"[♪♪♪]" "[♪♪♪]" "[MEN CONVERSING IN VIETNAMESE]" "[YELLS IN VIETNAMESE]" "Get your hands on your head!" "I'll drop the first man who moves." "Drop your weapons now!" "Now!" "Nobody move." "Don't even think about it." "[GUNS FIRING]" "SOLDIER:" "Take 'em alive." "Drop the weapons!" "Drop them!" "Drop them!" "La dai." "La dai!" "Get your hands up." "Sergeant, get a medic in here." "This one's hit." "Doc, get up here!" "All right, Taylor, Ruiz, let's form a perimeter." "Got these turkeys in our stockings." "Let's go on home and have some Christmas." "[MELLOW BLUES PLAYING]" "[MAN CHUCKLES]" "Mmm." "Oh, man." "That's good." "Just seems to taste so much better now." "First beer back in the world, got to be good." "Hey, you think it might have something to do with being alive?" "Being done with all that stuff?" "I don't know, man." "I don't believe this." "Less than a week ago, the VC had me imprisoned." "I mean, I thought it was all over, man." "I had voices in my head, telling me," ""Johnson, you ain't gonna make it out."" "Oh, you home, brother!" "Gooks damn near took me out right here!" "Had 12 months humping the boonies," "I don't get a scratch." "And then I get plugged in the booty by some drunk in my hooch." "[LAUGHS]" "Hey, hey, we're home now." "We're home." "To the guys still there." "And...to the ones we lost." "Amen." "So, uh, has anyone told you how we're supposed to act?" "[LAUGHS]" "Hey, don't need no lessons about that." "Toledo better be ready." "Miss Mary too." "'Cause here I come:" "180 pounds of romping, stomping, bebopping, romancing, dancing, pure woman satisfaction!" "I'll be putting the big hurt on Miss Mary." "Hey, but, Don, don't you feel kind of weird?" "I mean, we've been fighting for over a year now, and they pull us back, send us home and don't tell us nothing." "What do you want them to tell you?" ""It's all a dream!"" "I want them to tell me something." "I mean, what did they tell the guys after World War II?" "Uh, they told them something, 'cause that was the real war." "They just came home on boats." "They had time to get their heads together." "Get home, there's a parade, a job, your girl waiting for you." "Vietnam's just pretend, Johnson." "They want us to forget about it." "I'm already trying." "Sure not going to tell anybody I was there." "Well, I ain't ashamed of nothing I did over there." "Can't say that I'm proud of it." "Come on." "Come on!" "Move." "Stop that!" "Cut it out." "Gotta be careful about past Christmases, Doc." "Right." "You'll get us all killed." "And we killed five of them." "Just try to show a little Christmas spirit." "Damn it." "Sarge, he's bleeding again." "All right, then, doc." "You patch him up." "Just watch your wallet." "All right." "All right, sergeant." "We'll hold 'em up right here." "We got about two hours before we got to hit that PZ." "Get security up." "All right, take five." "Let's go." "SOLDIER:" "All right." "You heard him." "SOLDIER 2:" "Security out, 15 yards." "SOLDIER 3:" "I got it." "All right." "This is probably gonna hold you until we get back to the base." "At least I'll try to keep from... letting your wound get infected." "[CHUCKLES]" "You don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?" "You don't carry a weapon?" "I'm a medic." "You're still a soldier." "Do you not fight because of conscience?" "Dude knows his politics, doc." "Spotted you right off." "TAYLOR:" "Where'd you learn English, slim?" "Paris." "Paris, huh?" "You a rich kid?" "TAYLOR:" "Your parents send you there?" "You know your politics too." "Yeah." "I know we're both boonie rats now." "And I'm poor and black." "What happened to you?" "I wanted to close the gulf between the classes." "You really believe all that stuff?" "Don't you believe in what you are fighting for?" "I believe in keeping my buddies alive." "A man needs more than that." "That's a nice thought, breeze." "But all that commie stuff's a dream." "Most people just like looking out for number one." "[SCOFFS]" "You're living proof of that, Marcus." "But y'all kill people who don't agree with you." "At least, they do in Russia." "Seems to me you can't make everyone think the same way." "It's not all that simple, Danny." "I mean, they view all this as just a stage in the revolution." "It's killing, doc." "For an idea." "You got to let people speak out." "You're a very naive young man." "What do you think the South Vietnamese intelligence people are going to do to me?" "Well, now, if you don't tell them what they want to know," "I suppose you're in for a world of hurt." "MAN:" "Your score was pretty good." "Tell you what, last round's on me." "Then what do you say we head over to San Francisco and catch that big bird home?" "Home for Christmas." "I missed Hanukkah, but I figure I'll find something to celebrate." "Hey, hey, hey." "You guys just getting in too?" "Well, welcome home." "I'm buying." "We ain't drinking." "Take your hands off me." "Hey, I didn't mean nothing by it." "You guys are from 1st Cav." "That don't mean we can't drink together." "Cavy ain't what this is about." "I hang with my own kind now." "Got the picture?" "Welcome home, Marvin." "Yeah." "Welcome home." "To the land of the free, where a man can associate with who he wants." "There ain't no niggers in the picture." "You son of a" "Cut him with the knife." "Do it!" "Go ahead on!" "No." "I can't." "I'll do it, then." "No!" "No." "Just get the hell out of here, both of you." "Now, just-- Just let it go, man." "We gotta get out of here before the cops come." "Hey, everything's okay." "Everything's fine." "I could've killed him." "Me too." "Yeah." "Me too, and that's what scares me." "A guy coming back from Nam should be the last person in the world to feel that way." "Let's get out of here." "["SILENT NIGHT" PLAYING]" "I'm here with Master Sergeant Marion Hannegan from Iron City, Tennessee." "Sergeant is in charge of the supply at Camp Barnett." "Looks like a lot of Christmas spirit, sergeant." "Yes, ma'am." "Gonna be a real fine holiday for the men." "Where did these presents come from?" "All over." "VFW, American Legion." "Even church circles and schoolkids in little towns." "We got letters to our fighting men from college girls." "You can see that only a minority of the folks back home don't support what we're doing over here." "I'd like to know where I can get them letters." "Looks like we've got a group of men back from a mission." "Where have you been, guys?" "We been snatching prisoners" "Missions are classified, ma'am." "But we're all real happy to be here." "Well, what do you men have planned for the holidays?" "How about you?" "What's your name?" "Come on." "Lieutenant Johnny McKay." "Uh, we adopted an orphanage not too far from here, and we're gonna feed the kids some Christmas dinner and give them some presents." "That type of thing." "Probably these presents right here." "Huh, sergeant?" "Yes, sir." "That's very sweet." "Yeah, we're sweet guys." "Make sure you tell them that back home." "Well, why don't you?" "What?" "This is gonna be on television." "[SOLDIERS SNIGGER]" "Who are you?" "Um, Alberto Ruiz from the Bronx." "He escaped from the Bronx Zoo." "There anything you'd like to say to the folks at home?" "Um...say hello to my mom and my dad and my sister." "And we love them." "Yeah." "And if Marvin Johnson's out there, we love him too." "Marvin Johnson." "Friend of ours just went home." "That's great." "Anything to say about the lack of support for the war in the U.S.?" "How about you?" "Who are you?" "I'm Sergeant First Class Zeke Anderson." "Boise, Idaho." "We need the support of the American people to win this war." "Uh...we can't do it without it." "Even if you don't..." "agree with what they're doing, the men who served here deserve your respect." "Um..." "I mean, take a little time." "Talk to them." "Ain't gonna hurt you." "You might learn something." "And they would appreciate that." "And I want to wish everybody a merry Christmas." "Thank you." "[DOOR OPENS]" "Knock, knock." "Come on in if it's good news." "Go away if it's bad." "There's only one kind of news over here, LT." "Hey." "Merry Christmas." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "Happy Hanukkah." "Well, thank you." "Thank you very much." "So how's Jennifer?" "Well, I got a care package from her." "I got some homemade cake, new socks, Hawaiian shirt." "And this book, Sigmund Freud." "Interpretation of Dreams." "[LAUGHING]" "Well, now you're gonna find out what a sexual pervert you are." "Well, that's old news." "Thank you." "Very much." "Yeah, well, it's better than that rot gut you've been drinking down at the team house." "Thank you." "Batteries included there." "Yeah?" "It's really from all the guys." "["GOD REST YE MERRY GENTLEMEN" PLAYING OVER RADIO]" "It's that time of year again." "How many Christmases you spent overseas?" "Oh, I don't know, LT." "I forgot them all." "Except for the first one." "I was in Europe." "I was in some desolate hellhole up by the East German border." "I was 18-years-old." "I was pulling guard duty at some little old airstrip." "It was Christmas Eve." "Phew." "I mean, I'm out there, walking around, guarding a few Piper Cubs, you understand." "And I'm freezing my tail off." "All my buddies are out getting drunk somewhere." "I don't know." "I ain't got no family anywhere in the world, of course I'm feeling sorry for myself." "And all of a sudden, it occurred to me that..." "I was doing what a soldier ought to be doing." "Well, a soldier's got to have a life too." "Yes, sir." "That was my life." "I figured as long as I was out there standing guard," "I was allowing somebody else to enjoy their Christmas." "As long as I was out there, they didn't have anything to worry about." "Zeke Anderson, making the world safe for democracy." "Me and a few other guys." "Yeah." "But I'll tell you one thing, LT." "That was the first time in my life" "I ever felt like I was doing anything important." "Guess I still do." "[SIGHS]" "Susanna." "Oh, hi, Alberto." "What's the matter?" "You look awf" "I mean, you look great, but..." "Shut up, Ruiz." "Merry Christmas." "Thank you." "They're beautiful." "Not bad for a combat zone." "Lot of casualties today?" "Pretty light, actually." "I had my first repeat today." "Repeat?" "First case I ever worked on." "About four months ago he came in." "Nothing serious." "Just some shrapnel in his leg." "He's dead." "I'm sorry." "[TEARFULLY] He was a farm boy from Minnesota." "He was so grateful to us when we patched him up the first time." "We just couldn't do it this time." "I mean, he had three bullets in his chest, and nothing was working in there anymore." "We just" "Susanna, don't do this to yourself." "I just don't get it." "I mean, he's lying there, and he's gagging." "And his eyes are flying all over the place." "He's just looking for someone to fix him." "And no one could fix him." "Then he died." "The doctors just said, "We lost him."" "We should never have let him go back out there." "We should" " We should never have let him go back out there." "[SOBBING]" "I know it's hard." "But you can't take this personal, Susanna." "This is a war." "People get messed up." "Nobody's asking for miracles." "I wanted" "I wanted to make a miracle." "I wanted to reach into his chest and make it work." "It's crazy, but I feel like it's all my fault." "Fine, but then you got to take credit for all the other kids that walked out of there alive." "He only had six more days." "He was going home after New Year's." "[♪♪♪]" "Marvin?" "Marvin!" "Dad!" "Marvin!" "[LAUGHING]" "Oh, boy!" "Hey, Mama!" "Mama, it's Marvin!" "Marvin's home!" "Marvin!" "Oh, God!" "Mama!" "[LAUGHING] Marvin!" "Marvin!" "Marvin!" "Oh, Lord." "I've been counting the days." "Oh, you're the best thing I've ever seen!" "No, Mama." "You're the best thing I've ever seen." "[LAUGHING]" "Dad, I'm home." "Yeah." "I'm home." "I can't believe it." "I never thought a word could sound so good." "I'm home, Dad." "I made it out of there, Mama." "I made it." "Just look at him." "Look at him." "All these medals and your sergeant stripes." "Oh, a real war hero." "There are a lot of war heroes over there, Ma." "I know." "But only one of them is our son." "Lord, you got skinny without your mama's cooking." "Well, I was thinking about that while I was over there." "And all the way home." "You just think about this:" "a big old ham with honey and pineapple glaze, and cloves all over it." "Candied yams, collard greens, and my special cornbread." "Mama, you're killing me now." "And for your funeral, I'm serving sweet-potato pie." "I got to" " I got to fatten you up, boy." "Oh, Marvin!" "Marvin!" "I'm so happy to have you home." "Yeah, you done us proud, son." "Welcome home." "I don't get you, Danny." "A while back, you were about to drown some fat chump in oil for eating your cookies." "Now you want to give them away to psychos." "I used to be one of those psychos, Taylor." "It's Christmas, man." "Don't you want to give anybody anything?" "Yeah, I want to give somebody something once we get downtown." "I want to give my body to a few ladies." "I'll have Sister Bernadette light two candles for you." "No, no, no, doc." "I don't think that's going to get it." "I'll be out in a minute." "You know, you're due for a stay in that psycho ward, doc, before long." "You still messed up about that gook major dying?" "I'm messed up about everybody dying." "You know that line," ""Every man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind"?" "It's by John Donne." "Yeah, well, I'm gonna be done with you if you keep quoting that trash." "The man was NVA, doc." "Probably killed more Americans than you can count." "And he was our prisoner." "We are supposed to be taking care of our POWs." "And those South Vietnamese people tortured him until he died." "The VC tortured me and Johnson less than a week ago." "They're probably doing the same to those flyboys up north now." "I know that." "We're supposed to be better than that." "I don't-- I don't know." "And you know what?" "He seemed okay." "I mean, you know, he was" "He was bright, intelligent." "That's what war is all about." "Killing people you'd probably get along with fine if you met 'em on the block." "What's eating you?" "What's eating me?" "It's Christmas, and I'm in Vietnam." "What could possibly be eating me, doc?" "You're missing Johnson, aren't you?" "You know, I didn't" "I didn't know him that long, but..." "I kind of miss him, too." "I hate this stinking place." "[SCOFFS]" "So, you got a 30-day leave before you report to your next duty station?" "What if there ain't no next duty station?" "Uh-oh." "What you saying?" "I'm saying I'm done." "As soon as I register for school, they're going to give me an early out." "Well, I thought the military was going to be your career." "Well, I guess I did too, Dad, but it didn't seem like enough." "Huh?" "Well, the war is over for you, Marvin." "And the military is secure." "You got a roof over your head, food in your belly." "No doctor bills." "Yeah, and they can send me back to Vietnam." "But, Dad, that ain't the point." "I just want to do something more." "Dad, I want to get an education." "What are you thinking about, son?" "I don't know." "I want to learn things." "I might even study government." "Now, I know you think that's crazy, but, Dad, there's a whole world opening up out there for the black man." "And I want to be a part of that." "I'm going to enroll at the University of Mississippi." "Ole Miss?" "I'm going up there right after New Year's." "Oh, son." "Them crackers is gonna eat you up." "See, Dad, that's where you're wrong." "Ten years ago, they'd have killed me for trying to go there." "But things are different now." "The government has to protect me." "And, Dad, they're going to give me $130 a month." "Well, what's wrong with agricultural school?" "Dad, I don't want to be a farmer." "Oh, I see." "Farming's always been good enough for me, but it ain't good enough for you no more, huh?" "Of course it's good enough for me." "I just want to do other things." "I want to move ahead." "I thought you'd feel glad for me." "I worry for you, son." "I worried for you in Vietnam." "And I'm worried for you back here." "Oh, well, look, I got work to do." "I'll see you later." "Well, let me help you now." "I ain't too good to get my hands dirty." "No, no." "You stay right here." "You take it easy." "I'll sort this out on my own." "[SNIDELY] That's a fair price for a free present, sergeant." "Nothing like a little Christmas spirit, boys, to make the soul shine as though it were a new morning." "[BELCHES]" "I do believe I hear the poet in me stirring." "[ALL CHUCKLING]" "[SPITS]" "[SIGHS]" "I say it's time for y'all to be surrendering your Christmas bonuses." "Excuse me, sergeant." "Specialist Percell." "Come to volunteer for latrine duty?" "A nice fire to warm the cockles of your heart at Christmas time?" "I came to pick up that stuff for the kids at the orphanage." "And what stuff would that be?" "Those presents that came in yesterday." "Lieutenant McKay talked to you about them." "He's sending a truck over in 10 minutes." "Don't recollect." "Come on, sarge." "We're throwing a party for some orphans." "It's not like we want anything for ourselves." "Your philanthropy's touching, Ruiz, but your truck stays empty." "[CHUCKLES]" "Those heathen orphans probably won't miss nothing anyway." "Come on, man." "There was enough stuff there for 20 teams." "I mean, what are you, Scrooge or something?" "They're kids, for God's sake!" "You're about to give me the hemorrhoidal flare-up, boy." "Those kids are just future VC!" "I got nothing here anyway." "Then I guess you don't mind if we take a look for ourselves, right?" "You got serious trouble staring you in the eye, son." "Now, why don't y'all stop your fat-mouthing and didi out of here before I have you scrubbing that defecatorium with a toothbrush." "Do you soldiers read me?" "!" "Ru." "Uh, sergeant, sorry." "Our mistake." "Come on, Ru." "I got this one figured out." "Come on." "Better listen to the man, Ruiz." "Last day on the privy almost put him around the bend." "[LAUGHING]" "SOLDIER:" "Yeah, get out of here." "SOLDIER 2:" "Come on, sarge." "Play some cards." "Hey, my man." "What's happening?" "What you going back to Barnett for, blood?" "Ain't nothing there." "Some of the guys are having a Christmas party." "Well, we're having a party here." "Beer ain't enough for you, we got something more serious in the back." "I don't feel like getting messed up, Williams." "I'll check y'all." "You ought to be checking out on that Team Viking." "You're the only splib left there anyway." "I been thinking about that." "A lot of brothers dying over here, Taylor." "It gets you to thinking it might even be the reason for the war." "Less of us to deal with back in the States." "They're killing us back there too, man." "What you gonna do, brother?" "Look, man, I don't know." "What am I supposed to do?" "Start by taking yourself off that line." "Just like that?" "Refuse to go back out there." "I did." "Told them I quit." "Resigned from all that bull." "Then you start organizing." "Getting ready." "Getting ready for what?" "KP?" "Long Binh jail?" "You don't know what's happening, do you?" "No, I don't know." "Why don't you tell me?" "The storm is coming, Jim." "And if you ain't ready, honky's gonna take you down." "Now, I ain't gonna let that happen." "A lot of brothers feeling the same way." "I'll check you, man." "I can dig it, brother." "That beats me." "Not so fast, son." "Crowded cabin." "Jacks over treys." "[LAUGHING]" "Isn't that a great hand?" "You're a lucky guy, sarge." "You're looking at Long Binh jail." "The same place you may be going on your way to Leavenworth." "Tell you something, sarge, this khaki mafia stuff is just getting a little bit out of hand." "Sure is." "Hey, listen, doc's gonna put them presents in that truck out front for us, okay?" "Yeah, and then you're gonna forget we stole them, and we're gonna forget you stole them, not blow the whistle on any of your little businesses here." "Does that sound fair, guys?" "Sounds fair to me." "Doc?" "Oh, yeah." "Eminently fair." "Well, there it is." "Let's load 'em up, boys." "Load 'em up." "Oh, now, you wipe that grimace off your face, sarge." "We're gonna be leaving you a little something." "We don't want you to feel deprived, not you." "Not at Christmas." "I'll tell you what." "Know what's gonna cheer you up?" "We're gonna sing us a little "Jingle Bells."" "What do you say?" "You know the words." "Okay?" "And a-one and a-two." "♪ Jingle bells Jingle bells ♪" "♪ Jingle all the way ♪ Hey!" "♪ Oh, what fun it is to ride In a one-horse open sleigh ♪" "BOTH:" "Hey!" "♪ Jingle bells, jingle bells ♪" "♪ Jingle all the way ♪" "I'm really glad you came by, Debbie." "I was wondering if I'd ever even see you again." "You wouldn't have called?" "I don't know." "Guess I might have been waiting to see what happened with you and Jimmy." "Oh, go on." "Oh, that's your husband." "The father of your child." "He left me." "We're getting divorced." "I never liked him as much as I liked you, Marvin." "Yeah, sure you did." "That's why you went with him." "You went away." "I was away at basic training at Fort Polk for two months." "I needed to be with somebody." "You always needed to be with somebody." "Look, I'm sorry." "That's ancient history." "Water under the bridge." "Let's just be friends, okay?" "I was hoping that we could be more than just friends." "I still like you a lot." "Look, Debbie, I just got home." "I need some time to sort things out." "I mean, I got a lot of big plans." "I heard about your plans." "You're going to be a big college man on the GI Bill?" "And what's the matter with that?" "Why the hell is everybody so against me making something of myself?" "Is this some kind of sin?" "First my best buddy in Nam comes down on me for it, then my father thinks I'm out of line." "Now you look at me like I'm crazy or something." "It ain't no big thing." "It is a big thing, damn it." "This is my life." "I ain't gonna toss it away just because some people are... jealous of what I'm trying to do." "That's what it is, isn't it?" "Look, Debbie, I don't mean to hurt nobody about what I'm doing." "I just want to be somebody." "And not spend the rest of my life... regretting what I didn't do." "[♪♪♪]" "Well, I guess I'll be going." "Yeah." "Come on, sugar." "[ALL TALKING INDISTINCTLY]" "This is nice, huh?" "Glad I let you talk me into it." "Glad I could talk you into something." "Get out of here!" "She's tough, Ruiz." "Hot-blooded Latin women, Wills." "Drive a man crazy even in his grave." "Nice of you to come and bring your friends." "Nice of you all to invite us." "[MOOS]" "Check it out." "You get that, Taylor." "Hey, LT, why don't we run it over and barbecue it?" "[MOOS LOUDLY]" "Look!" "Beautiful." "Women and flowers, Wills." "Gets them every time." "Well, the lady likes flowers, she gets flowers." "Hey, you don't have to do that." "Oh, hey, it's Christmas." "Come on." "Come on." "Get out of here, you big steak." "SOLDIER:" "Hit the deck!" "Get down!" "Get down!" "Doc!" "Get out here!" "Get down!" "Take cover!" "I know what you're thinking." "You just got to let it go." "Just let it go, okay?" "Oh, man." "He's dead." "All right, doc." "Let's get him in the poncho and on the truck." "Charlie's gonna be real nearby." "Marcus, help us." "Get up, doc." "Go!" "Let's go, let's go!" "Just let it go." "Come on." "Just stay down." "[GUNS FIRING]" "Cover fire!" "Tree lines!" "SOLDIER:" "Stay low!" "Get out." "In the courtyard!" "Go!" "SOLDIER:" "Watch your back!" "Somebody doesn't want us celebrating Christmas, LT." "We got a couple of snipers." "Well, we can't stay here." "We got to go in after them." "McKay!" "Yo!" "Grab Ruiz and Percell and fight them on your nine o'clock." "Taylor!" "You stick with sarge and me." "Go, go, go, go, go, go!" "Now move out!" "Now, hold my hand." "Over here." "[CHILDREN CRYING]" "Let's sing a song." "Let's sing a Christmas carol." "I think "Hark!" "The Herald Angels Sing."" "[GUNS FIRING]" "♪ Hark!" "The herald angels sing ♪" "♪ Glory to the newborn king ♪" "♪ Peace on earth And mercy mild ♪" "♪ God and sinners reconciled ♪" "♪ Joyful all ye nations rise ♪" "♪ Join the triumph Of the skies ♪" "♪ With angelic hosts Proclaim ♪" "♪ Christ is born in Bethlehem ♪" "♪ Hark!" "The herald angels sing ♪" "♪ Glory to the newborn king ♪" "[ALL CHATTERING]" "Oh!" "Thanks, Mama." "That was the best meal I've had in my entire life." "And it was the happiest one I've ever had." "I got my boy back home." "Oh, yeah." "I'll drink to that." "MAN:" "Yeah, I'll drink to that too." "Yeah." "WOMAN:" "Yeah." "Hmm." "About time for me to bring out the sweet-potato pie." "Wait." "Son, come in the kitchen a second." "[CHATTERING CONTINUES]" "I been" "I been thinking about you going up to Ole Miss." "And you still got a problem with it." "[SIGHS]" "You know, it can be pretty hard when a son goes past his father." "Dad, nobody's gonna" "No, no, no, no, hear me out." "You see, I know, because I went past mine." "You never did know your granddaddy." "But the way things were beat him pretty bad." "Took away his will to live." "I mean, the man couldn't even hold a job." "And, um..." "And I felt ashamed of him." "And I-I think he felt ashamed when I" " When I started working steady." "Dad, you did just fine by me and always made me proud." "Yeah." "But you gonna do better." "And the..." "more I think about it, the better it makes me feel." "Son." "Ain't nobody in this family ever gone to college before." "Dad-- No." "No, no, no." "Don't" "Don't say anything." "Come on." "Dad." "Now, it's because of you and Mom that I made it." "I always felt that I could count on you." "And I-I..." "I couldn't have made it without the values that you gave me." "Son, you go on to college, and you show them what you're made of." "God bless you." "[CHILDREN EXCLAIMING]" "Sister." "We got them all." "This time." "This time?" "I'm afraid they'll be back." "They were laying for us." "They knew we were coming." "But how?" "[SIGHS]" "I'm so sorry, sister." "I think our friendship brought this on you." "And if I hadn't taken an interest, and the unit hadn't adopted the orphanage, this never would have happened." "They will make an example out of us." "If not tomorrow, next week." "But it'll come." "We'll help you move." "Don't you worry." "I just hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me." "There is nothing to forgive." "This has all meant a lot to me, you know." "I mean, most of what we do over here, take land and give it back, it don't mean nothing." "But these kids, they count." "Gave me something to believe in, you know?" "Believe in it, John McKay." "Now, you go tell the children a Christmas story." "Me?" "Make them smile." "And that's an order." "Yes, ma'am." "Okay, kids, come on." "Come on." "I'm gonna tell a Christmas story." "Let's go." "Come on, everybody." "Gather round here." "Let's go." "McKAY: 'Twas the night before Christmas" "When all through the house" "Not a creature was stirring" "Not even a mouse" "The stockings were hung by the chimney with care" "In hopes that St. Nicholas..." "You okay?" "Not really." "If you had told me a year ago" "I'd be spending Christmas like this..." "Don't beat yourself up about Wills, Susanna." "The VC killed him, plain and simple." "It's a fact of life over here." "But if I hadn't said something about the flowers" "You wouldn't have said anything about the flowers if I hadn't invited you." "Maybe it's all my fault." "Don't, Alberto." "I know." "I'm just trying to make you see" "I know." "I know." "It's just this place." "Everyone I touch seems to end up in pieces." "Who's it gonna be next?" "You?" "Don't you see why I can't get involved, Alberto?" "I don't know if we can be friends anymore." "I know all about not wanting to get involved." "You know, it's funny, because we all do it a little." "We talk about people getting greased and zapped, call burn cases "crispy critters."" "Never get too close to the new guys." "You've got to protect yourself." "From death?" "Yeah." "But you go too far, you lose yourself." "Then you might as well be dead." "What am I gonna do?" "You're gonna be my friend." "Let me be yours." "Hell, there's nothing more I can give you." "And there's not much more I want." "Merry Christmas, Susanna." "Merry Christmas." "Staying alert, Ru?" "Yes, sir." "Ho, ho, ho." "How's it look, sergeant?" "Well, it's dark." "Yeah?" "Well, I mean, I don't think they're gonna be back tonight." "No." "It's Christmas." "They wouldn't do a thing like that." "All right, then, we'll rotate some shifts and, uh... get out of here first thing in the morning." "You take the midnight-to-2?" "LT, I think I'm gonna stay up all night tonight." "I don't get many chances to..." "To guard a bunch of nuns and children." "Vietnam, the land of new experience." "No, LT." "What the hell else are we gonna be doing?" "Hmm?" "Yeah." "You could be home with Jennifer." "I could be looking after my father." "[NUNS  CHILDREN SINGING "SILENT NIGHT"]" "What do you think?" "Do you suppose they're sleeping any better knowing we're here?" "No, sir." "Probably worse." "Well, so much for that." "But I'm finally starting to feel good about where I am." "Don't get me wrong, LT, I'd rather be home with Jennifer, but..." "I'm not." "I'm here." "And somehow, that's okay." "That sound weird to you?" "No weirder than most of the things you say." "LT, look at it like this." "I mean, here it is." "Christmas Eve, you know?" "And, I mean, the kids are in there singing," "Lieutenant McKay's in there being Santa Claus, and Ruiz there..." "Ruiz just might get himself a girlfriend." "Who knows?" "I mean, it's almost perfect." "And I got you." "I said almost perfect." "♪ Heavenly hosts ♪" "♪ Sing Hallelujah ♪" "♪ Christ the Savior ♪" "♪ Is born ♪" "HANNEGAN [OVER TV]:" "...all over:" "VFW, American Legion, church circles and schoolkids in little towns." "The guys." "REPORTER:" "We just got a group that returned from a mission." "What are your plans for the holidays, men?" "Oh, uh-- What's your name?" "Lieutenant Johnny McKay." "A bunch of the guys adopted an orphanage not too far from here, and we're gonna, uh, just take them some Christmas gifts and give them Christmas dinner, that type of thing." "That's very sweet." "RUIZ:" "Yeah, we're sweet guys." "Who are you?" "Talk to the lady, Ruiz." "Uh, Alberto Ruiz, from the Bronx." "Anything you'd like to say to the folks back home?" "Um, say hello to my mom and my dad and my sister." "And we love 'em." "Yeah, and if Marvin Johnson's out there, we love him too." "REPORTER:" "Who?" "Marvin Johnson." "Friend of ours, just went home." "That's great." "Who are you?" "What's your name?" "Sergeant First Class Zeke Anderson." "Boise, Idaho." "The men who served over here deserve your respect, even if you don't agree with what they've been doing." "So take a little time and talk to them." "You might learn something." "And, uh... they'd sure appreciate it." "And I wish you a merry Christmas." "This is Kitty Ashton at Camp Barnett, near Saigon, South Vietnam," "Christmas 1968." "MRS. JOHNSON:" "Marvin?" "Dessert, honey." "Yeah, coming, Mom." "[♪♪♪]"