Original subtitles

Oscar Papa One, Oscar X-ray. Over.

Oscar Papa One, how copy? Over.

Do you have movement at this time? Over.

[GUNSHOTS]

They're sleeping.

They've got to be sleeping.

Unless their radio's broke.

Oscar Papa One, Oscar X-ray. Come on, come on.

Somebody, talk to me. You jerks sleeping or what?

All right, Johnson, you call the C.O.

You tell him what's going on here.

I'm gonna wake those boys up.

It's nothing, Mickey.

Bravo, bravo, Oscar X-ray. Over.

Bravo, bravo, Oscar X-ray. Over.

Come on, Peterson--

[FOOTSTEPS]

Drop down, Mickey! Get in the hole!

Down! Down! Back, back, back!

Come on!

Get moving. Hurry up, Mickey! Come on!

Aah!

Incoming!

Don't shoot, don't shoot!

Coming in, coming in!

It's Zeke! Give him cover fire!

Come on, Zeke!

Come on!

Move it, Johnson!

You okay, Zeke?

Keep firing at the tree line!

Mickey!

God, where's Mickey?

Lieutenant, call the weapons platoon leader.

What position?

11:00. Tree line. Tell them to mix it with H.E.

Oscar Papa, Oscar Papa, we--

Medic! Medic!

Oh...

Hang in there, lieutenant.

Come on, baby. Hang in there!

Come on. You're going to be okay.

I already called for tact-air! We've got zips on the wire now!

Where in the bloody hell are you?

We need napalm on the tree line!

Where? Where?

Right there-- 767-935.

Napalm at 767-935, southeast side.

Napalm now! I need napalm now!

Come on, let's get that one!

[♪♪♪]

Mickey!

You guys seen Mickey?

Oh, God.

Mickey. You got Mickey?

Come on, Johnson, man, come on!

He's gone, man. We lost him. Come on.

Mickey!

Come on, Johnson, man.

Let it go, brother. Let it go, man.

Come on, forget about it.

He was my best friend!

Come on, come on. Get up out of there. Come on.

Come on, man. Get him out of here!

Johnson, let it go, man.

Let it go, man. Come on! Let it go.

He was a good man.

They were all good men.

It shouldn't have happened.

It's supposed to be getting easier.

We're supposed to be winning this war.

Oh, yeah?

I'll tell you something, captain.

We came about that far from getting overrun.

I know.

Come on, Zeke, I want you to take a walk with me.

There's something I want to show you.

You were out there among them, Zeke.

They all look like this?

What, are you talking about the uniform? Yeah.

Yep. Every last one of them.

They ain't your typical rice paddy daddies either.

Nope. We've got something altogether new here--

North Vietnamese Army regulars.

First time I've ever heard of them being this far south.

Yeah.

We've got a whole new war ahead of us, Zeke.

Hey, I've got a job for you to do.

I want you to police up these bodies.

Battalion wants maps, papers,

any identifying material we can find.

Then I want you to hop the first chopper

over to division headquarters.

Major Braun's going to be very interested in this.

Yes, sir.

Excuse me, sir, but while I'm over there,

maybe I could do a little recruiting

for you and the First Sergeant.

Good idea, Zeke. I was hoping you'd say that.

By the way, you did a good job last night.

Hell, I'm alive.

Can't do any better than that.

Hey, partner. Yeah?

I'm already dying.

Don't kill me no more.

Oh. I'm just learning.

Yeah? Well...

don't quit your day job.

[♪♪♪]

Open it up! Open it up! Open it up!

Let's go! Let's go!

Move 'em on in!

Magnificent weapon.

I wish we had some of these.

You were in the L.P.,

and you say there was at least a battalion?

No, sir. I didn't say anything like that.

I said I saw enough of them to make me run like hell,

but there must have been a lot to do what they did to us.

The amazing thing is that they're this far south.

They're a lot stronger than we thought.

What we need is more information.

It's a shame you didn't take prisoners.

Yes. It's imperative that we get a prisoner.

Tell your C.O.

if there's any further contact,

to try to get one of them alive.

Yes, sir. But speaking for myself,

my number one priority is keeping me alive

I don't worry about their lives.

I hear you, sergeant.

Will that be all, sir?

Yes. Dismissed.

DJ: Coming to you from Armed Services Radio,

we bring you the best rock in Vietnam.

Here's a special dedication to you FNGs in "I" corps.

Welcome to 'Nam, boys.

[ROCK MUSIC PLAYING]

Mad dog!

Jungle rules volleyball. Why aren't you playing?

Hey, Zeke Anderson. How are you?

Alive and well, and bearing gifts too.

I've got this here...

a genuine North Vietnamese army belt, size 28.

Now, they're skinny little fellas,

but you put a couple notches in it,

it'll fit you.

Zeke, this thing is great!

I'm telling you.

What can I do for you?

Well, to tell you the truth, I'm glad you asked me that,

because I've come to do a little recruiting here.

There they are. Take your pick.

All cherries.

Just got back from combat orientation.

Yeah? I like that.

All right, who's winning over here?

We are, nine to three.

Winners, line up on the grass over there!

Who's winning over there?

We are, 10 to 1.

10 to 1? Hell, you'd better line up over here too!

On the grass. Come on, move it!

All right,

all of you who are bleeding, take a step back.

I don't want any bleeders.

I cannot stand the sight of blood.

Not you, son.

Those are skinned knuckles.

Skinned knuckles are okay.

All right, in case you haven't figured it out yet,

I'm looking for winners, survivors.

Because that's what I am, I'm a survivor.

I'm very good at it.

But it also helps if you have a certain amount

of natural ability.

Anybody want to get high? Huh?

I've got beaucoup, Vietnamese dope. Good dope.

Nobody?

Nobody?

That's good.

I do not want any dopers.

I do not want any dopers. If you're smoking dope

and getting high, you're not listening to me.

You don't listen to me, you're gonna get me killed,

and that's not going to happen.

What about dummies? Got any low-IQ types?

If we do, take a giant step back,

mother may I.

What is your name, soldier?

Lawrence. Clyde R. Lawrence.

Clyde R. Lawrence, where are you from Clyde R. Lawrence?

Motown!

Is that in the USA?

Motown? That's in Detroit!

Are you a survivor, Lawrence?

Damn straight.

I'm glad to hear that.

Step on out here. Line up over here.

I'd be proud to serve with you, sergeant.

No, you wouldn't, son.

No, you wouldn't.

What's your name?

Corporal Daniel Percell.

Corporal Daniel Percell.

How come they made you corporal?

I had ROTC in high school, I imagine that's why.

Did you volunteer for Vietnam, Corporal Daniel Percell?

That's right. I did, sergeant.

You volunteered?

That's right.

Why didn't you step out with the other dummies

when I said to?

I don't think patriotism

is something to laugh about, sergeant.

Oh, son, when it gets you

into the fine mess you're into now,

it is something to laugh about.

But it's all right now.

It's all right.

You just step out, you join us right over there

in the line over there.

Um...you mind if I ask you a personal question?

How did you get to be so damned big?

Well, I guess because I eat a balanced diet--

you know, plenty of protein,

lots of fresh milk and fish,

and granola,

but only the type with nuts and raisins

and I exercise regularly--

Are you from California? Yeah, Anaheim!

You know where Disneyland is?

Yeah, I know. Step out, Mr. Goofy.

Now...

where did you come from?

You called for winners, right?

Yes, I did.

What is your M.O.S., soldier?

Machine gun, and I'm good.

Yeah. You're good. You're good at paper targets.

Wait till you try something that bleeds.

Hmph. My man, I'm from the Bronx.

Blood is nothing new to Alberto Ruiz.

Well, now, this is something

I'm gonna have to see for my own self.

Come on.

Vaya.

Vaya.

All right, the rest of you guys, you're winners.

You've just volunteered for Bravo company, third herd.

The rest of you guys, you losers,

why don't you just, uh...

why don't you just play with each other?

ALL: Nyah! Get away!

All right, you men are in my platoon.

Pack your trash. We leave at 1400 hours.

Move!

Move! Move! Move! Move! Move! Move!

I felt bad about being rear echelon.

I used to envy guys like you. Frontline guys.

Not anymore. This war's getting crazy.

Listen.

[HARMONICA MUSIC PLAYING]

That's "Digger's blues,"

and that ain't bad either.

That is good.

I'm telling you, that is first rate.

Hey, thanks.

Where did you learn how to play like that?

Well, I'm from Chicago.

A lot of blues in Chicago.

Oh, yeah, yeah. yeah.

Junior Wells, Paul Butterfield.

Paul Butterfield's a friend of mine.

No. Yeah.

Him and Barry Goldberg, and Al Cooper too.

Those guys are the greatest!

I can't even find "C" chord half the time.

I could show you.

It's not that hard.

Yeah?

I'll tell you what.

I'm going to put you in Bravo company.

You're going to be in my platoon.

Hang on a minute, Zeke. You don't want this guy.

Says he won't fight. He's a war protester.

Won't fight?

That's right.

Tell him that crap you were telling me.

Oh, about the war?

It's an unjust war.

I mean, America's propping up a corrupt dictatorship.

I won't fight for that.

I'll tell you what. You will fight.

You're also going to teach me how to play that harmonica.

We leave at 1400 hours. Pack your stuff.

[ENGINE STARTS]

All right. Let's load 'em up!

Move it. Move it. Move it.

Come on, move, move, move, move. move.

All right, any of you men

know which one of these officers is 2nd Lieutenant Goldman?

Yeah. I'm Lieutenant Goldman.

I'm your platoon sergeant-- I'm Anderson.

Well, where's your salute, sergeant?

All right, let's load these men up, sergeant.

Let's go! Let's go! Let's load them up!

Welcome to Bravo company... sir.

[♪♪♪]

Hey.

You scared?

Just sort of looking out.

Me too.

Hey.

Thanks.

Hey, sergeant, how can you tell if they're Vietcong or not?

Just pull them over and ask them for their driver's license.

[LAUGHTER]

VC! VC!

[GUNFIRE]

Where are they?

What the hell?

You think you're real funny?

It's all right. It's all right. It's just an initiation.

They do it to everybody.

Sorry, sir.

No more of that!

You can ride up in the jeep if you want.

I'll ride back here with the men, sergeant.

Are you a West Pointer, lieutenant?

No. Officer Candidate School.

Another butter bar.

Hey! I said, knock it off!

How long you been in Vietnam?

I'm four months into my third tour.

Your third tour?

Yeah. Maybe I'm a little crazy, huh?

Yeah.

Try this on for size.

[HARMONICA PLAYING CONTINUES]

All right, ladies! This is it! Welcome home!

Follow me! We'll get you bunked down!

Right this way!

Come on, come on. Move it, move it, move it!

Lieutenant, the C.O.'s bunker is there.

He'll want to talk to you. Thank you, sergeant.

Come on out, come on out!

Excuse me, sir? Yes?

Lieutenant Goldman reporting for duty.

I'm Rusty Wallace. At ease.

Did you have a good trip out?

Yes, sir. Fast.

Where you from, Myron?

New York. Queens, sir.

New York? You don't sound like it.

Thank you, sir.

Don't mention it.

You know, there was a colonel in World War II,

a famous colonel, Goldman.

Yes, sir. Probably my father.

Martin Goldman.

He won the Congressional Medal of Honor

at the Battle of the Bulge.

That's a hard act to follow.

Yes, sir.

You know, I had a famous father too.

He was a baseball player...

so I played football.

Well, I, uh...

plan on following my father's tradition,

hopefully surpassing him in some ways.

You're going to be going into battle tomorrow, Myron.

We're going after the same batch that hit us the other night.

Yes, sir.

I don't like to send a new lieutenant out,

but I don't have too much choice.

I'm going to give you the same advice

that I give all new lieutenants.

Rely on your sergeant's experience.

The men know him and trust him.

Is my Sergeant Anderson, sir?

That's right.

You have a problem with that, Myron?

No, sir.

Uh...

the sergeant just has an odd sense of...

uh...

He's a good man.

Give him a chance.

Yes, sir.

Will that be all, sir?

Yes.

Dismissed.

Thank you, sir.

Is this tent six?

This be the place. Come on in.

Is this rack taken?

It was.

Was?

It was Mickey's.

He went home yesterday.

In a plastic bag.

One of the rare good white boys gone.

What about that one?

That was Williams.

They couldn't find all his parts to put in a bag.

Wow, man.

I'm going to sleep on the damn floor.

It don't bother me none.

Ain't nobody going to kill Clyde Lawrence.

What's the matter?

You niggers never seen a spic before?

Not a ugly one like you we ain't.

You got a problem, my man?

[GUNFIRE]

Incoming! Incoming!

That's Mr. Charles. Let's do it.

Where are we supposed to go?

Get out of here!

This happen very often?

Standard operating procedure.

Happens most every night, cherry boy.

They fire at us. We fire at them.

It's like sex to those artillery guys.

Don't worry about it.

It'll be over in a few minutes.

Oh, God.

Oh, God.

Let me out.

Let me out!

Let me out!

Hold it! Stay in the bunker!

It's over there!

What? A rat. I hate rats!

No, no, no! Don't go out there!

Oh, God! Let me out!

God, let me out!

Calm down. Calm down.

Rats ain't no big thing, man.

I hate rats!

All right. Where is he?

Over there.

All right, right over there?

Yeah.

All right, guys. Let's get him.

Take that, you commie rat.

Company, fall in!

Bravo company, ready, sir.

Charlie company ready, sir!

Stand at ease!

Men, we lost a lot of good friends the other night.

Now we have a chance to get even.

We have reports of a large body

of NVA regular troops in the vicinity.

Now, they've never been seen this far south before,

but we're going to stop them.

Here and now.

Bravo and Charlie companies are going to play bait.

We'll go out, make contact,

and when we do,

brigade is going to come down hard and heavy--

classic sparrow and hawk.

Squad leaders!

Check your men!

I don't believe it. Bait.

They're using my life to go fishing with.

This is what it's all about-- war.

Percell, now, you're going

to have to tape these dog tags together,

otherwise, you're going to sound

like Chinese wind chimes out there.

These paid for, Taylor?

Hey, sergeant, I just want you to know

that I haven't changed my thinking.

I'm not fighting.

All right, now. Listen up, Horn,

because I'm not messing with you today.

This ain't a protest march we're going on here.

You understand me?

Our lives are on the line here.

We're all gonna depend on each other.

All right, Percell, get up here with that radio!

You're gonna be R.T.O.

I'm keeping you real close to me and the lieutenant.

Let's go. Let's load them up!

Go!

[♪♪♪]

[PLAYING HARMONICA]

Lock and load!

Okay.

Let's do it.

We're going in hot!

All right, gentlemen, by the numbers!

Go! Go! Go!

Let's go!

Move it, Horn.

Medic! Medic!

They're leaving us!

They're leaving us!

Come on!

God. Shoot.

Kill them! Kill them!

Medic!

Come on, Lawrence! Keep moving!

Medic!

Come on, let's go! Let's go!

Stay down, lieutenant. Down!

Move out! Move it!

Stay down! Stay down!

Move out! Move it!

Get down. Look out.

Sergeant, get these moving--

Get down!

Keep your butt down, lieutenant.

Call in artillery. Let them do it.

I'm in command here, sergeant.

Now, we're taking that tree line!

Now, follow my orders!

No, lieutenant, I'm not dying,

neither are these men aren't dying. Horn!

Get me that radio!

Hang in there. Hang in there.

Red Leg. This is Bravo Two.

Fire mission from Whiskey Delta

add 1-0-0 Mike.

Gooks in the tree line. Artillery fire. Over.

RADIO: We're on the way. First round is smoke.

There it is, sarge.

All right. Red Leg, Bravo Two.

Drop 1-0-0. Fire for effect. Over.

Roger, Bravo Two. We copy.

See there, lieutenant?

All you've got to do is let Arty do the work.

Nobody gets hurt that way.

You keep up your fire, Baker!

Keep moving, men. Come on, Taylor, fire!

Fire!

Where's your weapon, soldier?

I left it on the chopper.

You what?

I am not fighting, sir.

You're both going to get court-martialed

when we get back-- the both of you.

Horn...

you are incredible.

You're just incredible.

How could anybody survive this?

You'd be surprised. You'd be surprised.

Man, this is spooky.

No bodies, no nothing.

They move their dead.

They don't leave nothing.

Blood trail! I got a blood trail here.

It goes up that way.

All right, we'll follow that trail.

Keep your eyes open, now. They're gonna be looking for us.

Lieutenant, call six and tell them what we're doing.

We've got to figure out a place to meet the rest of the company.

You seem to be making a lot of decisions here, sergeant.

I'm just trying to help, lieutenant.

Bravo Six, this is Bravo Two. Over.

This is Bravo Six. Come in, Bravo Two.

Bravo Six, this is Bravo Two.

We're about one click northwest of the LZ.

We've got a blood trail.

We're going to follow it due west. Over.

Due west. We copy. Over.

This is great.

We're supposed to be a full company,

and we're stuck with half a platoon.

Man, the lieutenant has lots to learn.

He'd better learn fast,

or he's going to get himself a bullet in his dunce cap.

Six, we've lost the blood trail.

It completely disappeared.

We're requesting you pick us up at the LZ. Over.

Negative. I want you to circle around southeast.

The rest of the company is landing at 223-472.

I say again, 223-472. Over.

Roger.

Rejoin you at 223-472. Out.

All right, gentlemen. We're moving out. Southeast.

We're joining the rest of the company.

All right, let's move. Move, move, move.

Percell, come on.

Taylor, what are you, a tourist?

Come on. Let's do it. Come on.

Hey, Taylor. What?

Tell me something.

Be honest. Be real honest, okay?

You ever kill anybody?

Where do you come from, fool?

I just asked a question, man.

Don't ask.

I'll just get a GTO, man,

One that's candy apple red with four on the floor, man.

Hey, shut up.

Oh, you don't like cars, man?

No, man. I hate cars. I like subways.

You know what? New York, buddy--

Hey, you watch it, dumb and ugly.

Who are you calling dumb and ugly?

Hey! Shut up up there.

What have you got?

A wire.

Oh, yeah. Careful, Zeke.

C-4.

Johnson, you've got yourself an eagle eye.

It's my tail.

Lieutenant, we've got a C-4 block here.

The way I see it, we can either blow it up,

in which case everybody's

going to know we're here in the vicinity,

or we can disarm it.

Disarm it.

Okay.

God.

It reminds me of your mama, Baker.

My mother?

Yeah, your mother.

Here she is.

Ain't she pretty?

All right, let's saddle up. Let's go.

Keep your eyes open. Move real slow.

Okay, Percell, you're going to take point for a while.

Johnson, stay right with him.

Let's go, let's go. Watch your step, now.

What's the matter?

You don't like lizards, Baker?

Stop it, man.

Hey, come on, that was a boss lizard.

Ruiz, get back here.

Ruiz!

Ruiz! Ruiz, get the hell back.

I saw two gooks, sarge.

Where? Right there.

They went into the bushes.

All right. Go back, get the lieutenant.

Stay low and be quiet. Okay.

Where are they?

Today's your lucky day, lieutenant.

Right over the hill there.

That's got to be the headquarters

for that bunch we're looking for.

All right.

I'm going to radio the C.O.

I think we're way in over our head.

Bless your heart.

Come on, move out.

Stay low. Keep quiet.

Let's go. Move out.

Bravo Six, this is Bravo Two. Over.

Location, Bravo Two?

Click 406-379.

We've got an enemy camp here, NVA regulars.

Bingo! What do you need? Over.

We want artillery.

Come on, move out.

Oh, God.

Look, sergeant.

A wire, sergeant. A wire.

Freeze, Lawrence. Don't move.

Stay right where you are, man.

Don't worry.

I'm all right.

I ain't going nowhere.

I think I pressed it already, sergeant.

Help me.

I think I already pushed it a little.

Oh, God.

I'll just stay right here.

Just stay still, Lawrence. Just stay still.

Oh, no.

Come on, let's go, let's go!

Keep up our fire!

Come on, Horn!

Bravo six, this is Bravo Two.

We've got about five minutes to live here.

We've got about five minutes to live here!

Now where the hell's the artillery?

We cannot fire at this time.

We have ARVN choppers in the vicinity. Over.

Well, tell them to get the hell out of there!

Ask about air support.

Air control! Got any birds in RAO? Go!

Hold on. I'm checking it out.

Oh, they hell with it, come on. we can outrun them in the bush.

I've got a better idea.

I'll get over on their flank.

Ruiz! Johnson!

What are you going to do?

I'm gonna take them out, I hope. Here we go.

Aah!

Medic!

I'm hit, I'm hit!

There's some of them behind us!

Behind us, yes.

Excuse me, guy.

It hurts, man. It hurts.

You'll be all right.

Just a little flesh wound.

Fire! Lay it down! Lay it down!

Ruiz...

lay down fire. We're going to get the flank.

Do it!

Ready? Pins.

Go!

Go, Johnson!

Can you get them from here?

Never miss.

You're beautiful. All right, you see those long, narrow boxes?

That's just got to be ammo.

Come on, baby. We've only got one of those.

This one's for Mickey.

We found them hiding in the bunker down there.

We've got maps, radio equipment, everything.

Real good work, men.

This is just what division wanted.

Congratulations.

Thank you, sir.

I think the lieutenant should get a commendation.

Well, thank you, sir,

but here's the man who deserves the credit.

Oh, no.

You're a fast learner.

Finally got myself a lieutenant I like.

And I got myself a good sergeant.

Look out!

Don't shoot. You'll hit Horn!

[GUNSHOT]

Hey, are you all right?

I killed him.

I killed him.

What you did was you saved our lives.

That's what you're supposed to do.

Do yourself a favor.

Next time, use one of these.

This war's wrong.

Maybe...

but that's not the point.

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]