"Oh, man!" "Is that what I think it is?" "All right, cheesedicks." "Welcome to the Nam." "Follow me." "I'll be dipped in shit." "New meat!" "You dudes gonna love the Nam." "For-fucking-ever." "365 and a wake-up." "Oh, lord." "Watch it below!" "Morehouse, drop back to slack." "Who's on tail-end Charlie?" "Eagle, Eagle, Ripper Six." "Pos rep follows:" "Lemur, Alpha, Whiskey, Alpha, Foxtrot..." "Warren, you get out on flank." " Hey, Hoffmeister!" " Yo?" "You got a smoke?" " No, man, I don't." " Sin loi, man." "Bravo 2-6." "What's the delay on point?" "Having compass trouble again?" "Get a move on, boy." "Boy, what you waiting for?" "He ain't gonna bite you." "That's a good gook." "Good and dead." " Cherry." " Yo, cherry!" "Move it out." "Six says we're jamming them up back there." "Over." "Tell that dipshit to get fucked." "This is 2-5." "Be advised." "We're moving out shortly." "Out." "What's the matter with you, Taylor?" "You are one simple son of a bitch." "I'm sorry, sergeant." "Get that other cherry up here." "Gardner." "And the doc." "Gardner, doc, up!" "Gardner, doc, to the front!" "Gardner, get your ass up the hill, you fat fuck!" "Hurry up, bubble-butt!" " You all right?" " Ants." "I got ants all over my neck." "You got some red ants." "Reds are killers." "Black ants are the worse." "Hurry up, lard-ass!" "I'm so tired!" "Just a little." "Don't drink too much." "I don't want you drinking any more." "I don't want you cramping up." "You're humping too much stuff." "You don't need half this shit." "I'll haul it for you." "But next time check with me first, all right?" "Thanks, sarge." " Are you okay?" " Yeah." "2- 2, this is six." "I understand you have a bird inbound at your pos." "Bravo Six, be advised." "Resupply helo is inbound at this time." "Over." "Go, you people!" "Get that ammo off now!" "It ain't D-E-R-E." "It's D-E-A-R." "And Sarah ain't got no two R's, King." "Damn, you dumb!" "Don't matter." "She know what I mean." "She don't read too good no how." "Look at this shit!" "Pork again!" "Trade me that turkey loaf for this pork shit, man." "I can't eat this shit." "What you been smoking?" "I hope you don't get that laundry gig." "Your ass need to hump, hump." "Hey, white boy!" "What you waiting for?" "That hole won't dig itself." "Come on." "Get your dick skin on that thing!" "You ain't got all day!" "Dig, dig!" "Somebody once wrote, "Hell is the impossibility of reason. "" "That's what this place feels like:" "hell." "I hate it already, and it's only been a week." "Some goddamn week, Grandma." "The hardest thing I've ever done is go on point three times this week." "I don't know what I'm doing." "A gook could be right in front of me and I wouldn't know it." "I'm so tired." "We get up at 5:00 a. m  hump all day, camp around 4 or 5, dig a foxhole, eat  then put out an all-night ambush or a listening post." "Nobody tells me how to do anything because I'm new." "Nobody cares about the new guys." "They don't want to know your name." "A new guy's life isn't worth much because he hasn't put his time in yet." "If you're gonna get killed in Nam, it's better to get it in the first weeks." "The logic being, you don't suffer that much." "If you're lucky, you stay in the perimeter  then pull a guard shift, so you sleep three or four hours." "But you don't really sleep." "I don't think I can keep this up for a year." "I've made a big mistake coming here." "We got beaucoup movement." "3rd Battalion got hit 15 klicks north of here." "Charlie had claymores strung in the trees." "Blew a whole fucking platoon to pieces." "Bad shit." "Got two lieutenants and a captain." "Jesus." "All right, who do you want on ambush?" "Elias, you take your squad out." "Warren, stay in, but I need Tex and Junior from your squad." "Roger." "Move out in 2-0 mikes." "I thought it was O'Neill's turn tonight." "Tubbs and Morehouse are short." "Fu Sheng is going on R and R tomorrow." "You want to send them out on ambush?" "You got the fresh meat, buddy." "They don't know shit and we'll probably run into something." "Think about it." "Great." "What do you want me to do?" "Get one of my guys zapped so a lame ass can get his beauty sleep?" "Hey, O'Neill take a break." "You needn't be a prick every day." "Elias, get your men ready." "Guy's in 3 years, thinks he's Jesus Christ." "O'Neill, your short-timers stay in, but you go out." "I need veterans out there." "Sergeant Barnes?" "I think in front of the men, I need to give the orders." "Yes, sir." "Shit, looks like rain." "It's gonna piss on us all night." "It'll put a serious case of crotch rot on that ugly face of yours." "Goddamn, man." "You break your ass for the white man." "No justice around here." "What's O'Neill got, a nose up the lieutenant's ass already?" "Why do we always get fucking ambush?" "Because it's politics, man." "Politics." " Did I show you a picture of Lucy Jean?" " No, you didn't." "She's the one for me all right, that Lucy Jean." "She's waiting for me too." "She's real pretty." "You're a lucky guy, Gardner." "You got a picture of your girl?" "That leaves some unlucky girl back home, don't it?" "Tuck this in." "Shit-can this." "Don't need this." "Turn around." "Come on." "Tex!" "You got Junior and Taylor here on your position." "Elias, don't mess with my pig." "I ain't getting greased tonight." "Keep this cheesedick off my ass." "You got Taylor." "Gardner, you're with me." "In case anything happens to you, you get lost or separated don't yell out, okay?" " Okay." " Just sit tight and we'll get to you." " All right." "Saddle up!" "Lock and load!" "Mom and Dad didn't want me to come here." "They want me to be just like them:" "Respectable, hard-working, a little house, a family." "They drove me crazy with their goddamn world, Grandma." "You know Mom." "Having always been sheltered and special  I want to be anonymous like everyone else." "Do my share for my country." "Live up to what Grandpa did in the first war, Dad in the second." "Well, here I am." "Anonymous, all right." "With guys nobody really cares about." "They come from the end of the line." "Small towns you never heard of." "Polaski, Tennessee." "Brandon, Mississippi." "Pork Bend, Utah." "Wampum, Pennsylvania." "Two years high school's about it." "If they're lucky, a job waiting for them in a factory." "Most of them got nothing." "They're poor and unwanted  yet they're fighting for our society and freedom." "It's weird." "They're the bottom of the barrel, and they know it." "Maybe that's why they call themselves grunts." "Because a grunt can take it, can take anything." "They're the best I've ever seen, Grandma." "The heart and soul." "Hey, Taylor?" "Hey, cheesedick, you're up." " What?" " You're up." " Sure you can work the claymores?" " I'm sure." "Flick the safety off and bang on it three times." "Three times." "I got it." "Don't catch any Z's on me, or I'll sling your sorry ass!" "Hear me?" "Okay." "Maybe I finally found it way down here in the mud." "Maybe from down here I can start up again." "Be something I can be proud of without faking it." "Be a fake human being." "Maybe I can see something I don't yet see, learn something I don't yet know." "I miss you." "I miss you very much." "Tell Mom I miss her too." "Chris." "Junior." " All right, motherfucker." " It's your shift, man." "Here, take this." "Blow the fucking claymore!" "Take the safety off!" "Damn it!" "Take the safety off!" "Damn it!" "Get the safety off!" "Feed me, Junior!" "Get over here and feed me!" " Jesus-fucking-Christ!" " Easy, boy." " Doc, Gardner's hit!" " Right there!" "Oh, shit." "I'm hit!" "Doc, Taylor's hit!" "Taylor's hit!" " Oh, shit." " Doc, doc!" "How bad is it?" "He didn't blow his claymore!" "Relax, man." "It's a scratch." "Hold this on here." "Don't lie." "How bad is it?" "He let them walk right up on us!" "He was asleep on his shift!" "No, I did not." "Big Harold, keep an eye on him." "Don't let him go into shock." "Shut up!" "Shut up and take the pain." "Take the pain!" "Red rag, red rag, bravo six." "I have NDPs at this time." "Over." "Hey, little guy, you're gonna be okay." "Don't worry." "Do you know if you're gonna die?" "Do you feel it'll all be fine?" "No morbid bullshit." "You're about to get out of here." "They're gonna give you three hot meals a day." "White sheets." "Pretty white nurses will give you blow jobs if you pay them." " I heard about them white bitches." " Don't baby talk him." "The cocksucker fell asleep." "He let them walk right up on us!" "Just shut up, Junior." "You relax." "Okay, man?" "It's not so bad dying." "How long?" "How long?" "Bird's on the way." "Hang in there." "You'll make it." "Come on, Gardner, hang in there." "You're gonna make it!" "Come on." "Don't quit." "Come on, Gardner, help me." "Don't give up!" "You all take a good look at this lump of shit." "Remember what it looks like." "You fuck up in a firefight and I guarantee you a trip out of the bush in a body bag." "Out here, assholes, you keep your shit wired tight at all times." "That goes for you, shit-for-brains." "You don't sleep on no fucking ambush." "The next son of a bitch I catch copping Z's in the bush I'm personally gonna make him suffer." "I shit you not." "Tag him and bag him." "I didn't fall asleep, sergeant." " It was Junior." " Shut up, chickenshit." "You're in big trouble, boy." "Excuses are like assholes." "Everybody's got one." "Knock it off!" "We got two men need attention here." "Police up your extra ammo and frags." "Don't leave nothing for the dinks." "Carry Gardner." "Man would be alive if he had a few more days to learn something." "Hey, Taylor." "What's in the breeze?" "Got light duty." "Three days' worth." "No shit." "Too bad we're in base camp anyway." "What you got?" "Beers?" "Stole some from the Top's supply." "Shit, he's been stealing it from us." "What are you, back?" "Yeah, it looks like it." "Where'd you get the beers, boy?" "I found it." "Found it?" "You're going on report, son, now." "Both of you, come with me." "I got a job for you." "Motherfucker!" "I'm too short for this shit, man." "They're always fucking with us." "No letup." "Politics, man." "Fucking politics." "That O'Neill's got his nose so far up Top's ass, he's gotta be Pinocchio." "Thirty-nine and a wake-up." "A pause for the cause and I'm a gone motherfucker." " Back to the world." " I hear you." "I broke a hundred the other day." "Ninety-two left to go." "April 17th." "Home to California." "I'll be sitting outside checking out the babes on the beach." "The surfing's gonna be good." "March, man, in Tennessee." "Sniff the pines." "Sniff that pussy down by the river." "Hot damn!" "Hey, Taylor, how long you got left?" " Three hundred and what?" " Thirty-two." "Three hundred and thirty-two days." "Sin loi, my boy." "I can't even remember when I was 332, man." "You gotta count backwards or something, like you got 40 days in." "Think positive, dude." "How in the fuck did you get here anyway?" "You look educated." " I volunteered for it." " You did what?" "I volunteered." "I dropped out of college and told them I wanted infantry, combat, Vietnam." "You volunteered for this shit, man?" "Can you believe that?" "You is a crazy fucker, giving up college." "It didn't make much sense." "I wasn't learning anything." "Why should the poor kids go to war and the rich kids get away with it?" "What we got here is a crusader." " Sounds like it." " Shit." "You gotta be rich in the first place to think like that." "Everybody knows the poor's always fucked over by the rich." "Always have, always will." "If you be cool, I'll introduce you to some of the heads." "What are the heads?" "Later, man." "What's up, brother?" "Your Highness has arrived." "What's happening?" "I thought you was hanging ten in Cambodia." "Why are you in the underworld?" "This ain't Taylor." "Taylor been shot." "This is Chris." "He been resurrected." "You lame, Taylor?" "Are you lame or something?" "Go ahead, old man." "Smoke it." "Your shit's in the wind, troop." "Hey, man." "What's happening?" "If you do that "baa," you do it right." "You're weird, man." "You're a child." "I don't waste time on you." " First time?" " Yeah." "Then the worm has definitely turned for you, man." "Feel good?" "Yeah, it feels good." "I got no pain in my neck now." "Feeling good's good enough." "Put your mouth on this." "Where the hell is everybody, man?" "They're getting high." "Bunch of hopheads." "They think they're special." "Listen to that." "That's a bad jam." "Redneck noise, dude." "That's all it is." "Make about as much sense as you do." "All them chucks be rapping about how they losing their ho saying how they ain't got no bread for beer." "Fuck that honky shit!" "Gotta get me some Motown jams, dig it?" "What are you talking that shit for?" "Junior, you ever smoke any shit?" "That's right." "You trying to keep the black man down and string him out on that shit." "But the time's coming when the black man will throw that yoke off." "Simple." "Free your mind, your ass will follow." "Yeah, I can dig it, man." "You smoke that shit and everything gets weird." "You hear about gooks putting chemicals in the grass so we don't fight, so we become pacifists." "But don't you worry, Bunny, you's a killer anyway." "But I still like a piece of pussy once in a while." "Nothing like a piece of pussy, except maybe the Indy 500." "Only way you get pussy is if the bitch dies and wills it to you and then maybe." "How's it going, Bunny?" "L.T." "Check it out." "You like that?" "Terrific." "I'll send it home." "Hey, Junior." " Lieutenant." " Hello, sir." "Rodriguez, that's quite a shrine you have." "Thank you, sir." " You need anything?" " No, sir." "Now, wait." "This guy's three or four times my size." "Now, wait." "This guy's three or four times my size." "He's in the O'Neill death grip." "He doesn't know whether to shit or go blind." " What do you say, L. T?" " How you doing, Red?" "Not good." "This cocksucker has every card in the deck." "Full house." "You're doing all right." "Yeah, and I ain't even cheating yet." " Lieutenant, some Kentucky windage?" " Oh, thanks, Andy." "Play, lieutenant?" "No." "Wouldn't want to get raped by you guys." "Why's that, lieutenant?" "What are you saving up to be?" "Jewish?" "I gotta run." "I'll catch you men later." "Enjoy yourselves tonight." "That is one sorry-ass motherfucker." "What do you say there, Bob?" "A guy like that make it?" "Yes or no?" "I have to say that's precisely what I saw." "Sometimes I just look at a guy, and I know he's not going to make it." "Just no fucking way." "New Year's Day. 1968." "Just another day." "Staying alive." "Lots of movement near the Cambodian border." "NVA regiments moving across." "A lot of little firefights, ambushes." "We drop bombs, then we walk through the jungle like ghosts in a landscape." "Bunker." "Where?" "Bravo 2, Bravo 2-5." "I've got beaucoup bunkers up here." "Over." "2- 5, 2." "Roger." "Bunkers at point." "Two actuals on the way." "Over." "Bravo 6, Bravo 2." "Be advised there is a bunker complex up front." "We're on our way down." "Over." "See you next week." "Taylor, get your ass up on that flank, about 50 meters." "Washington, you cover this side." " Yes, sir." " Get off your ass, Harold." "Shit." "Bummer!" "Christ, look at that." "The teapot's still boiling." "They were just here!" "Man, this is spooky, Sander." "Let's get out of here." "Watch it, watch it!" "Look what we got, Sal." "We got maps." "We got S- 2 stuff." " That's the gooks' stuff." "Let's go!" "No, Sal, this is important." "This is important." "Come on." "Let's go." "Booby trap!" "Get down!" "Medic!" "Holy gee!" "Goddamn it." "We got two men down, sir." "There was an explosion." "This..." "We need help, sir." "ASAP." "Move your ass out of here!" "One round to get you all!" "Rodriguez, move it!" "Junior, let's go!" "Lieutenant." "Tell 6 we need engineers." "This pos is full of traps." "They're coming." "NVA were seen at a village half a klick down the river." "Now, 6 says to get there ASAP." "Also, leave four of your men here and a medic." " All right." " Move it out." "Pull the flanks in!" "Let's move!" "Hey, where's Manny?" "Manny, where you at?" "We had to reach the village before dark." "We left Elias and some men to keep looking and to wait for the engineers." "We left Elias and some men to keep looking and to wait for the engineers." "But it was King who found him  about 1000 yards downriver, not far from the village." "It was the end of the mystery." "The motherfuckers." "The village, which was maybe 1000 years old, didn't know we were coming." "If they had, they would have run." "Barnes was at the eye of our rage and through him, our Captain Ahab  who would set things right again." "That day, we loved him." "There he goes, sarge." " Pick him up." " Yeah, you got it, sarge." "Let's go." "Get that stupid look off your face!" "O'Neill, clear out these hooches." "Hey, piggy-piggy." "Hey, pig." "Bunny, you've got to bring the hooches down." "Spread out on the right." "Watch your back." "Let's go!" "What do you got here, huh?" "Get over there!" "Move it!" "Come on, let's go!" "Let's go, Junior, bring them in." "Get out of there, you fuckheads!" "Move!" "Come on!" " Put them in the pigpen!" " Get over here." "Get back!" "Shut up!" "Give me your willie pete." "Get back!" "Fire in the hole!" "Shut up!" "Get them out of here!" "Oh, fuck!" "We got one." "Get the fuck out of the hole!" "Get out of there." "Come on, motherfucker!" "Be cool!" "Be cool!" "They're scared, man!" "Oh, they're scared, huh?" "What about me, man?" "I'm sick of this fucking shit!" "Come on, motherfucker, move!" "Watch this fucker!" "Who the fuck do they think we're fighting for?" " You got one more!" " Hey, hey!" "Well, what have we here?" "They have one, two, three, four Mag 58 Czechoslovakian machine guns." "They got two, four..." "Barnes, they got enough rice here to feed a whole fucking regiment." "Sergeant Warren, you bring the honcho over here." "Tubbs, get out of there!" "Junior, burn it!" "What the fuck's the matter?" "I wasn't gonna hurt you!" "Look like I was gonna hurt you?" "Why didn't you listen to me?" "!" "Why didn't you fucking listen to me?" "!" "Fucking stupid?" "!" "You stupid asshole!" "Get the fuck up here!" "Come here, motherfucker!" "What are you smiling at?" "!" "Why the fuck didn't you listen to me?" "!" "Do them, man!" "What are you smiling at?" "!" "You want something to smile at, huh?" "!" " You want something to smile at?" "!" " That's right!" " Dance, motherfucker!" " Yeah!" "Dance, one-legger!" "Dance!" "Dance!" "Dance!" "One-legged motherfucker!" "Come on." "Come on, let's go, man." "Fucking pussy, man!" "He's laughing at you!" "That's the way the gook laughs." "Yeah, sure you are!" "You're real sorry, ain't you?" "You're just crying your little hearts out about Sandy and Sal and Manny." "Forget about it, Bunny, huh?" "Let's go." "What do you say?" "Holy shit!" "You see that fucking head come apart, man?" "I never seen brains like that before, man." "I bet you the old bitch runs the whole fucking show." "She probably cut Manny's throat." "Probably cut my balls off if she could." "Bunny, we leave now, nobody saw a thing!" "You understand, Taylor?" "Come on, let's fucking do her!" "Let's do the whole fucking village!" "There's scars on this gook honcho, sarge." "Get out of here, Tubbs." "Where did he get these wounds?" " Says he was hit in a bombing raid." " He's a dink for sure." "Ask him why these weapons are here." "They had no choice." "The NVA killed the old honcho when he said no." " He says all the rice is theirs." " Oh, bullshit, Lerner." "Who the hell was the gook we nailed on the riverbank?" "He doesn't know." "The NVA ain't been here in a couple of months." " Maybe he was a scout." " Yeah, sure." "A scout." "What about the rice and the weapons?" "!" "Who they for?" "!" "An NVC!" "That cocksucker knows what I'm saying." "Don't you?" "Goddamn right he does." "He's lying!" "Waste the fucker!" "Then see who talks." "Look, he says he doesn't know anything." "He hates the NVA, but they come when they want and take over." "What's the bitch saying?" "She's going on about why we killed the pigs they're farmers, they have to make a living..." "Shut up!" "Shut her the fuck up!" "You tell him to start talking or I'll waste more of them." "Tell him, Lerner!" "Let us in on this, all right?" "Let's go for it!" "Let's do the whole fucking village!" "Come on, sarge." "What the fuck are we waiting for?" " Let's do them!" " Out of my way!" "This is his daughter, right?" "Right?" "You lie!" "No, you lie!" "You VC!" "Barnes!" "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" "Stay out of this." "It ain't your show." "You ain't a firing squad, you piece of shit!" " Get him!" " Come on, Barnes!" "Get him!" "Get him!" "Tear his fucking head off!" "Come on, Elias." "Send him to hell!" "Goddamn it!" "Come on, break it up!" "Break it up!" "Break it up!" "Elias, chill." "You're dead, Elias!" "I swear to fucking God, you're dead!" "You!" "You're gonna do time in LBJ!" "This shit won't wash, you puke!" "Break it up!" "Break it up!" "Shut up!" "Break it up!" "Listen up!" "Captain says to torch this place, hear that?" "Torch this place!" "Blow the weapons in place!" "Round up suspected VC and shake it up!" "We ain't got much light left!" "Lieutenant, why the fuck didn't you do something?" "What are you talking about?" "You know what the fuck I'm talking about." "No, I don't." "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, Elias." "Move it out!" "Let's go!" "You heard the lieutenant!" "Taylor, let's go, for chrissake!" "Police up the weapons and let's go!" "Come on, Harold." "Fire in the hole!" "Fire in the hole!" "Hey, come on." "You fucker!" "Get out of here!" "Get the fuck off!" "Don't do it!" "Don't do it!" "You fucker!" "What is this, huh?" "!" "You a homosexual?" "What's your problem?" "She's a fucking dink." "She's a fucking human being, man!" "Fuck you!" "Total fucking cherry, Taylor!" "Fucking animal!" "All of you!" "You're fucking animals!" "Fucking lame fuck!" "You don't belong in the Nam." "This ain't your place." "You don't fucking get it, do you?" "You just don't fucking get it." "It's okay." "Get out of there!" "Police up your dicks and let's go." " I didn't see anything, sir." " I did." "Sergeant Barnes reported the dink as NVA." "My report will have Lieutenant Wolfe as being witness to the shooting." "All right, Elias." " Staff Sergeant Barnes." " Sir!" "I want a full report from you when we get back to the CP." "You got a diary." "I have plenty of eyewitnesses, sir." "Not now, goddamn it!" "Not now!" "We'll get into this at the base camp." "I can promise you, if I find out there was an illegal killing there will be a court-martial." "Right now, I need every man in the field, and you two will cease fire." "Staff Sergeant Barnes." "Sergeant Elias." "You hear me?" " Yes, sir." " Yes, sir." "We're going back into that NVA bunker tomorrow, this time from the east." "You people get some rest, and be back here at the CP at 1900 for a briefing." " Yes, sir." " Yes, sir." "Come on, man!" "You think these chucks give a fuck about you and me?" "It could have been you, Harold, you got in Barnes' way." "And that Bunny?" "That motherfucker's crazy." "I mean, he scares me." "He just scares me." "You bloods are getting too hung up on this shit." "These gooks are a lot smarter than you think." "You know, Barnes knows his shit, man." "They was NVA, every last of them." "He got us this far." "He'll get us the rest of the way." "I don't know, Holmes." "A Christian don't go around a village, cutting off heads and shit." "This shit is really getting out of hand, blowing out of control." "Seems to me that you don't seem to know the difference the way you always shoot up that shit." "I don't know, brothers but I'm hurting real bad inside." "Don't worry, sarge." "Elias won't be able to prove a thing." "He's a troublemaker." "Elias is a water walker." "Like them politicians in Washington trying to fight this war with one hand tied around their balls." "Ain't no need or time for a courtroom out here." " Sarge." " Thanks, Bun." "How did it go there, Bob?" "Yeah, thataway, sarge!" "Fucking Elias, man." "He's a fucking rat, that's what he is." "He'll get everybody in this platoon in deep shit." "Somebody ought to frag his ass." "So, what do you think?" "Gonna be an investigation or what?" "Bob?" "O'Neill, you worry too much." "Sarge will take care of him." "It's a beautiful night." "Yeah, I love this place at night." "The stars..." "There's no right or wrong in them." "They're just there." "That's a nice way of putting it." "Barnes has it in for you, huh?" "Barnes believes in what he's doing." "And you?" "Do you believe?" "In '65?" "Yeah." "Now?" "No." "What happened today is just the beginning." "We're gonna lose this war." "Come on." "You really think so?" "Us?" "We've been kicking other people's asses for so long I figure it's time we got ours kicked." "Day by day, I struggle to maintain  not only my strength, but my sanity." "It's all a blur." "I have no energy to write." "I don't know what's right or wrong anymore." "The morale of the men is low." "A civil war in the platoon." "Half the men with Elias, half with Barnes." "There's a lot of suspicion and hate." "I can't believe we're fighting each other instead of them." "Counting days and the six inches in front of my face." "Not much else." "Hope things are well, Grandma." "Tell Mom and Dad I..." "Well, just tell them." "Chris." "Hey, big boy." "I know you thought you had that laundry gig all laid out." "Hell, I gotta paint myself white just to get one of those jobs." "Got my request in for a circumcision." "I'm getting my big ass out of here." "What are you gonna do, become a rabbi?" "Leech." "All right!" "Move it out!" "Don't drink that, asshole." "You're gonna get malaria." "Yeah, I hope so." "Let's go." "Doc!" "Up here!" "Lerner's hit!" "Sergeant, Warren's hit!" " What's going on?" " They got RPGs, man!" "It's an ambush!" "They were just waiting for us here!" " Who's on point?" " Lerner and Warren." "Where are you going?" "!" "Goddamn it, you assholes!" "Get some firepower up there!" "Right!" "Watch out!" "Rockets!" "Where the fuck is Lerner?" "He's over there!" "By the log!" "Fire mission." "Grid: 6-4-9-4-0-2." "Direction: 6-1-0..." "Adjust fire." "Over." "Lieutenant, they'll get in tight under the arty!" "I saw a cut." "Let me take some men and roll up that flank." "Get Barnes!" "Elias, we got four down." "What do you want me to do?" "Where the fuck is Red Platoon?" "!" "Tell those assholes to get up here!" "Elias, what are you doing back here?" "There's holes back here, 3rd Platoon's coming up here, we're here!" "Dinks get in these holes, we'll be in a crossfire." " We'll shoot each other." " Sounds far-out to me." "I've seen it happen. la Drang in '66." "They cut us to pieces." "I need three men." "You got them!" "Take off!" "You keep pouring off that cover fire." "I don't want to be stuck out there with my ass hanging in the breeze." "You don't tell me how to run my war, Elias." "You go crying to fucking brigade on your own time." "Out here you belong to me!" "Now, move!" "You're an asshole, Barnes." "Get that asshole O'Neill up here!" "Holy fuck." "Stay down!" "Ammo!" "Ammo!" "Sarge!" "Short round!" "Fucking idiot!" "Get it out!" "Medic!" "Satchel charge!" "Doc!" " Doc, help me out." " All right, down." "Jesus." " You okay?" " Don't leave me, man." " You all right?" " Don't leave me, man." " Hey, Gator, you'll be okay, man." " Don't leave me, man." "Gator?" "Gator, you'll be okay." "Let him go, man." " Drop your rucks." " Taylor, you're coming with us." "Please don't go." "You're gonna be okay." "Come on." "Doc, take care of him, man." "Redleg, Redleg." "Ripper Bravo 2 actual." "Adjustment follows:" "Bridge..." "You ignorant asshole!" "What the fuck coordinates are you giving?" "You wasted a lot of people up there with your fucked-up fire mission!" "Do you know that?" "Do you know that?" "Ah, shit!" "Redleg!" "Redleg!" "Ripper Bravo 2." "Check your fire!" "Check your fire!" "They're coming." "Stagger yourself across this line." "Shoot anything that moves." "They'll be coming from over there." "Any one of them gets through, we are truly fucked." "Where the hell are you going?" "Down by the river about 100 meters in case they try to flank us." "3rd Platoon is coming behind us." "Watch for them." "Hey." "Can I go with you?" "No." "I move faster alone." "Let's let arty do a bit of the work." "Tell everyone to pull back to the church and link up with 3rd Platoon." "You got that?" "What about Elias?" "If we pull back, he'll be cut off." "You just haul ass too, lieutenant." "I'll get him." "Come on." " I got two of them fuckers, man." " I got one." "Ho Chi Minh sucks dead dick!" "Crawford!" "Oh, man." "Oh, man." "Kiss my ass." "Man, I never thought I'd get hit." "A lung, babe." "You got two of them fuckers." "Where's Elias?" "A bunch of gooks came through here." " We got three of them fuckers." " Hey!" "The arty shifted." "We're pulling back." "Get your wounded man and get the fuck back to church." " Elias is still out there." " I'll get him." "Get Crawford in now before I Article 15 both your asses." "Move." "Move it!" "Almost there, brother." "Come on." "Medic, where the fuck are you?" "It's gonna be all right in a minute." "Taylor, where are you going?" "Elias is dead." "Fall back with the platoon." "Get going." "He's dead?" "Yeah, he's back there about 100 meters." "You saw him?" "Where?" "He's dead!" "There's gooks all over the goddamn place!" "Get moving!" "Let's go!" "Come on, move it!" "Let's go!" "Move it!" "Okay, let's go!" "You okay, Harold?" "You're on the next one!" "You're okay, bud!" "Oh, fuck!" "They've got Elias!" "What?" "Back down!" "Back down there!" "Snake 1-9, Fly 4." "There's still one of the men down there." "Hold your arms." "Guns, hold off." "He killed him." "I know he did." "I saw his eyes when he came in." "How do you know the dinks didn't get him?" "You got no proof." "Proof's in the eyes." "When you know, you know." "You saw." "I know what you were thinking." "I say we frag him tonight." "I go with that." "An eye for an eye." "I say let military justice do the job on him." "Come on, fuck the military justice!" "Are you joking me?" "Whose story you think they'll believe?" "O'Neill's?" "Bunny's?" "Bullshit!" "You try that, Barnes will shove it back up your ass, with a candle on it." "What do you suggest we do?" "Watch your own asses." "Barnes will be coming down on all of them." "You gonna forget about Elias?" "All the good times we had here?" "Shit, you trying to cure the headache by cutting off the head." "Elias didn't ask you to fight his battles for him." "And if there's a heaven, and God, I hope there is he's sitting up there drunk as a fucking monkey and smoking shit because he left his pains down here." "You're wrong!" "Anyway you cut it, Barnes is a murderer!" " Right on." " Taylor when you first came in here, you told me how you admired the bastard." " I was wrong." " You've never been right about nothing!" "Dig this, you assholes, and dig it good." "Barnes been shot seven times, and he ain't dead." "Does that mean anything to you?" "Barnes ain't meant to die." "The only thing that can kill Barnes is Barnes." "Talking about killing?" "You all experts?" "You all know about killing?" "Well, I'd like to hear about it, potheads." "You smoke this shit to escape from reality?" "Me, I don't need this shit." "I am reality." "There's the way it ought to be, and there's the way it is." "Elias was full of shit." "Elias was a crusader." "Now, I got no fight with any man who does what he's told." "But when he don't the machine breaks down." "And when the machine breaks down, we break down." "I ain't going to allow that." "From any of you." "Not one." "You all love Elias." "You want to kick ass." "Well, here I am." "All by my lonesome." "And ain't nobody gonna know." "Six of you boys against me." "Kill me." "I shit on all of you." "You motherfucker!" "Come on, man." "Get him, Chris." "Easy, Barnes." "Don't do it, man!" "You'll go dinky dau in LBJ, man." "Ten years for killing an enlisted man." "Ten years." "Climb the fucking walls, man." "Don't do it." "Death?" "What do you all know about death?" "They sent us back into the valley the next day  about 2000 meters from Cambodia into a battalion perimeter." "It felt like we were returning to the scene of a crime." "Alpha Company had been hit hard the day before by a sizable force." "Charlie Company had been probed that night." "There were other battalions in the valley  but we knew we were the bait to lure them out." "Somewhere out there was the entire 141st NVA regiment." "Caught them trying to pull some shit on Charlie Company last night." "They found maps on them, man." "Got a friend at Battalion, says they had every foxhole here fixed on." "Distances, tree lines, our claymores, everything." "This is bad, man." " I got bad vibes here." " I also heard we're in Cambodia now." "Cambodia?" "Man, you're kidding me." "You wanted to see me, sir?" "Yeah, Ramucci." "Looks like you got Elias' squad now." "Squad?" "I didn't know we were still referring to this platoon as squads." "I want you to take those two holes, right there and there." "Tie it off with Barnes up here and King down there." "Begging your pardon, sir my two holes are so far apart, a regiment could run between them." "I have five live bodies left." "I don't want to hear your problems." "You'll get new men any day." "Make do like everybody else." " I didn't ask for this." " I don't want to hear it." " You don't want to hear it?" " That's right." "Because, to tell you the truth, I don't give a shit." "I just don't give a flying fuck anymore." "I'm glad I ain't going with them." "Somewhere out there is the beast and he hungry tonight." "What a fucking bummer." "Ten days and a wake-up, and I'm still dealing with this shit." "What's the matter with you?" "Why ain't you writing nobody?" "What about your folks?" "That grandma you told me about?" "Girl?" "You got parents, don't you?" "There must be somebody." "No, there's nobody." "You been smoking too much of this shit." "Gotta control that." "Bring a man down." "I remember when you first come out here to the bush, you's green as..." "You ever get caught in a mistake you just can't get out of?" "There's a way out of anything." "Just keep your pecker hard and your powder dry and the worm will turn." "How many days you short?" "It's not just me." "It's how the whole thing works." "People like Elias get wasted." "People like Barnes go on making up all the rules any way they want." "So, what do we do?" "Sit in the middle and suck on it." "We just don't add up to dry shit." "Whoever said we did?" "All you got to do is make it out of here and it's all gravy." "Every day, the rest of your life." "Gravy." "Oh, shit." "Superlifer." "Collect up your shit." "Your orders just come through." "Man, don't fuck with me." "Oh, what do you need, a written invitation?" "Cocksucker!" "Oh, wow!" "The lifers done made a mistake!" "They cut me some slack!" "You got 10 minutes to make the last fucking chopper out of here." "Because if you're not on it I'm gonna be." "Taylor, Francis is coming up." "That's great, King, I'm happy for you." "Take it on home for me." "You got my address." "You know where to reach me anytime." "I gotta di di." "Don't want to miss that chopper." " You okay?" " Yeah, I'm okay." "Remember, take it easy." "Don't think too much." "Don't you be no fool." "Remember, ain't no such thing as a coward out here." "My man." "I'll walk you out, man." "Take it easy, King." " I'll take it any way I can get it." " I hear you." "Later." "I'm pretty fucked up, sarge." "Don't touch it!" "I gotta get on the chopper, man." " So, what's the problem?" " Says he can't walk." "Shit." "Martin get your boots on." "And the next time I catch you spraying skeeter repellent on your feet I'll court-martial your nigger ass." "Then court-martial me, motherfucker!" "Bust my ass!" "Send me to fucking Long Binh!" "Do your fucking worst!" "You white folks got your last klick out of Junior!" "O'Neill, get me that centipede." " Sarge?" " Yeah." "That long, hairy, red and black bastard I found in the ammo crate." "I'm gonna put it in this boy's crotch." "I remember now." "Hold up, man!" "You just hold up and wait, okay?" "Fuck it, I'll walk!" "I'll fucking walk!" "Fucking pussy!" "Sarge, I gotta have him in my hole?" "Yeah." "Bob, I'd like to speak to you a minute." "I can't take it no more." "Yeah, what is it?" "Bob, I got Elias' R and R. It's coming up in three days." "I was thinking about going to Hawaii and see Patsy." "I never asked you for a thing over here." "Well, to be honest with you I was hoping you'd put me on a chopper with King." "What do you say?" "I can't do that for you." "You know we need every swinging dick in the field." "You can talk to me, for chrissake!" "I'm just asking for three days." "I am talking to you, Red." "And I'm telling you no." "Get back in your foxhole." "Bob, I've got a bad feeling on this one, all right?" "I mean I've got a bad feeling." "I don't think I'm gonna make it out of here." "You understand what I'm saying?" "Everybody gotta die sometime, Red." "Oh, shit!" "Goodbye, motherfuckers!" "Where's that fucking ambush?" "They ain't even waiting till later." "It's fucking coming now, man." "Right fucking now." "You know, Junior?" "Some of the things we done, man I don't feel like we done something wrong." "But sometimes, man I get this bad feeling." "I told the padre the truth." "I like it here." "You get to do what you want, nobody fucks with you." "The only worry you got is dying." "And if that happens, you won't know about it so, what the fuck, man?" "Shit." "I got to be in this hole with you, man?" "I just know I shouldn't have come." "Don't you worry, Junior." "You're hanging with Audie Murphy here." "Bravo 3, Bravo 6." "Send me a grid, send me a grid." "Over." "I can't, sir." "We're pinned down." "They're in the trees." "Okay, 3 Alpha, now calm down, son." "I'll get you a fire mission ASAP." " Smoke will be first." " Lieutenant and radioman are dead." "I can't find the map." "They're all around us." "Hundreds of them." "I can hear them talking gook." "3 Alpha, spot that smoke and tell me where to shift." "Just calm down." "Hang in there." "We'll get you out." "Where did the rounds hit?" "Over." "3 Alpha 6, how about those rounds?" "Can you adjust fire?" "Over." "3 Alpha 6, if you can't talk, just key your handset twice." "Over." "Shit." "Trip flare, Rodriguez's hole." "RPG." " Taylor." "Francis." " Over here, man!" "What's going on?" "Rodriguez's hole just got nailed." "Here it is." "We got gooks in the fucking perimeter." "Shit." "That's it!" "They got through Alpha Company." "Anything that don't identify itself fucking blow it away." "Fuck." "Air strikes coming in." "They'll be laying snake and nape." "Don't get out of your fucking holes." "Stay right here." "Fuck." "They're probing us." "They'll go up and down, trying to get through." "All right, stay here." "Stay cool." "I'll be right back." "Foxtrot, Foxtrot." "Echo." "Whiskey." "Over." "Who is it?" "Don't shoot!" "Don't shoot!" "It's the ambush." "Over here, man, hurry!" " Shit." " Water!" "They're all over the place!" "Hundreds of them!" "Moving this way." "They wiped us out!" "We didn't have a chance." " Where's the CP?" " Back there." "Get out of here!" "They're on my ass!" "They ain't stopping for shit!" "Hey, Taylor, let's di di." "You go." "There." "No, hold it." "Hold it." "Out of the hole!" "Fast!" "Get out of the foxhole!" "They're gonna blow it!" "Let's go!" "Let's go!" "Fuck's sake." "Move your fucking ass!" "They're gonna blow..." "Fuck me." "Wait!" "Die, you motherfuckers!" "It's fucking beautiful!" "What are you doing?" "Where are you going?" "Come on, motherfuckers!" "You can do better than that!" "They just keep coming, man!" "Fuck this shit." "Get back here, you gutless shit!" "Get me Bravo ASAP." "Charlie Company reports hand-to-hand, three holes are down." "They need help." "Okay, get two squads from Alpha down there right away." "Go, go!" "Where's that goddamn air strike?" "Hey, you two!" "Where the fuck are you going?" "Can't you get anybody?" "Negative contact." "Can't raise Barnes, 2 Bravo, 2 Charlie, nothing!" " Get me 6!" " Bravo 6!" " Parker's hit!" " Get him in!" "They're coming through our line!" " Where's Barnes?" "!" " He's dead!" "They're all dead!" "Six, L. T!" "Captain, we've been overrun." "We're pulling back." "Over." "Goddamn it!" "Where will you pull back to?" "They're all over the perimeter!" "Now you be advised!" "You will hold in place and you will fight!" "That means you, lieutenant." "Bravo 6 out." "We got zips in the wire down here." "Roger that, Bravo 6." "Can't run it any closer." "We're packing snake and nape but we're bingo on fuel." "For the record, it's my call!" "Dump all you've got on my pos." "I say again, expend all remaining in my perimeter." "It's a lovely fucking war." "Bravo 6 out." "Roger your last, Bravo 6." "We copy it's your call." "Get them in their holes." "Hang tough, Bravo 6." "We are coming cocked for treetops." "Barnes!" "No!" "Get me a medic." "Go on, boy!" "Do it." "Look out, we got live gooks at 3:00." "Come on, Elmo!" "Move your flea-bitten ass!" "You okay?" "You all right?" "Can you walk?" "Hey, doc!" "We need a medic up here!" " Come on, Elmo." " Doc, we got wounded here!" "That must have been some fucking fight." "You alone here, man?" "Yeah." "Bunch of fucking faggots." "They all left me." "122 wounded and still counting." "Estimate 500 Victor Charlie K.I.A. 22 and still counting." "Over." "Taylor!" "That you?" "Hey, Francis." " Hey, man, how you doing?" " I'm okay." "How you doing?" "Fine, man." "Just fine." "Hey, dig it, we two-timers." "We're gonna get out of here, boy." "I'm gonna see you in the hospital." "We gonna get high, high." "Yes, sir." " How you doing?" " I'm just fine, sir." "Good, because you got 2nd Platoon." "Yes, sir." " Ready?" " You bet." "I think now, looking back  we did not fight the enemy, we fought ourselves  and the enemy was in us." "The war is over for me now  but it will always be there the rest of my days." "As I'm sure Elias will be  fighting with Barnes for, what Rhah called, possession of my soul." "There are times since  I have felt like the child born of those two fathers." "But be that as it may  those of us who did make it have an obligation to build again." "To teach to others what we know  and to try with what's left of our lives  to find a goodness and meaning to this life."