Season 1: Episode 3: Dislocations
From Bravo 3/44th
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Contents |
Overview
- Directed by
- Aaron Lipstadt
- Written by
- Steven Phillip Smith
- Guest Stars
- William Sadler ... Major Rigby
- Tia Carrere ... Lang
- April Tran ... Dep
- Also Starring
- Ngoc Thi Le ... Mama-San
- Oanh Thi Nguyen ... Mrs. Dep
- Hiep Luu ... Viet Cong
- Emmett Dennis ... G.I.
- Original Air Date
- 08 October 1987
- Title Card
- In 1967, approximately one-eighth of the population of South Vietnam was composed of refugees.
Episode Summary
During a mission to search the hamlet of Ben Duc, the platoon comes under attack by the NVA. With the help of a local villager, they defeat the enemy, who are discovered to be planning to wipe out the hamlet, or turn it into an intelligence center. The platoon is thus assigned to evacuate Ben Duc and escort its inhabitants to a new home, Nop Thanh. Things don't go quite as planned, neither in matters of strategy nor of the heart, as Goldman and Ruiz each develop personal attachments to the Vietnamese along the way. Speaking of attachments, a lone VC sniper tracks the group, but is he hunting the GIs or protecting the refugees?
When the platoon comes under intense mortar fire from the NVA, Major Rigby orders Lt. Goldman to abort the mission. Goldman and Anderson trade some hard questions, and the green lieutenant is forced to pick a side. And speaking of picking sides, in this episode, we've got a Vietnamese sharpshooter who hates every faction in the war, but helps the men of Bravo; a senior American officer with good intentions but a lousy touch with both the men in his command and the indigenous population; and a VC who shoots NVA.
Dislocated intentions? Or is love more important than politics? (summary by Erika)
This story presents the complexity of the Vietnam war. A normal war (WOW, work that one around in your head a little while!) would have front lines and you would gain ground or lose it. Not in Vietnam. The entire South Vietnam area was a war front and the North Vietnam area was covered in the air war. So in this episode we had a mountain tribesman who killed NVA. We had NVA fighting against the Americans. A VC sniper was fighting the NVA to protect his spouse. This was a confusing issue with the Americans as we want our wars to be straightforward; this is black and that is white. This is just one more time that Tour of Duty dealt with the question, "Just who is whose enemy?" (Ernest Johnson)
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Transcript (see transcript listing)
Excerpt from scene: [4:16 / 4:25] The Bush. Firebase Ladybird
RIGBY: Gentlemen, what we found on the NVA indicates that if they don't wipe out this hamlet, they're gonna' turn it into an intelligence center for the whole valley.
GOLDMAN: If it isn't already.
RIGBY: It's not. That guy Dep who killed the North Vietnamese is too damn feisty. He's a real troublemaker.
ANDERSON: He's a good shot. He handled that M-1 like a champ.
RIGBY: Well, when those five NVA don't come back, five hundred are gonna' come lookin' for them.
GOLDMAN: Well, why don't we just protect the hamlet, sir?
RIGBY: Lieutenant, the Green Berets tried that in '66. The whole camp got overrun. They even strung up a few locals just so everybody would get the point.
WALLACE: What about this Dep?
RIGBY: Well, the North Vietnamese took his boy away, made him a soldier, he got killed in a fight with the Cav down in Bong Song last December.
ANDERSON: Oh, Dep must love us.
RIBGY: Yeah, well, he hates the North Vietnamese more. Far as I can tell, he hates just about everybody: VC, even South Vietnamese government types. He uh, he almost killed some ARVN he caught poaching chickens... Guy really wants to be left alone.
ANDERSON: Now there's a subversive attitude if I ever heard one. Why don't we string him up at sunrise?
WALLACE: Why don't you brief Lt. Goldman on the operation, Major?
RIGBY: As of tomorrow morning, the village of Ben Duc ceases to exist... The people are moving thirty klicks down the valley to Nop Thanh. Now, your platoon is the escort, Lieutenant.
RIGBY: It should take you two days. Nop Thanh is secure and the people there are ready to assimilate Ben Duc.
RIGBY: You got a problem, Sergeant?
ANDERSON: Sir. If we're going to move these people, why don't we fly 'em in a couple of Chinooks?
RIGBY: The aircraft are committed. Big operation in the A Shau Valley tomorrow. You should feel lucky you're not going, Sergeant.
ANDERSON: Oh, yes, sir, I feel very privileged to be part of this mission, to be target practice for the North Vietnamese.
RIGBY: The trail is cleared. Gunships'll do first light and last light recon, you can get arty and tac air if you need it... We're gonna' make this as safe as we can, but this is a war, Sergeant.
ANDERSON: I reckon I'm aware of that, Major.
RIGBY: Well then maybe you oughta' check your attitude. These decisions are made at top level for good reasons, reasons we don't have time to explain to every person involved.
ANDERSON: Yes, sir! I'll check my troops. Sir.
Song Listing (see full series listing)
- "People Get Ready" (C. Mayfield). Performed by The Impressions. People Get Ready. Universal/MCA, 1965.
Scenes: Maj. Rigby leaves in a chopper, and Goldman watches it go; the men burn down the village and lead the refugees away. Plays again near the end, in the aftermath of a firefight, as the men pay their respects to Mama-san, and take leave of the refugees.
Buy Song / Listen via iTunes
- "I've Come a Long Way" (B. Womack). Performed by Wilson Pickett. I'm in Love. Collectables, 1968.
Scene: The soldiers and refugees make their way toward the village of Nop Thanh.
Buy Song / Listen via iTunes
Trivia
- Anderson, Zeke
- had a great-grandma who, at 92, busted out of nursing home
- Goldman, Myron
- smokes
- Johnson, Marvin
- from Mississippi
- Ruiz, Alberto
- lived in a tenement in the Bronx
Favorite Quotes
TAYLOR: You call that home? You can slap up some mud anywhere.
HORN: Hey, it's different for these people...
JOHNSON: Yeah, I can dig that.
TAYLOR: You feel that way about Mississippi mud?
ANDERSON: All you people from California that friendly?
BAKER: No. Just Southern California.
GOLDMAN: This radio's broken.
HORN: Sir, do you know where we are?
GOLDMAN: Yep. And the sergeant knows the way home, so don't shoot him when he comes up here.
GOLDMAN: You mean to tell me a Viet Cong killed two North Vietnamese?
ANDERSON: That's my opinion.
GOLDMAN: Well, why don't we just go home and let 'em kill each other?
GOLDMAN : What's the last time you ate, Sergeant?
ANDERSON: Don't worry about me, I'm on a very strict diet.
MATSUDA: Aw Ruiz, I think she wants to kiss ya.
RUIZ: Couple more months like this, I might be ready.
DEP: Di out!
Screenshots (see Screenshots page)
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