"Let's NDP here." "We're gonna NDP here." "Eriksson, hold up." "Hold up." "Okay, Eriksson, set up claymores on the left flank." "Hatch." "Did that sound hollow to you, man?" "What?" "Wait." "We could be standing right over their tunnels right now, couldn't we?" "Right under us at this very second could be VC tunnels as far as the eye can see." "Shit!" "What was that?" "Fix that sound!" "I hate fucking mortars, goddamn it." "Fix that sound, sergeant." "They're after somebody else." "Who are they after?" "Lieutenant, is that 3rd Platoon there?" "Captain Hill says Alpha's hit, sir." "Shit, man, do they know we're here?" "What do you say, Meserve?" "I'll get it to you ASAP, sir." "Hawthorne." "Sergeant Hawthorne!" "Sir." "Set out security to the flanks, front and rear." "But not too far." "I don't want them getting separated from us." "Yes, sir." "Eriksson, take the right flank." "Don't get lost over there." "Get me Superman 02." "Tell them we're trying to get a fix on the tube." "Tell them we can hear it." "We'll adjust by the sound." "Roger." "Superman 02, Superman 02." "What the fuck is going on?" "Cease fire!" "What do you got, man?" "Cease fire!" "I saw a gook, sarge." "One of them gooks from the ville." "What?" "You recognising people in this shit...?" "Man, I saw him!" "Superman 02 needs your map coordinates, sarge." "The tube's kicking ass on Alpha." "One thousand two." "Fuck this!" "The tube's got a fix on us!" "Oh, Christ!" "Well, they found us goddamn it!" "They're walking them in on us!" "Superman 02, Superman 02." "Let's move!" "The tube's got a fix on us." "Left flank!" "Left flank!" "Move on!" "Go, go, go!" "Silent Twin 02, out." "Go!" "Go!" "Let's break our asses!" "Goddamn it, move!" "Oh, Jesus!" "Oh, Jesus!" "Oh, God!" "Jesus Christ." "Oh, God." "Oh, fuck." "Where's Hawthorne?" "He's the way we're going, man, but..." "Eriksson's on right flank." "He ain't come in yet." "This war's getting old, Mr. Meserve." "Here comes arty!" "Fuck!" "Ah!" "Oh!" "Oh, shit!" "Oh, Jesus!" "Okay, Brownie, you get up there with them." "Keep your shit together." "My shit is together." "My shit is forever together." "I'm an armour-plated motherfucker!" "Yeah." "Yeah!" "Oh, fuck!" "Help me!" "Oh, fuck!" "Help me." "Somebody help me!" "What's wrong with my arm?" "Jesus Christ, where's my arm?" "I got something for you." "You gotta find my arm." "We gotta move!" "Calm down, soldier!" "Help me!" "Help me!" "Help me, somebody!" "Help me!" "Help!" "We found your fucking arm." "Calm the fuck down." "Here you go." "Here's your arm." "Here's your arm." "All right, let's get out of here!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Somebody help." "Help me." "Help me." "Somebody!" "Somebody..." "Oh, God." "Help!" "Help!" "Aah!" "Help me!" "Somebody!" "Oh, sarge, I need help!" "Help." "Sarge, help me!" "I'm stuck!" "Oh, I'm stuck." "Help me." "Oh, thank God!" "Pull!" "Oh, shit!" "I'm gonna put some tracers up where he is." "Back me up with the thumper, okay?" "Right." "Ready?" "Yeah." "Get some." "Get some, motherfucker!" "Get some!" "Motherfucker!" "Motherfucker!" "Yeah, you fuck!" "Yeah." "Some mad fucking minute, huh, cherry?" "We're getting too short for this shit, Meserve." "We ain't short yet." "Shit, 30 days and a wakeup, man." "It's so short, we damn near invisible." "Hmm, we gonna DEROS right out of this jungle, man." "Gonna DEROS out of these clothes." "Put me on that Freedom Bird and I figure I'm short... and maybe the fucker's gonna crash." "Oh, Jesus." "Can you imagine that?" "He escaped from Nam to die an airline fatality." "Never happen, cherry." "You survive the Nam, you get to live forever, man." "How long you been in country, Eriksson?" "Three weeks." "Three weeks?" "Oh, man, you're breaking my heart." "You know, Meserve, I've been thinking, man." "Maybe it's about time we stopped balling these slanted-eyed bitches, man." "Otherwise, we might end up home diseased, you know?" "Dinky dau, man." "Yeah, the Nam's a trip." "First 30 days, you don't know shit, the last 30 days, you don't give a shit." "I mean, you care, but it's just kind of humpbacked and crooked, you know?" "Like the cherry." "He's liable to end up wasted because he don't know nothing." "And you and me liable to end up in peril because we don't care about nothing." "I care, Brown." "Yeah, sure you do." "It's just kind of humpbacked and crooked, you know?" "Clark, you and Hatcher and Eriksson spread out here." "Stay alert." "And don't get lost." "Brownie, let's didi." "Hershey bar number one!" "It's good stuff." "Take a big bite." "Check out this sad-ass cherry, man." "Sui?" "It's a mango." "Quit begging, Eriksson." "They don't want your fucking candy bar." "You can give it to me, man." "Eriksson." "Cam on ong very much." "Don't be eating one fucking thing these gooks give you." "Now, get back where you're supposed to be." "Sorry, sir." "Watch yourself." "You wanna die a sudden, horrible death, cherry?" "No, sarge." "You were gonna eat it, weren't you?" "You see, these people here they confuse themselves." "Are they Cong, are they not Cong?" "Yeah, man, they're schizophrenic, you know?" "Depends on who scared them last." "You eat some chopped-up razor blades in something they give you, some shaved-up glass, what are you dead of?" "Stupidity, man." "It's a rog, Brown." "Much affirmed, Brownie." "Yes, indeed." "These are the folks the sarge and me are overjoyed to have travelled 11,000 miles to assist them in their struggle to upgrade their raggedy-ass selves." "Yeah, except every damn one of them is old or kids, man." "That ain't good." "Hey, this here's a retirement ville, Clark." "This is sort of like Florida, man." "Hey, Brown, you know, I wasn't gonna eat that thing." "I just, uh..." "You know, I didn't want to be rude." "Rude?" "Yeah." "Rude?" "I'll smack you upside your head for talking that foolishness, man!" "Eriksson, man, you do something rude, you say, "Sorry about that."" "You know what I mean?" "Like, for example, you know, you strangle some of their chickens, man, you cop some of their rice, you know, or you barbecue their fucking hootch, you say, "Sorry about that."" "Let me hear you say it, cherry." ""Sorry about that."" "Sorry about that." "No." "This guy got something for us, sir?" "We asked him which path was safe." "One day he says one, next day the other." "You VC?" "You VC?" "Number fucking 10!" "VC?" "You number fucking 10?" "No!" "No." "You VC?" "VC, no!" "No." "No, no, no." "All right!" "We got it!" "Number one, old man." "Come on." "Eriksson!" "Hey, man, I hope that ain't your sad ass idea of fun, buddy." "Hey, Brownie, this is some piece of equipment, man!" "Gee, it don't look like no piece of equipment to me, man." "Look like some pathetic tree fell over and got all tangled up in somebody's shovel." "And this fool going around trying to act like some sort of Einstein." "He gonna tie it to his cow." "Do you have any idea how one of these things works?" "Hey, man, ain't you supposed to be hauling water to your thirsty fellow soldiers instead of hanging out with this dubious motherfucker, man?" "Yeah." "So let's go, then." "Right." "Okay." "No, no, no." "Okay." "All right." "Shit." "Sarge wants us staying together, we best be staying together." "Or don't you want to be getting home to do your own ploughing?" "You're married, right?" "Yeah." "Yeah, yeah, come on, motherfucker!" "What the fuck was I talking about, man?" "This some badass Thai stick, man." "Oh, yeah." "You got any babies, Eriksson?" "That's what I was talking about, man." "You got kids?" "A little girl." "A little girl, huh?" "Now ain't that my point?" "What the hell was you doing back there that sarge had to go flying back to save your ass." "The ground opened up on me, Brownie." "I'm hanging there." "Half in, half out of one of the tunnels." "Mortar rounds coming straight at me." "Boom, boom, boom!" "I couldn't believe it." "Did you pee your pants, man?" "Come on, don't be shy." "Talk to me." "I'm talking, man." "But you ain't telling me nothing, man." "Your ass was stuck in a rabbit hole like motherfucking Winnie the Pooh?" "So, what happened?" "Uh..." "Man, come on." "Come on, man." "Look, think about me as your priest, huh?" "You can tell me anything." "I'm Lutheran." "I don't have a priest." "You pee your pants, motherfucker?" "Brownie, if sarge hadn't come back for me, I sure would have." "Yeah." "Without the sarge, man, you ain't nothing but a sack of monkey shit." "And you ain't walking along in this moment in time jiving with me, man." "You so much grief bagged and tagged that your raggedy-ass people is pissing and moaning all their lives." "Ain't it right, sarge?" "Hatch!" "Hatcher!" "What?" "Listen up." "You people got 30 days to be learning what you can from me and Mr. Meserve." "Hatcher!" "Listen up, man." "I'm listening, I'm listening." "Because we gonna DEROS and leave Freedom Frontier..." "One o'clock!" "One o'clock!" "Behind you!" "Oh, my God, I hit it!" "Sarge!" "All right, cease fire!" "Cease fire!" "I told you this fucking place wasn't safe." "They set us up." "The bastards set us up!" "Sarge..." "Sarge, I'm in trouble, man." "I'm in trouble, sarge." "It ain't nothing, Brownie." "It ain't nothing." "You sure, man?" "It ain't nothing, man." "It sure feels like something bad." "It feels bad, sarge." "It ain't nothing, man." "Erik..." "Eriksson, the sarge says I'm gonna be okay, man." "Oh, yeah." "No sweat, Brownie." "Fuck this shit, man!" "Fuck this!" "Let's go, let's go!" "Come on." "Come on, move it!" "Sarge." "Sarge!" "Brownie." "Look in my fucking eyes!" "I'm gonna hypnotise you!" "Good." "You're fine." "Eh?" "I know it, man." "I know it." "I know it." "I'm a armour-plated motherfucker." "I'm a armour-plated motherfucker." "I'm a armour-plated motherfucker." "Sergeant." "Let's see." "Sergeant Meserve, you're to hump it back two clicks to the road." "Our APCs are there." "One of them will take you to Ap Thanh." "You can hook up with a truck back to Wolf." "Captain Hill's regrouping your company there." "Is that understood, sergeant?" "You better watch your back here, sir." "This ville is bullshit, sir." "These fuckers are harbouring VC." "Be advised, corporal." "We're gonna bust some chops before we're out of here." "Don't you worry." "Torch the fucking place." "Hey, hey, there it is." "My rack, my rack!" "Oh." "So, what are you gonna do, guys?" "We're gonna get shitfaced and go hump the brains out of some of them dink hos." "I don't know." "I think I'm too tired." "Come on." "Are we on duty or off, man?" "Hey, Hatch." "Let me have one of your beers if you're not gonna drink." "No, man." "You should have bought more." "Oh, goddamn dog in the manger, Hatcher, give the guy a fucking beer." "They're mine, man." "I'll give you 1000 pi, Hatch." "No, you should have thought ahead." "I'll give you ten thousand pi." "For one?" "Give me the fucking beer." "Oreos." "Oreos." "I'll give you some of my cookies." "Hey." "I was hoping you were still around." "Forget about it, man." "Hey, we just spent some time in a combat zone, man." "The fucking lieutenant had a high degree of difficulty getting his head out of his ass which left us deployed throughout the jungle like a bunch of crazed motherfuckers." "What happened to you guys?" "I don't think anybody knows." "I just about got killed, though." "What was that like?" "I went nuts." "Wanna shower, Eriksson?" "Later." "Come on, man, I wanna shower." "Let's go shower." "You wanna shower, Hatch?" "Fucking A." "Hey, sarge." "Hey, man, it's the sarge." "Hey, sarge, man." "This asshole, Clark, just bought one beer off me for 10,000 pi." "Ain't that some shit?" "Sarge, are we on duty or off?" "Off." "Fucking A." "We've been detailed a long-range recon in the morning." "We're off till 2100." "Where we gonna go?" "The lieutenant will brief me." "I'll brief you guys, 2100." "We're out of here at 0600." "But we're off till then?" "Yeah." "Let's go shower, man." "Sarge, we're gonna go take a shower." "What are you gonna do?" "I'm gonna go into town and get laid." "Sarge?" "What do you hear about Brownie?" "He's dead." "This place is bullshit, man." "I hate this fucking place, man." "They ought to blow it up and pave it over, man." "Fucking A." "Brownie could make me laugh, man." "And I like to fucking laugh." "You know..." "I never even knew a fucking far-out spade dude like Brownie before Brownie, you know, man?" "They just shouldn't keep making you hump the boonies when you're short like Brownie was, man." "They ought to let you go home, man." "Yeah, but then you'd be short when you were getting close to where you didn't have to go on anymore." "So what, man?" "So nobody'd wanna go then." "So I don't wanna go now." "Yeah, but they keep moving it back, Hatch." "They move it back and move it back and pretty soon they wouldn't be sending anybody over here." "Yeah." "So, what's wrong with that?" "What I'm saying is these fucking gooks are shit, man!" "They're lowlifes!" "Every bug-eyed motherfucker in that ville, man." "Every man, woman and child knew about them fucking mortars, man." "And they knew about the snipers, too, and they just let them zap Brownie." "They're slugs, man." "They're roaches, and total fucking destruction is the only way to deal with them, man." "Sorry, sarge." "Passes been cancelled." "What?" "The ville's been declared off-limits." "Whoa, what did he say?" "What did he say?" "For how long?" "Indefinitely." "He's serious, man." "Fuck them." "Whoa, hey, hey." "Hey, all right." "Watch it, sarge!" "Come on." "Motherfucking bullshit!" "Take it easy, man." "Yeah, that was easy!" "That was motherfucking easy!" "What we gonna do, sarge?" "You know what this bullshit's about?" "The fucking Cong is in town tonight is why it's off-limits." "Charlie's in the whorehouse." "No shit?" "Yeah, Eriksson, didn't you know?" "Charlie's gotta get laid too." "He works hard killing us." "Don't he?" "What are we gonna do, sarge?" "What are we gonna do?" "Goddamn it!" "The Cong's getting laid... and we're just..." "It ain't fair, man, you know?" "Am I talking?" "I can't tell if I'm talking or not, man." "Diaz, how you doing?" "Do one of you guys got a Playboy on you that I can borrow?" "Jeez, on me?" "Yeah." "I gotta find one." "Somebody sent you a present." "This is Diaz from 3rd platoon." "He's Brown's replacement." "We're out of here in the morning at 0500." "I want everyone carrying two frags." "Make sure you got smoke." "Sit down." "Leave your vest behind." "I don't want to take any heat casualties out there." "Beyond that, wear what you wanna wear, as long as it's charmed, as long as it's what made you survive to this day." "Our destination is Hill 209 in the Tra Khuc River Valley." "The hill overlooks this blue line." "There are caves." "Battalion thinks there might be VC." "We're looking for tunnels, bunkers, unmapped trails, whatever." "Now, the orders are we don't shoot except in self-defence." "But you get one of these little motherfuckers out in the open, you waste him." "All right." "Now, we're leaving a full hour early because at this point we're gonna detour 2000 metres to the south... to the ville of Nghia Hanh." "Because what we're gonna do is requisition ourselves a girl." "A little portable R and R." "It'll break up the boredom, keep up morale." "I don't want nothing but charmed people around me on this one, gentlemen." "So bring your good-luck stuff." "Like this, sarge?" "Does it feel lucky?" "It looks lucky." "He really say that?" "He wouldn't do it, would he?" "Bring a girl?" "Are you crazy?" "I mean, as short as he is?" "He is out of here in less than 30 days." "So why did he say it?" "I..." "I don't know." "Well, what'd the other guys think?" "Everybody was joking." "Clark." "Clark says:" ""What's this, some new addition to Lurp rations?"" "Right." "I mean, some broad in your pack." "You see how nuts that sounds?" "That'll never happen, G.I." "This is the one, sarge." "She's the pretty one." "Take the pretty one." "Get over here, you fucking cunt!" "Oh, Jesus God!" "You can hold her." "What's going on?" "You wanna suck this, you fucking whore?" "You wanna suck this, you fucking whore?" "You guys done this before?" "No." "This is unbelievable." "Ha, ha." "I didn't think he meant it, Hatch." "Did you?" "I don't know, man." "Let's move, gentlemen." "I want to be out of here by first light." "No, no, no." "What do you want?" "What do you want?" "You want her to have this?" "You want her to have it?" "All right, no sweat." "No big thing." "She can have it!" "Shut up, bitch!" "Let's get out of here, sarge." "Let's move it." "Get some rest." "You're upset." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "Yep." "We're gonna win her heart and mind, Eriksson." "If she's got one." "Hey, sarge." "A couple of more clicks, we'll take a break." "I thought you were kidding last night, sarge." "I was serious as a heart attack, you know that." "Yeah, I know, that's what I mean." "I mean... this is kidnapping, ain't it, sarge?" "Take the point." "Go relieve Hatch on point." "Why?" "You got the point." "Go!" "Yeah." "Right." "Hatch." "Hatch, slow up, man." "I'm supposed to relieve you." "It's just like Genghis Khan, man." "That's what I was thinking." "You ever heard of Genghis Khan?" "What?" "What are you talking about?" "Meserve, man." "He's unbelievable." "I mean..." "I mean, what we're doing, it's fantastic." "I can't figure out how come we never thought of it before, man." "Hatcher, this is nuts." "It ain't nuts." "It's what armies do." "Ah, we ain't Genghis Khan, man." "Hey, you're the one who's nuts, man." "It's the 20th century, man." "Jesus, we're supposed to be here to help these people." "What's the matter with you?" "Are you okay?" "You okay?" "Come here." "Let me put this..." "Put that on." "Come here for a second." "Come here." "Come here for a second." "You all right?" "You're all right, aren't you?" "You okay?" "That was some hump, huh, man?" "Yeah." "You want some gum?" "Come here, come here..." "Come here." "Come here." "I'm not gonna hurt you." "Come here for a second." "I just wanna tell you something." "Hey, Eriksson, if I don't wanna mess with her, man, do I have to?" "Diaz... no, man." "Hey, come here." "Come here, somebody." "Somebody come here." "Come here, quick, man." "Come here." "Check it out, Clark." "Is that a farmer there or is that VC?" "Where?" "Right there in the pool." "What is it, Clark?" "I don't know." "It's a rock, I think." "It's moving." "The bushes are moving, the rock ain't." "What the fuck are you shooting at?" "Sarge said to shoot them in the open." "It's a water buffalo, sarge." "Dumb, very fucking dumb." "Aspirin." "Number one." "Number one." "Okay." "Open." "Okay." "Hey, sarge." "Yeah." "We on track?" "Just follow the little red Crayola line." "It's about two and a half hours and we'll be there." "Hey, sarge, you gotta give me a minute here on this thing we're doing." "I mean, what we're doing." "What are we doing, sarge?" "We've incarcerated a VC suspect." "Is that what you're talking about?" "She's a VC whore and we're gonna have a little fun with her." "Yeah, but she's just a farm girl, ain't she...?" "Eriksson, look." "You're the cherry here, right?" "So lighten up." "Just let me carry the weight." "What's the problem, sarge?" "Eriksson don't think our VC whore is a VC whore." "He don't?" "Wow, man, you've been in town, Eriksson." "They'll sell you their children." "Clark, these people were sleeping in their hootch." "He got the whole wrong outlook on this thing." "Man, he's all discombobulated." "You got the whole wrong outlook on this thing, Eriksson." "What are you talking about?" "He's talking about she's a VC." "She ain't." "I'm telling you, Eriksson." "This ain't a VC." "Clark ain't." "Hatcher, he ain't no VC." "Diaz ain't no VC." "I ain't." "I ain't no fucking VC." "Now this?" "This here's a VC." "And you?" "You I don't know about." "Hold it up, Hatcher." "You ain't gonna be cutting yourself this slack, man." "You ain't humping your own ruck, you'll be humping mine." "Why, man?" "Just put it on." "Hey, sarge." "Hey." "I'm a corporal, Hatcher." "I'm giving you a direct order." "You hump my ruck." "Oh, man." "What an asshole." "Yeah, it's all clear, sarge." "The stream's no more than 30 metres down there, sarge." "We got plenty of water." "Get her inside." "Get your ruck off her, Hatcher." "Put mine over there." "All right, we'll use this sorry-assed place as our C.P." "Eriksson, you and Diaz get the chow and ammo stored, then square this place away." "Clark, you and Hatcher come with me." "I wanna reconnoitre this area." "Let's do it." "Oh, man, I ain't gonna rape nobody." "Eriksson, you gotta back me up." "I'll back you." "Swear it." "I do, man." "I promise." "You gotta back me too, okay?" "You got it, man." "Okay." "Okay." "Okay." "Okay." "Okay." "Shh." "Shh." "Shh." "It's okay." "I'm not gonna hurt you." "I'm not gonna hurt you." "You're cut, okay?" "You're hurt." "Let me fix it, okay?" "No, no, no, give." "Give." "Okay." "Shh." "It's okay." "We'll get it clean." "Okay?" "Shh, shh, shh." "I'm not going to hurt you." "Okay?" "I'm not going to hurt you." "Shh." "Come here." "It's okay." "Just stay still." "See?" "It's going to be okay." "Okay, I'm your friend." "I'm your friend, okay?" "Okay." "Mind if I pull up a chair?" "Go ahead." "C-rats, huh?" "What you got there?" "Franks and beans." "Army don't want to surprise us." "Leave it to the dinks for that, huh?" "How you doing?" "I'm all right." "I'm sorry I jumped on you back there." "It's just, we're out here, right?" "It's the fucking boonies." "Got the Cong hanging in every tree just waiting to grease us out of existence." "What'd we hump, five, six hours of the baddest bush?" "Gooks had half a brain, they'd be fighting to get the hell out of this stinkhole, not to keep it." "It's five, six hours of the ugliest snakes and stinging spiders." "Who we got to count on in all that but each other." "Right?" "Yeah." "Come here." "Now, I don't want any problems with you, Eriksson." "I'm counting on you, as a matter of fact, in particular." "Yeah, well, I don't know what the hell's going on here, sarge." "We're gonna, uh... interrogate the prisoner." "This isn't right." "We ain't supposed to be doing this." "Don't fuck with me." "You're taking your turn in here." "No." "No, I ain't raping nobody." "Oh, you think you're saying no to me?" "You ain't hotshot enough to be saying no to me." "Motherfucker!" "Motherfucker!" "You think you're standing up to me, huh?" "I ain't doing it." "No way." "Oh, what's that matter?" "Don't you like girls?" "Haven't you got a pair?" "Is that your problem?" "What is going on here, sarge?" "Eriksson don't wanna ball the dink." "How come?" "I don't know." "He's a chickenshit." "Is that it?" "Is that your problem, Eriksson?" "Huh?" "No." "So, what is it?" "Maybe he's queer." "Is that it?" "You a faggot?" "Huh?" "Is that your goddamn problem?" "No!" "So, what is it?" "Everybody else is up for this." "What are you looking at Diaz for?" "Diaz is with the programme." "You got a problem with this, Diaz?" "Yes." "Huh?" "Hell no, sarge." "Okay." "Would you stop looking at Diaz?" "Oh, wait a minute." "Maybe he is a queer." "Maybe Eriksson's a homosexual." "Oh, oh, oh." "Yeah." "We got us two girls on our patrol." "Is Eriksson a faggot, Hatcher?" "I don't know, sarge." "I think he is." "He's a chickenshit, man." "I'm gonna cut his heart out." "How we gonna count on you?" "You're a goddamn VC sympathiser." "I mean, you could get killed real easy." "Don't you know that?" "Oh." "Somebody stumbles." "They don't mean to shoot you." "They're sorry." "Friendly fucking casualty." "I mean, a body bag's a body bag, right?" "Who's counting?" "Your mama's crying, your daddy's pissing and moaning." "He's dead." "What?" "He's dead." "My father's dead." "Who cares, man?" "Nobody cares about your goddamn family history, pal." "Nobody's asking about that." "You're taking your turn." "In there." "No." "Well, maybe when I'm done with her, I'm gonna come after you." "Maybe when I'm done humping her, I'm gonna come hump you!" "Oh, you gonna take an attack posture with me?" "Yeah, you got a weapon." "Clark got a weapon." "Clark got a knife." "We all got weapons." "Anybody can blow anybody away any second." "Which is the way it ought to be." "Always." "The Army calls this a weapon." "But it ain't." "This is a weapon." "This is a gun." "This is for fighting." "This is for fun." "Are you gonna watch?" "Take security, Eriksson." "You got security." "Who's next, man?" "Not you, man!" "I wish we had some beers, man, you know?" "I'd really like an ice-cold beer, man, you know?" "Better than nothing." "Wish we had a beer, huh, sarge?" "Don't you wish you had a beer?" "Are we gonna flip a coin for who's next or what?" "Diaz is next." "When am I up, sarge?" "After Clark." "That's last." "Move it, Diaz, goddamn it, move it!" "Wish we had a goddamn beer, man." "We ought to have some beers, man." "Hatcher, shut the fuck up." "I just want a beer, man." "Maybe we ought to gag this bitch, you know?" "We're gonna have VC all over our case." "Hatcher manages about three strokes, you know, and then he starts going:" "Like a fucking mouse." "Clark had his knife in his hand the whole time, man." "He was holding it at her throat." "So what?" "Well..." "What do you mean?" "When was the last time you had a real woman, sarge?" "She was real." "I think she was real." "My brother had this car, man." "It was a '57 Chevy Bel Air." "Raked, nosed." "Had 10 coats of hand-rubbed candy-apple-red lacquer." "The coolest." "It had a 283 in it, you know?" "Bored and stroked." "The fastest thing in the street!" "Diaz will relieve you at 2400, okay?" "You probably like the Army, don't you, Eriksson?" "I hate the Army." "This ain't the Army." "This ain't the Army, sarge." "Yea, though I walk through the valley of evil..." "I shall fear no death." "Because I'm the meanest motherfucker in the valley." "It's a bunch of them cruel-hearted little people." "There you go." "What do you make of this, sarge?" "You want to light them up?" "Oh, there's something happening here." "Well, maybe they're just fishing." "Hatcher, you and Eriksson get back to the hootch." "Load up on extra ammo and smoke grenades." "Diaz, get me Big Brother." "I wanna prearrange support." "Right." "Didi mau, gentlemen." "Big Brother 02, Big Brother 02, this is Silent Twin 02, over." "Fucking bullshit, man." "What did I do to deserve this bullshit?" "I'm sick of babysitting this fucking whore." "What's happening, man?" "Meserve wants smoke grenades and ammo." "We're gonna light up some little motherfuckers, man." "Where's Meserve?" "He's back at the ridge, man." "What am I supposed to do, man?" "Sit here and babysit the whore while you guys get to waste some gooks?" "What'd he say about me?" "He didn't say anything." "All right." "All right, man." "I'm saying it." "I'm saying I'm going up there, man." "Eriksson, you stay here." "I'm supposed to go up." "Hey, man, I'm going up there and get some." "Okay?" "I ain't gonna miss this good shit." "You ready, Hatcher?" "Meserve ain't gonna like this." "Eriksson, I'm a corporal, man." "You're a PFC." "You got it?" "Now, you're staying here." "Give me the thump gun." "All right, let's didi, Hatch." "We're gonna KIA some VC gooks, man." "Fucking A." "No more." "No more." "I'm not gonna hurt you." "No, no, no." "I'm not gonna hurt you, okay?" "I just want to untie you." "All right?" "Just a minute." "Okay." "Oh, God." "I'm sorry." "My friends... number 10." "You're sick, huh?" "You're sick?" "It's okay." "Shh." "Shh." "Oh, man." "Oh, man, you're burning up." "You're hot." "You hungry?" "Hungry, food?" "Eat, okay?" "Number one." "Number one." "Get you something to eat." "Hmm." "Okay?" "Okay." "Number one." "It's good, it's good." "It's okay." "Good." "Okay, okay, take it easy." "I don't understand." "I don't understand." "I don't know what you're saying." "I don't know what you're saying." "What's happening, sarge?" "Clark, what are you doing here?" "I see there's some shit happening." "Where's Eriksson?" "He's in the hootch." "Is your head up your ass?" "You leave him alone with the whore?" "Are you nuts?" "Go get him up here." "Go get everybody and everything up here ASAP." "Go." "I gotta do every fucking thing myself?" "Shh." "Shh." "Shh." "I'm gonna take you out of here." "Okay?" "You." "You." "You, me, go." "We go." "We're gonna didi." "Didi, okay?" "We go home." "Home." "We go home in the ville." "Ville." "Uh, ville." "Uh..." "Shh." "Shh." "Thank God." "Okay, okay." "Okay, that's right." "We're going home." "Wait a minute." "I can't go." "I can't go." "You go." "Go, go!" "I can't go!" "I'm gonna be a goddamn deserter." "Go!" "No." "No." "Go!" "You don't understand." "Go." "You don't understand." "No, I'm..." "I'm sorry!" "I can't..." "I'm sorry, I can't do this!" "I can't do it." "You don't understand!" "No, I can't do this." "No, I can't do this." "Oh, Jesus." "Oh, Jesus." "Okay." "All right." "What are you doing?" "Nothing, man." "Nothing." "Meserve wants everything and everybody up top." "Shut the fuck up." "She's gonna give us away with all that coughing, sarge." "We gotta waste her, sarge." "She's gonna get us lit up." "Eriksson, waste the bitch." "What?" "You heard me." "I want you to grease her." "Another boat, sarge." "Get me Reilly." "I want that prearranged support now." "Slicks, snakes, the whole shitload." "Right, sarge." "Big Brother 02, Big Brother 02, this is Silent Twin 02, over." "I want you to waste her." "I don't know what you're talking about, man." "Big Brother 02, request the following..." "Kill the bitch." "You're nuts." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "If Brownie were here, he would kick your ass on this, man." "He would not tolerate this bullshit!" "Brownie ain't on my frequency no more." "Brownie's on the dead frequency." "You on my frequency, motherfucker?" "Because if you ain't, you're KIA, just like the rest of them gook motherfuckers down there." "Let her go." "Let her go, sarge." "What she gonna do, man?" "Let her go!" "Hatcher, waste her." "What?" "I'll do it, sarge." "No, Hatcher's gonna do it." "Hatcher." "Why me, man?" "Listen, you little piece of bug shit." "You do what I'm telling you." "No, I don't want to, sarge, come on." "Choppers, sarge." "Goddamn it." "Goddamn it." "They're gonna see her." "We gotta get rid of her." "We're gonna have every kind of bird circling this area." "Diaz!" "Do it!" "Do it!" "I'll do it, sarge." "Diaz is gonna do it, goddamn it." "Do it!" "Diaz, no, man." "Don't do it." "Come on, you yellow piece of shit!" "Be a man!" "Diaz, don't do it, man." "Be a man!" "Do it!" "Do it!" "Do it!" "Don't let him make you do it, Diaz." "Shut up!" "Don't do it, man!" "Do it!" "Do it!" "Do it!" "You fucking piece of shit, do it!" "Diaz!" "Diaz!" "Do it!" "Do it!" "Do it!" "Diaz!" "No!" "You don't have to worry about her coughing anymore, sarge!" "Eriksson, you stay here!" "Everybody else move!" "You lay down cover!" "Now we're in the shit." "Take no names and count the bodies!" "What the hell is that?" "Lookit sarge!" "Lookit!" "It's a gunboat." "I fixed her, sarge." "I fixed her." "All right, everybody, move!" "Right flank!" "Right flank!" "Switch with me, Hatch." "Go!" "Go!" "Get some, motherfuckers!" "Get some!" "Oh, God." "She's getting away!" "No!" "No!" "She's getting away!" "That bitch!" "I stuck her more than twice!" "Waste her!" "No!" "Stop it!" "Waste her!" "Oh!" "Shoot her!" "Ah!" "No!" "No!" "Let's make our hat!" "Oh." "Rowan!" "Rowan!" "You okay?" "They did it, man." "They did it." "You and I didn't think they were gonna do it, but they did it." "They took her and they killed her." "What, the girl?" "They did it?" "Man, this ain't supposed to happen." "Fuck, man." "We go into this ville." "We just march in and, uh..." "And they take this girl." "They tie her up, they drag her out." "And they fucked her and killed her." "Shh, shh." "This ain't supposed to happen." "Jesus Christ." "I mean, this ain't supposed to happen." "Nobody fucking told me." "Hatcher's talking..." "Hatcher's talking about..." "About Genghis Khan." "And, uh, Meserve is telling me that I'm KIA." "Was Clark in on this?" "Oh, he's nuts." "Yeah, he's right here." "What are you guys talking about?" "Eriksson, what are you talking to him about?" "I'm talking to him, man." "I'm allowed to be talking to him." "Hey, man." "What happens in the field stays in the field, man." "You know that." "Everybody knows that." "Hey, Clarkie, where's Meserve, man?" "Is he back?" "What happened to you, man?" "You disappeared." "Yeah." "I got choppered out, Clark." "Yeah?" "Well, we're supposed to regroup..." "All right, all right." "All right, don't fucking pull at me, man!" "Don't pull at me." "Reilly wants us there in an hour." "Yeah, all right." "I'll be there." "Yeah, you better be, cherry." "Victor Charles Cong's one hardcore jackass, man." "They told us things were heating up where you guys and we were on alert." "I said, "I am always on alert."" "Did you see him, man?" "That was freaky, man." "That was very freaky." "They get me back in the bush, Rowan, I'm dead, man." "I'm coming back in a bag." "You gotta tell somebody." "Who?" "Who do you think?" "Maybe you should try Reilly." "He don't like Meserve." "No." "What about Hill?" "Hill's the captain." "Yeah, you should tell Reilly first." "All right." "On the day I was born, my mama grunted." "I popped out." "Took one look around." ""Shit," I says, "it's Two Creeks, Texas."" "So about eight years ago I'm still in Two Creeks." "My wife's about to give birth to our first child." "I took her to the hospital, a natural thing to do." "Well, she was refused admittance to this hospital on the basis of her race." "Which is, as you might guess, Negro." "Next thing I know, the baby ain't about to wait." "And so my son is born on the goddamn floor of this hospital's reception room." "Eriksson, I flipped the fuck out." "I started turning over chairs, kicking lamps." "It wasn't long before I was in jail." "Now, wasn't I on the side of righteousness?" "So, what was I doing in jail?" "What I was doing, let me advise you, was fixing to shoot some motherfuckers working in that hospital." "That's what I was doing." "But you know what?" "It was like they could read my mind, and they just kept me in that jail until my mind was turned around completely." "By the time I got out, I wanted nothing but to see my baby and my wife." "And I started thinking to myself... what happened is the way things are." "So why try and buck the system?" "Now, I'll tell you what I'm gonna do." "I'm gonna break up the squad, send you five men off in five different directions." "Sir." "I think this is..." "No, you don't think." "You listen." "Be advised you'd best just relax and try to forget about this thing." "You can't expect anything different in the combat zone." "Is that clear?" "Sir." "Yes, sir." "Hey, guys, I got..." "I got some boneless chicken I'll trade for some pound cake if anybody wants to." "Sorry, Cherry, we'd kill to keep our pound cake." "That's what everybody says." "In fact, we have killed to keep our pound cake." "If you was me, what would you have done?" "What do you mean, man?" "I mean, if you were me, what would you have done?" "I don't know." "There was this one minute, you know?" "I had this chance." "I could have got her out of there." "We both could have..." "We both could have taken off." "And then Clark..." "I mean, goddamn it, what was I supposed to do?" "Waste a fucking corporal?" "No, man." "And Meserve and Hatcher and Diaz?" "Just blow away four goddamn Americans?" "No." "What then?" "Guys, I can't find my squad." "What are you doing here, Cherry?" "I can't find Wilkins and Maclntire." "Find any pound cake?" "No, I still got the boneless chicken." "What happened to yours?" "Somebody stole it." "Can I stay with you guys?" "Yeah, back there." "I should have gone to see Captain Hill myself." "You know, he'd straighten this thing out." "When we reconnoitre those caves tomorrow, do you think everybody will have to go in?" "Oh, Jesus." "Private, move out." "You told Reilly?" "Oh, Reilly's bullshit." "He's doing zip." "No, I gotta see Captain Hill myself." "He will square this shit away." "He will ream some people out over this." "You can't go around Reilly." "He's your immediate superior." "And if I don't?" "If I do nothing, she just vanished." "You cannot violate the chain of command." "You're gonna piss people off." "Oh, no." "I wouldn't wanna violate something as sacred as the chain of command just to report a murder." "What...?" "What are you guys talking about?" "Don't worry about it." "I better go find my own squadron." "I don't feel right." "I feel like I'm doing something wrong." "I'll see you guys later." "Hey." "I don't think you will see us later if you don't stop bopping around here like it's a goddamn playground." "Just take it easy, okay?" "Slow down." "All right." "Tough." "There he goes." "Pathetic sad-assed Cherry." "He ain't rendezvoused with his brain recently." "Cease fire!" "Cease fire!" "What's the haps, sarge?" "Booby trap." "Somebody stepped on a toe-popper." "All right, let's move it out." "Get where we're supposed to be." "Who got hit, sarge?" "Cherry." "That boy was bagged and tagged the minute they cut his orders to this place." "They should have just shot him at home." "Okay, let's move out." "Get your people out of here." "Let's go." "Oh, Jesus." "Pathetic, dumb-ass Cherry." "Wait a minute." "This goddamn thing is turning us on our heads, Rowan." "We're getting it backwards, man." "Because it's a day-in, day-out dose of bullshit, man, is what it is." "I mean, just because each of us might, at any second, be blown away, everybody's acting like we can do anything, man." "And it don't matter what we do." "But I'm thinking maybe it's the other way around, you know?" "Maybe the main thing is just the opposite." "Because we might be dead in the next split second, maybe we gotta be extra careful what we do." "Because maybe it matters more." "Jesus." "Maybe it matters more than we even know." "PFC Eriksson reporting, sir." "At ease, Eriksson." "Captain Hill, something happened..." "I'm aware of why you're here." "Lieutenant Reilly detailed it to me just after you brought it to him." "I'm handling everything." "Sir, I didn't know that, sir." "That just about cover it as far as you're concerned, trooper?" "I am max-attentive to this situation." "Yes, sir." "Is there someone I ought to speak to, sir?" "I mean, has the investigation started?" "I hope you understand how serious this situation is." "Yes, sir." "That's why I reported it, sir." "This kind of thing can cause a major international incident." "Are you aware of that?" "Yes, sir." "Eriksson... these men fucked up good, but you bringing formal charges against them, is that gonna help that poor girl one little bit?" "Maybe if you had been there, sir." "Maybe if you had heard her screaming, you'd feel..." "You don't tell me shit about screaming, boy!" "I've heard a lot of fucking screaming in this country!" "Most of it's come from wounded American boys." "I'm gonna transfer you out of my company, Eriksson." "That all right with you?" "I'll get you out of the bush, out of the infantry, any fucking place you wanna go, you name it." "I saw your 201 file in the rear." "Said you volunteered to be a tunnel rat." "Is that what you want, Eriksson?" "I'd like to get out of this particular company, yes, sir." "Well, that's a rog, Eriksson." "You're a tunnel rat." "We get to the rear, you pack your trash." "That's not gonna keep me from trying to bring this thing out, sir." "Nobody's trying to keep you from doing a goddamn thing." "My function here is just to tell you how something like this is gonna come down." "And you ought to be advised that military court-martials are notoriously lenient." "And stateside review boards are even more lenient." "Even if these four guys get convicted they're not gonna do any real time." "Yes, sir." "In fact, they're gonna be out of the stockade before you can flick flies off of shit, Eriksson." "And if I was them, I'd be pissed off." "Wouldn't you?" "I'd be looking for a little payback!" "Now, a man like you, wife, baby daughter," "I'd be considering those factors very carefully." "Pardon me, sir." "What's your point, sir?" "There ain't no point, Eriksson." "I'm simply trying to illuminate the terrain in which we currently find ourselves deployed." "You don't mind that, do you?" "And if you do, fuck you!" "Yes, sir." "You on my frequency?" "Yes, sir." "You fucking maggot!" "Who the hell do you think you are?" "You're in that report recommending Meserve for a Bronze Star!" "He pulled you out of a VC tunnel, boy!" "Now, this shit with that girl, that was wrong." "But he's a kid, Eriksson." "He's 20 goddamn years old!" "And you're gonna ruin his life?" "He saved yours." "No, man, no!" "Jesus." "Now listen to me, man." "Just don't get too happy with those dice, because I'm shooting next." "I'm gonna be there in two seconds." "I gotta take a piss." "Okay." "All right." "Hey, Clarkie!" "What?" "Charlie's in the wire!" "What the hell's going on?" "Christ!" "What was it?" "What was it?" "Who was on watch?" "Anybody still in there?" "Get that fire out over there." "Let's roll." "Come on, let's roll." "Get over here." "On the perimeter now." "Let's go!" "Let's go!" "I need some help down front." "Go, go, go." "Come on." "Sweetest of the day." "Come to daddy, sweet ones." "Yeah!" "You sick son of a bitch!" "I told you, cherry." "What happens..." "Oh!" "Whoa." "Nobody cares, Meserve." "Oh, I told everybody." "I told them, and you don't have to worry." "You don't have to try and kill me, man." "I told them, and they don't care!" "You dinky dau, man." "You beaucoup dinky dau." "All right, sergeant." "Let's go." "Come on, move it." "I said, go, man." "Goddamn it, man." "Come on, we got a fire in here." "How you doing, son?" "Sir." "I'm sorry, sir." "Drunk, sir." "Mind if I join you for a little?" "Drunk." "Very drunk, sir." "You going on leave?" "Getting transferred, sir." "Fini boonies." "This little darling must be your daughter." "You're not thinking of doing anything crazy with that gun, are you?" "Just protecting myself, sir." "I gotta protect myself." "Trouble at home, son?" "Pardon, sir?" "I thought you might have problems at home." "Problems with the wife, sickness in the family." "The answer's not in that can, son." "Are you sure, sir?" "I'm a chaplain." "Try me." "That's what I do." "You a chaplain, sir?" "Are you religious, son?" "I'm a Methodist." "I'm a Lutheran." "Well, we can still talk, can't we?" "I went on a long-range patrol, sir." "And we kidnapped a girl... from a village." "And the other four men... raped her." "And they murdered her." "And I failed, sir... to stop them." "You couldn't let it rest, could you?" "You had to push it." "Go to hell." "Sir." "So you don't feel responsible for the crimes of rape and murder?" "No, sir." "I don't." "Is it your feeling then, Corporal Clark, that you have been wrongly brought to trial by the United States Government?" "Hey, I don't have anything against the United States government." "But I just think soldiers like Tony Meserve and me belong out in combat... not here." "You throw guys like us in the stockade and you're helping nobody but the Viet Cong, sir." "When your turn was called by Sergeant Meserve, did you go willingly into the hootch... and rape the girl..." "Tran Thi Oahn?" "Please answer the question." "Yes, sir." "Yes, sir." "Have you any idea why PFC Eriksson stayed out of the hootch?" "Well, he was brand-new, sir." "You know, I'd been there a lot longer than him, uh..." "I'd been there at least three weeks longer than him, sir." "You're saying, then, PFC, you involved yourself in rape to avoid being ridiculed?" "When you go out on a patrol, sir, you're not gonna be as good as you wanna be." "Because these guys aren't helping you do anything." "There's gonna be four people on that patrol, and an individual." "And so I did what I did, and I got remorse about it." "But I also got remorse about talking at this trial, too." "Because I have a loyalty to the men I was out there with." "And is it standard practise for U.S. personnel to have sexual relations with their prisoners and then murder them?" "Objection!" "Overruled." "The prisoner made attempts to give away the position of the squad, sir." "She was ill and coughing from the abuse of you and your men." "She shouldn't have even been there to jeopardise your position!" "You drag her out there and rape her!" "And then you blame her for coughing, so you kill her!" "Does that about sum it up?" "Objection." "Overruled." "Well, sir," "I've seen a lot of killing, which it's our duty to do, because it's kill or be killed." "Sometimes you hate the enemy so badly..." "About two ops back," "Operation Turner, we ran into a hootch that had been burned down." "Some Vietnamese were carrying children out of a bunker in a hootch." "They suffered from smoke inhalation." "I gave one small child mouth-to-mouth resuscitation." "That just goes to show you we ain't all combat over here." "Of the charges of rape and unpremeditated murder," "PFC Antonio Diaz is found guilty, sentenced to eight years' imprisonment at hard labour." "Of the charge of rape, Private First Class Herbert Hatcher is found guilty and sentenced to 15 years' hard labour." "Of the charges of rape and premeditated murder," "Corporal Thomas E. Clark is found guilty, sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labour." "Of the charge of unpremeditated murder," "Sergeant E5 Tony Meserve is found guilty, sentenced to 10 years' hard labour." "All sentences will begin immediately at the United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas." "Prisoners dismissed." "Even if these four guys get convicted, they're not gonna do any real time." "They're gonna be out of the stockade before you can flick flies off of shit." "And if I was them, I'd be pissed off." "Wouldn't you?" "I'd be looking for a little payback!" "Cup of chocolate ice cream." "Good." "You want to know what I think..." "Chocolate." "And then maybe after that we can go see a movie." "We could go and eat afterwards." "Excuse me." "Excuse me, miss!" "Uh..." "You forgot this." "Oh, thank you." "Bye." "Do I remind you of someone?" "Yeah." "You had a bad dream, didn't you?" "Yes." "It's over now, I think."