Transcript: (1x5) Sitting Ducks

From Bravo 3/44th

Written by: Steve Bello

Directed by: Aaron Lipstadt

See the Episode Guide

[1:38] A Cush Gig

HORN: So, Lieutenant, now can you tell us where we're headed?

PERCELL: Yeah, what's all the secrecy?

GOLDMAN: Well, should I tell 'em?

ANDERSON: You better tell 'em, otherwise the suspense is gonna kill 'em.

GOLDMAN: All right, gentlemen, there's a ville just south of here called Binh Thuy.

PERCELL: Ben what, sir?

GOLDMAN: Binh Thuy. And there's a team of rural construction workers workin' there. They're building an irrigation project.

HORN: Irrigation?

GOLDMAN: That's right. Now our job, is gonna be to guard those workers.

PERCELL: That's all? Just guard the workers?

GOLDMAN: That's right, you heard me. See, the big secret is, gentlemen, we finally got ourselves a cush gig.

SOLDIERS [o.s.]: Yee-haw! . . . Woo-hoo!

TAYLOR: Right on, right on!

SOLDIERS [o.s.]: Yeah! Yeah!

THE GUYS: Louie, Louie, Whoa, yeah, we gotta go. Uh-huh. Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi. Louie, Louie, oh, ho, we gotta go. Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Louie, Louie, oh, ho, we gotta go...

[2:50] The Redevelopment Program

GOLDMAN: That must be some of the new irrigation project. It's all part of this redevelopment program.

PERCELL: I'm sorry, the what?

ANDERSON: The re-develop-ment program. It's called Killing Charlie with Kindness.

TAYLOR: There's the only project I'm interested in. Ow-hoo! Ow!

GOLDMAN: When they get this new irrigation in, they'll switch the farmers over to this new miracle rice. They'll be growing three crops a year instead of one.

ANDERSON: Yeah, Charlie gets three times as much to eat.

GOLDMAN: Yeah, but if the farmers keep their sons in the field, then they ain't gonna be fightin'.

ANDERSON: Yeah, fine. Makes perfect sense to me.

[3:33] Arriving at Binh Thuy

ANDERSON: All right, let's go, go, go, go, go, go! Move, move, move, move, move! Well LT, this is a pretty good gig for you.

GOLDMAN: How's that?

ANDERSON: Well, I mean, it's not exactly a firebase, but it is your command. I mean, you're givin' the orders. Congratulations, General Goldman.

GOLDMAN: General Goldman, huh?

GOLDMAN: I'm Lieutenant Goldman, and I'm here to relieve your CO... Lieutenant Phillips.

SENTRY: Yes, sir, he's... right over there by the CP.

VIETNAMESE VILLAGER: [speaking in Vietnamese]

GOLDMAN: No, no. Didi. Didi.

VIETNAMESE VILLAGERS: [speaking in Vietnamese]

GOLDMAN: Sergeant. I'm looking for Lieutenant Phillips?

PLATOON SERGEANT: You're looking at him, sir.

[4:35] Goldman, Anderson, & the Other Platoon Sergeant

GOLDMAN: What the hell happened?

PLATOON SERGEANT: He was leading a patrol. The first time we had gone out in a week or so.

GOLDMAN: What are you talking about? You haven't been patrolling regularly?

PLATOON SERGEANT: Well yeah, we'd been sending out patrols, but they got hit. A lot. It's not easy ordering men out to be killed. I guess that's why the Lieutenant decided to lead this one on his own.

ANDERSON: I thought you said this was supposed to be a cush gig.

PLATOON SERGEANT: Yeah, well, look. You see that guy over there? That's Tran, our Kit Carson scout. He'll be a big help to ya. And... with your permission, sir?

GOLDMAN: Yeah.

PLATOON SERGEANT: All right, you guys, let's move out. Come on, let's go. Load 'em up!

SOLDIER: All right, men, you heard him—

PLATOON SERGEANT: Come on, let's go!

SOLDIER: Let's load it up and didi out of here. Let's go!

[5:19] Goldman, Anderson, & the Kit Carson Scout

ANDERSON: Lieutenant Goldman, Sergeant Anderson. Chào ông [transl: Greetings, sir/How are you?].

TRAN: Onh mạnh giỏi [transl: I'm doing well].

TRAN: Only way to make this village safe is to keep enemy off-balance. Send out many patrols. Just like on firebase. Fool Charlie by always using different times, different place.

ANDERSON: Makes perfect sense in theory.

GOLDMAN: Okay. For now we'll send out two random patrols a day. I want you to take Tran and the Third Squad at 1500 hours. Sweep the whole area north of the river.

ANDERSON: LT, that's gonna be a little difficult now, with all these friendlies movin' in and out of the wire, here.

GOLDMAN: I'm sorry, Sergeant, but for now, that's all we can do.

TRAN: Friendly warning. GI safe as long as stay inside wire. Charlie aim very poor.

[6:31] The First Patrol

ANDERSON: Now, I figure we must be, right about in here. About two klicks south of Binh Thuy River. And I guess it'll take us about twenty minutes to get—

TRAN: GI got Tran now. Don't need guesswork.

ANDERSON: Nah, that can't be the river.

TRAN: Binh Thuy different place every year. Big monsoon this time, river move south.

ANDERSON: Horn, get up here with that radio.

RUIZ: Doc, you got anything in there for ragweed?

RUIZ: The whole Bronx is paved over man. I get real snarfy when I'm around all this green—

PERCELL: Ru. Shut up.

ANDERSON: All right, you call in our coordinates, right here. You tell 'em where we are.

HORN: Okay. Blackjack Six, this is Dinner with Charlie, over.

[8:50] Ambush

SOLDIERS [o.s.]: Agh! Take cover, take cover!

ANDERSON: Get down, get down!

PERCELL: I got you, come on. Ruiz, get up here! Ruiz, get up here!

RUIZ: Coming through, coming through!

PERCELL: Get up here!

RUIZ: Coming through! Coming through!

ANDERSON: Lay down fire, Ruiz! Keep your head down!

TAYLOR: [???] Right by the banana grove!

SOLDIER: The trees, the trees!

PERCELL: Take him, Doc!

SOLDIER: Right flank! Right flank! (?)

ANDERSON: Taylor! Ready? Pull!

SOLDIERS [o.s.]: Do it to it, do it to it! . . . Hold your fire! . . . Cease fire.

ANDERSON: All right? All right.

PERCELL: Doc?

MATSUDA: Man, he's flatline. There ain't nothin' left.

[10:14] Jungle

TAYLOR: How do you suppose we got jammed up like that, Sarge? Something tells me those Charlies weren't out there just to get some sun.

ANDERSON: It might have been a listening post, Taylor.

TAYLOR: Naw, Marcus Taylor knows a setup when he sees one. What I want to know is how they knew we were comin'. Somebody must have tipped them off.

ANDERSON: It might have been a coincidence. It could've been their lucky day.

TAYLOR: Yeah, we're the lucky ones so far. You know, Sarge, I got a funny feeling about this place. It's like our number came up. And we all just waitin' on line to die.

ANDERSON: Taylor, come on, now. Get moving. Here, take that.

[11:06] Horn, Johnson, & Ruiz talking about the Buddhist Monks

SOLDIER: Good mornin', papa-san.

RUIZ: Get a load of this.

HORN: Yeah, Buddhist monks from the monastery.

RUIZ: What a racket, man. They spend their entire lives glomming other people's food.

HORN: They don't eat the food. It's a morning ritual called seeking alms, giving the villagers a shot at immortality.

RUIZ: Yeah, right, so it's a con job. They dump some food in a bowl and they go to heaven.

HORN: It's symbolic, Ru. The whole idea of Buddhism is that you finally achieve nirvana when you stop craving physical pleasures and material possessions.

RUIZ: Forget about it, all right?

JOHNSON: What are you, an expert or somethin'?

HORN: Eh, I got interested in this stuff this year.

JOHNSON: Yeah, okay, but whose side are they on? That's the challenge, that's all I care about.

HORN: They're neutral. They've got their hands full tryin' to follow 227 rules of the Abhidharma—including "do not sleep on a comfortable bed."

RUIZ: I could dig that.

ANDERSON: All right, morning patrol, let's saddle up. Come on, Johnson, don't you care anything at all about the company you keep? Come on.

SOLDIER [o.s.]: Yo, Mason, throw me my canteen.

PERCELL: 'Morning, boys.

RUIZ: 'Morning, boy.

PERCELL: Oh...

HORN: [inaudible, mouths something]

[12:39] The Second Patrol

TRAN: Punji stake... have poison on tip.

ANDERSON: All right. How far is it to the main road there?

TRAN: Uh, two, three hundred meters.

ANDERSON: They've probably got this trail staked all the way to the end. Suppose we cut through there, and connect with the main road south?

TRAN: Big swamp that way. It take all morning to get across.

ANDERSON: All right, all right. We'll stay with the main road. [turning] All right, we're staying with the trail. Keep your eyes open, don't step in it. Taylor, take care of this.

[14:33] Another Ambush

SOLDIERS [o.s.]: (?) Take cover! . . . My 3 o'clock!

ANDERSON: All right, hold your fire! Cease fire! Cease all of your fire!

SOLDIER: Cool it down!

TAYLOR: They was waitin' on us, man! That's twice in a row!

ANDERSON: Hold fire now.

ANDERSON: What you got, Johnson?

JOHNSON: They gone. There's nothin' left here but some chewed-up fish heads and some leftover rice.

[15:47] Binh Thuy, Goldman and Anderson

ANDERSON: I don't know how they knew we were gonna be there, LT.

GOLDMAN: Did anyone tail ya'?

ANDERSON: No. We circled back twice to make sure o' that.

GOLDMAN: Any other enemy contact, anything?

ANDERSON: No, see that's another thing that's bothering me: we know there are main force NVA in the area, we didn't we see any signs at all?

GOLDMAN: I don't know.

GOLDMAN: What about the radio?

ANDERSON: We use platoon frequency. Per SOP, sir.

GOLDMAN: Well you've got a lot of inexperienced guys in the squad, maybe one of them screwed up—

ANDERSON: Nobody screwed up, sir! Nobody.

GOLDMAN: Well then somebody inside the wire ratted us out. It could have been any one of these friendlies.

ANDERSON: What do we know about our man Tran there?

GOLDMAN: Not much.

ANDERSON: He was VC, wasn't he?

GOLDMAN: Yeah, then he Chieu Hoi'd over voluntarily to our side.

ANDERSON: He go through the whole program?

GOLDMAN: Yeah, ARVN sent him to one of those reeducation camps. Straightened out his politics, taught him a little English.

ANDERSON: Yeah, which means he's already turned his back on his buddies once.

GOLDMAN: Nah, this guy's loyal. You would be too if the VC killed your wife and kids. It happened last summer, just before he came over. At least that's what it says in the intelligence file.

ANDERSON: Yeah, well, with all respect, sir, I think I'm gonna have me a look around his hootch. I mean, if he is a rat, maybe I'll find some rat droppings.

SOLDIER [o.s.]: Sniper!

GOLDMAN: Enough of this crap!

[17:18] Anderson in Tran's Hootch

TRAN: [shouting in Vietnamese]

ANDERSON: All right, Tran, listen up. You're part of my unit now, which means you're gonna be treated like anybody else.

TRAN: [speaking in Vietnamese]

ANDERSON: Which means you're subject to shakedown any time that I see it's necessary. And I see it's necessary now.

TRAN: [speaking in Vietnamese]

ANDERSON: Oh, come off it, Tran. I know you speak English better than that, now.

ANDERSON: Were they your little girls?

TRAN: [speaking in Vietnamese]

ANDERSON: I heard about what happened.

TRAN: I love my wife and children very much.

ANDERSON: All right, look, Tran. I'm sorry about all this. But you gotta understand, I lost some of my people today, and it's my responsibility to make sure that doesn't happen again. You understand?

[19:00] Clearing the Base

GOLDMAN: We're clearin' the base. I don't want anybody inside the wire except for Americans and the rural development team. That goes for construction workers and kids. I don't give a damn what the hell they're sellin', I don't care whose buddy they are, I don't care what GI said it was okay.

KELLER: Yes, sir. But what about getting the irrigation equipment to the field?

GOLDMAN: If the development people need help loading a truck, we'll use soldiers, Keller. Come on, let's get going.

PERCELL: What do you think, Keller? Is it gonna solve our security problem?

KELLER: It's a step in the right direction, I guess.

PERCELL: Boy, I hope.

GOLDMAN: Come on.

BAKER: Come on!

HANOI HANNAH [on radio]: American GI, why and for whom—

GOLDMAN: Let's go, outside the wire. Didi mau, didi mau. Didi mau. [transl: Move it.]

HANOI HANNAH [on radio]: Are you dying ten thousand miles away from home?

GOLDMAN: No more base. Base off-limits now.

HANOI HANNAH [on radio]: What reason do you have for fighting—

BAKER: Come on, come on, keep it movin', come on.

HANOI HANNAH [on radio]: LBJ's unjust—

TAYLOR: Let's go!

HANOI HANNAH [on radio]: And illegal war?

VILLAGER: [speaking in Vietnamese]

TAYLOR: Come on! Let's go, kid.

HANOI HANNAH [on radio]: Here is today's list of casualties...

SOLDIER: Come on, go!

HANOI HANNAH [on radio]: Sergeant Frank G.—

VILLAGER: [speaking in Vietnamese]

RUIZ: [speaking in Spanish] Come back here, you little thief!

BAKER: Hey, hey, hey. Kid, look out!

VILLAGER: [speaking in Vietnamese]

RUIZ: Gimme my watch! Argh!

TAYLOR: Ru, you okay? You all right?

RUIZ: Damn it, that kid stole my watch!

TAYLOR: A watch? Calm down, man. Those things happen.

RUIZ: Man, that was my graduation watch. I loved that watch.

BAKER: Graduation from—

TAYLOR/BAKER: —what?

RUIZ: That was a John Cameron Swayze watch, man. An elephant could step on it. You could strap it on a motorboat and that sucker would keep ticking. Man, I swear, I ever catch that little nosebleed, I'm gonna rip his arm off and beat him with it.

TAYLOR: Kid got him a helluva timepiece.

GOLDMAN: And we got ourselves a helluva lesson.

BAKER: How's that, LT?

GOLDMAN: Well you see the way that kid wriggled through the wire? Gotta be just as easy comin' back the other direction. As soon as we get these people outta here, we're gonna restring the entire perimeter.

[20:50] Johnson and Peasant Woman

JOHNSON: Okay, fellas, let's not be all day about it. Come on, let's go, let's go. Move, move, move. Hey, you too. You gonna have to move to the other side of the wire. Come on, Lieutenant's orders.

JOHNSON: Is this your little boy? He's part black, huh?

VC PEASANT WOMAN: Father dead now. Father GI name Sam.

JOHNSON: What is he, about a year old?

JOHNSON: I got a little cousin back home about the same age, a little kid named Rodney. He was only about yay big when I left The World. So what's his name?

VC PEASANT WOMAN: Nguyen. Everybody in this country named Nguyen.

JOHNSON: Well, Nguyen, you're just gonna have to didi to the other side of the wire.

VC PEASANT WOMAN: No. It is not safe for Nguyen. People in Binh Thuy very nasty. No like black baby.

JOHNSON: Hey, Lieutenant, can we make an exception in this ca—

GOLDMAN: No exceptions.

JOHNSON: But she's got a situation with the kid where—

GOLDMAN: Move her off the base, right now.

[22:07] Goldman and Anderson

[Vietnamese talking.]

ANDERSON: Oh, they'll be all right, LT. Don't worry about it, they're not your problem.

GOLDMAN: Yeah. Well at least we got the base secure.

ANDERSON: Yeah, well, I'd feel a lot more secure if we could get these guys out beyond the wire with the rest of 'em.

GOLDMAN: I know. They're such obvious targets. All Charlie's gotta do is grease them one night and he's knocked out the whole project.

GOLDMAN: Watch this. I'm ready for 'em this time. Percell?

PERCELL [o.s.]: Yes sir!

GOLDMAN: Eleven o'clock. Cut it loose!

PERCELL [o.s.]: Got it!

GOLDMAN: Well that takes care of that problem.

GOLDMAN: Damn it. That sucker won't die.

[22:55] Taylor, Johnson, and Keller

JOHNSON: Get out of here with that.

TAYLOR: Hey, man, where is everybody? Just 'cause we kicked them off the base don't mean they can't help out in the village.

KELLER: They're all at the stupid ceremony over there.

PEASANT KID: GI want buy boom-boom picture? Boom-boom picture number one.

KELLER: What's he talkin' about?

TAYLOR: Porno, brother. Vietnamese porno.

KELLER: For real?

TAYLOR: Only cost you a hundred P to find out.

JOHNSON: Hey, wait, you're a married man, Keller. You got a little baby at home.

TAYLOR: Yeah, Keller, what do you wanna do with that filth?

KELLER: Yeah, you're right. It's filth.

TAYLOR: I'll take it, kid. Here you go.

PEASANT KID: Okay, thank you.

TAYLOR: All right. Didi mau.

TAYLOR: Agh. Keller, the wife and kids, Keller. [whispering to Johnson] Look at that one.

KELLER: Come on, man.

TAYLOR: Agh.

TAYLOR: Keller...

[23:48] The Buddhist Temple, Horn and Monk

[monks praying in Vietnamese]

QUANG: There is no need to leave.

HORN: I'm really sorry. I-I didn't mean to interrupt.

QUANG: You are welcome to observe. Perhaps I can shed some light on the ritual for you.

HORN: Oh... s-sure. I was just watchin', I thought it had something to do with asking the Buddha for forgiveness or something.

QUANG: You are thinking of gangung (?). That is a much more important ritual performed in front of the monastery altar every morning.

HORN: To tell you the truth, I don't know what I was thinking. I'm not religious at all. I mean, nothin' like this. I'm not even a Buddhist. I guess that's pretty obvious, huh?

QUANG: But you are interested in spiritual things, and that is good.

HORN: Oh yeah, I've been reading a lot, especially about the Eightfold Path and all, you know... It's hard, though.

QUANG: That is a most difficult concept for the American mind.

HORN: I was wondering, would it be okay if I came to the ceremony tomorrow morning?

QUANG: Eleven o'clock. When the monks come back from seeking alms.

[25:40] Taylor, Johnson, Keller, and Peasant Woman

TAYLOR: I ain't complainin'. I just don't feel like we shoulda' did this by ourselves.

KELLER: That's true.

TAYLOR: Bottom line.

VC PEASANT WOMAN: [crying out in Vietnamese]

JOHNSON: Calm down, take it easy, okay?

VC PEASANT WOMAN: They were trying to kill Nguyen.

JOHNSON: Look, don't worry. I'll make sure he's protected.

VC PEASANT WOMAN: They were trying to kill Nguyen.

JOHNSON: Lieutenant's just gonna have to change his mind, that's all. This kid's practically a U.S. citizen, you know what I mean?

[26:14] The Third Patrol

PERCELL: Taylor.

TAYLOR: I ain't climbin' up there, Jack. I bet you that.

TRAN: Treehouse empty few months now. Too much fighting. Montagnard tribesmen go back to highland.

ANDERSON: Keller! Booby-trap, get out of there!

SOLDIERS [o.s.]: We're takin' fire! . . . Where are they? . . . They're on both sides!

GOLDMAN: Doc... Doc! Give it up. I could hear the air comin' through his chest.

PERCELL: He's only been here six weeks.

JOHNSON: Poor guy. All he ever talked about was his little kid.

TAYLOR: Every time we go out, we get shot up. And we done been out three times, and three times we got shot up. Well I ain't goin' out on no more patrols. I'm through.

RUIZ: Me too. I'm not dying for this stupid village.

BAKER: Amen. To hell with it.

ANDERSON: It looks like we got us a mutiny on our hands here.

[28:43] Tent

[All arguing loudly]

GOLDMAN: Whoa. Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa! Let's slow down here, huh? Whoa!

GOLDMAN: All right, now let's take this one step at a time. Now, when we cleared the base, we eliminated any possibility of a spy being inside the wire—

JOHNSON: Oh yeah? What about those four development guys?

JOHNSON: Sir.

GOLDMAN: The only possible explanation for that is that our patrols are being followed when they leave the wire by people—

RUIZ: With your permission, sir—

GOLDMAN: —on the other side of the wire.

RUIZ: That's a lot of bull. You know there is no way that they could have knocked us out three times in a row.

TAYLOR: What about the scout, LT? I ain't seen nobody shootin' at him.

SOLDIER [o.s.]: Uh-huh.

GOLDMAN: I already looked into that. Now, there's no evidence whatsoever that Tran is disloyal.

TAYLOR: T'oh!

SOLDIER [o.s.]: Yeah, right.

RUIZ [to Taylor]: He wants evidence.

TAYLOR: I wanna see that.

JOHNSON: Oh, what do you need?

SOLDIER [o.s.]: Come on. . . . Sh—

GOLDMAN: Hey! What—what the hell? Do you guys think I like this?

SOLDIER [o.s.]: Do you think we like this?

GOLDMAN: Do you think I like sending Keller home in a body bag? Think I like sending you guys out there when I know damn well that the odds are stacked against ya'?

RUIZ: Then don't do it.

GOLDMAN: You think I don't feel something?

TAYLOR: Who cares what you feel, LT? The point is this, we ain't dyin' here, and we ain't goin' out no more!

JOHNSON: That's right.

GOLDMAN: All right. Let's talk logically here. Now, there are tactical principles involved—

TAYLOR: Forget about the tactics, LT! The bottom line is this: this is real life! This is life and death we're talking about—

GOLDMAN: All right, fine, you wanna talk about life and death? Good! Now if we stop patrolling, we leave ourselves wide open. We're inviting the enemy to gather his forces right outside the perimeter and then we will be overrun and we will all be killed—every one of us.

TAYLOR: I'll take my chances on the base.

GOLDMAN: No you won't.

GOLDMAN: Now, we are going out on patrol again at 1600 hours—

SOLDIER [o.s.]: Geez—

GOLDMAN: Anyone that does not show will be in direct violation of Article 90. Conviction carries five years. Got it? Now you think about it.

SOLDIER [o.s.]: Aw, man...

RUIZ: Great choice.

[30:43] Goldman and Anderson

GOLDMAN: Well?

ANDERSON: Well what?

GOLDMAN: Well I was just thinkin' about my father. He would've known how to handle something like this.

ANDERSON: Oh, you mean the first General Goldman?

GOLDMAN: Actually, he was a Colonel. And he was a tough son of a... But he always got his men to like him.

ANDERSON: Hey, LT. Now, look, it's real easy for you to get these men to like you. In fact, they'll like you right up to the point we get overrun. But then they're all gonna be dead, and there's only gonna be one person to blame.

[31:19] The Buddhist Temple, Horn and Monk

[Monks chanting in background]

QUANG: The ceremony pays tribute to the four noble truths which Buddha discovered five hundred years before the birth of Christ. He taught that each of us has complete moral responsibility for our own actions and that, er, we make good or bad karma in this life according to how we behave each day. Ah, your shoes, take off before we enter.

QUANG: The Buddha's message gives us a plan to live by. He shows how to overcome anger with love, how to defeat evil with good, and how to conquer falsehood by always speaking the truth. Buddha's teaching forbids a monk to harm any Earth's creature... "Shame on him who lashes out," he said, "and greater shame on him who lashes back."

HORN: It must be really tough to follow Buddha's ideas when your country's at war.

QUANG: For us, both sides are our enemy. Both sides seek to impose a foreign way of life on us. You see Mr. Horn, we Vietnamese are a very old-fashioned people. We have trouble coping with wealth and with outside ideas. That is one reason why we monks are so simple in our way of life and own few possessions: a piece of cloth to sit on and one to filter drinking water, and a bowl for seeking alms.

HORN: I'd still like to know your personal feelings about the war. It's caused so much suffering.

QUANG: As a Buddhist, I would support any government who would satisfy the traditional needs of the people.

HORN: And what government's that?

QUANG: Take this with you. It is entitled "The Abhidharma." It contains the major discourses of the Buddha. Perhaps it will give you an understanding of the people whose lives you are trying to change.

[33:59] Goldman, Johnson, and Peasant Woman

VC PEASANT WOMAN: Sorry. Please forgive him.

GOLDMAN: He's pretty fast on his knees.

JOHNSON: I know she really appreciates this, Lieutenant.

GOLDMAN: As long as she understands it's only temporary.

JOHNSON: Of course.

GOLDMAN: There's some New Life villages down south where—can she understand what I'm sayin'? There's New Life villages down south with other mixed-race babies. I know you and your baby will be safe there.

VC PEASANT WOMAN: No. Nguyen born in Binh Thuy. Must live nearby, close to his ancestors.

GOLDMAN: No, one week. I said you can stay one week. Meanwhile I'm gonna try and work something out with A.I.D.

[34:50] Taylor, Ruiz, and Percell

TAYLOR: Freakin' Army, man. Charlie can have this village for all I care.

RUIZ: Cool it, all right, Marcus?

TAYLOR: Look, man, I'm s'pposed to die in this swamp so some gook can grow more rice?

RUIZ: Look, man, if you don't go on patrol, you're gonna get court-martialed.

TAYLOR: What they gonna do, huh? Send me to Vietnam? Nigger, I'm in Vietnam!

PERCELL: Hey, hey... Isn't that Tran?

RUIZ: What's he doin' in the ammo bunker?

PERCELL: Hey, he's not supposed to be in there.

TAYLOR: He's lurkin' around, man. He probably ripped somethin' off.

RUIZ: He's headed for the wire.

TAYLOR: No he ain't.

PERCELL: Look, guys, we'd better tell Lieutenant.

RUIZ: We oughta jump the guy.

TAYLOR: Only if he starts for that wire.

RUIZ: Shhhhh.

TAYLOR: Look at this. What'd I tell ya? I knew that guy was dirty.

PERCELL: It's a map.

TAYLOR: It's Tran's pouch, I seen him carry it.

RUIZ: Now we know where Charlie's been gettin' his ammo.

TAYLOR: Yeah.

PERCELL: How do we know that's Tran's stash?

TAYLOR: What do you mean, how do we know this is Tran's stash? You seen him slinkin' around here, didn't ya?

PERCELL: Anyone could have stolen that, and put it in the crate.

TAYLOR: Sure, tell me about it.

RUIZ: Let's go.

TAYLOR: Come on, Ru.

[36:18] Horn and Baker

HORN: Am I nuts, or have they been bangin' on that thing all afternoon?

BAKER: I dunno... It sure sounds pretty, though, huh?

[36:33] Confronting Tran

TAYLOR: What more proof do you want? There it is: maps, ammo, the whole ball o' wax!

ANDERSON: Is he in his tent now?

TAYLOR: That's right.

GOLDMAN: We try and take him alive.

ANDERSON: Taylor. You stay cool now, you stay very cool.

ANDERSON: All right, Johnson, you're on the behind. Taylor, you're up there in that corner. Ruiz, the other side.

GOLDMAN: Tran, I want you out here now.

GOLDMAN: Tran, I said now!

GOLDMAN: Now!

[37:48] Cracking the Code

HORN: Hey, Lieutenant. Take a look at this!

GOLDMAN: Horn, I don't know what you're talkin' about.

HORN: At first I couldn't figure it out, then I started hearin' different, different rhythms, different, different beats in between the—

GOLDMAN: Johnson, go check the listening post, and then check all this perimeter wire. I wanna make sure none of those villagers slipped through, all right?

HORN: Look, it's right here in the major discourses of the Buddha. You see, the monks are only supposed to ring their prayer bell at sunup and sundown. These guys have been bangin' at this thing all day long—

GOLDMAN: Anderson, go get some of those construction workers and press 'em real hard—

HORN: See, the Vietnamese dialect is a whole lot simpler than English—

GOLDMAN: Any one of those guys might know somethin' about this—

HORN: The point is someone in that monastery has been signaling our patrol routes to the NVA. I-I haven't cracked the code yet, but it's gotta be some variation of, of their basic symbols, some combination of long and short—

GOLDMAN: Show me what you've got.

HORN: Well look, sir, how many digits in a set of coordinates? Eight, right? Even if each digit has six or seven gong beats, they can still get that message up pretty quickly. Look, this is just what they sent out a few minutes ago: [phonetic: anh-hung-lay-loi] That's the alpha-lima. And these are the numbers, sir. "Một," that's one, "hai-voi-một," that's three, "ba-voi-hai" that's—

GOLDMAN: Yeah, yeah, so what?

HORN: So that's the exact location of our listening post on the western perimeter.

GOLDMAN: They've got a radio and they're sittin' on our frequency.

ANDERSON: Nah, that still wouldn't help them with the patrol routes. I mean, that information's gotta be comin' from right inside the wire here.

ANDERSON: Horn, suppose you show me where these Buddhists are at.

GOLDMAN: Let-let me see that.

HORN: Okay, Sarge, come on.

[39:27 / 39:36] The Buddhist Temple - Night

HORN: Sarge?

ANDERSON: Yo.

HORN: What time you got?

ANDERSON: Twenty-two hundred.

ANDERSON: We'll wait another fifteen minutes.

ANDERSON: Horn.

HORN: Yeah?

ANDERSON: Eat quieter.

HORN: Sorry, I just get really hungry when we skip a meal like we did tonight—

ANDERSON: Just swallow you food without chewing it.

ANDERSON: Isn't that the woman with the kid?

HORN: Yeah. Hey, women aren't allowed in here at night. It's got to be her.

ANDERSON: We can use her.

[40:54 / 41:02] New Map. Anderson and Goldman

SOLDIERS [o.s.]: Just once, a decent breakfast, man. . . . What have you got over here, man? . . . Hey, where'd you get them heat tabs, man?

ANDERSON: All right, the upper trail switches back a couple of times...

GOLDMAN: Mm-hmm.

ANDERSON: But we should get a pretty clear view of the gully from right in there.

GOLDMAN: All right, fine. Well, what do you think? You think she was rippin' off Tran's map case every time?

ANDERSON: Well, he was suspicious about somethin'. If he would've just told us about it instead of trying to deal with her himself, he might still be alive.

GOLDMAN: That too obvious?

ANDERSON: No, she's gonna go for that.

[41:40] The Fourth Patrol

JOHNSON: Glad to see you rejoined the boonie rats, brother.

TAYLOR: Yeah, well I just want a shot at the guy that sandbagged Keller, that's all.

JOHNSON: That's Charlie. Right on schedule.

ANDERSON: You know what they say about fish in a barrel, don't ya?

ANDERSON: Ruiz. Baker.

GOLDMAN: Wait a minute. They must've heard him.

ANDERSON: Give them a jolt, Ruiz!

BAKER: Yeah!

HORN: These guys are using our weapons!

ANDERSON: Well, the war ain't over yet.

GOLDMAN: Yeah, well at least we slowed 'em down, thanks to you Horn. Now if we could just find that girl, we might get some idea of VC activity inside the ville.

HORN: Well Charlie's gonna figure she sold him out. The only place she's safe now is the monastery.

GOLDMAN: Go.

ANDERSON: Horn, Johnson. Let's go.

[44:16] The Monastery

ANDERSON: These monks are pretty good about playing one end against the other, aren't they? I've never seen Buddhists get involved like this before.

JOHNSON: There she is.

JOHNSON: Listen to me, we're gonna have to take you back—

VC PEASANT WOMAN: Aaaah!

JOHNSON: Why'd she do it, man?

HORN: Aren't you the one that told me that Buddha's teachings forbid a monk to harm any of Earth's creatures? Didn't you tell me that?

QUANG: You have an excellent memory, Mr. Horn.

HORN: You're a freakin' hypocrite.

HORN: Good luck with your karma, pal.

JOHNSON: Looks like she was translating some poetry into English.

HORN: Let me see that.

"If you are to be a flower,

then be one that always faces the sun

If you want to be a rock,

then try to be a precious stone

And if it is a bird that inspires you,

then by all means be a white dove

But if you are to be a real human being,

then you must become a revolutionary."

JOHNSON: You gotta respect her.

[46:57] End

Back to top

Back to Transcripts Listing

Talk about this episode in Forum.

See the Episode Guide