Original subtitles

Captain, what do you say to congressional critics who call these

dinosaurs that have outlived their youthfulness?

Ms. Conlon, these battleships remain one of the most powerful weapons systems in

the history of warfare.

Our 16 -inch guns can hit a target 25 miles away, with a projectile as heavy

a small car and a lot more lethal, as you shall see.

Lieutenant, pass the word to man up gun stations.

Aye, sir.

General Porter, General Porter.

All hands, man your battle stations. We're going to re -exercise.

Logan, round five.

Coming. Keep it coming.

Gun turrets, are you loaded and cycled? Gun turret three, rounds at the ready.

Gun turret two, rounds at the ready.

Gun turret one, rounds at the ready.

One round spotting, fire in rotation.

Local control.

One round spotting. All right, sir.

Gun turret three, fire.

Turret three, fire eye.

Gun turret two, fire.

Turret two, fire eye.

Gun turret one, fire.

Gun turret one, fire eye.

Isn't it true you confessed to the FBI?

Yes, but... But now you deny selling secrets, nuclear secrets, to the North

Koreans. Yes, sir.

So, were you lying then or are you lying now?

Then. And now. But how do you... You know, this is ridiculous.

This is really not real. I can't do this.

Cut!

Reset. Okay, back to work. Reset.

Of course, it isn't real. With all due respect, Commander, your reality is

boring. Ma 'am, this scenario does not address the fine points of military law.

Unauthorized absence and subordinate conduct? It sounds like we're back in

school. Missing a movement? What is that? Is that a crime or an intestinal

ailment? Miss Peterson, you apparently don't understand what JAG lawyers do.

You don't do anything.

You don't fire torpedoes or storm beaches. You talk.

Is there a problem, sir?

Yeah, I'll tell you the problem, General.

Add. Whatever.

The problem is that the Navy is 18 ,000 sealers short and can't fill its quotas.

The problem is that I had been hired to shoot a recruiting commercial, and

rather than being given Navy pilots or Navy seals like a certain feature

director, I was given Navy lawyers.

I see.

Ms. Peterson, could you excuse us for a moment?

Why not?

Lunch, half hour. That's lunch, one half hour.

Robert, what a time to be. Sir, Commander, about your acting, you need

to find an internal motivation, different levels, colors, if you will.

Sir, well, I was technical advisor on Field of Gold. I picked up a few things.

Weren't you fired from Field of Gold, sir?

With me, Commander.

Admiral, I didn't mean to... Admiral, Commander.

How would you two like to assist in the court -martial of Gunner's mate Reardon?

Gregory Reardon, sir? That's right. That's the explosion aboard the USS

Minnesota.

Occurred with 29 counts of first -degree murder.

Reardon's been dead for 10 years, sir. He died in that explosion.

It's my court -martial. Iron Forge Naval Academy.

Prep school, sir?

One that produces outstanding candidates for Annapolis, Colonel.

Commandant Hayden's a retired JAG officer, an old friend of mine, looking

couple of volunteers to put his students through their paces.

Colonel, why don't you assist with the defense?

Commander, you can assist with the prosecution.

Well, second chair to a high school student.

Well, second chair there, first chair with Ms. Peterson.

Your choice.

We will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant, gunner's mate,

second class Gregory Reardon, that man right there, intentionally caused the

explosion in gun turret one in a twisted attempt to get back at shipmates who

hazed him and made him the butt of cruel jokes.

He placed a homemade ignition device between the propellant bags, causing a

cataclysmic explosion in the breach of the gun barrel.

Twenty -nine.

Twenty -nine of his crew members died horrible death.

at that despicable coward's hand.

Imagine the horror as a wave of scalding heat and explosive gases swept through

the turret.

Put yourself in the position of those brave but doomed sailors.

Objection.

Improper opening statement.

Sustain.

It's prejudicial to ask the members to put themselves in anyone else's shoes.

Counselor?

I'll rephrase, Your Honor.

When considering all the facts presented in this case, without putting yourself

in anyone else's shoes, I'm confident that your return with verdicts of guilty

is charged.

Thank you.

The propellant used in the Minnesota's guns was manufactured during World War

II, and the summer before the explosion had been stored on an open barge in the

sun. Neither the rammer man nor the cradle operator had ever taken part in a

live fire exercise.

Neither was PQS qualified, and neither attended a pre -firing briefing that

These are only a few of the factors that could have caused that explosion.

Accidentally.

So lame.

You were fine, Louisa. A little technical, maybe. Remember, you have to

your client. Jurors acquit people they like and convict those they don't. Oh,

that case, we're screwed.

Billy. Look, Reardon's a scapegoat. Isn't it obvious?

That's one way to go.

Colonel? Commander?

We were just going over the flaws in your case.

What flaws, ma 'am?

Trimotives. Reardon blew up the ship because the other guys hazed him? Right.

Reard couldn't take it, so he got even the only way he could.

I've been punked. I'm not going to blow up the library.

No, you're just the guy that nearly kills everyone at the rifle range.

Commander, have you ever seen someone try to fire a rifle with the cleaning

still in the barrel?

Not sure if I'd want to. Certainly not at close range.

You know, I never thanked you for that, did I?

Doctors don't make accusations unless you've got proof to back it up.

Gentlemen, this pretrial conference is over.

Commander, see you at lunch?

Methol meatloaf?

Wouldn't miss it.

Reardon is guilty.

It's all on the Board of Inquiry report, sir.

Those investigators had it easy, Steve. They didn't have to submit to cross

-examination or a jury.

You're going to have to prove your case.

I am Professor Heinrich Dohler, Director of Forensics at the Naval Research

Laboratory in Washington.

I supervise the investigation into the explosion aboard the USS Minnesota.

Cadet Armstrong, I realize that you are playing a role, but there is no need to

sound like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Yes, sir.

Professor Zoller, did you reach any conclusions as to the cause of the

explosion? Our tests showed that the explosion could be duplicated only by

inserting a chemical ignition device between the... What do you call it,

Propellant bags.

Right. How would that work, Professor?

A device flexible and small enough to fit between the bags would ignite the

propellant, causing the explosion.

And we knew that it had to be made from materials obtainable on the ship, but

couldn't figure out what was used until investigators found this.

Your Honor, we'd like to submit this as Government Exhibit 7.

That's Gregory Reardon with a souvenir he bought on leave in Portugal.

The boda bag is made from untanned goat skin. I filled a similar boda bag

with... Ethyl... Ethyl acetate.

C4H8O2, a solvent in common use on the ship.

Right. I placed it between two propellant bags in the lab.

It ate through the goat skin in minutes and ignited the propellant.

Kaboom. And did the investigators ever find Reardon's boda bag? They searched

the ship, but never found it.

And that's why your report named Gregory Reardon is causing the explosion?

Not only that.

A week before the explosion, Reardon told a shipmate he knew how terrorists

could think the ship by causing an explosion in the gun turret.

Objection.

Hearsay. Technically, you are correct, Cadet Vasquez, but the statement is

contained in the official inquiry report, which I have admitted into

for purposes of our exercise.

I'm out of questions.

I mean, you're a witness.

Gunner's mate Reardon wasn't the only one in the gun turret with access to the

propellant bags, was he, Professor?

No. The cradle operator, primer man, rammer man, a bunch of others were

there. Professor, is it your testimony that the only way to cause an explosion

in the gun turret...

Is with a flammable solvent found inside a boda bag?

It's the only one we found. What about static electricity igniting the

propellant or a misfire where the breach is prematurely opened?

We couldn't duplicate those in the lab.

But are they possible?

I don't know.

I guess.

I want to thank you both. I don't think that there's a military academy in the

country that could duplicate the experience that you're giving my cadet.

Actually, Commander, we're enjoying it. It's a relief to try a case where the

verdict doesn't matter.

Oh, it matters to them.

Come in.

At ease.

Sorry to interrupt, sirs, ma 'am, but... We found a real witness.

Go on.

Terrence Conner, sir. He was a gunner's mate on the Minnesota.

He's Scott Armstrong's uncle, sir. He knew Reardon.

And he's willing to testify.

What do our JAG officers think about this?

It would add a dose of reality.

And unpredictability.

All right.

Let's have the trial the Navy never did.

Terrence Connor, gunner's mate to first class, honorably discharged.

I served aboard the Minnesota in 1989 and 1990.

So you knew Gregory Reardon?

Sure. I was gun captain in turret two. He was captain in one.

You might say we were competitors.

In what way?

Reardon's team set the speed record for loading a 16 -inch gun.

37 seconds.

And did that make him popular?

No. He was a loner.

And a perfectionist.

Made extra work for his crew and everyone else.

That's probably why he was hazed.

Tell us about the hazing.

Well, there's not much to tell.

He got some blanket parties thrown in his honor.

That blanket tossed over his head while a couple of guys pounded him.

And, well, I heard a few guys gave him a swirly.

You know, shoved his head in the toilet and flushed.

Objection. And move to strike if hearsay.

Sustained.

Mr. Conner, you can't repeat what you heard.

Were you present at any hazings?

Oh, once or twice, Your Honor.

Well, you can tell us what you saw or did.

Well, I played a couple of tricks on Reardon, but nothing dangerous.

Nothing that would make him blow up the ship.

What kind of tricks?

Well, little stuff.

He had this wine bag he liked.

Kind of a souvenir from Spain or Portugal or somewhere.

We'll never ask a question unless you know the answer.

Thank you, Mr. Connor. That's all.

What about the wine bag, Mr. Connor?

Well, he was proud of the thing.

You know, he used to drink out of it like it was a canteen.

So, uh, well, I messed with it.

Go on.

I filled it with grease when it wasn't looking, and a few of us waited around

and saw him take a swig out of it.

He cursed all of us out and threw the bag overboard.

So Reardon no longer had the wine bag on the day of the explosion?

No, it was a thousand feet down and a thousand miles away.

You want to reopen the investigation?

The Navy conducted hundreds of interviews, performed countless number

and spent millions...

on some sort of evidence from a kiddie court -martial? Admiral, the Navy claims

that Reardon used the Boda bag as a combination timer -ignition device.

If the bag was thrown overboard prior to the explosion, there's no case.

You two have seen enough investigations to know that not all loose ends are tied

up in pretty neat bows.

Hell, Reardon was a gunner's mate.

Could he use some other method to ignite the propellant? Then respectfully, sir,

let the Navy prove it.

What the hell is going on down there?

and need some damn revolution.

Now just finish the mock trial. Get your butts back here and get back to work

like everybody else.

Miss Peterson, is this really necessary?

Well, we could tell everyone you're the Navy's secret weapon.

You blind your enemies with a glare from your head.

Look at this, Admiral.

Navy SEALs.

Someone who can go hard or go home.

Not a lot of people know what the SEAL does.

How am I supposed to compete with that?

Mr. Peterson, the Navy is not just about its warriors.

Most of the 400 ,000 men and women in uniform will never see

a single day of combat, God willing.

Now, maybe their expertise is engineering or electronics or nuclear

Whatever their specialty, they are essential to our national security.

The Navy can't function without its cooks. It can't function without its

doctors, its mechanics, its lawyers, trained in the art

of war and the profession of peace.

Admiral.

You have great presence.

But it's too hokey. It would never sell.

Okay, ready to go again. Hugo, let's tilt the light a little off his head. Is

there a mocha on this?

Right face!

Halt! Halt!

Order! Halt!

Platoon!

Are you sure you want to be a Marine?

No, sir. My father wants me to be a Marine. I want to be a lawyer.

Commander, what did the Admiral say?

The Admiral has told us to put a lid on it.

Well, that's not fair.

It is disappointing, sir.

An order is an order.

No use crying about it.

It's not an order to us. We don't work for that Admiral. We're still running a

court -martial here. Always looking for a loophole, Tompkins.

It is true. You could keep doing what you're doing.

Going over document, looking for inconsistencies, new leads, possible

At the very least, it would be a good learning experience.

Yeah, especially if we get court -martialed.

Well, I don't understand, Commander. Why would we want to find witnesses who

will trash our case?

We should all have the same goal, to find the truth. We have the names and

social security numbers of all 1 ,500 crew members.

I can use people search on the Internet.

There have to be some within driving distance.

Ma 'am?

Sir?

Louisa.

So, am I going to see you tonight?

I don't know, Steve.

Billy and I have to prepare for tomorrow.

I mean, you've been spending a lot of time with that loser.

He's my client.

Hey, Louisa, wait up. Teenagers.

Yeah.

Remember when it was like harm, trying to figure out who you are and where you

fit in? Or did that just come easy to you?

You know, sometimes I think I missed out on being a kid.

Having a father that was MIA and was always trying to be the man of the

you know?

I guess I should have been at a disco.

Yeah, I know what you mean.

Seeing you dance.

He's here.

Your Honor, the defense has found a crew member who was outside the gun turret

on the day of the explosion.

We'd like permission to call him out of order.

This is getting complicated, Cadet Vasquez.

Are there any objections?

Yes, sir.

Call your witness.

Shepard Carman. They call me Shep.

I was a master chief on the Minnesota till they mothballed her.

So you were aboard the ship the morning of March 20th, 1990?

That's right, miss.

I was down on deck five checking out some refrigeration equipment.

You get much lower than that and you'll be hanging on to the keel.

What did you observe?

The powder flat hatch flew open, and this sailor, I don't know his name, came

running out of turret one with a bloody nose.

Well, 15 minutes later, that turret blew up.

I figured that was the luckiest nosebleed in this man's Navy.

Did you tell the Navy's investigators what you saw that morning? You bet.

About that and that old gal's steam leaks and corroded hatches and

short circuits and the bad brakes on the hoist cars.

So you're a safety expert, Mr. Carman.

Self -taught.

Navy considered me a mess management specialist.

I ran the galley.

Nothing further.

That's it?

Don't you want to see the documentation?

Now, I wrote...

The captain and the fleet commander and the SECNAV. I told them what caused that

explosion.

It was a HEARF gun.

High energy radio frequency.

You see, the Ruskies had a sub in the area.

Well, they surfaced and bleeped us with those electro gizmos.

Lieutenant Roberts.

Bud, it's Harm.

Do you think you could locate the medical records for the Minnesota?

Uh, sure. They'd be archived at the Navy Yard in D .C.

The index system there isn't the best, but I have a friend there who owes me a

favor. See if anybody reported to Sickbay with a bloody nose on March

1990.

I'll do my best.

Sir, isn't that the day... That's right, bud.

That's the day that Sickbay became the morgue.

I can't believe Billy even brought him... Carmen.

If this was a real court martial, would you check out his story?

You always follow leads. Sometimes witnesses who can hardly find the

have important information.

All right, flex your knees.

Here, watch me.

Okay.

I can't do that.

Okay. All right, try this.

Double up on the jab.

Stick and move, okay?

Try that.

Keep your hands up.

You're so together, Colonel.

I wish I could be like you.

I'm trying to beat Steve in court, and he's hitting on me.

I don't know how you do it. You know, if you compete with men and retain your

femininity. Well, it's easy. You just have to do everything better than they

But don't rub their noses in it, you know? Be smart. Think like a woman, but

like a man.

All right?

Easy. Anyway, it's better not to get involved with someone who you have to

all the time, no matter how you feel about them.

Louisa!

You're not going to believe it. What?

I was right.

About what?

Martians did blow up the gun turret?

Commander Rav just heard from his friend at JAG.

And? Fifteen minutes before the explosion, petty officer Michael

gunner's mate, reported to sickbay with a broken nose.

So what?

Maybe he walked into a bulkhead in a gun turret.

No, no, no. Saunders told the corpsman he tripped over a knee knocker near his

compartment, which is nowhere near the turret where Master Chief Carman saw him

running out bleeding.

So Saunders lied.

Right. And when we figure out why, we'll know exactly what happened that day.

Sanders, United States Navy, retired, born 8 August 1911.

I don't think so.

Using the Internet to try and find someone, sir?

Trying, not succeeding.

When I was a deputy sheriff, I rounded up a few missing persons, including some

who didn't want to be found.

Gunner's mate, Michael Saunders, discharged from the Navy ten years ago.

Bureau of Navy Personnel doesn't have a current address, and I've already gone

through all the people search sites on the net.

That's just a glorified phone book, sir.

Why don't you try finding them the old -fashioned way?

Driver's license, court files, auto registration, real estate records.

I once found a fugitive by looking at hunting licenses.

The guy never missed a deer season.

Interesting.

I'd be happy to help you, sir.

There were a number of safety problems aboard the Minnesota. The guns were over

40 years old. So was the propellant. The hoist cars sometimes crashed.

Training was haphazard. Petty Officer Reardon, were you a victim of hazing

aboard ship?

There were some guys who seemed to enjoy tormenting me.

But I didn't try to get even. I would never hurt innocent people.

Do you know what caused the explosion in the gun turret?

I only know I didn't do it.

Your witness.

Did you have a lot of friends on the Minnesota, Petty Officer Reardon?

A few.

I'm not all that sociable.

And did you have any enemies?

Well, there were some guys who didn't seem to like me.

They're all dead now, aren't they?

Objection. Argumentative.

Withdrawn.

Petty Officer Reardon, back home in Arkansas, did you explode homemade

I blew up tree stumps on my family's farm.

You know all about explosives.

I am a gunner's mate, Counselor.

Why did you blow up those tree stumps?

Well, they're hell on a plow.

The shipmates made your life hell on earth, didn't they?

What? Didn't you write letters home saying that the hazing was so bad that

life was, quote, hell on earth, unquote?

I refer to Exhibit 38, A through F, Your Honor.

Well, I was upset at the time.

And when you were upset with those shipmates, you blew them up just like

those tree stumps. No, I didn't have to seek revenge.

I always knew I was better than anyone who tried to hurt me.

I'm amazed you found her.

Missing men usually have ex -wives.

This is the same address that was listed on the divorce docket.

What about Saunders' address?

We'll ask her.

Hey, Lieutenant.

We play mutt and Jeff.

You want to be a good cop or bad cop?

Well, uh, let's see.

Good cop.

Absolutely.

Mom!

Go finish your breakfast, honey.

Kimberly Saunders?

What's this about? Sorry to bother you, ma 'am. We're looking for Michael

Saunders.

Why, did he owe you money, or did he steal an aircraft carrier?

We're out of liberty to say, ma 'am.

Neither am I.

I can get a warrant, lady.

Why don't you do that, Sergeant?

Actually, ma 'am, the Navy owes him three months' pay, and we just want to

sure that he's going to get it.

And you need a warrant for that?

He's new.

There's nothing to worry about, ma 'am. Mr. Saunders isn't in any trouble.

That would be a first.

Try the Little Creek Tavern in Hampton.

He'll be on one side of the bar or the other.

Thank you.

Just what does a yeoman do, Petty Officer Tyner?

The yeoman are the glue who hold the Navy together.

In my case, I handle file management, type the Admiral's correspondence, and

arrange his appointments.

You're a clerk?

Yes, but with managerial duties.

The Gunny and I reorganized the entire filing system from an alphabetical to a

numerical base.

Cut.

And I took this gig over a job on Animal Planet.

Ms. Peterson, let me guess. You sort the paperclips.

I'm an attorney.

Lieutenant Lauren Singer?

I was wondering if Admiral Chaglin told you about the court -martial I just

prosecuted. No, why would he?

For your recruiting commercial, of course.

I convicted two Marines of dueling.

Dueling?

As in, flintlock pistols at 20 paces?

More like 9mm Berettas outside a Newport bar.

So, what about the body count?

The Marines missed each other, but mortally wounded a traffic light.

Still, he sued six months in the brig.

But the case shows how versatile JAG lawyers have to be.

The Marines had a friend videotape the whole thing.

Have you tried Jerry Springer?

Low night.

Can't tell one from another.

What can I get you?

Whatever's on tap.

You ever in the Navy?

I got one of those faces.

A lot of folks think they know me.

Served down in Minnesota, didn't you?

You got me mixed up.

Gunners made Saunders.

Man, you'd be a cop, right?

You got NCIS written all over you.

I'm with Jag, but it's not official.

How'd you find me?

My ex?

My boy doing okay?

He's good.

I haven't been out there in a while.

This is about the Minnesota, Mr. Conant.

Man, that was a long time ago.

March 20th, 1990.

You broke your nose.

Yeah? Told a corpsman at sickbay that you broke it near your birthing

compartment.

This ship blew up that day. Twenty -nine men died.

Why are you worried about where I broke my nose?

Where did you break it?

Near my birthing compartment.

We have a witness that says you broke it in gun turret one.

Why would you lie?

Because I broke it in a fight.

Who'd you fight?

Greg Reardon.

The guy who blew up the ship.

The night before, that was the worst.

We threw him a little blanket party. Found him pretty good.

Then we carried him up on the main deck.

He was crying like a baby.

We picked him up by the ankles, had him over the rails, let him dangle air right

over the screws.

He was sobbing, swearing, yelling.

He said he'd get even.

Swore he'd kill us all.

Tanner?

Excuse me, Admiral. I know you're busy with the Law of the Sea or the Treaty of

Versailles or whatever.

What is it, Miss Peterson?

I have one -two Cleo's. I directed an independent film that was shown at

Sundance, and yet still, I can't find a way to make this work, so I quit.

Miss Peter, have you explored every option?

I mean, Lieutenant Robert's here. He's third -generation Navy.

His grandfather served on a battleship. His father was a master chief.

I'm not doing the Pillsbury Doughboy.

Oh.

Oh.

God, I am... I am so sorry. I... I'm not usually like this.

Look, your Commander Rab almost works.

If only he'd done something else besides practice law.

Well, actually...

Female on deck.

Louise, what are you doing in here? Thinking like a woman, acting like a

Did the thief do this to you? Can we talk about this someplace else?

You should report him. No.

You can't let him get away with this. He won't.

I'll beat him in the courtroom.

Not if that means winning an acquittal for Reardon, Eddie.

What happened, Commander? Did you find Michael Saunders?

We did.

Billy, what happened to your eye?

I saluted too hard, ma 'am.

What did he say, sir?

He buried Reardon.

Maybe he's lying, sir?

Could he have told a different story to anyone else, sir? His ex -wife,

Kimberly, in Norfolk.

Norfolk? Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Okay,

here it is.

Exhibit 477B, a postcard sent to Greg Reardon in March 1990, a few days before

the explosion.

Investigators found it in his locker.

Postmarked Norfolk.

See you in port. Can't wait. I love you.

Kimberly. Kimberly loves Reardon.

Kimberly marries Saunders after Reardon dies.

Saunders told me that he and Reardon were fighting over hazing.

Hi, is your mom home?

Ma 'am?

Reinforcements? I'm Commander Rabb, ma 'am. This is Lieutenant Colonel

We're with the JAG Corps. We'd like to ask you a few questions if we could.

Look, I have to help my son finish his homework.

Well, this won't take long. We have some questions about Greg Reardon. About me?

No, son, not about you.

But I'm Greg Reardon.

Why don't you two come in for a cup of coffee?

I was young. I thought it was fun having two sailors fight over me.

Michael Saunders and Greg Reardon?

One boyfriend too many.

When I finally figured that out, I chose Greg.

An odd time to kill yourself when you finally get the woman you want.

That's what I always thought.

But it's tough to argue with the Navy.

So far, I've shielded Greg Jr.

from what they say about his father.

Saunders led me to believe that he was the child's father.

He wasn't a bad substitute when he was sober.

Michael is the only father that Greg knows and they love each other.

He stops by once in a while and takes him fishing or camping.

You married Saunders after the explosion?

I was four months pregnant when Greg came home in a body bag.

Greg Jr.

needed a father and I needed somebody too.

Did Saunders ever talk about what happened that morning in the gun turn?

Hmm. He wasn't there.

Yes, he was.

Oh, my God.

Ah, you.

I'm done with.

Hi, Dad.

Hey. Can I have a little beer?

Greg, over here.

You know, the boy shouldn't be in here. He shouldn't be seeing me like this.

I'm sure you look great to him.

His other father's a mass murderer.

He doesn't know about that.

He will.

Someone at school will tell him.

They might even beat him up.

You'd know about that, wouldn't you?

What do you want from me?

Tell the boy the truth.

Don't let this lie ruin his life, too.

Too late.

It's not too late for him.

It's an honor to have a distinguished visitor with us today, Rear Admiral A

Tegwiden, the Judge Advocate General of the United States Navy.

Are you ready to proceed, Cadet Vasquez?

Your Honor, although both sides have rested, we move to reopen the evidence

present a final defense witness.

This has gone on long enough.

Motion denied.

Commandant Hayden, may I be heard?

Of course, Admiral.

I came here today because I understood that you might hear from a witness who

never spoke to the Board of Inquiry.

The Navy did the best job it could, but if there's a chance that we committed a

miscarriage of justice, no matter how innocently, we want it corrected.

Call your witness. Thank you, Your Honor.

The defense calls Michael Saunders.

Raise your right hand.

You swear that the evidence you are about to give is the truth, the whole

and nothing but the truth, so help you God.

I do.

Be seated.

State your name and rank for the record, sir.

Michael Saunders.

I was Gunner's mate, second class, aboard the USS Minnesota.

Were you aboard ship on March 20th, 1990?

Yes, ma 'am.

Did you know Gunner's mate, Gregory Reardon?

Yes, ma 'am.

We had hazed him. I hazed him. But that had nothing to do with what happened

that day.

It was about a woman.

I wanted her. He had her.

What happened in the gun turret, Mr. Saunders?

Rearing with a gun captain.

Doing a better job than anybody else, as usual.

I don't know why I went in there. I didn't belong there. I didn't really

anywhere.

Load one round.

Load one round. Aye.

He had already loaded the projectile and propellant bags were coming off the

banning tray.

And Reardon put the lead foils between the first and second bag just the way it

was supposed to.

And then he saw me.

What are you doing here? I'm just checking up on you.

Heard they threw you a little blanket party last night.

Get out of my turret.

Relax, I'm here to help you.

You want to help me? Get out.

And I told him that Kim had been...

Seeing me behind his back and... What did you say?

Don't fool yourself, son.

She's only marrying you.

Because I wouldn't marry her. It was all a lie.

I wanted to hurt him.

Anyway, it was the cradle operator.

First live fire exercise and he was... Nervous enough, but I'm sure I didn't

help it by busting in.

Now, I'm not so sure.

But I thought, I saw him load six bags of propellant

instead of five.

Now, Reardon would have caught the mistake, but he never saw it because of

Now, I could have warned him.

I could have stopped it. But in that split

second, I didn't want him.

I never loaded the gun, so it wasn't my fault, right?

Mr. Saunders, what is the effect of six propellant bags

instead of five?

Too much propellant overpressurizes the gun.

I am sorry.

Petty Officer Reardon, on all specifications against you, this court

finds you not guilty.

This court -martial is adjourned.

Thank you. Thank you for all your help. Nice work, Stephen.

Thank you.

Congratulations. Well done, Cadet Tompkins.

Billy.

I was wrong about you.

I know.

What's going to happen to him?

Well, dereliction of duty and... Man's slaughter will both be barred by the

statute of limitations, so the only punishment he'll get is what he has to

with every day for the rest of his life.

Thanks, A .J. Sure is good to see you. You bet.

Colonel, Commander, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't I advise you to drop

investigation?

It wasn't our investigation to drop, Admiral.

It was.

No, sir, we were simply fitting second chair.

Oh, Commander, I almost forgot. Can you be at the Washington Monument in 1700?

The Washington Monument in 1700?

Sir, why?

I think she called it Magic Hour in Miss Peterson. She says the light is just

perfect there.

Colonel?