Transcript: (1x4) War Lover

From Bravo 3/44th

Written by: Rick Husky

Directed by: Jim Johnston

See the Episode Guide

[1:40 / 1:40] The Bush

GOLDMAN [whispering]: What?

JOHNSON: I don't know. The crickets have stopped.

GOLDMAN: It's a bunker. Have a look.

GOLDMAN: Think anybody's home?

ANDERSON: Oh yeah, there could be a whole NVA battalion honeycombed in there if they're tunneled.

GOLDMAN: I'm callin' in arty. Red Leg, this is Bravo Two Six. Fire mission. Over?

ANDERSON: Who is that and what is he doin'?!

MICHAELS: Get me in a circle, back over that ridge!

PILOT: Our job is to get you to Firebase Ladybird, Sergeant.

MICHAELS: I see movement, and I smell VC!

GOLDMAN [into radio]: Huey, this is Bravo Six—! . . . Huey, Huey, this is Bravo Two Six. Cease fire! Over.

MICHAELS: Grenade!

ANDERSON: Down, down, down! . . . Down down down down! . . . Down, down, down!

SOLDIER: He's seen us, Sarge!

ANDERSON: Get down, get down, get down!

ANDERSON: All right, we're finished if we stay here, LT! I'm gonna try to flank 'em! Keep 'em down with fire!

GOLDMAN: Go!

SOLDIERS [o.s.]: Watch your fire! . . . I'm hit! Medic!

ANDERSON: One, two, three—

SOLDIERS [o.s.]: Let's go! . . . Move it, move it, let's go!

[5:28 / 5:28] Firebase Ladybird

GOLDMAN: Nice work out there, Sergeant.

ANDERSON: Yeah, like a lot of things, it shouldn't have been necessary.

GOLDMAN: Yeah, I know. I'm gonna go talk to the captain about it right now. Whoever that hot dog was, he cost us.

ANDERSON: That's his chopper, right over there.

JOHNSON: Say what?

[6:03 / 6:02] Outside the Chopper

ANDERSON: All right, where's the cowboy that came in on this chopper?

LAM: Nobody's supposed to be near the aircraft, Sergeant. Classified cargo.

ANDERSON: Where are your pilots at?

LAM: Well Mr. Marks is over talking to Battalion. Says he won't touch this bird again 'til all his gear's off-loaded.

ANDERSON: Who was your other passenger?

JAMES: Sergeant Earl Ray Michaels.

JAMES: Fifth Special Forces, Nha Trang.

PERCELL: Michaels? That's who's on this chopper?

TAYLOR: So what?

PERCELL: So I heard of 'im. He's a myth. They say he's a legend.

TAYLOR: They also say he's a stone-cold killer.

JAMES: They say right, brother. I'm Leroy James. Earl Ray's vice president in charge of demolitions.

JOHNSON: So what business you got here?

JAMES: On a mission, my man. Classified.

[6:47 / 6:47] Command Post - Night

WALLACE: Where's the rest of your team?

MICHAELS: James, Chan, and me: we're it. Pulled off an A-team operation for this ballgame because of the time factor.

WALLACE: Mmm. Hey, Anderson, Anderson! Come on in here, you're a part of this.

WALLACE: Sergeant Michaels, Sergeant Zeke Anderson. Anderson is Goldman's platoon sergeant. Now...

WALLACE: ...where'd you say this, uh, bridge was?

MICHAELS: Built in the 30s by the French. Part of the Ho Chi Minh complex, now a subsidiary route near the Laotian border.

WALLACE: Charlie's using it to transport munitions and supplies?

MICHAELS: MACV's expecting a big convoy in three days. They want that bridge to be history by then.

GOLDMAN: What about an airstrike?

MICHAELS: Negative, due to the proximity of a friendly village. We need to go in there, mine the bridge, [makes explosive sound], blow it.

MICHAELS: James, Chan, and I will do the bridge. What I need from you is a support team.

WALLACE: Lieutenant?

GOLDMAN: Well I think it stinks. But of course, we're ready to give whatever support's necessary.

WALLACE: Good. Because I'm assigning you and Anderson to work with Michaels.

ANDERSON: Excuse me, sir. You go trampin' into this terrain with any more than just a few key men, you're givin' Charlie an engraved invitation to the prom.

WALLACE: What did you have in mind, Michaels?

MICHAELS: I think Sergeant Anderson has a feel for what we should be attemptin'. I'll need a squad, a very quiet squad.

ANDERSON: With all respect to the sergeant, this man came hot-doggin' in today without checking to see if there were any troops in the terrain. He almost got my people blown away!

WALLACE: Lieutenant Goldman has already covered that ground with us.

WALLACE: You have an apology on record from Sergeant Michaels.

MICHAELS: Zeke, if I'd known that were your people in there, I woulda' acted different.

MICHAELS: I shoulda' checked, you're right, I'm sorry.

WALLACE: This bridge is critical. All right? We have a personality conflict here; I want it over now, before it begins.

MICHAELS: No problem here, sir.

WALLACE: Anderson?

ANDERSON: I've already said my piece.

WALLACE: Good. Goldman, I know you're not gonna like this very much, but um... Fifth Group should have sent us an officer, but they're running a little low, so this is Michaels' mission.

WALLACE: You have a problem with that?

GOLDMAN: No. No problem.

WALLACE: You have 48 hours to get the job done. Pick your teams. If the men wanna' shake it loose a bit tonight, it's permissible.

[9:00 / 9:00] Outside the Command Post - Night

MICHAELS: Zeke.

MICHAELS: Together again, huh?

ANDERSON: You don't mind if I don't get sentimental, do you?

MICHAELS: I don't pay no nevermind. I see you signed up for another tour. Last time we conversed, you had Idaho, your wife, and baby in your plans.

ANDERSON: Yeah, well, I went, and they were gone.

ANDERSON: Make a damn good country tune.

MICHAELS: Welcome to the club. That horse farm I had in Tennessee, I kissed it goodbye, along with my old lady.

MICHAELS: But what could be more fun than renewing your license to zap gooks for your country, huh?

[9:34 / 9:34] Barracks Hootch - Night

HANOI HANNAH^[1][on radio]: How are you, GI Joe? It seems to me that most of you are poorly informed about the progress of the war, to say nothing about having a correct explanation of your presence over here. Nothing is more confusing than to be ordered to battle to die, or to be maimed for life, without the faintest idea of what is going on. Yesterday, the second of the 25th was wiped out, and there is no tomorrow for you.

HANOI HANNAH [on radio]: Come on, soul brother, what are you doing fighting over here, when at home, down South, you can't even eat at a white restaurant?

HANOI HANNAH [on radio]: Go home, soul brother. This is not your war.

JOHNSON: Marcus, turn that crap off, man.

TAYLOR: Hey man, I'm just listenin' to the music, brother. She plays the best R&B. Dig it, Marvin and Tammi.

JAMES: Yeow! Hmm, mmm, mmm. I met Marvin once. Blues club. Downtown Detroit.

TAYLOR: Marvin Gaye? You lie. Really?

JAMES: Hmm. Hell of a man.

BAKER: So uh, how many KIA have you got, Sergeant?

MICHAELS: I make it a point never to keep score, but you don't have to see 'em to kill 'em.

MICHAELS: What you gotta understand is right now, we're chasin' a ghost. We have the day, he has the night. He fights when he wants, waits when he chooses, but we're gonna change all that. We're gonna take that night away from 'em, move into his territory, beat him at his own game.

PERCELL: Damn right. Tell ya sumptin' else, there's no way we're gonna lose any war. Isn't that right, Sarge?

ANDERSON: You got that straight. The thing about Charlie is, he can survive a week in the jungle with just a little handful of rice. There's nothing in his history but struggle—2000 years of it.

ANDERSON: So he never panics, never.

RUIZ: What are you saying, Sarge? That those zipperheads are better than us?

ANDERSON: Ain't nobody better than us. I'm just sayin' we got us an enemy we gotta learn to respect.

HORN: Yeah, well, we seem to die a lot to occupy those hills and terrain that a week later mean absolutely nothing.

MICHAELS: Our duty is to inflict casualties. Leave the big decisions to politicians and generals.

HORN: No matter how stupid some of them are, right?

MICHAELS: This boy got something against war, Zeke?

ANDERSON: Uh, he's a new breed of soldier. He's a thinker.

HORN: I have some questions about what it's all about, yeah.

MICHAELS: It's about survivors, son. Survivin' is the only glory in war, right, Zeke?

ANDERSON: Yeah. It's a jungle out there.

[12:09 / 12:08] Landing Pad - Dawn

MICHAELS: All right, listen up, people. Now, we'll each be carryin' det cord and C-4 wrapped in plastic. Now, you can burn it, you can shoot it, no problem.

JAMES: Except with one of these capsules attached... cough real loud, you buy the ranch.

MICHAELS: Now, insertion will be by Slick LZ near NVA base area. Chit-chat to a minimum. Keep your eyes open for NVA patrols, mines, booby traps.

MICHAELS: All right. You got it?

MICHAELS: Let's saddle up.

RUIZ: Think I'm gonna hate this movie.

MICHAELS: I'm gonna let it be, Zeke; you got me a bunch of stirrers in this squad instead of top sticks.

ANDERSON: There are no top sticks in this platoon, Earl Ray. The top sticks all went home in body bags.

MICHAELS: Aw, hell, Zeke. When they gonna turn us loose, let us win this thing? Let you and me call the shots, we'll be back (?) inside of 90 days.

MICHAELS: Look. We need each other on this thing. I want you to know I respect how you feel.

ANDERSON: No, let me tell you how I feel. I feel fear when I go out there, and I feel pain when my people get hurt. That's what I feel—that's all I feel.

ANDERSON: And I left the past, in the past.

MICHAELS: Fair enough, but lighten up, will ya? You've got me feelin' like the enemy.

ANDERSON: Don't expect a birthday card from me, Earl Ray.

MICHAELS: You know why you don't like me?

MICHAELS: You know why I scare you? Because when you look at me, you see yourself. No wife, no family, no home, nothin' but war to put in your memory book, and that ain't a country tune you're gonna wanna two-step to.

GOLDMAN: Hey!

GOLDMAN: What the hell's goin' on over here? Come on, we got gunships waitin'. Come on!

[13:54 / 13:54] In the Air, Aboard the Chopper

PERCELL: Hey. So what is this you heard about Michaels?

RUIZ: We oughta' be getting hazardous duty pay.

PERCELL: What the hell's that supposed to mean?

RUIZ: Ask Anderson. From what I hear, he found out up close and personal.

[15:25 / 15:25] In the River

[15:58 / 15:58] In the Jungle

[16:41 / 16:41] James

JAMES: Man, I got 18 days and a wake-up. Shouldn't be puttin' out here, puttin' up with this trash.

TAYLOR: Nigga', man, you so short, you gotta' reach up and tie your shoes. I'd be in the rear with the gear if I was you.

JAMES: Shoot, I would've been, but Earl Ray needed me for this gig. Soon as we get back, he's gonna invest in my recordin' studio. We're gonna be putting out some bodacious sound.

PERCELL: Amen to that. Rock n' roll is here to stay.

[17:16 / 17:16] Stream

PERCELL: Hey, musta' been pretty hard makin' the grade, huh? Special Forces and all?

JAMES: Uh-huh. Man push you so hard, you can cry. Never woulda' made it without Earl Ray. The man's got soul, ya dig?

HORN: Hey, what's Chan's story? He never smiles, he never speaks.

JAMES: Spooky dude, ain't he? Mnong (?) tribe, ethnic Chinese. Now, the Vietnamese hate him, but he's a damn good soldier.

HORN: And Sergeant Michaels?

JAMES: What about him?

HORN: I don't know. He seems like a walking contradiction. Hail Mary one minute, preaching war the next.

JAMES: We all gotta' have sumptin' to believe in. Now me, I'm counting on Jesus and Marvin Gaye to get me through the night. And not necessarily in that order.

[17:57 / 17:57] Anderson, Goldman, and Michaels

ANDERSON: All right, there's a ville about four klicks from here, but Lieutenant, the men are draggin', now if you're gonna—

MICHAELS: "Draggin'?" What have you got here, Sergeant Anderson, a nursery school?

GOLDMAN: All right, that's enough, Michaels.

MICHAELS: Lieutenant, this was supposed to be a handpicked support team. Now you know what the mission—

GOLDMAN: You know what, Michaels? The word on you is you got a real hard time workin' with officers, you know that?

MICHAELS: Not when they know what they're doin', sir.

GOLDMAN: You know I got a feelin' you're not makin' a generality about all officers, are ya?

MICHAELS: I've got a bunch of C-4 ready to blow a bridge. Now you let me know whether we're on a mission, or just tryin' to get more miles to the gallon.

[18:29 / 18:29] Michaels and Horn

MICHAELS: You writin' a book, son?

HORN: Keepin' a journal. Yeah, it could be a book someday.

MICHAELS: Yeah? Well, just make sure you get my name right.

HORN: I already have.

[19:15 / 19:14] Dry Riverbed

ANDERSON: Hold it! Hold it, don't move! Don't move, nobody move!

MICHAELS: Freeze! Nobody move.

ANDERSON: Don't move, Lieutenant.

GOLDMAN: What? Come on, what the hell is it?

ANDERSON: Don't move, Lieutenant.

MICHAELS: Tripwire, front and back.

ANDERSON: All right, Horn, you're clear. You back off slow and easy now, slow and easy.

MICHAELS: How do you wanna' handle this?

ANDERSON: You're the expert.

MICHAELS: This guy a good officer?

ANDERSON: It's too early to tell.

GOLDMAN: Damn it, Anderson!

ANDERSON: Shh. Don't move, Lieutenant.

MICHAELS: Chan, check this out.

MICHAELS: Bingo.

MICHAELS: Chicom M-8, thirty pounds of pressure—

MICHAELS: Main charge TNT.

MICHAELS: Where's that guy with the pen?

ANDERSON: Horn, Horn! Let me see that ballpoint pen.

MICHAELS (?): Don't move. Nobody move!

GOLDMAN: Anderson, Anderson, what the hell is he doin'?

ANDERSON: Put a safety bar in the fusebox, and remove the pressure ring.

MICHAELS: Come on, baby.

MICHAELS: Oh lord...

ANDERSON: All right, Lieutenant. Back out real slowly. Come on.

GOLDMAN: Horn.

ANDERSON: Don't move!

CHAN: No!

JOHNSON: Medic! Medic, Doc, get up here!

MICHAELS: Well?

MICHAELS: Damn!

ANDERSON: Well if Charlie's anywhere in the neighborhood, we just announced ourselves.

GOLDMAN: Dammit.

GOLDMAN: How bad?

MICHAELS: He's dead.

[22:45 / 22:44] Shallow Stream

GOLDMAN: Take it down.

GOLDMAN: I want it down.

ANDERSON: No, don't touch it! It might be booby-trapped.

TAYLOR: This country invites me over here to fight for its democracy, right? Go into Saigon, there's dudes our age ridin' around on Hondas. Why am I fightin' their war, man? Tell me, 'cause I ain't got a clue.

[23:16 / 23:16] The African Queen

GOLDMAN: That SOB Michaels thinks he's fightin' this whole war by himself.

ANDERSON: Yeah, he's probably gonna end up dyin' hummin' God Bless America, too.

GOLDMAN: What the hell is it between you two, anyway?

ANDERSON: I'm writin' an article for Stars and Stripes. Keep up your subscription.

PERCELL: Agh! Leeches! I got leeches on me! Come and get it!

RUIZ: Let me get it, let me get it!

PERCELL: Get it off, get it off!

TAYLOR: Back off, Roo, you dipstick. This ain't The African Queen.

RUIZ: What African Queen, man? Look at that sucker smoke, and he still won't quit!

PERCELL: Shut up and get this thing off me!

TAYLOR: Bug juice. It ain't worth a squat on bugs, but it's hell on leeches.

RUIZ: Man, I gotta' get me some of that for my brother-in-law. We're talking bloodsucker, man. Dracula in a '57 Chevy.

MICHAELS: Hey, cut the chatter.

MICHAELS: Ruiz, stash that cigarette. Move out. Keep quiet.

[24:16 / 24:16] Ambush

SOLDIER: Ambush!

SOLDIER: Take cover!

ANDERSON: All right. Crossfire. Treeline and ridge.

GOLDMAN: Got it.

MICHAELS: On top of that ridge, Lieutenant—

GOLDMAN: Sergeant, you will hold your position, until we've evaluated the circumstances. Johnson!

GOLDMAN: Anderson, let's go. Cover fire.

MICHAELS: Horn, Percell.

PERCELL: Yes, Sergeant?

MICHAELS: Gentlemen, we're gonna take that ridge, all right?

PERCELL: Sergeant, Lieutenant just told us to hold our ground!

MICHAELS: Son, I was doin' this when the lieutenant was poppin' zits, worried about a date for Saturday matinee. Horn, leave that radio. I need you for backup.

HORN: Hey, look, Sergeant, I don't think we should—

MICHAELS: Don't give me any lip, son, just do it!

MICHAELS: Come on!

MICHAELS: You boys ready?

PERCELL: Yes, sir, sergeant!

GOLDMAN: Who the hell is that?

ANDERSON: John Wayne.

PERCELL: Agh!

HORN: I've got you, I've got you, man. I've got you, I've got you, man.

PERCELL: Horn. Horn—

HORN: You're gonna be okay. I've got you, I've got you, man—

PERCELL: Horn, Horn. Horn! Horn!

PERCELL: Horn! Horn! Horn, shoot him!

PERCELL: Horn, shoot him, shoot him! Horn, shoot him! Shoot, Horn—!

[26:40] Hitchhikers in a hailstorm

ANDERSON: Where's Horn and Percell?

MICHAELS: Took some fire down below, last I saw 'em.

ANDERSON: Bein' around you is like bein' a hitchhiker in a hailstorm.

MICHAELS: I learned a long time ago none of us are walkin' in the sun.

[26:59] Horn

[27:15 / 27:20] Jungle - Late Afternoon

ANDERSON: All right it's a rough terrain along these coordinates, and we will be headed right smack-dab into the TAC air and artillery free-fire zone. Unless we detour, we're invitin' Charlie to join the party.

RUIZ: Sarge. It looks like we've got everybody.

JOHNSON: Checked the rucksacks and found commo wire.

ANDERSON: All right. Police up all the bodies. Get all the weapons, gear, and everything, then bury 'em, bury 'em good. This work detail doesn't come back, they're gonna come lookin' for 'em.

[27:41 / 27:47] Burned down Village - Anderson and Michaels

GOLDMAN: VC?

MICHAELS: Anything that's dead and yellow is a VC.

YOUNG GIRL: Mẹ ô! Mẹ ô! Dừng bỏ con. Mẹ ô! Mẹ ô! Dừng bỏ con. Dừng bỏ con. Dừng bỏ con. [transl: Mom! Mom! Don't leave me. Mom! Mom! Don't leave me. Don't leave me. Don't leave me.]

ANDERSON: [phonetic: Chung toi (?), chung toi (?)] [transl: We are (?), we are (?)]

MICHAELS: Come on, Zeke, what the hell? This place could still be crawlin' with VC.

ANDERSON: This is her mother, Michaels.

MICHAELS: Yeah, well, things are rough all over.

ANDERSON: [phonetic: Toi zuc cha em, toi zuc cha em.] [transl: I'm very (?), I'm very (?)]

MICHAELS: Look, Zeke, you wanna be noble? You wanna save the world? Join the damn Peace Corps.

ANDERSON: Shut that hole in your face, Michaels! [phonetic: Ha say chong mai em—] [transl: ?]

GOLDMAN: Hey, hey. What the hell is going on here?

MICHAELS: Well, we're about to open up a burial service. Maybe I'll take an ad out in the local newspaper.

ANDERSON: Michaels, you say one more word, I'm gonna kick your butt all the way—

GOLDMAN: Hey, hey—

MICHAELS: We're supposed to be blowin' a bridge, partner—

ANDERSON: from here to Cam Ranh Bay—

MICHAELS: Not babysittin' gook kids—

GOLDMAN: Would you listen—

ANDERSON: Argh!

SOLDIER: Hey, get him off—

SOLDIER: Get him off!

MICHAELS: What the hell is wrong with you?

GOLDMAN: Hey! Come on!

SOLDIER: Zeke—

GOLDMAN: Come on!

JAMES: Come on, man—

GOLDMAN: Damn it! Damn it! You wanna do somethin', huh? You wanna do somethin' you do it real quick! God, I am sick of this!

GOLDMAN: All right, the damn show's over, now let's get back on line right now!

[30:02 / 30:07] Burial

TAYLOR: Somebody oughta' say a prayer, or somethin'.

TAYLOR: Somethin'.

JAMES: To, uh...

JAMES: To everything there is a season, and a time for, every purpose under heaven. A time to be born, a time to die. A time to plant, and uh... a time to pluck up that which is planted. A time to kill, a time to heal... Sorry, man, I don't remember the rest.

GOLDMAN: Okay, let's move out.

GOLDMAN: Let's go.

[31:11 / 31:15] Goldman, Michaels, and Anderson

ANDERSON: Lieutenant. The, the girl said that there are NVA up ahead.

MICHAELS: There are NVA from here to Cambodia, Zeke.

ANDERSON: Listen, I wasn't lookin' for anything from this girl. She's thankful that we care, she's tryin' to return the favor.

MICHAELS: I wouldn't buy a postcard from that kid.

GOLDMAN: All right, all right. Uh, did the kid give you any idea of, like, the strength, between here and the bridge?

ANDERSON: I don't know. She said she used to live in the ville beyond the bridge, and from what I could get out of her, there are roving units there.

MICHAELS: Sir, people here are all VC sympathizers. Now, if Charlie didn't already know we were here before, he's probably gettin' it by Western Union by now.

ANDERSON: What would you have us do, Michaels? Hunt down all the rest of the villagers and grease 'em along with the kid, is that it?

MICHAELS: What I would like to do, and what I can do, has diddly to do with our objective—

ANDERSON: Which is to blow the bridge! And I'd like to see the sun come up in the morning if you don't mind!

ANDERSON: All right, Lieutenant, we got ourselves a major problem here, now, because if this girl is VC, then we cannot leave her here. Otherwise she'll be tellin' Charlie about it before we clear the horizon.

MICHAELS: And if she's not?

ANDERSON: If she's not, we are not leavin' her out here in the middle of nowhere.

MICHAELS: Are you kiddin' me, man—?

GOLDMAN: All right, all right! All right. We take the girl with us. As insurance.

MICHAELS: Wonderful. That's wonderful, now we got ourselves a little Mickey Mouse Club, huh?

GOLDMAN: Oh why don't you just shut up, Michaels, and stick with the program here, all right?

MICHAELS: Are you forgetting whose mission this is?

GOLDMAN: No I'm not forgotting anything—Sergeant.

MICHAELS: Lieutenant, it's gonna rain.

GOLDMAN: All right, let's go. Come on.

ANDERSON: Come on, baby, come on. Jump up, come on. Come on, baby, let's go.

[32:45 / 32:50] Camp - Night

ANDERSON: She sure picked a great time to get born, didn't she?

ANDERSON: Percell. How's the head?

PERCELL: Just hurts some.

RUIZ: Another inch, and you would have been fertilizing that bush.

TAYLOR: Ho Chi Minh Trail, baby. Gimme a button to squeeze and I'll be blowin' that sucker clean off the face of the planet.

ANDERSON: The trouble is, Taylor, it's not one trail, it's thousands of trails.

TAYLOR: If we'd have hit that field ten minutes earlier, we'd have all had our reservations canceled. By our own plane.

RUIZ: Sarge knows how that feels, right, Sarge? At least that's what I hear.

PERCELL: What are you talkin' about, friendly fire?

RUIZ: No, man, we're not talkin' about friendly fire. We're talking about zigging when you should have zagged. Dig?

MICHAELS: You a career soldier, Ruiz?

RUIZ: Are you kidding? Do you think I'd ship in to this hellhole to get my butt shot off?

MICHAELS: You've got guts. Not afraid. I like your style.

RUIZ: Yeah? Well I ain't so sure I like yours, Sergeant.

MICHAELS: Courage comes wrapped in different packages, Ruiz. Sometimes you stumble and fall. It takes courage to go on from there.

[34:25 / 34:30] Michaels and Anderson

MICHAELS: You got a minute?

ANDERSON: Yeah.

MICHAELS: Did you ever tell Ruiz or the others about what went down between us?

ANDERSON: I told you, Earl Ray, I left the past in the past. But hey, you're creating a whole new present with stunts like you pulled with Percell and Horn—

MICHAELS: Well then where the hell is he getting his information?

ANDERSON: You know, Earl Ray, when I joined up, I was pretty naive. I didn't know much about what made the world go around, but hey, I got old real fast servin' with you.

MICHAELS: You got old the minute your plane touched down in Saigon. We all did.

ANDERSON: No, no, no. Because I'm not like you. You don't understand that, do you? You're high on war. I'm just tryin' to survive with a little bit of dignity.

MICHAELS: I'm just part of the assembly line, Sergeant.

ANDERSON: It never should have happened, what happened, Earl Ray.

ANDERSON: It never shoulda' happened. I still get nightmares.

MICHAELS: You don't think I do? You don't think I have nightmares? It's war, man—

ANDERSON: No, what it was, was you were careless. You were out of control. You got good people killed.

MICHAELS: I also saved your life.

ANDERSON: You never would have had to do that, if you hadn't been makin' up your own rules, as you went along.

MICHAELS: Our mission was to inflict casualties, now sometimes you got to take hits to score hits.

ANDERSON: Don't give me body counts and kill ratios! 'Cause I was there! I stood in elephant grass, splattered with my people's blood! I heard 17- and 18-year old kids cryin' out for their mamas all night long. I saw 'em die in the mud and the rain!

MICHAELS: I made a mistake, Zeke! I said it, there. I made a mistake.

ANDERSON: That whole firefight had no meaning. No meaning whatso-damn-ever. Except maybe to the kids that died.

[36:14 / 36:19] Jungle - Late Afternoon

SOLDIER: (?) Come on, let's go.

VC SOLDIER: [speaking in Vietnamese]

GOLDMAN: Well, that's the bridge.

ANDERSON: Yes, sir, that is the bridge.

MICHAELS: Let's go.

[37:30 / 37:36] The Bridge - Night

MICHAELS: Look, Zeke, I know who I am, and I'm never gonna apologize for that.

JAMES: Let's go, man. The faster we're in and out, the faster I'm on a magic carpet ride back to Motown.

ANDERSON: Let's go.

MICHAELS: Right.

MICHAELS: Let's go. Let's get you home, brother.

VC SOLDIER 1: [speaking in Vietnamese]

VC SOLDIER 2: [speaking in Vietnamese]

[39:57 / 40:03] Hill Overlooking Bridge - Night

GOLDMAN: All right. Johnson, you go get the rest of the guys. You move down there and provide cover.

JOHNSON: Got it.

JOHNSON: Need you to help me out with some cover.

RUIZ: No strain, Kemo Sabe.

JOHNSON: Hey, where's the girl?

RUIZ: It was Baker's turn to watch her, man.

VC SOLDIER 1: [speaking in Vietnamese]

VC SOLDIER 2: [speaking in Vietnamese]

JOHNSON: Where is the girl, Baker?

BAKER: She's with Ruiz.

JOHNSON: She ain't with Ruiz. He says she was with you.

BAKER: Well, yeah, she was. She was... She was sleepin' a while. But then, then she woke up... Uh, and she went toward... she went toward Ruiz again, man.

JOHNSON: Damn!

JOHNSON: Get over with the others and lead cover!

[41:47 / 41:53] The Kid Is Gone

GOLDMAN: What?

JOHNSON: The kid, she's gone.

VC SOLDIER: [speaking in Vietnamese]

JAMES: Goin' home, baby. Marvin... here I come.

MICHAELS: Right on, brother.

YOUNG GIRL [o.s.]: Lính Mỹ! Lính Mỹ! . . . Lính Mỹ! (transl: American soldiers! American soldiers! . . . American soldiers!)

GOLDMAN: It's the kid.

YOUNG GIRL [o.s.]: Lính Mỹ! (transl: American soldiers!)

ANDERSON: They're gonna see us!

[42:26 / 42:32] Firefight

YOUNG GIRL [o.s.]: Lính Mỹ! Lính Mỹ! (transl: American soldiers! American soldiers!)

VC SOLDIER [to young girl]: Di ra! (transl: Get out of here!)

VC SOLDIERS: [shouting in Vietnamese]

JAMES: Ah!

MICHAELS: Give me the cord, give me the cord.

[43:56 / 44:02] Leroy Is Going Home

MICHAELS: We did it, Leroy, man. You're goin' home, Leroy, son. You're goin' home, man, you're goin' home.

MICHAELS: No, man. No. No, Leroy. Come on, don't die on me, man. Don't die on me.

MICHAELS: Don't die on me, don't die on me.

MICHAELS: Leroy! Leroy, don't, man! Come on! Come on! Damn this war! Damn this war! Damn this war. Damn this war...

[44:45 / 44:51] The LZ - Day

GOLDMAN: All right, you guys, chopper number two! Number two. [turning] You guys, bird number one! Baker. You and Johnson, take James.

BAKER: We'll take it from here, Sarge.

MICHAELS: You know, Zeke, sometimes you realize you may be nearer the end of something than the beginning. You wonder if anything you've done makes a damn difference.

ANDERSON: Hey! Hey. You're not responsible for James gettin' killed.

MICHAELS: He was my friend... Eh, don't mean nothin'.

ANDERSON: Look, Michaels, maybe it's time you go on back to Fort Bragg, teach what you know to somebody else. Come on, you earned the right.

MICHAELS: War's what I know. Trained to kill, I can't teach it. Hell, I don't wanna teach anybody to do this.

ANDERSON: Let's get outta here.

MICHAELS: Come on.

[46:59 / 47:05] End

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