"in 1979, congress authorized a formation of a contingent of elite special forces soldiers who answer only to the president of the united states." "their missions and their very existence are closely guarded secrets protected by the soldiers themselves and their wives who possess secrets of their own." "previously on the unit... you're telling me that anyone i meet on the street could be collecting information for you." "just like anyone you meet on the street could be collecting information for them." "you might have told us." "do i abort the mission?" "you and i both know how it works." "we managup." "our job is to protect the people we work for." "and here i thought our job was to protect the country." "ok. food." "burgers and hot dogs." "chili--from signals." "art spey just landed." "that takes care of one category." "liquor by art spey." "you doin' the korean egg rolls?" "jenny kim's korean egg ranls." "for 400 people?" "i've got an idea." "how many phone cards you gonna buy?" "many as we can." "every 10,000 minutes we buy, we get a reduction of one cent a minute." "for your radio station." "damn, these are good!" ""do you know a family forced to choose" ""between groceries and communication?" ""we're buying phone cards," ""and sending 'em to the troops overseas." "fort griffith old home week."" "good." "will they run it?" "i'm gonna see they run it." "what's the door prize?" "door prize." "go for blane... yeah." "yeah. i got one stop to make." "i'm on my way out." "jenny kim's korean egg rolls." "i'm all about it." "hotter than rr in okinawa." "where are we going to find a mixer big enough to make 400 egg rolls?" "right here." "win one for the gipper, baby." "all right." "t-shirts!" "oh. door prize." "who's doing t-shirts?" "can i see some photo i.d. please, sir?" "welcome back to the base, sergeant major." "sorry about all the ruckus." "it takes all kinds." "it is the secret of the unit." "here i am." "once in, never out." "all right." "off you go." "this your new boy?" "that's right." "is he ready to come in?" "so he says." "all right." "this, uh... this operation here... has been in existence since 1963." "its control is passed down from one generation to the next." "no one but an initiate has or can ever enter that door." "it's the truest thing you'll ever hear." "go for blane." "roger that." "they've moved up our jump-off time." "what is that?" "it's a still." "it's used for making moonshine." "6 letters." "starts with "d."" "sea mammal." "dugong." "what?" "dugong." "take a look at it." "call the boss at langley." "how'd it go, young sergeant?" "m not gonna lie to you, boss." "she's slicker than goose snot." "that's slick indeed." "witness, the seal is unbroken." "did young mac behave himself?" "he was on his best behavior." "and why that?" "'cause we're working with the c.i.a." "boss, we're all working for the taxpayers, aren't we?" "i mean, isn't that why we're here?" "after everything is said and done." "so it seems." "all right. here you go." "one, two... hey, what's the crash code for today in washington?" "butterfly." "what?" "butterfly." "3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9." "waal, you wanted to see it." "now...here it is." "that's what 5 million dollars looks like." "jonas: the diamonds are our ticket into the auction." "white: i'll need your signature." "all right." "full mission." "i'm wicked cool." "red riding hood, completely taken in by my disguise." "mac and me hustled to grandma's house, baked the old lady into a pie." "then we dress up in her wedding gown." "even i was impressed." "the currency of terror." "if you want to be poetic." "that's a lot of engagement rings." "real pretty." "it's not going be so pretty if al qaeda and sheikh dasani get their hands on them." "well, you know, that's true." "well, we'd better be careful then." "what do you say, team?" "hands for being careful." "here's the grease that's gonna get you guys in." "what you got there?" "you for old home week?" "you bet." "how you doing today?" "i'm doing right fine. how you doing?" "if i were doing any better, i'd be arrested." ""back in the army again." "saartn." ""back in the army again." ""tisn't my fault if i dress when i halt." "back to the ar again."" "found it!" "oh, there's the mixer!" "oh, yeah." "knew that was going to go quick." "you want to put up a poster?" "you bet i do." "what you need it for, your party?" "where's the, uh, paddles?" "oh, yeah, yeah. right over here somewhere." "it's got--it comes with the paddle, a couple of paddles." "making egg rolls." "jenny kim's korean egg rolls." "hot as sin." "gonna have a band." "yeah, but i meant what's the money going for?" "phone cards." "phone cards?" "anyone from fort griffith on deployment in iraq, we're giving them free phone cards." "well, that's a good idea." "call home." "you bet." "phone cards free?" "as much as we can buy, all free." "and i've been told that we might have some unaccustomed liquor there." "moonshine." "well, now... you never know." "what you got for a door prize?" "what?" "what's the door prize?" "you wanna make money, the best way to make money is a door prize." "protestors: bring them home!" "bring them home!" "no more war!" "[overlapping shouting and chanting]" "protestors: we want freedom!" "we want freedom!" "we want freedom!" "we want freedom!" "we want freedom!" "we want freedom!" "where have you been?" "no. no. yes." "we got the mixer, but look what se we got." "no. i want you to meet me and molly down at the motor pool." "no. no, i'm at the gate." "take me 5, 10 minutes to get through the line." "man: isn't that someing?" "sure is." "piece of equipment's gotta be 60 years old, and we're still paying for it." "what do you mean?" "i mean, that how could you, or i, or any taxpayer, ever hope to gain any knowledge, let alone control, over what goes on in the military." "taxpayers probably paid $300 for that jeep in 1943, and we're still carrying it on our books." "makes you wonder what we're doing here." "i mean, we're changing slogans, and the war goes on." "are you out of your minds?" "what are you people doing?" "those poor fools." "just keep fighting somebody else's war, any war." "any war at all do you think they like fighting?" "i think they love it." "look at 'em." "isn't it possible they're proud to serve?" "what?" "you're coming to the meeting, right?" "out now!" "out now!" "out now!" "out now!" "all: out now!" "out now!" "out now!" "out now!" "out now oout now!" "out now!" "out now!" "out now!" "out now!" "out now!" "out now!" "out now!" "out now!" "out now!" "out now!" "out now!" "out now!" "out now!" "out now!" "out now!" "out now!" "out!" "all right." "why aren't they being searched?" "we don't care what they carry in." "we care very much what they carry out." "oh." "can't carry anything out." "i suppose they do try." "diamonds are small." "diamonds are small." "but we are very thorough." "oh, yes, the rules are plain to the meanest understanding." "move forward." "all metal in the tray." "now let us see what you have brought." "your pistol will be returned to you at the completion of your st." "your man, does he come with you?" "he's my advisor." "very well." "well?" "restored, street-legal, showroom fresh." "any man-jack, this man's army, would fight to pay 10 grand to take it home and call it "muffy."" "well, all he'd have to do thens restore it." "this money's going where?" "into the kitty." "old home week." "phone cards, free for folks in iraq." "henderson!" "saart!" "drag your ignorance over here. you're going on a mission labor, of course, wi be courtesy of the united states military." "oh, my. oh, my." "1943." "well, now, i know what love is." "i can misplace this fanatic's t materials, however, you're gonna need... what will this cost, young sergeant?" "hard costs?" "listening to you." "new paint." "we can mix it." "no, we're gonna need here... uh...block's cracked." "uh...oh, my." "no. this is gonna run you some money." "sarge, i'm in love." "i'm gone tell you what-- you come up with, say, uh... 2,500 bucks." "2,500 bucks?" "whoa, look here." "henderson: oh, man." "i know some enthusiasts give their left arm for just that first-aid kit." "whoa. hey, hey, check this out." "may i?" ""oh, my darling," ""there is a lull in the shooting," ""and i am taking these few minutes" ""to share these thoughts with you," ""that if it is my time, and it may be," ""that my last thought, if god grants me that moment," ""for one last good-bye," ""that thought will be of you," ""my darling midge." "love, jimmy."" "hello?" "this is kim brown." "is he there?" "old home week." "executive committee meeting at my house." "tonight. 8:00 p.m." "what?" "my house." "8:00 p.m." "i might be a little late." "george, kim brown." "listen to this, listen to this." "have i got an ia for you." ""that my last thought, if god grants me that moment for one last good-bye, that thought will be of you, my darling midge."" ""my last thought will be of you."" "but he never sent the letr." "no, he did not." "which leads us to believe... that is correct." "congratulations, again, on the promotion, george." "and you would like me to do what with this new found power of mine?" "i'll write the copy." "i want you to promo our old home week." "the idea is: phone cards for our troops overseas." "what you have here-- look at this letter-- is a voice from the past calling home." "calling to his wife." "it's a good story." "a good story?" "are you kidding me?" "this is a eat story." "and worth every penny of the $3.000 we need ktml to contribute for the restoration of the jp." "$3,000." "think of the bang-for-your-buck." "it's a good story." "here's the thing." "i turn over my psa time to you, promote your event." "especially, you know, one, maybe 2 two spots, what you're asking and i donate the $3,000 and that gets in the air, i'm bombarded by every special interest group that wants to save stray cats." "i'm not talking about stray cats, sir." "i'm talking about men and women in combat." "no, no. indeed, indeed." "i'm not disputing that." "my point is that if i do this for you, i step over the line from public service to promotion." "your story?" "it's a good sty what if i make it a great story?" "you make it a great story, you come back and see me." "conflict resolution teaches us that nothing may be resve unless and until each side recognizes the absolute right of the other side to a point of view." "now--thank you for coming." "in international relations, as in childrearing, 2 children will fight." "what is the first thing one must do?" "the first thing." "christine." "make them stop hitting." "well, that is correct." "now, war--yes." ""no conflict may be resolved until each side recognizes the absolute right of the other--"" "that's right." "to?" "to their point of view what about hitler?" "anybody?" "the versailles treaty?" "excellent. exclent." "had the versailles treaty dealt fairly with a defeated germany at the end of world war one, could the german public ever have been receptive to the nazi program?" "now...yes?" "what about 9/11?" "3,000 people died." "should we have recognized the terrorists' right to kill those people?" "but those people had a grievance." "yes, i know they had a grievance, but that doesn't mean that they were right." "sufficient that they were willing to kill their children." "yeah, well, you know what?" "i don't mind them killing their children." "i object to their killing my children." "somebody thinks i offended him, i suppose he can give me a call." "he comes into my house in the middle of the night, with a butcher knife, i'm going to shoot him dead because i have a family to defend." "is this so foreign from your way of thinking?" "the bible says "thou shalt not kill."" "yeah. well, i guess our opponents missed that part." "whose side areou on?" "i, uh, i'm on the american side." "didn't i see you at the peace protest?" "well, yeah. i was driving into the base." "you work at the base?" "something like that." "and i have something else to say." ""the cost of arrogance is paid in blood."" "what does that mean?" "and--and how can you stand there, with your superior wisdom and berate the men and women who have sworn with their lives to defend you?" "you scream at firemen, when they're going to put out a fire?" "do you?" "well, there's a fire, people." "you're at war." "and though it's hard for me to believe, you don't know it." "you're out of order, and you're in the wrong room!" "what about "recognizing the absolute right of the other?"" "this is a peace meeting." "oh, good. well." "you're willing to fight for peace." "good for you." "'cause that's what the men and the women on the base are doing." "good for you!" "now, i have a few more remarks." "the auction, generally, is concluded by 4:00 mr. johnson has arranged a brief but instructive tour of the mining operation after the sttlement." "the sheikh is paid in dollars?" "ah, yes, "the sheikh."" "settlement is made in dollars." "our auction house withholds 10 percent." "in addition to the payment i made at the gate." "you see these men?" "these men labor in the sun for years to obtain but a fraction of the diamonds your people stole in a quarter of an hour, which you stole from acquaintances of mine." "i regret that we have offended you." "how is such regret traditionally expressed?" "you've thought ahead." "commendable." "mm-hmm." "my friends may still come looking for you, for an explanation." "i'll have one prepared." "and should you come across any more stones on a similar basis... thank you." "quite good stones, by the way." "we should do well." "what are you hoping to realize?" "5 million dollars." "sheikh dasani and his associates have great use for untraceable diamonds." "very well, we get it" "sheikh dasani, as always, an honor." "peace be unto you mister buko." "and peace be unto you." "it's unfortunate mr.johnson couldn't be here." "i regret he is not here." ""item one."" ""presented as: rough, approximately 430 carats."" "should you care to bid by weight or by stone, the final price will, of course, be adjusted to... let us suppose the weight, and the final settlement will, of course, reflect the mutually determined volume." "shall we begin, at, say, 4 million dollars?" "man: over here." "4 million." "4.5. do i have an advance on 4.5?" "4.3." "man: 4.3 over here." "4.3. an advance on 4.3." "buko: ahh. seems the auction has done well for you." "ahem. you may leave your money." "it will be safe here." "mr. johnson has arranged for a short tour of the mining facility." "we do not wish to be impolite, but, as our business is completed, we would, with respect, prefer to be on our way." "well, mr. johnson has requested, that out of respect for the sheikh, before whose departure it would be impolitic for you to take your leave." "do you see?" "you're quite right, i beg your pardon." "very well." "a few minutes." "well, no, we're getting you the man." "george: yeah." "we are identifying him." "and now i'm going to give you the story ktml presents." "the mystery soldier and his final letter home." "uh-huh. i don't think so." "no, don't pull the offer." "no, no." "tell you what, i'm gonna tell you what, in addition to the story, i'm going to have the motor poolemboss a brass plate." "a brass plate brass plate?" "yes." ""from your friends at ktml."" "yeah, swell." "i don't think so no, no, no, no." "don't pull the offer." "and--and i didn't want to tell you this until we were sure." "no, no. no, no. no." "no, wait till i tell you." "i believe we can find you the wife." "the wife. midge." "the recipient of the letter home, found and brought to you by ktml." "you gonna beat that for a human interest story?" "yeah. no. no, i thought that would get you." "all right. thank you." "oh, this is good." "don't you love the army?" "photo emulsion on the original, degradation of-- dates the photo as being developed in 1944, cross-check against the jeep." "if we assume a) a stateside photo of the unit passing through camp, shanks, 1944, a medic." "a medic named jimmy, james, jim," ""killed in action" prior to-- prior to march, 1945." "that should narrow your list down to-- you've got about 2,200 names." "no, that ain't gonna do it." "what's the deal?" "they found this old jeep." "letter in it from some guy, k.i.a battle of the bulge." "radio station's gonna pay, recondition the jeep, auction it off for old home week." "that's charming of them." "in return for us finding this guy." "well, then, we better find him, then." ""if god grants me that moment for one last good-bye, that thought would be of you, midge."" "fella killed-in-action, the letter writer?" "we need to know his name." "old home week." "contact his wife, his kids, bring them down here to award the jeep as the door prize." "outstanding." "good, good, good." "good." "what in life is not a puzzle?" "gosh, i love it." "i didn't mean to startle you there." "that's fine. i can take care of myself." "i saw that." "you did yourself right proud in there." ""right proud," "right proud," like us military types might say?" "ma'am, ma'am, you won, whatcha complaining about?" "i won?" "i'd say, by any objective standards, you won the debate." "i did?" "i'd say you did." "and how would you characterize that victory?" "i-- 'cause, you know what?" "your leaflet says "the cost of arrogance is paid in blood."" "and i joked about it." "but that's true. and-- no, please the arrogance is yours, and the blood is ours." "go on." "because i believe it is arrogant to think that if other people just knew how well we thought of ourselves, they'd stop trying to kill us." "well. you give me a moment's pause." "then i'm glad i came." "i'm glad you came, too." "i am, too." "maybe we could continue the debate." "i don't think so." "the deal, as always:" "you can have it good, you can have it fast, or you can have it tuesday." "pick two. we got a breakdown of the parts." "we need to bring it back to "showroom fresh."" "that's what you want, right?" "that is what we want." "what the hell do you think you're doing?" "i'm taking a break, sarge." "the hell you are." "you will take a break when you're discharged from this service, killed in combat, or i say so." "whichever comes first." "and p.s., this sonofagun you been sleeping on holds the component i've been looking for the past half-hour." "henny!" "come over here and install the bendix." "i'm tired, saarnt." "he's tired." "well, you know what that is there, son?" "that is a bullet hole." "the men who drove this jeep were getting shot at." "they drove toward fire." "to administer aid to their comrades." "some of your comrades getting shot at now, son." "over the water." "we're just trying to help them out." "can you think of anything more rational?" "off you go." "the fields themselves, which mr. johnson exploits, in the only way in which they can be exploited, by native labor." "the labor is hard." "this scene which you witness here may have been witnessed 2,000 years ago." "ah. ahem." "sheikh dasani?" "ah, these fields are one of 6... as you can see, the labor... everyone, down!" "stay down!" "or you will get it next!" "get your damn heads down!" "keep their heads down." "good to see you, hector." "26. 2-7-5." "bluejay to sideshow." "between bob and me, we had nothing but a nail clipper." "sideshow, sideshow." "this is bluejay, bluejay" "bluejay reports test results positive." "repeat test results positive." "the rabbit has died." "repeat, the rabbit has died." "ok. let's get the hell outf here." "let's get out of here." "go, go, go." "we're about to have company." "the rabbit died." "ok. his buddy-- jimmy's friend-- we made him through his service ribbons." "there he is." "shoulder flash from the 23rd armored." "medic's tab." "asia pacific campaign ribbon." "bronze star, c.i.b." "tell them." "here's his service number." "here's his name." "his name's dwayne oscarsson, and here's his phone number lives in hawaii." "what time is it in hawaii?" "if he's alive, he's still up." "hello?" "mr. oscarsson?" "mr. dwayne oscarsson?" "i'm calling from fort griffith." "i am the chairman of the base's family readiness group oh, did they?" "they had the same thing in his day." "they called them what?" ""army wives solidarity committee."" "oh, was your wife a member?" "he was never married." "mr. oscarsson, i'm calling you about your time in the war. january '44, to the end of the wa did you have a friend, a fellow medic, named jimmy?" "jimmy." "battle of the bulge. 1944." "jimmy hanson." "yes. i am so sorry." "um... we came across some things of his." "we came across a letter he wrote." "uh-huh." "to his wife." "margaret." "mr. oscarsson... is she still with us?" "yes, thank god indeed." "mr. oscarsson, i'm going to put you through to sergeant carroll." "he'll take down yours and her information." "thank you." "mr. oscarsson, this is bobby carroll." "all right." "the same to you, sir." "i wonder if i could get the following information... hanson, james a." "2483956." "married margaret atkins." "february, 1943." "margaret hanson, never remarried." "currently resides in sacramento, california." "here is her driver's license, as of last july... and here's her current phone number." "is nothing sacred to you guys?" "you better hope not." "i know exactly how many bottles you have in that case." "don't hold out on me." "ain't that good?" "mmm." "[chuckles] that's good." "what, you stop drinking?" "no, i wanted to ask you something." "well, i figured you did, as, lately, you look like the dog died." "go on, then." "the diamonds the team stole in italy." "yeah. i seem to remember, we sold them to the sheikh." "ah, yes, the sheikh." "4.5 million dollars, 9 packages of rough cut diamonds." "but originally there were 10 packages of uncut diamonds." "you kept one out." "this on?" "as you recall, art spey here wanted to induct you into a little secret of thunit." "the still no. it ain't exactly the still." "once in, never out." "well, here i am." "what's been going on here, bob?" "since the beginning." ""the beginning?"" "since the inception of the unit. it, uh... it doesn't have a name." "you might think of it as an escape hatch." "sometimes, baby." "no fault of your own." "you, or another guy." "like you." "a unit member has to disappear." "break it on down." "you remember the bay of pigs?" "mm-hmm." "sometimes... the government, say, it has to disavow those whom it has sent to do its bidding." "it's happened in the past." "at time this man and his family have access to fds, friends, a new identity." "and a new life." "a unit member has to disappear." "it's happened before." "a man has to walk away and can't come back." "how is it paid for?" "it's funded through taxes-- paid to the department of the treasury." "that would be me" "testing, testing. 1, 2." "uh, good afternoon." "my name is george tatelman." "and i am the station manager at radio station ktml, "the missile."" "we at ktml are very proud indeed to be part of the fort griffith community." "and we are most pleased to be participating in old home week... now, mr. oscarsson." "miss hanson." "when we're ready for you, mrs. hanson, we'd like you for you to go up." "mr. oscarsson, if you'd like to-- no. i'm ne here." "margaret?" "oh, no, no. i'm fine, too." "some lucky person is going to be driving to work in this 1943 jeep, whose restoratiostwe were so pleased to fund, our radio station." "could i have a round of applause for the service men and women who actually did the restoration please?" "now this jeep has a history." "it was driven in combat by sergeant james hanson." "we have his widow here today, who will draw the lucky ticket." "thank you, ladies and gentlemen." "enjoy old home week." "and now it is my honor to introduce the honorary chair of this event, mrs. thomas ryan." "thank you." "i have been given the honor of awarding the-- oh, thank you, cathy." "just put it right here." "i've been given the honor." "of awarding the door prize." "army vehicle, general purpose, serial number... mrs. hanson?" "yes?" "are you ready?" "ready for what?" "it's time to read the letter." "what letter?" "the letter from your husband." "and the particular help of george tatelman and radio station ktml "the missile"" "after the jeep presentation judith will take mrs. hanson to her car." "um, i need to find an escort who can take mr. oscarrson to-- she never got the letter." "what?" "mrs. hanson never got the letter." "tiffy gave her the letter." "she says she never got it." "we have a copy of the letter. give her the copy of it." "she won't read it." "wait, wa, wait." "she doesn't want to read the letter?" "well, she says she never got the letter." "where is tiffy?" "she's shy." "she's got to read the letter." "wilson: you have a list." "tiffy: i have a list." "wilson: of areas in which i am woefully misguided." "one. every country is one and held only by force of arms." "thank you." "go on." "2... we are here today to raise money for the purchase of phone cards to allow our men and women overseas to stay in touch." "hold on, hold on." "we have a deal do we have a deal?" "i paid for that jeep." "she's 85 years old." "i don't care how old she is." "now, you told me-- all right." "i'll read the letter." "i'll read the letter, and she can stand up and bow." "and we're particularly privileged to have with us toy mrs. margaret hanson, whose husband james served and fell in december, 1944, in the battle of the bulge." "in the medical unit of the 23rd armored infantry battalion." "and this was his vehicle." "thank you." "we're also privileged have with us, dwayne oscarsson, his comrade in arms." "thank you." "and i'm sure you all know kim brown." "thank you, mrs. ryan." "thank you all for being here." "mrs. hanson, in that jeep, found in the jeep, in a first aid kit." "was a letter which your husband wrote, and which he never posted." "it was his last letter that he wrote, and i would like to read it to you." ""oh, my darling." ""there is a lull in the shooting," ""and i am taking these few minutes" ""to share these thoughts with you." ""that if it is my time, and it may be..."" ""that my last thought," ""if god grants me that moment" ""for one last good-bye," ""that thought will be of you, my darling midge."" "i'm midge." "what?" "i'm midge."