Transcript: (1x6) Burn, Baby, Burn

From Bravo 3/44th

Directed by: Reynaldo Villalobos

Story by: L. Travis Clark & Steve Duncan

Teleplay: by L. Travis Clark & Steve Duncan and Steven Phillip Smith

See the Episode Guide

[1:41] Bar

SOLDIERS [o.s.]: Yee-haw! . . . Whoo! . . . Yeah. . . . I think I'm in love.

VIETNAMESE SINGER: ♫ The first thing I remember knowing was a lonesome whistle blowing, and a youngun's dream of growing up to ride... ♫

INNIS: Sing it, girl!

SOLDIERS [o.s.]: Oww!

VIETNAMESE SINGER: ♫ On a freight train leaving town, not knowing where I'm bound. And no one could change my mind but Mama tried. And I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole... ♫

INNIS: Whoo!

VIETNAMESE SINGER: ♫ But Mama tried, but Mama tried. Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading I denied. That leaves only me to blame, 'cause Mama tried. ♫

INNIS: See, that's some real American music.

INNIS: Hey, I'm glad we came out tonight. Those soul brothers at the base like to drove me crazy.

[3:00] Taylor, Johnson, Tucker, & Darden Arrive

TUCKER: You get the feeling we're not wanted here, brother Darden?

DARDEN: Looks that way to me.

TAYLOR: We definitely change the complexion of things around here, that's for sure.

INNIS: I'm tryin' real hard to learn that new handshake I seen you boys doin'. I never figured out why it takes some boys ten minutes just to say hello.

ALLEN: Must not have a whole lot else to do.

INNIS: Yeah, maybe they need all that time just to figure out what they say. Or maybe—maybe it needs a little dance. Ow-hoo-hoo!

ALLEN: The bugaloo.

INNIS: I thought it was the boogieloo!

INNIS: What you boys want?

JOHNSON: Hey, look. Percell said he'd meet us here.

INNIS: Well, you don't see him, do ya'?

DARDEN: I knew he had more class than to hang out in a joint like this.

INNIS: Yeah, you can get going about 10 seconds ago, boy.

TAYLOR: Did he call you "boy" or "Roy?"

JOHNSON: Hey, man, let's get out of here.

DARDEN [to bartender]: Four beers, now—

INNIS: Uh-uh. Now, I may have to ride the same buses and use the same toilets as y'all, but there ain't nothin' that say I gotta socialize with ya'. Now I know there ain't no signs up here spellin' it out for ya' loud and clear, but you know the deal.

TUCKER: In case you ain't heard, all deals are off. *smooch*

DARDEN: Don't do it, man. I'm warnin' you.

INNIS: Man, you ain't nuthin to me!

TUCKER: Let 'em be, boys.

SOLDIERS [o.s.] Come on! . . . Hit him! . . . All right! . . . There you go! . . . Come on!

TAYLOR: Oh well. What about those beers?

DARDEN: Not if I was dyin' of thirst.

[5:27] Jungle

GOLDMAN [o.s.]: Watch out, you guys. You're bunching up.

SOLDIERS [o.s.]: Ambush! Sniper! Sniper! . . . Take cover! . . . Cover! Cover! . . . to the right!

GOLDMAN [o.s.]: Where's he at?

ANDERSON [o.s.]: I don't know.

ANDERSON: I think he's my 11:00. I'm not sure. Innis!

INNIS: Yo.

ANDERSON: I'm gonna cover for you. You get the right flank. Go!

ANDERSON: Go!

SOLDIER [o.s.]: I got you man, go.

INNIS: I'll cover you! Go!

SOLDIERS [o.s.]: Cover! Cover! . . . Get him!

DARDEN: Ah!

SOLDIER [o.s.]: They got him, man!

TUCKER: Medic! Medic! Medic!

SOLDIER [o.s.]: They got him, man.

TUCKER: No!

TUCKER: Where the hell were you, man?

INNIS: My gun jammed!

TUCKER: Mighty convenient time, sucker.

INNIS: What are you saying?

TUCKER: You know what I'm sayin'. I'm saying that I can't be losin' people like this.

INNIS: My gun jammed, man!

ANDERSON: Let it go! Let it go! It's over, let it go!

TUCKER: It's over for him. For me it's just beginning. Now you keep this scum out of my face and don't be askin' me to cover for him.

GOLDMAN: Hey, Tucker, I don't wanna hear that! You know these weapons jam.

TUCKER: Jammed, huh?

[7:48] Firebase Ladybird

CHAPLAIN [o.s.]: Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over...

CHAPLAIN: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. These brave young men made the ultimate sacrifice for their brethren, for their country. They have given their lives so that others might walk free. They will not enjoy the bounties of life on this earth, so we ask you, oh Lord, to welcome their souls into heaven.

ANDERSON: Platoon dismissed.

TUCKER: What am I gonna tell his mother?

TAYLOR: L-T'll write her.

TUCKER: That woman helped raised me, man. I've gotta write her. She thought we were fools to volunteer for a second tour. But I just kept on pushing.

JOHNSON: How come you came back?

TUCKER: I don't know. Things in the world just got so crazy. What the hell have I done?

[10:08] First Squad's Tent

INNIS: Man, niggers around here are bad enough. They goin' crazy back home.

ALLEN: Burnin' down Detroit.

INNIS: Most of it. Big riot in New Jersey, too, and some place in Maryland. Man, this rat brown boy wants to torch the whole damn country.

HULL: Well where's he gonna sleep afterwards, huh?

INNIS [o.s.]: I don't know, uh, but I tell you, it's serious.

INNIS: Man, who knows what these boys are gonna do next. You know, it's just like them tryin' to hang Darden's death on me. If I wanted that nig dead, I'd have shot him straight out.

ALLEN: Bet you're really cryin' about him being gone.

INNIS: I tell you what. With all these riots spreadin' like wildfire, I reckon it's time us white folks stand up before they walk all over us.

ALLEN: Mm-hmm.

INNIS: Yeah, boy... I reckon it's time we make a little... statement of our own.

HULL: Oh yeah.

INNIS: I never showed this to you, did I?

ALLEN: No.

HULL: Put this up right up here in the doorway.

[11:04] Firebase Ladybird. Johnson, Taylor, & Tucker

TAYLOR: I can't believe it. It looked like they bombed the place. Detroit, my home! My uncle used to live about a block away from all of this.

TUCKER: If you can call bein' in the ratholes livin'.

TAYLOR: I used to play right on this corner.

ALLEN [o.s.]: I'll help ya' over here. I got it.

TAYLOR: Forty people killed. Something's gonna happen to my family.

TUCKER: Bad enough the pigs shooting and gassing our people in their own homes. But look at who else is doin' it. Bringin' in the honky troops to take care of business. Some of them dudes were Vietnam vets, man.

TUCKER: Yeah. They training them over here, to annihilate us back there. Black man shouldn't even be fighting this war.

TAYLOR: Maybe it's like Muhammad Ali said, "No Viet Cong ever called me nigger."

JOHNSON: Amen.

TUCKER: I hear that.

JOHNSON: Oh, no. Tell me I ain't seein' this, man.

TUCKER: Yeah, man, you seein' it. But you ain't gonna be seein' it for long. Let's go tear that sucker down.

JOHNSON: Now just be cool, man. When the officers see it, they'll make 'em take it down.

TUCKER: Those peckerwoods down home call you "Uncle Johnson?"

JOHNSON: Look, just back off, Tucker. Now, trash like Innis is always gonna be around.

TUCKER: Look, man. If you sellin' that "slow change" jive, this is one blood who ain't buyin'. Now let's go grab that rag.

[12:34] Firebase Ladybird. Outside First Squad's Tent

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

TUCKER: That's real white of you, Innis.

INNIS: Thank you.

TUCKER: But it gotta come down.

INNIS: I don't think you're the man for the job, Tucker.

TUCKER: You're disrespecting every black man in the unit.

INNIS: I'm real sorry you blacks take it that way. Man, you all are sure gettin' sensitive lately. You hear what your people are doin' back home? Man, I think it's a crying shame. All that freedom.

SOLDIER [o.s.]: Excuse me, (?)?

INNIS: Think about it. I think you oughta' be taking down the Yankee flag.

SOLDIER [o.s.]: Would you come over here for a second?

JOHNSON: Take it down, Innis, before there's trouble.

INNIS: Ain't gonna be no trouble, Johnson. Now, you from down home. You show some sense. You just take your boys and walk away.

TAYLOR: Who you callin' "boy," Innis?

TUCKER: Take it down—

JOHNSON: Hold it. Like you said, I'm from down home. I'll take it down.

INNIS: Yeah, you go get it.

SOLDIER [o.s.]: Ooo-whoo!

INNIS: Sorry, boy. Just an accident.

JOHNSON: Just like your gun jammin' for Darden, right?

GOLDMAN: Break it up!

GOLDMAN: The flag comes down.

SOLDIERS [o.s.]: You get off me, man. . . . Come on, Jack. . . . I get you next time, man. . . . Sure you will.

[14:15] CP. Wallace, Goldman, Anderson, & Minh

WALLACE: The objective is to cordon and search Binh Djerang, maybe pick up some NVA activity out of there tonight. You'll set up a night defensive position near the LZ, keep LPs out all night, then move on Binh Djerang in the morning.

GOLDMAN: Aren't we telegraphing the operation by leaving this afternoon?

WALLACE: The bad guys are supposed to think you're part of Alpha Company's sweep of the valley. Once you've secured the hamlet, Lieutenant Minh, your job will be—

MINH: My job will be to find and interrogate Viet Cong sympathizers. I know my job well, Captain.

WALLACE: Well, enough said, then. You got any questions?

GOLDMAN: We'd like to delay goin' out for a couple of days.

ANDERSON: We're not sure we can control the men.

WALLACE: Tucker.

ANDERSON: Captain, don't get me wrong, now. That man's a good soldier. He got a Bronze Star and a Silver Star his first tour here. It's just sometimes these guys go over the edge, and-and it's impossible to get 'em back.

WALLACE: I'd like to be able to help you guys out, but Brigade says this one is important.

GOLDMAN: Well then I think we oughta' transfer Tucker and Innis out.

WALLACE: This racial stuff is blowin' up all over the place. If I move Tucker and Innis on to somebody else, I may get even worse in return. No, you deal with them, now.

GOLDMAN: Yes, sir.

[15:26] Getting Hip at the Helipad

JOHNSON: Looks like our ride's here.

PERCELL: Hey, you guys ready for another one?

TUCKER: Ready for you to didi, white meat.

TAYLOR: Lighten up, dude. Percell don't play that trash. Besides, he's the best shot in the platoon.

TUCKER: So what? Why don't you go over with Innis and your other honky confederates?

PERCELL: 'Cause I'm over here. I don't think like those guys, Tucker, I was taught to judge a man by what he does, not his color.

TUCKER: What do you want, the Nobel Peace Prize?

PERCELL: Wow, Tucker. You and Innis got a lot more in common than you know. You guys aren't buyin' this stuff, right—?

TUCKER: Look, don't put me in the same breath as that cracker.

PERCELL: Then do me the same courtesy.

JOHNSON: Why don't you guys lay off, man. Now, look, he ain't got nothin' to do with it.

TUCKER: Get hip, farmer boy, before it's too late. The time is comin' when you're gonna have to choose sides.

JOHNSON: Time's here when we're goin' on a mission—together.

TAYLOR: Load up!

SOLDIER [o.s.]: Let's do it.

[17:34] Jungle

TAM: I want two that.

HORN: You want one of these? You want two of these?

TAM: Yeah. For one [?]

HORN: Okay, okay, okay.

TAM: Okay. Thank you.

HORN: You're welcome.

ALLEN: That oughta' fix him, Jeremiah.

INNIS: Yeah, I reckon.

ALLEN: Mm-hmm.

INNIS: Yeah. Time to establish a little brotherhood.

HULL: All right.

INNIS: Hey, there, Johnson.

JOHNSON: What you want, Innis?

INNIS: Now, no need to be unfriendly. I just wanted to bury the hatchet, mend the fence, all that good stuff.

SOLDIER [background, o.s.]: This is my last one, you want some?

JOHNSON: You mean bury the hatchet in my back, right?

INNIS: I'm talkin' about brotherhood, Johnson. You know. Let's get rid of all of that—that nigger and honky talk, and let's get some equality here.

JOHNSON: Hey, look. I don't know what your game is, all right? But I ain't playin'.

INNIS: Game? Just democracy. We over here to protect the world from the international Communist conspiracy, and I reckon we won't do much of a job of it, if we're always at each other's throats. Am I right?

JOHNSON: Well action speaks louder than words.

INNIS: And you're gonna see some real good ones. Let's smoke the peace pipe on it, huh?

JOHNSON: Thanks, but I don't smoke.

TAM: I take. Very good.

INNIS: Oh, you likey menthol, huh? Well why not? Let's let everybody in on this deal. White... black... and yellow.

[19:57] The White Trash Syndrome

ANDERSON: Hey, hey! Hey, hey, hey. Hey. Hey. [speaking in Vietnamese]

ANDERSON: What in the hell do you think you're doin'?

INNIS: Oh relax, Sarge. Don't get your eyes crossed over some gook.

ANDERSON: You call me Sergeant! And that ain't a gook. That's a soldier, he's got his butt on the line out here, just as much as anybody.

INNIS: Sounds like Yankee talk to me.

ANDERSON: Oh just listen to yourself, would you please, Innis? You know what scares me most about you, Innis, is I might've ended up somethin' like you.

INNIS: How's that?

ANDERSON: You wouldn't understand. 'Cause you think you're an original, don't ya'? Huh? Well you ain't. I spent a whole lifetime around people like you. And what you got is a case of the white trash syndrome, boy. And you got it real bad.

JOHNSON: Equality, huh?

[21:02] Tucker, Taylor, Johnson

TUCKER: I say we oughta' frag the sucker.

JOHNSON: You gonna do it?

JOHNSON: What about you, Marcus?

TUCKER: You wouldn't be sheddin' any tears if we did.

JOHNSON: Hey, you're talkin' about murder, man.

TAYLOR: Sounds more like pest control to me.

TUCKER: I thought I was talking about self-defense. The clown's already started a fight with you. Now he's tryin' to blow up cigarettes in your face. You ain't the kind of man who wouldn't defend yourself.

JOHNSON: Now you know better than that.

TUCKER: Suppose you was in Detroit, man. Saw all these honkies comin' to burn down your crib. Put your family out in the street or worse.

JOHNSON: Yeah?

TUCKER: Try and imagine it, man. What would you do?

TAYLOR: You know what I'd do.

JOHNSON: If anybody messed with my family, man, I don't care who it is, I'd frag 'em.

TUCKER: That's what we talkin' about, blood. Family.

[22:13] Jungle - Night

ANDERSON: All right, Jenkins, make sure you've got a clear field of fire at all times, here. All right?

ANDERSON: Taylor, you all right?

TAYLOR: Fine, Sarge.

ANDERSON: All right. All right.

[23:57] Goldman, Johnson, Taylor, Anderson

JOHNSON: Look, I told you, sir, I was asleep.

GOLDMAN: Is this your bayonet?

JOHNSON: Now, everybody knows I keep green tape on my bayonet, just li—

GOLDMAN: Johnson, is this your bayonet?

JOHNSON: Yes, sir.

GOLDMAN: Well it's also the bayonet that wound up in Innis' back. Now how do you explain that?

JOHNSON: I can't explain it.

GOLDMAN: It didn't just jump out of your scabbard, man. Nobody saw you sleepin'.

JOHNSON: Nobody saw me kill Innis. Look, if I did kill him, you think I'd be dumb enough to leave my bayonet there?

GOLDMAN: Marvin, everybody saw you guys goin' at it.

TAYLOR: LT, this is Johnson we're talkin' about—

GOLDMAN: Taylor, get outta' here.

TAYLOR: He ain't no killer—

GOLDMAN: Taylor.

TAYLOR: But, L—

GOLDMAN: Taylor.

TAYLOR: He ain't no killer.

JOHNSON: Hey, look, why are you tryin' to pin this on me, damn it? And you know what kind of soldier I am, Lieutenant.

GOLDMAN: All right, Johnson. Now, we're pullin' out of here in a few minutes. Now, the body and the bayonet are going back to Brigade. I gotta tell ya, man, they're gonna do a full investigation at CID. That's it.

GOLDMAN: I'd love to scrap this whole mission, but the old man told me Battalion said no way.

ANDERSON: Now, LT, I know you don't think Johnson did it.

GOLDMAN: Under ordinary circumstances I'd say no. But this racial crap has got everybody's blood boiling. Damn.

[25:26] Percell & Johnson

PERCELL: Marvin. For what it's worth, I don't think you did it.

JOHNSON: Now ain't the time, Danny.

PERCELL: Well I just wanted to let—

JOHNSON: Danny!

PERCELL: Have it your way.

[25:44] Percell & Tucker

TUCKER: What you doin', Percell?

PERCELL: I'm sneaking around looking for someone to stab. Got any suggestions?

TUCKER: You think it's funny, huh? A joke?

PERCELL: This outfit, this war, the whole damn thing's turned into a joke.

TUCKER: I got no time to be fat-mouthin' with some honky.

PERCELL: Hey, look, take the time, Tucker. Take the time. Do me a favor. Enlighten me to what this blackness is all about.

TUCKER: Don't be pushin' me, man.

PERCELL: I ain't pushin', Tucker. Look, I'm just a hick from Montana. I hardly ever saw a black man till I joined the Army.

TUCKER: So what's your point?

PERCELL: My point is it seems to me that y'all have had the short end of the stick for a long time. But why do you wanna turn your backs on people that have nothin' against ya'?

TUCKER: Aw, man—

PERCELL: Don't "Aw, man" me, Tucker, tell me somethin'.

TUCKER: What do you want, whitey? A little bedtime story about bein' poor and fightin' the rats for a bed? About seein' my father's spirit break and watchin' my mother turn into an old woman before she was 40? About doin' a tour in 'Nam and then going back home to the same old garbage?

PERCELL: Did you think the world was gonna change?

TUCKER: I don't know what I thought, man. I went back proud to have done my duty for my country. Really thought I found a home in the Army.

PERCELL: What happened?

TUCKER: Nothin', man... Except maybe the rats got fatter. Man, I could've died over here fightin' in this white man's war. But back home, I ain't no better than dirt.

PERCELL: So you came back here.

TUCKER: That's 'cause I don't know where I belong no more. So forgive me if I can't let go of my hatred. I got nothin' else to hold on to.

[27:47] Allen, Ruiz, & Baker

ALLEN: We got to stick together, guys. That Johnson's dangerous.

RUIZ: Johnson's the best soldier in this platoon.

BAKER: Yeah, and he didn't kill that jerk, either.

ALLEN: That "jerk" was my buddy. What are you, Baker, a nigger-lover?

RUIZ: No. He loves greasers. That's why we're partners.

ALLEN: Whose side are you on?

RUIZ: Not yours, bro. When you're done with the bloods, you're probably gonna come after the spics. Then it'll be the Jewish lieutenant. Probably surfers after that.

ALLEN: Well ain't that just—

BAKER: Get out of here, man! This stuff's bringing me way down, and I don't like it. So why don't you just didi out of my area.

[28:41] Johnson & Tucker

ANDERSON: All right, people, let's saddle up. Let's get it done.

TUCKER: Just wanted you to know that the brothers are behind you, man.

JOHNSON: Maybe they can help find the guy that did Innis. Look, in case you don't know, murder ain't my thing.

TUCKER: Look, just be cool, blood. We ain't gonna let you get railroaded.

JOHNSON: Hey, look, do me a favor, Tucker. Just stay out of my life, you hear?

TUCKER: Your partner's got no appreciation at all, man.

[29:18] The Mission

ANDERSON: Yeah. They're gettin' real confident now. We're gonna have to block off that far corner.

GOLDMAN: Yeah, yeah. Horn. Horn. Tiger Six, this is Bravo Two Six. Over.

MINH: Roger, Two Six.

GOLDMAN: Six, I want you to block on the east. We'll come in on the west and the south. Go.

MINH: Roger, Two Six. We come when you need us.

GOLDMAN: All right. I want you to take First Squad, and take Third Squad. You sweep around to the west, we'll just head on in. And let's take some prisoners.

ANDERSON: If they'll let us.

[Vietnamese talking]

ALLEN: Argh!

SOLDIER [o.s.]: Watch it! Punji stakes!

PERCELL: That sucker's gonna didi! Go!

SOLDIERS [o.s.]: Get around to the right! . . . Flank him! Flank him! . . . Get it on! . . . Medic! Medic!

ANDERSON: Go!

SOLDIER [o.s.]: I'm hit!

ANDERSON: There must be tunnels in the hootches! Taylor!

SOLDIER [o.s.]: Good work, Johnson!

ANDERSON: All right, I want teams of two on the hootches. Keep your eyes peeled. There's probably NVA in there. All right. Tucker, Percell!

PERCELL: Yo!

ANDERSON: You start down left.

VIETNAMESE SOLDIERS: Didi.

ANDERSON: Johnson, Wolfe!

WOLFE: Yo!

ANDERSON: You got the middle. Taylor, Hull! Up top, there. Let's move.

ANDERSON: I said move it! What in the hell is wrong with you?

JOHNSON: Can't you see, Sarge? Nobody in this outfit wants their back to anybody else.

JOHNSON: I say the hell with y'all.

PERCELL: Let's get 'em!

ANDERSON: No, stay down! Stay where you are!

PERCELL: Why?

ANDERSON: If we move, they'll kill us. I'll get Lieutenant to call in artillery. Damn it.

[34:22] You're All Gonna Be Hung Out to Dry

GOLDMAN: Nothin'. We had 'em and now we got nothin'. And where the hell were you guys, huh? I tell ya' somethin'. I'm ashamed to have you guys in my command.

GOLDMAN: Not only did we lose the intelligence, we lost the enemy. And you know what? While you guys were waging your private little war, these guys got greased.

TUCKER: If the honky was lookin' instead of bein' a crybaby, none of this would've happened.

ALLEN: I suppose you wouldn't have said a word if you'd been stuck.

TUCKER: In the first place, I wouldn't have been dumb enough to get stuck. And I wouldn't have screamed if I had.

ALLEN: I reckon animals don't feel pain like real people.

TUCKER: You ofay gob of spit—

GOLDMAN: Shut up! Just shut up! Will you listen to what I'm sayin' here, or are you too thick? Now why, huh? Why are you doin' this?

TUCKER: 'Cause it's the truth.

GOLDMAN: No, the truth is, you don't wanna see anybody get along. It'd give you nothin' to complain about.

TUCKER: Man, how can I trust you dudes when you go and hang Johnson out to dry?

GOLDMAN: Johnson is not hung yet. And I'm gonna make sure he gets a fair trial.

TUCKER: Oh, white man's justice.

GOLDMAN: You know what, Tucker? There is no room here for what you're spreadin'. One more time—that's one more time for all o' ya'—and you're all gonna be hung out to dry.

TUCKER: You ain't seen nothin' yet, boy.

[36:04] First Squad's Tent

SOLDIERS [o.s.]: Okay, Ron, could you get that equipment on the left side? . . . Morales, get your butt over here. . . . Okay, Sergeant, I'll be right there.

ALLEN: It's a shame this thing was ever pulled down.

ALLEN: Well this rebel's gonna put it back up.

GOLDMAN: Where are you goin', Allen?

ALLEN: Outside, sir.

GOLDMAN: That belongs with the effects of PFC Innis.

GOLDMAN: You know I got a lot of respect for Southern courage and pride. But this thing is over, Allen.

[37:03] Third Squad's Tent

TAYLOR: Now that I got my baby all cleaned up, I'm gonna' be gettin' in the cut. Layin' up till tomorrow noon. I don't want nobody messin' with me, either.

TUCKER: You may have to attend to business.

RUIZ: Hey, what are you, man? Chairman of the Board or something?

TUCKER: I'm just lookin' out for my own people, man.

RUIZ: Well your jive is wearing real thin, bro. You know, when the war comes, what side are you gonna put me on, huh?

MATSUDA: Yeah, and what about me?

ANDERSON: Yo, Johnson.

JOHNSON: Yeah, Sarge?

ANDERSON: Get your stuff.

TUCKER: Where you takin' him?

ANDERSON: You got the need to know, soldier?

TUCKER: I got a need to find out. Brothers are looking after brothers from now on.

TAYLOR: Come on, Sarge. You know Johnson ain't did nothin'.

ANDERSON: You know as well as I do, Taylor, I am only following orders here.

TUCKER: Don't worry, blood. We ain't gonna let 'em mess with ya'.

ANDERSON: No, we won't.

ANDERSON: Come on.

[38:08] CP. Anderson, Johnson, Wallace, & Goldman

ANDERSON: All right, look, Marvin, we're gonna get this whole mess cleared up. We're gonna get you back to soldiering like you oughta' be.

JOHNSON: You ain't gotta fake it, Sarge. I'm in up to my neck, ain't I?

ANDERSON: They don't have a witness.

JOHNSON: They got a weapon. Now all they need is a body to hang it on.

JOHNSON: Specialist Johnson, reporting as ordered, sir.

WALLACE: I'm sorry, Johnson. I wish there was something I could do, but I have my orders.

JOHNSON: So what happens next?

GOLDMAN: You stay in the CP tonight. Tomorrow you and I go for a chopper ride down to Brigade.

WALLACE: I am sorry about this, Johnson. Once the CID gets into this stuff, it's out of my hands. I have to follow procedure.

JOHNSON: Yes, sir.

WALLACE: Lieutenant.

[39:00] Third Squad's Tent. Tucker Organizes.

TUCKER: Let's get it together, brothers. We ain't nothin' if we sit here and let Johnson take all the heat.

TAYLOR: Well what are we gonna do? We can't go take him back.

TUCKER: I say we can.

PERCELL: I don't wanna see this happen.

TUCKER: What's it to you, white meat?

PERCELL: It's a lot to me. Johnson's a good damn soldier, and he's my good friend. I don't see why we all just can't get together and go see Captain Wallace.

TUCKER: Yeah, just like a committee.

PERCELL: Oh—

TUCKER: You know, Percell, you becoming my main white liberal. First, we form a committee. Then, we discuss the problems for another five years while they put a hundred niggers behind bars.

PERCELL: Well that's—Tucker, that's not the way it is!

TAYLOR: Maybe you oughta' leave it alone, Danny. We gotta work this out between ourself, okay?

TUCKER: You brothers with me or not? You gonna be strong black men, or you gonna be a bunch of Uncle Tom niggers?

TAYLOR: Man, you talkin' about takin' on the United States Army—

TUCKER: I'm talkin' about defendin' our own. I say we take the brother back.

TAYLOR: I don't know, man. I'm with you, but we might be provoking a little more than we can handle.

TUCKER: Look, man. The black man has always been the underdog. Ain't nobody gonna defend us. So we damn well better defend ourselves. If you brothers are with me... Lock and load.

[40:36] First Squad's Tent. Wolfe, Allen, & Hull

WOLFE: Probably get 20 years in Leavenworth.

ALLEN: Twenty years? Hell, oughta' put his butt in front of a firing squad.

ALLEN: Relax, Hull, before you have a hemorrhage.

HULL: It's those niggers. A bunch of 'em with guns.

ALLEN: Comin' here?

HULL: I dunno. Maybe to CP.

ALLEN: Looks like one war ain't enough for these boys. Let's go.

[41:01] Outside CP. Not in My Platoon!

TUCKER: Listen up, whiteys. We want Johnson out here, now.

ALLEN: The murderer stays where he is, Tucker. You ain't the law around here.

TUCKER: Only law I see around here is a bunch of honkies. We do law for black folks now. You get in the way, you pay the price.

ALLEN: Go ahead on. Come on. It's got to happen sooner or later. Truth is, I'd rather shoot you all than the gooks.

TUCKER: Suits me just fine, boy. Or maybe you'd like us to turn our backs first. Ain't that the way it's always been?

ALLEN: Innis is the one you boys got in the back.

ANDERSON: Hey! Now you listen up. The only people you're gonna be fighting are the NVA that you let get away this morning. I tell you the honest to God truth, just lookin' at you pukes gives me a real bad case of the jaws.

TUCKER: We come to get Johnson back.

ANDERSON: You did, did you?

TUCKER: Yeah. And we aim to take him back.

ANDERSON: Well you got a little problem, Tucker.

TUCKER: What's that?

ANDERSON: You want Johnson, you're gonna have to come through me. So you come on now.

ANDERSON: Not in my platoon! Not in my platoon. This is where I live. And I will do anything necessary to stop this. You take this garbage someplace else.

ANDERSON: You find somethin' funny there, son? You know, I got the real impression there, you thought somethin' was funny, now did you?

ALLEN: No, sir. No, sir.

ANDERSON: All right, then. Why don't you take your sense of humor and get on out of here?

ANDERSON: Taylor, I'm real disappointed in you, son. Real disappointed.

TUCKER: What about Johnson?

ANDERSON: He's innocent.

ANDERSON: You heard me. He's innocent. Tam—the little ARVN soldier that, that Innis messed with—they found his fingerprints on the bayonet. Goldman and Wallace are with him now.

TAYLOR: Tam?

ANDERSON: Tam, yes, the little guy, that Innis gave the cigarette to.

ANDERSON: You watch your manners, gentlemen.

[44:18] The Real Storm Is on the Horizon.

ANDERSON: Tucker, can I talk to you for a minute?

TUCKER: You can talk to me all night. You're in charge.

ANDERSON: You know, uh, your last tour over here in country was really somethin', Tucker: The Medal of Valor, two Purple Hearts... I mean that's some heavy-duty soldiering, Tucker.

TUCKER: Put it all with a dime, and I might get a cup of coffee.

ANDERSON: Only if it's a cheap cafe, you will. But that's not what it's all about anyway, is it? You know what impressed me most, was that Soldier's Medal that you got for pullin' that woman out of the river. You almost got yourself wasted in the process. And she wasn't even the same color as you are.

TUCKER: That's all, Sarge?

ANDERSON: No it's not. You're a good soldier, Tucker, you're a damn good soldier. The men in the platoon respect you, look up to you... You could be a model for the new guys comin' in.

TUCKER: You can stick your platoon. Brigade's formin' a new LRRP unit, and I'm transferrin' outta' here. And don't think your problem's over. The real storm is on the horizon.

[46:55] End

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