, take care of some immigration red tape." "Li An and your son are cleared through to the States." "RUIZ:" "Man, I thought they'd completely forgotten us." "Thank you, sir." "I know how much these guys were looking forward to a Thanksgiving dinner." "BREWSTER:" "You've got an outstanding unit there, lieutenant." "From top to bottom, whatever it takes, just make sure your men never go hungry for food or compliments, and that goes for you too." "That's an order." "Yes, sir." "JOHNSON:" "Colonel!" "You going to join us?" "No, I've got a previous engagement, Johnson, but I'm sure one of you gentlemen can handle my portion." "I'll take it!" "See you in the morning." "My Aunt Rose used to cook food just like this." "Mm-hmm." "JOHNSON:" "Stop lying, Taylor." "You're always lying, man." "Let me have a beer, will you?" "Make that two, man." "What's that?" "I didn't get that." "Hey, where's the cranberries?" "I'll get it." "Pass me the biscuits." "Taylor, turkey." "Pass me the gravy." "Turkey!" "Pass me the gravy." "HOCKENBURY:" "There's no marshmallows in the sweet potatoes." "Hey, Percell." "Hey, sarge." "Happy Thanksgiving." "Same to you." "Uh, what are you doing?" "[MEN LAUGHING]" "Just getting the cranberry sauce." "Ah." "[CHUCKLES]" "Don't worry, sarge." "I'm not AWOL." "Dr. Louie sprung me from the hospital so I could be with the team for the holidays." "That's good." "That's the way it ought to be." "Everybody's going to be real happy to see you." "Sarge, I don't want to go in there." "Why not?" "Just can't face the guys, not after I sweat and shook and threw up on 'em." "Sarge, I let 'em down." "Look..." "Percell, everybody lets somebody down sooner or later." "Nobody's perfect." "Bottom line is, you're a good soldier, and everybody's waiting for the cranberry sauce." "Come on." "TAYLOR:" "Sarge, where's the cranberry sauce?" "[DOOR OPENS]" "JOHNSON:" "Hi." "Percell." "Looking good." "Yeah." "It's good to see you, man." "Happy Thanksgiving, Percell." "Glad you made it back, man." "[EXHALES]" "TAYLOR:" "Have a seat, brother." "Sit down and pass the cranberries." "Turkey's getting cold, man." "Yeah, cold." "JOHNSON:" "Here." "Welcome back, Percell." "Pass that man some turkey." "Don't worry about it, man." "It's just Thanksgiving." "[HOCKENBURY LAUGHS]" "Compliments, Colonel Brewster." "ANDERSON:" "Mm-hmm." "Good stuff." "Johnson, pass me that gravy." "Thank you very much." "All right." "I spent last Thanksgiving at Camp David, and the food wasn't any better than this." "[BOTH LAUGH]" "Happy Thanksgiving, everyone." "Please excuse the clothes." "Uh..." "Mr. Ambassador, pleasure to see you again, sir." "What are you doing here, colonel?" "I was invited, sir." "I extended an invitation to Colonel Brewster, sir." "BREWSTER:" "Uh, general, I don't normally mix business with pleasure, but I have some news that I'm sure you'll be happy to receive, sir." "As you know, general, since '66, trucks have been carrying supplies down the Ho Chi Minh Trail." "Now, MACV headquarters supports a theory that gasoline is carried aboard those trucks as part of the cargo." "I believe, sir, that the enemy has major fuel depots well-hidden in a half-dozen places in the south." "If Charlie had fuel dumps, colonel, don't you think we'd know about them?" "Well, sir, the red circle marks a major fuel depot just south of Go Ta Ha, which Team Viking located and destroyed today." "My recommendation, general, is to send in a recon patrol every 175 klicks north of the location marked on that map." "You should find a network of stop-and-gos." "Destroy them, you put a major dent in the enemy's operations." "I wasn't wrong about the fuel supply, sir, and I'm not wrong about Phu An." "[PEOPLE MURMURING]" "Locating major fuel depots along the Trail is quite a coup, general." "I can't wait to tell the President about this, Ed." "Congratulations." "MAN:" "That's wonderful." "WOMAN:" "Congratulations." "[CHUCKLES]" "WOMAN:" "Cheers." "Cheers." "MAN:" "Indeed." "WOMAN:" "General, to you." "Happy Thanksgiving." "Grandma!" "You remember how Aunt Rose used to throw down for Thanksgiving?" "Grandma, we had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits, cranberries!" "No kidding!" "[SPEAKING SPANISH]" "Grandma, it was one of the best Thanksgivings" "I ever had..." "Mommy, come on." "Don't" " Don't cry." "We only got five minutes." "Uh-huh." "I'm okay." "Everything's okay." "[CHUCKLES]" "[VOICE CRACKS] Mom, I'm in Vietnam." "How am I going to meet any nice Puerto Rican girls?" "So how's Bucky doing?" "What about Tiger?" "[LAUGHING] He did?" "Whoa." "Oh, you got my letter?" "Yeah, yeah." "I-I could be home for Christmas." "RUIZ:" "Mom, come on." "It's not like I'm coming home any time soon." "Well, I-I don't know." "I haven't made up my mind yet." "RUIZ:" "Oh, well, she's real pretty." "It's going to be tough leaving these guys." "RUIZ:" "Yeah." "Yeah." "Ma, Ma, Ma!" "Mom, I love you." "We're going to be requesting transfer, sir." "Like hell you are." "You're going to stay right here and do the best you can, or else I've failed and Higgins was right." "You haven't failed, sir." "We'll stay." "Thanks, Mike." "[♪♪♪]" "Sir." "[HELICOPTER FIRING UP]" "[HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRRING]" "[♪♪♪]"