"The sercurity of the nation depend 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" "Good morning, yankee six." "This is reindeer one, over." "What's so damn good about it, reindeer one?" "Somebody spit in your eggnog, yankee six?" "It's Christmas." "And you're about to deliver three tons of presents to some very happy campers in Chakaran." "Well, hell, when you put it that way, reindeer one, ho, ho, ho." "What's your ETA?" "We should be skits to the stones in less than two hours." "The birds should beon the ground by 0600 local time." "They'll link upwith sergeant guitterez and his boys." "Another couple hours to off-load the goodies, and operation be mission accomplished." "Careful, kid." "Remember the last time somebody used the words mission accomplished?" "Only time, we hope we're gonna be right, sir." "The people in chakaran helped meand my boys out when we were on the run from a nasty bandof taliban back in '01." "That's the least we can do- give 'em food, clothing and fuel." "Get them through tha tharsh afghani winter." "It's a good thing you're doing, sir." "These people deserve something besides war, repression, and earthquakes." "I checked the manifest." "It's a little more than humanitarian aid." "You got some pretty fancy small arms going in that shipment." "Well, the taliban is resurgent." "Our friends in the region need the means to protect themselves." "Which is why charlie and his team will be down there doing a little advanced weapons training." "And speaking of protection, how about the secdef's visitto the troops in iraq?" "Security's in place ready for a successful landing in baghdad, followed by christmas dinner with the 101st airborne." "Now, what about our christmas dinner, pierce?" "Is that all set for tomorrow?" "Prime rib is marinatingas we speak, sir." " Mmm." "Yeah." " Excuse me?" "I'm looking for colonel mcnulty." "You found him." "Master sergeant meeks, sir." "Captain shea's new ops nco." "Oh, welcome to the building, meeks." "This is major tisnewski, master sergeant pierce." "Captain shea wanted me to deliver this to you, sir." "Said it was classified and time sensitive." "Well, open it up, son." "Sir, I don't have clearance." "Are they, uh, letting hearing impaired into the air force these days, master sergeant?" "I said open it." "Yes, sir." "It's a fruitcake, sir." "I, uh..." "I miss something?" "Uh, captain shea and colonel mcnulty have been re-giftingthe same fruitcake since, uh, christmas '92, sir?" "Well, it's good to know I'm performing such important dutie snow that I'm in joint operations." "Oh, come on, lighten up, meeks." "When you're dealing with life and death every day, you need a few laughs." "Colonel's right." "Give it a chance." "You might learn to like it here." "Yeah." "Yeah, maybe I will." "j-3." "Special operations division." "Master sergeant pierce speaking." "Yes, sir." "Right away, sir." "Admiral cooper is requesting you both in the nmcc... sir." "Three of our choppers just took fire 50 clicks north of kabul." "Jt:" "Not operation payback?" "Afraid so." "Were there any casualties, admiral?" "Negative, but we hadto turn the birds back." "I'm sorry." "Do we know who shot at them?" "Lead chopper pilot thinks it was taliban." "But our latest intel indicates the nearest taliban are well to the north." "Well, it looks like our intel was wrong." "Gentlemen." "Oh, mr." "Murphy." "What's public affairs doing in the command center on christmas eve?" "This little humanitarian mission of yours" "I'm recommending to the secdef that we scrap it." "Mr. Murphy, this "little mission" is going to save 200 lives over the next six months." "Well, then maybe you can try it again after the new year, major." "Sir, bad weather sets in, we'll never get the supplies to those villagers." "They'll either starve or gets laughtered by the taliban." "I'm sorry, but public support for overseas military actions is waning." "What we need are feel-good stories- like the secdef having christmas dinner with 2,000 troops and a dozen grateful iraqi dignitaries." "Not special opsair crews coming home in flag-draped coffins" "Sir, we're at war." "There's nothing feel-good about it." "And if we fail to win the war with the press, we're not going to be able to help anybody... including your afghani villagers." "The mission is a no-go." "So much for peace on earth, good will toward men." "E" " RING Season 1 Episode 11" "Akaran mission's been scrubbed." "They pulled the plug on us, charlie." "Don't let them do it, jt." "Look, man, this is way above my pay-grade." "The secdef is having dinner with the troops in iraq, and they don't want to have any bad press about a failed human mission" "Jt, I've been waiting for four years to do this." "You promised me And I promised them." "I know." "I went into that village last week." "I got 'em all together, and I told them:" "In gratitude for what you did for me and my buddies in '01, the people of the united states are sending you three tons of food, clothing, and weapons." " charlie..." " You remember aarif?" "Yeah, the kid who wanted to be a doctor?" "Yeah." "When I told him they were sending medical supplies and books, he was so happy, he cried, jt." "He actually cried." "You lay a better guilt trip on me than my mother, you know that?" "They saved our lives, boss." "You, me, bobby... none of us would be celebrating christmas today if it wasn't for them." "Look, I'm trying." "But humanitarian missions aren't at the top of anybody's list around here." "Jt, the taliban attacked these people before, conscripted the men they didn't kill, pulled the girls from school, and these lunatics know the villagers assisted the U.S." "They move back in, jt, it's not going to be about humanitarian aid." "It's going to be about preventing a massacre." "Which we might be able to do if we got them the arms in that shipment." "We're going to have to get "eyes on," boss, see what they're really up against." "All right, I'll get a drone up... get some photos of those caves, retask a satellite." "Pictures from space aren't going to do us much good if the taliban don't want to be seen." "Okay, so the humanitarian mission's out that doesn't mean you and your guys can't get out there and do some tactical recon." "Maybe we can get this mission back on track." "Now, that's the christmas spirit." "My momma taught me never to show up empty-handed, pierce, I've gotta bring something to christmas dinner." "Thank you, colonel, but all I need is your company." "Whatcha got this time, meeks?" "Nutcracker and mistletoe?" "Actually, sir, captain shea sent me to update you on security for secdef's visit to baghdad." "We've got a car of f-15's flying in support, along with an ea6b prowler." "You could have picked up the phone, meeks." "Would have been a lot faster." "I... uh, I enjoy the exercise, sir." "I mean, the winter in D.C. Kills my jogging regimen." "Oh, you're a runner?" "Sound body, sound mind, sir." "Just have to adjust to the cold." "D.C. Is a little icier than houston." "Uh-huh... is that where you're from?" "Your family still there?" "Yeah- mom, pops, three sisters." "No wife?" "Gotta make for a lonely christmas." "I'll be all right, sir." "Well, I should..." "I should get back." "Sounds like someone could use an invitation to christmas dinner." "Today's not the holiday to be playing cupid, colonel." "It's prime rib, pierce." "It's not a date." "You know, I gotta say, it seems like you two have a lot in common." "What are you trying to say, colonel?" "Pierce, I would say the samething if the man were purple." "I'm just trying to see that you have a little fun." "That's all." "Colonel who needs fun when I have you?" "Yeah... uh-huh." "Hey, admiral cooper." "What can I do for you?" "Well, I was goingto ask a favor, but I see you're readyto get out of here." "Well, I'm catching a flightto san francisco to see my family." "Well, good for you, miss liston." "Nothing like being homefor the holidays." "Yeah, nothing like it." "Then go... my flightdoesn't leave for a few hours." "How can I help?" "I have an old vietnam buddy in town and he's having trouble gettinghis service records." "We used to fly together and most of the work we did was classified." "And you want me to help him jump through the legal hoops to get this records released." "I probably should have gone to a less senior staff attorney, but this man'sa decorated war hero." "And we all know how effective you can be when it comes to putting the fear of god into the bureaucrats." "Are you saying peopleare scared of me, admiral?" "What's the gentleman's name?" "Colonel james tisnewski, senior." "U.S. Marine corp, retired." "My old man's here, in the building?" "He didn't tell you he was coming?" "No." "How did you find out?" "Well, admiral cooper asked me to help him access his service records." "He's going to bein my office in ten minutes." "Okay." "Look, I knowyou two aren't close, but I thought you might want to see him." "Well, he obviously didn'twant to see me, right?" "Otherwise, he would've called." "Well, maybe he's planning on calling you after he's done with me." "Samantha, look, the last timemy father and I talked was when my mother served him with papers." "That was three years ago." "I know how difficultit is to have divorced parents." "Are you kidding?" "When he finally left, we threw a party." "I'm serious." "I was in charge of the booze, my sister did the decorations, and my brothersent out the invites." "Well, you might want to take the high road, major." "It is christmas." "You know how many christmases we spent together, sunny?" "Zero." "Not a one." "You know why?" "He always volunteered for service." "Well, he's here now." "If you want to help him, samantha, that's fine." "But I'm not gonna let him ruin my holiday." "Oh, man." "Take some photos, uplink them to centcom." "Centcom just sent us thermal imagery from sergeant guitterez and his recon team." "They're reporting close to a hundred talibani fighters 12 clicks north-north-east of chakaran and closing." "Looks like they're being forced down the mountains from the weather." "Captain?" "A storm is coming in from the north." "Heavy precipitation and high winds." "Meaning these fighters are probably going to continue heading south looking for shelter, either in these caves here, in grid nine... or the villageof chakaran." "Now, they're on foot, in these kind of conditions, they could get there in about six hours." "Sir, centcom's asking to break in." "Go ahead." "Admiral, we have a secure link established with task force reindeer in afghanistan." "Patch them through." "How's the weather, sergeant?" "It's not the clouds I'm worried about, sir, it's all the uninvited guests." "Well, maybe it's time for you to bug out." "Sir, we peel out now, and those taliban move back into the village, they're not going to have any way to defend themselves." "Well, you're not going to take on a hundred taliban with four soldiers, sergeant." "No, sir, but I thought we'd be in a position to laser designate air strikes." "I'm not sure anyone'sgoing to be authorizing air strikes, sergeant." "Not with the bad weather." "Maybe we won't have to, sir." "Captain, what are the odds of this storm changing course?" "Based on computermodels," "I'd say there's a 30% chance it'll take a turn to the west within the next two hours." "Admiral, if the taliban are just moving to avoid the storm, there's a strong possibility they'll change course when it does." "30% is not exactly a slam dunk, major." "All we need is a small christmas miracle, sir." "Not only would the threat to the villagers dissipate, but we could revive operation payback." "All right, sergeant, I want you to sit tight." "And we'll pray for that christmas miracle." "Settling in?" "I'm trying." "It's not easy when you've been looking for "in processing"for 45 minutes." "Didn't you spend seven years as a loadmaster for the spectre gunship squadron?" "And aren't they known forgetting anywhere in the world at a moment's notice?" "You been checking upon me, master sergeant?" "Apparently you didn't receive the pentagon nco handbook." "Rule number one- always know who you're dealing with." "What's rule number two?" "Say less than you know." "Does that mean you're not going to tell me the way to "in-processing?"" "If you don't mind me asking, colonel tisnewski, you retired 15 years ago." "Why are you just now looking for your service records?" "I've seen a lot of interesting stuff in my day." "Thought maybe some folks want to read about it." "You're writing a book?" "Put you down for an autographed copy." "Well, colonel, surely you're aware that the pentagon does notre lease classified information for personal use- especially not a book." "You know, admiral cooper said you were a smart cookie." "Can I be honest with you?" "By all means." "I got a bum liver." "It's not what you think." "I'm not a boozer." "I never was." "But I got a bad case of hepatitis C." "I'm sorry." "Uh... problem is, the medicine costs $40,000 a year." "The va's not gonna cover it unless I can prove it was service-related" "And you're sure it is?" "Well, I received a battlefield transfusion in 1968." "It was in the jungle." "Conditions weren't exactly sanitary." "And does your son know about this?" "My son." "You know jimmy?" "Yes, we do a lotof work together in the specialoperations division." "Well, my son and I aren'tactually that close." "He resents me for not beingaround when he was a kid, and he's right." "I don't blame him." "And I'm certainly not going to bother him with my problems now." "Well, he is your son." "He might want to know." "Ms. Liston, could you just make those calls for me?" "Sorry to be scrooge, kid but I just got some bad news from the weathermen." "The storm hasn't changed direction." "And neither have the taliban." "They could be in the village in four hours." "Sir, we drove the taliban out four years ago." "It cost a lot of money and a lot of lives." "We let those fanatics get another foothold it will all be for nothing." "You got another idea?" "How about if we useda c-130, flew above the bad weather, dropped the payload from a higher altitude, out of the range ofthe taliban's guns?" "That way, if they do try to take chakaran, the villagers can use the weapons to drive them out." "But how do we hit the target?" "If we miss the mark, we end up arming and resupplying the taliban not the villagers." "Master sergeant meeks was a loadmaster." "He's fresh from the field in iraq." "He could tell us what toys the air force has that could help us." "You been hanging out with meeks?" "Just helping him get acclimated, sir." "I don't remember getting that kind of treatment when i was new to the building." "I don't think she'd even get you coffee, would she?" "With this remote guidance system, we can resupply ammo, drop ordnance or deliver targeted attacks to precise coordinates." "With laser targeting, it's 90% accurate." "The laser design atorsare standard issue for all special opsteams in afghanistan." "Then, sir, you could attach one of these remote guidance devices to your payload, drop it from 10,000 feet, land in the bed of a pickup doing 60 onthe interstate." "Hmm." "How's it work?" "A loadmaster sends thelaser-designated coordinates to the guidance unit." "It locks on through gps." "The computer tells the motor to adjust the tetherson the chute and... bingo." "Air force have any of these badboys in afghanistan?" "Negative, sir." "The boys in baghdad gotan exclusive." "So how do we get the devices from baghdad to kabul?" "We'll have to get a plane to deliver them;" "you need a joint air tasking order." "Well, what are you waiting for pierce?" "24 hours minimum, just to get it up the chain of command." "Ahh... so what we need is a plane already in theater, to take these devices from iraq to kabul, without the bureaucracy." "And how are you supposed to do this, major?" "Santa claus?" "What about cowboy one?" "The secretary of defense's plane?" "We got a sackful of toys." "All we need is a sleigh." "Are you insane?" "You can't use the secdef's plane on a mission." "I think you're missing the big picture, sir." "I'm the associate secretary of defense for public affairs." "I don't miss the big picture, major." " I paint it." " Then be a visionary, sir." "The secdef having dinner with the troops, that'S... that's paint-by-numbers." "Now, the secdef canceling his christmas dinner and rerouting his plane to assure the success of a humanitarian mission that will save the lives of villagers in afghanistan who risked their own lives for american specialforces back in 2001?" "Now, that... that's a masterpiece." "Does he ever come up for a breath?" "You have to admit, sir, that'sa pretty good christmas story." "All right, let's get the secdef on the horn." "And you think the secdef will go for it?" "You kidding?" "I could sell ice to eskimos." "Wish I coulda been a fly on that wall." "How long you think it's gonna take?" "Well, soon as cowboy one lands in baghdad, air force will load up there mote guidance devices, refuel and make the hop to kabul." "Roger that." "I'll have the boys on the airbase on the other end standing by ready to load up supply pallets." "How long you figure it's gonna be, about five hours?" "Sounds about right." "So stay warm, stay alert, and- hey." "Yeah, boss?" "Be good, for goodness sake." "I talked with your father, major." "Let me guess." "He said you're wasting precious reproductive years working a man's job." "He was very gracious, actually." "That's because you're not family, and he probably wanted something from you." "Did he tell you his war stories?" "Flying phantom f-4's and killing vietcong with his bare hands?" "Did he ask you to pray with him?" "He's sick, you know." "My old man has never seen a doctor in his life." "You serious?" "Three toursin vietnam." "People's lives catch up with them." "Hello, sir." "Hello, jimmy." "So what brings you to the pentagon on christmas eve?" "Oh, nothing." "Just having a cup of coffee, reading the newspaper." "why don't you cut the crap just for once?" "You watch your step, jimmy." "I know you sent an appeal tothe veterans administration asking them for help with your medical bills for hepatitis C." "And who told you that, the blonde lawyer?" "She thought I'd want to know." "Well, it's none of your damn business." "Look, pop, whether you like it or not, we're family." "So if you need somebody's help navigating through the bureaucratic minefields around here, you should have come to me first." "I know my way around." "I can help you cut through the red tape." "Does that mean you'rea secretary now?" "You know, sir, you can insult me all you want." "It doesn't change the fact that if you don't getthis medication, you're going to die." "You think I'm afraid of dying?" "I think you ain't done making us miserable." "Otherwise, why would you have come all the way over to the pentagon just to sort this out?" "Look, son," "I don't need anybody's help." "I never have." "Like I told you when you were growing up, a real soldier fights his own battles." "Roger that, sir." "I just hope you don't let your pride kill you." " Major." " Miss liston." "Thought you'd be heading for the airport." "Well, I just wanted to see if you found your father okay." "Your father's here, major?" "I hope you're inviting him for christmas dinner- plenty for everybody." "Thank you, sergeant, but I don't think that'd be a very good idea." "I'll catch up." "Yes, sir." "Look, sonny, I appreciate your concern, but the old man made it pretty clear he wants meto stay the hell out of this." "Well, he did ask for my help, so i have made a few calls about pulling his service records." "It's not as easy as I thought it was gonna be." "Apparently, he was off the book for most of his time in vietnam." "He was part of mac-v sog." "You know how I feel about acronyms." "Military assistance command, vietnam special operations group." "It was the precursor to sod." " Oh, like father like son." " Bite your tongue." "Look, just because those records aren't sitting on someone's hard drive" " does notmean that they don't exist." " Look, sonny, this isn't your problem." "It's his, all right?" "So go home, see your family." "Know what?" "I've already pushed my flight." "I have plenty of time." "Why are you doing this?" "Maybe because the director of the joint staff asked me to." "Or because there's a man that's alone and sick at christmas." "Or maybe because I just have trouble saying no to men named tisnewski." "Ma," "I've planned special operations all around the world." "I'm sure I can handle some roast beef." "I got to go." "Yes." "5:00." "Love you, too." "Husband?" "Mother." "You're becoming a regular around here." "Just keeping you in the loop, master sergeant." "Cowboy one has landed in baghdad." "And the remote guidance system?" "It's being loaded onto his plane as we speak, and they'll be on their way to kabul as soon as they refuel." "Everything according to plan." "Well, it looks like you'll get out in time for christmas dinner." "I'm not so big on christmas." "Besides, I doubt anyone at fort myer will mind if I show up a little late." "You can't really dry out a processed turkey." "Pierce!" "Get major tisnewski." "We've got a problem." "Looks like we've got a couple of grinches." "You see those spikes in the radar?" "They showed up just as cowboy one landed in baghdad, and then they disappeared." "Surface-to-air missiles?" "My guess- insurgents waiting to take potshots at planes taking off frombaghdad international." "So, let's take them out." "Radar spike was gone before the fast reaction forceshowed up." "Which means the missiles are shoulder fired- portable." "Assistant secretary murphyjust called, sir." " He wants the operationshut down." " Again?" "In light of the new security threat, sir, he said, and I quote..." ""tell the major "his 'think big' P.R. Gesture "is turninginto a disaster." "Quit whileyou're behind. "" "Sir, we can smoke out the insurgents, remove the threat, keep the secdef's plane safe." "Lay it on me, major." "We use an iron hand, sir." "An ea6b prowler." "A decoy for the secdef's plane." "It sends off a fake signal to make it seem like a big, juicy target, but it's maneuverable enough to avoid taking a hit." "The insurgents will engage their sam'S... and they'll shoot at the decoy." "The decoy can then trace the origin of the missile." "We'll direct a combat air patrolof f-16's to that target... fire away... and watch 'em scatter." "And just like that, cowboy one is clear for takeoff." "Nice work, major." "Thank you, sir." "Now, what do you say we gets anta's sleigh to kabul." "The most common way vietnam vets contracted hepatitis c was through battlefield blood transfusions." "That's how colonel tisnewski claims he was infected, but how do we prove that to the veteran's administration?" "That's easier said than done, ms." "Liston." "My job at the department of defense is to advocate forthe health concerns of all our men and women in uniform." "Unfortunately, most of that health care is administered by the va." "Which is even more of a bureaucratic nightmare than the pentagon." "Yeah, that's putting it mildly." "Has colonel tisnewski considered private coverage?" "Well, the wayI understand it, the medication cost upto $40,000 a year." "Even if he could afford insurance not many plans will pay for it, because it's considered a preexisting condition." "A rock and a hard place." "Well, I refuse to believe there'snothing we can do for him." "If you have the time and the clearance, there might be a way to prove he was where he says he was." "I hope the files you're looking for are here, ms." "Liston, and not over in the national archives in maryland." "That place is a maze." "As opposed to this place?" "My guess is your friend's recordsare on microfiche, but the only microfiche machine we have has been actingvery temperamental lately." "What time doesyour flight leave?" "We've got a special delivery coming your way, sergeant." "Secdef's plane has just left baghdad, loaded up some remote guidance devices and it's on its way to kabul." "That's incredible, sir." "Well, they don't call the man's plane cowboy one for nothing." "We'll load those supply palletson a c-130, sergeant, fly it over the village and all you boys have to do is laser-designatethe target." "I'd like you to thank the man for me, admiral, on behalf of my men and the people of chakaran." "I will." "The man you really should thank is major tisnewski." "It was his idea." "I should have known." "Don't count your blessings yet, sergeant." "Mother nature isn't cooperating." "Captain." "The low pressure areais widening and the winds have picked up." "I'm predicting upto 30 centimeters of snow." "Starting in less than six hours." "Can we get those supplies in before the storm hits?" "Affirmative, sir, but sergeant guitterez and his team are going to besnowed in." "Nothing better than a white christmas, sir, and I know a village where we can get a warm bed." "What I'm worried about is that those taliban up on that ridge are going to get the same idea." "How do you propose keeping them outof the village, major?" "Sergeant, take a look at your map." "Go tight on the gridat sector seven." "All right, there'sa ravine bordering the villagein the mountains." "See it?" "There's a bridge there." "B-146." "It's three clicks from the village, sir." "But to get there the taliban would have to cross it." "It's the only way in." "What are you suggesting, major?" "It's very simple, sir." "We blow the sucker up." "Hey, Charlie, I got the specs on that bridge." "Man, I thought you said no gifts." "Don't worry abouta thank-you note." "We got you some good imint." "Got it scaled for pillar diagrams and span girths." "I don't want yougoing commando." "Well, lay it on me, boss, 'cause there's no way we'regoing to get eyes-on." "Just going to have to ride in and do that thing." "The pillars are 12 feetin circumference." "Reinforced concretecross bands on a roman arch." "Now the weakest spanswill be in the middle third, far or near side." "Sounds like a jobfor my famous basket-weavecounter force charge." "Going to drop that sucker right into the ravine." "I'll burst you the picsand specs in five mikes." "Roger that, major." "Sir..." "I'm going to turn this christmas into a fourth of july." "Mr. Weston, take a look at this." "Major tisnewski mentioned his father flew phantoms in vietnam." "This after-action report was about an f-4 phantom crash in northeastern cambodia." "Well, that wouldexplain why it's so top-secret." "The U.S. Was never officiallyin cambodia until 1970." "Well, the nixon administration may not have admitted they were there, but according to this, both pilots got emergency bloodtrans fusions." "And look- look at thissquadron number on major tisnewski's plane." "Vmfa-232." " It's a match." " Yeah." "Looks like you found your smoking gun, counselor." "Lieutenant, can I geta copy of this?" "You got a sitrep for me, major?" "Yes, sir." "The task force is making its way to the bridge." "Ride, sally, ride." "Yes, sir." "So far, the taliban still haven't come down from the ridge." "So why the long face, kid?" "This morning you were chewing on candy canes." "This morning, this mission wasn't so complicated." "Yeah, and your father was 800 miles away." "Admiral cooper mentioned that he was here." "And I hope you're bringing him to pierce's for prime rib, 'cause the man's a legend and I would love to swap war stories with him." "And I'm sure he would enjoy that, too, sir, but he's not going to spend christmas with me." "Never has." "Always on duty, huh?" "Always volunteered." "What kind of man volunteers for work on christmas?" "I'm looking at one right now." "Oh, come on, sir, that's different." "I don't have a wife and kid." "Did you ever wonder why that is?" "Probably because I don't want to put them through the same wringer he put my mom through." "What makes you think that you would?" "You've got the man'sname, jt." "That doesn't mean you're him." "Should probably pay attention to our guys out there who do have families waiting on them, sir." "You're right." "I don't understand." "What is this?" "The report you requested." "But all the pertinent information's been blacked out." "The crash site, the squadron number, the injuries sustained by the pilots." "Yes, ma'am, it's the redacted version." "But I need the original to send to the veteran's administration." "This is the only version authorized for release." "And why didn't you tell me that before ispent all this time?" "Sorry, ma'am." "I'm just filling in for the joint staff historian." "I assumed you knew." "This man devoted his whole life to fight for this country, and now he's going to die because he can't beat the bureaucracy." "There might be another way." "So, ms." "Liston, you got somenews for me?" "Yes, sir, I found the after-action report for your crash." "And there is a record of the transfusion." "Well, there you go." "I told those lunkheads at the va- just give me my damn pills." "Well, it isn't exactly that simple." "What are you talking about?" " It's cut-and-dried." " Well, if you'll just let me explain... no, I'm tired of explanations." "I'm tired of getting the run around from a bunch of bureaucrats and lawyers who never lifted a finger to fight... sir, are you okay?" "I'm fine." "Can I get some help in here now!" "We've got tangos in sectors nine and ten heading directly forour team's position." "Get centcom to warn task force." "Major, ms." "Liston just called." "It's your father- he just collapsed." "He's in the infirmary." "Thank you, master sergeant." "Captain, get centcomon the horn now." "Aren't you coming, sir?" "I'm dealing with a situation here, pierce." "We've got this covered, son." "You go." "No, sir." "I want to stick around, make sure it gets done." "I'm giving you an order, major." "Yes, sir." "What are you doing here?" "Checking to see if you're going to die on me." "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" "No such luck." "Doctor says you're going to make it." "Just a high t-cell count and stress from your situation." "Stress is a viet conganti aircraft battery." "This is nothing." "Well, god ain't gonna fix it for you." "Your liver is failing." "You need those meds." "Listen to you talking about god." "When's the last time you went to church?" "And quit butting into my business- you and that lawyer." "That lawyer may have saved your life." "Out of the goodnessof her own heart, she postponed her own holiday plans to find you documentation on your blood transfusion." "A lot of goodit's going to do me." "Information's classified." "She also discovered that frank dane was on that plane with you." " So?" " So, he's a witness." "Apparently he makes a sworn statement corroborating your story about the transfusion, the va has to grant youa service connection for your condition." "You get your meds." "But isn't that statement classified?" "Not if it doesn't reveal operational details." "That doesn't matter." "I haven't seen frank dane in 15 years." "I'm not dragging him into this." "Frank dane was your best friend." "Hell, you spent christmas with him every year instead of your own family." "Why was that, sir?" "I mean, I been wondering about that." "Was it so awful to be with us?" "Christmas 1972 was when frank and me got shot down." "We made it; kip sweeney didn'T." "He was my wingman." "A sam 7 missile took him out." "I saw him evaporate." "The memory was... beyond awful." "I relived it every christmas." "Would you have me bring that back to my wife and kids?" "Well, maybe it would've helped you... forget about it for a little while, to be with your own family." "Is that what you would've done?" "Gone home to cry on your woman's shoulder?" "Sir, either you call frank and ask him to corroborate your story, or I'll do it." "And then I'll calle veryone else you know, and I'll tell them I had to save the old man's ass." "Let's get these charges deployed!" "How we doing, boys?" "A few more minutes, charlie." "What's our status, sir?" "We've got at least 65 tangos headed toward the bridge" ".E.T.A.?" "Oh, the first patrol will be there any minute." "What about sergeant guitterez?" "can we get the task force back on the horn?" "I think they're a little busy, major." "Can't hold 'em off forever, boys- we're out of time!" "Let's go!" "Come on, charlie, get a move on." "sorry, boys, bridge is closed for repairs." "Target is destroyed, sir." "Don't celebrate yet, kid." "Those supply pallets have been loaded onto the c-130, but saint nick's still got to get those toys down the chimney." "Roger that, sir." "Captain." "Call centcom right away, get that air corridor open now." "It's Angel 5-1, we're on approach." "Angel 5-1, perimeter is secure." "Begin your run." "You ready, sergeant?" "Waiting with open arms, sir." "Time on target." "Time now." "We got a green light." "Go, go, go, go!" "Roger that." "We have a visual. 12 good canopies." "I hope your boys are recording this, major." "Affirmative, sir." "I want as much video as I can get." "The press is gonna eat this up." "No offense, sir, I'm alittle more worried about those villagers getting their food." "We have laser designation of target." "first pallet is center mass of drop zone." "Nice shooting, angel one!" "12 pallets deployed, 12 pallets confirmed received." "Yeah!" "merry christmas, sergeant, from the united states army to the people of chakaran." "I'll tell them, sir." "Merry christmas, aarif." "master sergeant meeks." "Are you still here?" "Thought you had achristmas dinner to cook." "That's why I'm here." "I thought since you were new in town that you wouldn't have a placeto spend the holiday." "That's real nice of you." "You sure your husband won't mind?" "It's prime rib, meeks, not a date." "Sorry, I was just... but if you want to have processed turkey dinner in the mess hall at fort myer," "I'm not gonna stop you." "all right." "What time should I be there?" "1700 hours sharp." "And just for the record, meeks, no, I'm not married." "Not anymore." "You still here, sir?" "Frank dane still has my back after all these years." "Well, I'm glad it worked out." "And you can thank that lawyer for me." "I will." "Good to see you, son." "You're good at a lot of things, sir, but lying isn't one of them." "I'll see you around, jimmy." "Say hello to your mother for me." "Roger that, sir." "Sir?" "Some of us are getting together for christmas dinner at master sergeant pierce'shouse." "She's a marine." "Asked me to invite you." "Colonel mcnulty's gonna be there, too." "He, uh, he wanted to meet you." "And what about you?" "What about me?" "Do you want me there?" "Of course." "There's one thing you are better at than me." "What's that?" "Lying." "Merry christmas, son." "Merry christmas, dad." " Where's he going?" " No idea." "Don't tell me you haven't left for the airport yet." "Oh, all the flights were canceled- bad weather in the midwest." "Oh, look, sonny, I'm sorry." "If you hadn't been digging through classified files for my father, you could've been out of here last night." "Do I look broken up about it?" "What, you don't want to go home?" "You know when I said that I understood what it's like to have divorced parents?" "Mine compete for my time like I was a little girl." "Negotiating a treaty between the two koreas would be less stressful." "Less stressful than a visit from tisnewski sr.?" "It's always easier to deal with someone else's family than your own." "Well, you can't spend christmas alone, counselor." "What do you have in mind?" "Yeah, we're friends with, uh, master sergeant pierce." "Is she in?" "I think we've metonce or twice, major." "You look beautiful, jocelyn." "Thank you, ms." "Liston." "Pierce, is that you?" "you look like you could use some egg nog, sir." "Double rum, please." "Roger that, sir." "Come on in." "At approximately 5:00 P.M. Local time, the secretary of defense landed at bahgram air force base in afghanistan to personally deliver technology that allowed U.S. Special forces to distribute humanitarian aid to a remote afghan village." "The secretary postponed his previously scheduled troop visit to baghdad when he learned that the humanitarian mission might be scrapped unless the supplies could arrive before the bad weather set in." "In a prepared statement, the secretary apologized to the troops in baghdad for missing christmas dinner with them, and he wished all of our men and women in uniform around the world the happiest of holidays" "E" " RING Season 1 Episode 11"