"The security of the nation depends on the men and women who serve in the five rings of the pentagon" "Before any military action can be taken anywhere in the world the mission must be planned and approved in the outer and most important ring-- the e-ring." "on my command." "Go!" "Get on the ground,fellas!" "You both want to die?" "Do as I say!" "I couldn't have been clearer,boys" "Manny bagaya?" "You're surrounded!" "You got no miracles left in the world!" "What is it?" "It's a blood chit." "American soldiers carry them as proof of life" "Why does he have it?" "I don't know." "But I will." ""Misfortune forces me to seek your aid" "Please see that I am returned to my poeple."" "The text is accurate." "It sounds like one of ours." "Agent haynes,on the bottom of the chit is there a 12-digit number?" ""4-7-8-7-6-0-3-5..."" "oh,man." "Sir?" "Well,look at that uniform,all nice and pretty" "Where you going,kid?" "Me?" "It's yours,sir." "What?" "Well,where the hell am I going?" "Senator harriman's turkey day ball" "You volunteered to be a military escort?" "General starkey's wife?" "He's out o town... you two old vietnam buddies,sir?" ""old vietnam buddies?"" "Starkey's approaching 90,if he's a day yes,this is pierce." "Who?" "Yes,sir,we'll be right there" "The office of personnel recovery is requesting our presence" ""Lost  found?" What do they want?" "Apparently,it's about one of our operators in the philippines" "We don't have operators in the philippines" "We did three years ago." "January 2002, a huey went down off the coast of the philippines" "It was carrying a special mission unit" "You remember that,sir?" "That's before I came back on active duty,son" "I was getting rich selling time-shares not missions" "The chopper went down over the sulawesi sea,right?" "Took four seals with it" "Maybe only three." "Petty officer scott navarro." "An abu sayyaf rebel who was just picked up in a CIA-sponsored raid had navarro's blood chit on him" "Bronze star and two purplr hearts" "This kid was a hell of an operator" "Three bodies were recovered." "It says navarro was listed as "deceased,but body not recovered."" "Why didn't we get him?" "Either his body washed up on shore somewhere and this rebel yanked the chit off his corpse... or this guy's telling the truth and navarro survived the crash" "And some damn suit thought we could save a few shelkels and called the search off early" "So much for rule No.1." ""Rule No.1?"" ""Leave no man behind."" "Somebody really screwed the pooch on this one" "Where are you going,sir?" "To unscrew it!" "colonel,you are making me very nervous right now,sir" "How am I making you nervous,pierce?" "Because we might have left a man behind you're angry,and you're about to speak with algazi-- never a healthy combination" "And what are you,my mother?" "Yes." "And right now I need you to be a good boy" "Sir,you want to give me some marching orders while you deal with the suits?" "Affirmative." "Make contact with this CIA agent in the philippines and find out what this abu sayyaf rebel knows about our missing seal" "Copy that,sir." "You want some backup in there?" "No,thanks." "I think one of us raising hell is all they can take" "Pierce,find me everything about that crash and the aftermath." "And if anybody even mumbles the name navarro..." "I will find him." "In the meantime..." ""be a good boy."" "Thanks,mom." "Thank you,sir." ""The tamil tigers."" "Sounds like a college football team" "Yeah,well,that "team"is a gang of terrorists who just blew up the home of a sri lankan diplomat" "And colonel mcnulty's pushing for special ops support to help exterminate the tigers" "They may be terrorists but they are not our terrorists." "I agree." "The tamil rebels don't have global reach" "Getting involved with sri lanka's war only has a downside for us." "So... let's have state send our condolences to the sri lankans" "To hell with sri lanka,sir" "We a got bigger fish to fry in the phillippines" "Well,unless the chinese and invading,colonel let's table it." "Sir,it's about a seal who was written off as killed in action back in '02" "Name,navarro." "Well... could we reconvene at 1500?" "We just received intel,sir, that petty officer navarro could still be alive." "But thanks to some pencil-pushing bureaucrat we never went looking for him." "We looked for him for five days." "And that "pencil-pushing bureaucrat"... was me." "Hell,steven,what were you thinking?" "I was thinking about saddam and the taliban" "I mean,it was '02." "I needed seals for invading,not wreck diving" "But when it comes to recovering our people there's no options." "There's a code." ""If you're out there,we will find you."" "You drain the damn ocean to bring back one strand of this DNA" "I mean,whatever it takes." "Eli,I'm a marine." "I understand the credo of" leave no man behind."" "But working in this building you realize there's a whole world you're responsible to." "And sometimes... that takes precedence over one man" "That's the kind of response that I would expect from a bureaucrat like gerrity." "Not from somebody who's been in combat,Sir" "I'm both." "I had other responsibilities including two wars, and saving the lives of the rescue crew" "Now,the seas were getting rougher by the hour so I made the call." "To give up on him." "Eli..." "I know this is personal for you... this has nothing to do with me." "All right,look." "You can get me decent intel that petty officer navarro is actually alive and I'll help push through a rescue op" "All I needed to hear,sir." "Hard to believe mcnulty's still here with his antics." "Algazi knew him back in vietnam." "He feels comfortable with him." "Comfortable's one thing." "Common courtesy is another." "You sitting at the secdef's table tonight?" "I am." "Need a ride?" "Last I heard, limousine travel still best a cab" "As friends,of course." "Believe it or not,aaron," "I have a date." " Really?" " Yes" "You don't need to call hell to see if it's freezing over" "If your plans change,then then you let me know." "Okay,I got it." "It was drawn by manny bagaya, the rebel that had navarro's blood chit" "It's a map of a remote area of jolo island" "Jolo?" "That's deep in abu sayyaf territory" "Yeah,these thugs always move between islands in the sulawesi" "Jolo is the island that bagaya claims this seal's being held." "And you believe him?" "Well,our filipino associates have been performing some advanced motivation techniques for the last hour" "He claims that a fisherman loyal to abu sayyaf scooped navarro out of the drink and turned him over to the rebels the day ater the crash" "Well,I can compare this map to our "sat" photos till the cows come home but we need better human intelligence" "Jolo island is pretty damn remote and pretty damn dangerous." "I'd have to send in my best humint" "I don't want to burn a guy on a lark" "You promise this is for real?" "What am I,your prom date?" "It's as real as it gets." "And we'd better work fast because if word gets back to abu sayyaf that we've captured bagaya, what do you think happens to our boy?" " Trade him,move him..." " or kill him" "All right." "I'll send my guy." "He's going to be out of contact at least 24 hours" "One day I can justify, it's the past three years that's going to be a bitch" "You're such a liar." "Well,I couldn't just flat-our reject him" "We still have to work together" "Okay,well,now you're really screwed 'cause now he thinks you actually have a date" "All right,I admit it." "I could have put more thought into a backup plan." "What about major tisnewski?" "You know,it's just one night" "Yeah,I'm sure he'd be great with that part of it" "So?" "No fishing off the pentagon pier" "Ashley,would you excuse us for a second,please?" "Sure.- Thank you" "Mcnulty's making nosies about sending troops to the philipines" "Claims there's a missing sailor in captivity" "Any truth to it?" "Helicopter crash three years ago" "That's not what I asked." "Is there an american sailor being held hostage?" "A million-to-one the poor kid survived" "All right,let's say sentiment wins the day we send troops in,we find nothing" "Word gets out we're there or God forbid an innocent filipino gets killed... we lose our last ally in the region" "Before mcnulty gets the whole building in a tizzy let's nip this in the bud" "Agent in charge says bagaya got everything right on the map." "Swamp,riverbed... plus,the exact site of the crash was never made public" "There is no way that this rebel could be so precise about where navarro was picked up unless it's ture" "Sir,sending troops into the philippines is a tough sell" "In 2001, we tried to rescue that missionary couple that had been kidnapped by abu sayyaf" "The husband ended up dead, and the uproar created by us shooting up basilan island almost toppled the government" "After that,they stopped sending invitations for a return visit." "Um,speaking of invitations,Sir what do you want me to do about this turkey day ball tonight?" "Major... have a good time." "Say what?" "I mean,wouldn't the general's wife prefer to be with someone you know,more senior?" "What are you trying to say,Major?" "Nothing,but what am I supposed to bring her flowers,chocolates,a walker?" "Major,You are the walker." "j three side." "Master sergeant pierce speaking." "Yes,sir,we'll be right there." "The director of the joint staff is requesting your presence." "Oh,boy." "The whole building's buzzing,colonel" "Apparently,personnel recovery was at general quarters this morning" "Care to comment?" "I don't know what you're talking about,larry" "A missing seal,the philippines?" "Larry,I can only please one person per day and today is not your day." "Eli,let me shadow you on this one" "Think of the story." ""Current pow is rescued by..."" "tomorrow is not looking good for you either,Larry" "Let me get this straight." "We have intelligence that one of our ownis being held captive" "And we have a map telling us how to find him" "We have human intelligence about to put eyes and ears on the target and you're telling me that it's over?" "You left out one minor detail,Colonel" "The constitutional ban of american troops on philippine soil" "If the philippines won't waive their ban for this or they won't work with us,then what kind of ally are they?" "The kind that we need,major" "When I look at the map,do you know what what I see?" "Pirates controlling malaysia on one side indonesia with its one billion muslims on the other china to the north,ready to swoop in and take over the navy bases that we built and freeze us out o the pacific" "If this sailor is still alive,Mr,Gerrity there is no debate:" "We go and get him." "That's been a declared policy since vietnam" "If this sailor were alive, wouldn't abu sayyaf be parading him around on television making demands?" "Not necessarily." "Thugs like abu sayyaf-- they aren't strong enough to hurt america but they can take their resentment out on an american" "They can use him like a punching bag" "Colonel,if this sailor is still alive" "I want to bring him back as much as you do but maybe we could turn the operation over to the philippines?" "And maybe they can give us petty officer navarro's head in a box" "I beg your pardon?" "I'm sorry,Ms. Liston." "It's just... the philippine army isn't trained in rescue ops" "We are." "What the hell is happening to us?" "Are we all just a bunch of risk versus gain computer jockeys?" "Now,we made a mistake three years ago and it's high time that we fixed it" "If we go in there now, there's a good chance we lose in philippines and an even greater chance we'd lose troops to those rebels" "Eli,it kills me to say this,but Mr.Gerrity's right" "We can't lose good men over old bones" "I'm sorry." "You're apology's not accepted,sir" "Come again,colonel?" "I could go out in that hall right now and I could grab the first five people that I see" "Age,race,branch" "It doesn't matter." "I tell them that we got a pow in the philippines, every one of them would say," ""sign me up,sir."" "How is it that I can't find any of those five with offices on the e-ring?" "You're taking this too personally" "Hey,I was stuck in a bamboo cage in'nam for four and a half years, you smarmy son of a bitch!" "You're damn right I'm taking it personally!" "Major,maybe you should take the colonel for a walk" " Let him cool off." " Yes,Sir" "colonel,wait up." "We need to take gerrity on a hunting trip real soon" "I'll bring the buckshot" "Sir,I've been through a lot in my time but nothing like you" "If you ever need to talk,I'm here" "It's important that you learn from my mistakes,jt." "As much as I hate his guts, gerrity's right." "Never take it personally." "Colonel,you were spot on." "Besides,every once in a while, they need to get their asses kicked instead of kissed" "It was a pretty good show,wasn't it?" "Colonel,you say the word, we can backdoor this op." "What,and go to jail?" "No,thanks,son." "It's gonna be hours before we get any word for that humit so,get yourself cleaned up, show starkey's wife a good time, and I'll see you back here tomorrow at 0530" "No,sir,I'm staying put" "Jt,this ain't a damn democracy." "What can I do for you,colonel?" "Any word from your humint?" "No,not for the last few hours." "But just before he went silent he told me the guy errying him across said the locals all thought that part of jolo island was haunted" "I'm quaking in my boots." "By a white ghost,colonel." "You think it's our missing seal?" "I'll keep you posted." "Thanks,chuck." "Sir,larry kincaid just called." "Scott navarro's father is in the building" "Oh,god." "major,you're up." "Taking one for the team,coach" "You're a better man than I am,gunga din" "Excuse me." "I'm looking for Colonel Mcnulty?" "Colonel mcnulty sends his regrets,ma'am" "Major james tisnewski." "Well,aren't i the lucky girl?" "You used to be a hell of a journalist,larry" "I don't know what the hell you were thinking getting the father involved" "His son might be alive." "Don't you think he deserves to know?" "He's already buried his son once" "Don't lecture me,eli." "This mission was losing traction" "Some media attention could save it" "Media attention will eliminate surprise and could get our rescue team killed" "Fine." "If I agree to hold off on this, and you somehow pull it off," "I want an exclusive." ""Former pow saves current one."" "I don't talk about that stuff in private" "I sure as hell ain't gonna get diarrhea of the mouth with you,Larry" "Well,how about him?" "He drove all the way from the bronx on the day before thanksgiving" "He just wants answers." "Give him something to be thankful for" "Look at me,larry." "I'm special ops" "I am not public affairs." "He's been getting shuffled around all day" "I thought he should talk to you, someone who's been there." "What am I supposed to say to him,Larry?" "The best he can hope for is that maybe his son is rotting in a cage somewhere?" "That even if his kid comes back, that he'll never be the same?" "You think I'm the best to tell him that but I'm really the worst,larry, because I know the truth." "Eli," "I covered this crash three years ago but I had bigger stories, and I just printed what the press office told me:" "Everybody died." "We all let this kid down." "Let's not do it again." "who knew this party would be so much fun?" "Not me." "oh!" "Ooh!" "You are such a wounderful dancer say,why don't we go get another drink?" "I would love another drink." "Date's a lucky man,sam." "Oh,thank you." "Where is he?" "He's held up at work." "I think I'll make sure he's okay" "Scott could always take a punch" "Golden gloves champ in '97" "Did,uh..." "Did he ever turn pro?" "No." "All he ever wanted was to be a seal" "Only one in 300 make it." "You should be damn proud." "You got any kids,colonel?" "Uh,no,sir." "Then I guess you don't know what it's like to lose one." "I mean, your experience in vietnam must have been just horrible but I'm on the other end" "And some days the pain in my gut gets so unbearable... that I don't know how to get out of bed in the morning" "Sir... if scott's alive," "I'll get him home to you." "Hey,mister,can you tell me where a man might find a bed?" "He just grinned and shook my hand no,was all he said take a load off,fanny take a load for free take a load off,fanny and you put the load right on me..." "I bet you have scars,don't you?" "I have a couple,yes,ma'am" "You gonna show me or do i have to find them myself?" "Ma'am,you're the wife of a three- star general" "I'm the third wife of an 80-year-old man who falls asleep during the 6:00 news" "Ma'am,I could go to the brig for even thinking about it." "Mmm." "So you are thinking about it" "I'm sorry to interrupt,Major but I just got word." "We're needed back at the pentagon asap" "Mrs. Starkey,my apologies,but... duty calls." "Go." "Make my husband proud." "Yes,ma'am." "this about the rescue op for petty officer navarro?" "No,it's about the rescue op for major tisnewski." "You want to blow this pop stand and go get a real drink at a real bar?" "Thought you'd never ask" "Is this seat taken?" "Please." "Just heard from my source." "Did he find anything?" "The mother lode." "Navarro?" "Abu sayyaf's got him-- my guy couldn't get close enough for pictures" "But he's alive,colonel." "So how did you jump from the puclic defender's office to the pentagon?" "9/11." "There was a judge that took a shine to me and he was the secdef's roommate in college" "It's not what you know." "two days later,I was packing for dc" "Just..." "lucky break,I guess" "I don't believe in luck." "I think you've been rewarded for your talents" "Well,I guess we have something in common" "And we both deal in risk." "I take it,you avoid it, by saying no all the time." "Well,I-I do protect my boss." "if that's what you mean." "Is that more important than doing the right thing?" "And who determines what's right,Major?" "You?" "Besides,if I was completely risk averse" "I wouldn't be here with you,would I?" "colonel mcnulty." "Eli... you were supposed to escort me this evening" "Look what you missed out on,sir" " Well,you look lovely,ma'am." " Thank you" "Have you seen major tisnewski?" "He left." "With sonny." "Some big national crisis." "Could I speak to you for a moment,sir?" "Sure." "Excuse us." "Be right back" "About today,sir." "I was wrong, talking to you the way I did" "We cowboys need level-headed men like you to keep us from shooting up the ranch all the time" "I appreciate that,colonel" "And I want you to know that I have the utmost respect for you" "If I was on the battlefield there isn't anyone else i would want as my commander" "Colonel,everything all right?" "Oh,I'm glad you're here,sir." "He's alive" "Navarro?" "Yes,sir." "Our filipino human intelligence source got eyes on him, so we need to revive this op." "This humint,he got photos of navarro?" "It's a little hard to sneak a camera into an enemy camp,mr." "Gerrity, but,uh,our source swears it's him" "So can we expect ISA support on this?" "Colonel,we're at a party." "And petty officer navarro is eating bugs to stay alive." "Colonel,you can't expect me to support an illegal operation just because some random filipino dude on some remote island told some random cia agent on another remote island that he saw a white guy" "Now,unless you've got navarro on tape begging for his life," "I cannot support this." "I'm sorry." "Yeah,me,too." "I meant what I said about the battlefield,sir" "No hard feelings." "Of course not." "I'll work on him,eli,but he has lots of friends in the building" "So do I,sir." "So why did you join the army?" "My old man was a soldier." "It's all I've ever know really" "Didn't play baseball,didn't go to dances,just... fetched beers for my dad and his buddies listened to war stories." "Must have been tough." "Oh,I don't know,I loved it" "I didn't know any better,you know?" "And then,uh, well,he found religion." "Then it all went to hell after that,but... that's a whole other conversation." "Do you want to get out of here and go for a walk?" "Sure." "It's,uh, it's cold out." "You know, you were wrong,major." " About what?" " About luck" "You know,that night at fort bragg?" "It was nothing but dumb luck" "And what does that make this?" "Complicated." "Crazy." "Really,really dumb." "There you are,kid." "I called five times." "If you were looking to duck me, you should change up your routine and pick a different watering hole" "I had my,uh blackberry on vibrate for the party." "Oh,yeah." "Here." "Nice-looking coat,sonny." "Yeah,um,I'm gonna grab a cab." " Thank you for the drink,yeah.- okay" " Good night." " Good night" "How concerned do I need to be,son?" "Just be happy you got here when you did,sir" "What's up?" "Come on,son,we got a new mission" "I'm gonna get that spook haynes on the horn an see if we got any news on navarro." "There she is; you go talk to samantha" "Roger that,sir." "Hey." "Hey." "I miss the dress uniform" "Sorry I had to cut last night short" "Me,too." "I want to talk to you about revisiting that sri lanka mission" "But the tamil tigers have never targeted americans" "I know it's unpopular." "Tax hikes are unpopular." "Milli vanilli's second album unpopular." "Besides,i thought you were pushing for the navarro op" "Gerrity's made it pretty clear he's going to block that one however he can" "And the colonel's pretty down about it" "You know he's a pround man" "He needs a victory." "I sympathize with colonel mcnulty but I'm not going to support a wrong-headed intervention in sri lanka just to make him feel better." "And what about that sri lankan diplomat?" "His wife and his daughter were killed and they're allies." "We'll send in a few of our guys they'll help the sri lankans mete out a little counter-terrorism--american-style-- and nobody will be the wiser." "You know,last night, when you asked me why I always said no?" "This is why,because you special ops guys you think there are two sets of rules." "So I'll put you down as a maybe?" "No,you can put me down as "over my dead body,"" "right next to the secdef and the joint chiefs." "As always,larry, it's been a real pleasure." "Before I let you go,aaron, any news on that missing seal?" "There is no reliable intelligence to suggest that our original conclusion was mistaken." "He perished in the crash." "Tragedy." "On another subject, what about this bombing in sri lanka?" "Nothing the tamil tigers haven't done before." "So why are we sending in troops this time?" "You don't have your facts straight,larry." "We only go after tier-one terrorists." "Tamils don't qualify." "Oh,come on,aaron." "You're in international security, and you expect me to believe you're out of the loop on this?" "I'm late for a briefing at the russell." "We'll talk later." "I'm running with this story aaron, so you can either be a source or a target." "Abu sayyaf's loading boats." "They're bugging out of jolo island?" "They're nomads." "It's what they do when things get hot." "They leave a skeleton crew behind, take what's most valuable with them." "Nothing more valuable than an american hostage." "We want to get navarro,we got to move fast." "Yeah,I'm working on it, but I got to get rid of some obstacles first." "Hello,mr." "Gerrity." " Can I help you,sir?" " Sergeant,I need to talk to colonel mcnulty." "Well,he's a little busy right now." "Can I schedule an appointment?" "Call your assistant, set something up?" "No,I don't think that'll be necessary,sergeant." "You think he noticed the maps?" "What exactly did you see?" "Mission plans to sri lanka." "Photos of tamil leaders on the hit parade wall." "I think they're planning a rogue operation." "Have you heard anything?" "Sam... your job is to protect the secdef, not these yahoos down in sod." "I don't know the specifics, but major tisnewski did ask me about it." "we still off the record about sri lanka?" "Of course." "What do you hear?" "The special ops guys have been trying to backdoor a mission to intervene against the tamil tigers." "And?" "They're acting unilaterally, trying to open a new front in the war on terror, without civilian oversight." "That's huge." "The system works." "They're going to be shut down." "You sure about this?" "I'm the one stopping it." "Tell assistant secretary algazi to meet me in sod in five minutes." "Admiral on deck!" "As you were." "Colonel,what the hell is going on with sri lanka?" "You mean the bombings,sir?" "Don't be cute,colonel." "Mr. Algazi is referring to the mission you're planning." "We have no mission in sri lanka,sir... at least not one anybody told me about." "We could run you through some of our current operations if you'd like,sir." "What is going on here,mr." "Algazi?" "I wish I knew,sir." "Admiral,you know the pentagon." "It's a damn rumor mill." "You know,if there's one thing I cannot stand, it's a gossip." "Well done,colonel." "Thank you,sir." "a senior pentagon official has confirmed that us special forces soldiers had been on the verge of deploying in sri lanka, but the mission was scrapped when civilian oversight was exercised to rein in, quote,"overzealous elements within the military."" "now,I could play that again, or I could read you a memo I just got from a "senior pentagon official."" "Admiral,I was trying to keep you apprised... you know,if it was just the memo" "It wouldn't be a problem." "But you had to leak it to the press so you could crow about civilian oversight." "If you go down to sod..." "I did." "There is no mission." "But the secretary of defense and i will be answering questions for the next two weeks from the press, maybe even the president about what the hell it is we're doing over here." "Okay,this is manageable." "I-I-I-I go back to larry kincaid... mr." "Gerrity..." "I agree with you:" "There should be civilian oversight of the military." "But every so often,you need a little military oversight of civilians." "Admiral,I was set up." "well,Thank you for stopping by,mr." "Gerrity." "And,you know,I should give you a heads-up." "When you go back upstairs, the undersecretary is going to recommend strongly that you take your talents back to the private sector" "well played, gentlemen" "Not sure what you're talking about there, mr." "Gerrity." "I underestimated you." "Won't happen again." "Good luck out there,mr." "Gerrity." "And no hard feelings,right?" "Of course not, colonel" "We both know that washington is like a soap opera." "Not even death is permanent." "Oh... by the way, don't assume you're going to be able to revive your op to the philippines just 'cause I'm gone." "Now why would we think that?" "Because you're short-sighted and simple." "and you forgot that even a departing" ""senior pentagon official"" "can still make a phone call... to his old college friend, the charges d'affaires at the philippine embassy." "Once they lodge a preemptive protest to state, your mission will never be resuscitated." "See you around,fellas." "That low-life son of a bitch." "Don't worry,kid." "We're not out of options." "You want to pay a ransom?" "Isn't that what abu sayyaf wanted when they were holding those missionaries?" "Yeah,yeah." "We paid them off." "Then the bastards burned us." "300 grand,taxpayer money." "Hypothetically, chuck,uh... how would a master like you do it?" "Well,if abu sayyaf admitted they had navarro and they agreed to give him back, stated policy would be to do the transaction through a third party." "Such as?" "Such as a local imam on jolo island that might want to build a glittery new mosque." "He brokers the deal,we pick up our guy, make the payoff." "Something tells me that you know a guy,chuck." "How you getting uncle sam to fork over that much cash?" "It's,uh,private funding." "Hey,I know better than to ask." "Just give me a routing number and tell me how many zeros." "I'll get back to you,colonel." "Colonel,where are you going to come up with a six-figure ransom?" "Got a little something stashed away." "That kind of dough?" "I got one hyphenated word for you,kid:" ""Time-shares."" "You'd do that for a stranger?" "Navarro's not a stranger,jt." "He's one of us." "Let's go!" "Spread out,fellas." "Hello!" "Scott navarro!" "Scott navarro!" "Hello!" "Scott navarro!" "Hello!" "Over here!" "it's okay." "I'm an american." "I'm going to get you out of this hellhole." "come on." "Come on." "mr." "Navarro." "Happy thanksgiving." "And you were right,sir." "That boy of yours can take a punch." "What are you saying?" "He's alive, and we're bringing him home." "morning." "Major." "Did you hear about scott navarro?" "Yes" "So why do you look like you just got out of gum surgery?" "Aaron gerrity may be a self-serving politico," "What you did to him was wrong." "Look,he almost cost a guy his life,sonny." "He did it to himself." "You used me to take him down." "That's not exactly how I see it." "You ever pull something like that again, you're the one that's going to be packing your office." "You got it?" "Yeah,sonny,I got it." "Wasn't sure you'd show." "You kept your part of the deal." "I figure,uh,one good story deserves another." "Difference is, mine is true." "Hey,I only reported exactly what aaron gerrity told me." "Right." "So,uh... where do you want me to start?" "1970." "Let's start when your chopper went down." "last sunday morning, the sunshine felt like rain... week before, they all seemed... sir." "I just wanted to say that,uh, that was a great thing you did for scott navarro." "Sit down." "I've been thinking that since I got back from 'nam," "I have spent every day wishing that I'd done things differently." "Oh,colonel, I've heard the stories of the pows from your camp." "Hell,half of them say they wouldn't have made it if it weren't for you." "No,I'm not..." "I'm not talking about them." "No,I'M..." "I'm talking about this." "Is that you?" "Yeah." "I found out that she had a bun in the oven right before my second hitch in 'nam." "Well,what happened,sir?" "Well,I was an mia for four and a half years in 'nam,and,uh... she moved on." "Well,I'm sorry." "Well,it turns out that her new husband was a great guy and a good provider." "By the time i got back,uh... little girl was already calling him daddy,so... that must've killed you." "I was such a mess after what I'd been through." "I couldn't sleep." "I had a temper,son, that would melt steel." "It wouldn't have been fair to make them deal with that, so I,uh,just took myself out of the equation." "But now... that little bun in the oven is all grown up, and, uh... she's got a boy of her own." "Well,you know,they say it's never too late,sir." "You know,I was a tunnel rat in 'nam." "Yeah." "I've busted through doors with a dozen pissed-off arabs on the other side." "None of that... scares me... like facing my own daughter." "Well,I got to tell you, colonel,uh..." "I know what it is to have a bad father." "Hell,I'll show you the family album sometime." "but, uh if I had a dad like you..." "I'd want to know him."