Original subtitles

[lightning cracking]

-[gunfire] -[grunting

[shouting]

[Vietnamese soldier shouting]

H-h-help me...

Damn it!

Help me...

Help me...

[gunfire]

It's the Padre.

Give him cover!

[gunfire]

[soldier performing last rites]

[gunfire continues]

-[performing rites] -[shouting and grunting]

Help me...

Help me, help me...

[siren wailing]

Freeze! Get your hands in the air!

She's my wife. Get an ambulance!

Get your hands in the air!

[theme music playing]

He says he's some kind of Major Sergeant in the Marines.

That's Sergeant-Major, Detective, a senior enlisted man.

Oh, well, a radio car found him

at the crime scene kneeling over his wife,

the weapon six feet away.

What was the weapon?

A brick. We sent it to Forensics.

How is she?

Doctors say she's going to make it.

Subdural hematoma. But they got to it before she bled out.

Another few minutes and we'd have been charging him

with murder instead of attempted murder.

-Has she made a statement? -No, not yet.

-Has he made a statement? -Yeah, said he didn't do it.

Just left the house looking for his wife

when she was late getting home and happened to find her

in an alley 80 miles from their house.

I'm surprised he didn't tell us he saw a one-armed man.

Look, Detective, we generally like to prosecute our own.

Where do you want him shipped?

[Rabb] Sergeant-Major Jarvis Krohn--

Command Sergeant-Major at Quantico.

Before that, he ran the Scout Sniper School there.

And before that, he was in charge

of the Marine security detachment for the White House.

-He's been awarded two Silver Stars and one Purple Heart. -A real poster-Marine--

except when he's bashing his wife's head in with a brick

ifthat's what he did.

[Roberts] Yeah, well, according to this

in 1995, PMO sent base security

to his quarters at Camp Lejeune

found his wife with a bloody lip.

Sergeant-Major Krohn received

unofficial counseling. Neighbors at Quantico say

they've heard his raised voice from their house recently.

[computer beeping]

Tiner, what are you doing?

Installing your screen saver, sir.

What screen saver?

The one from the SETI program, sir.

You agreed to take part.

Oh, yeah, I remember.

Is his wife awake yet?

Yes, she regained consciousness this morning, sir.

Well, what did she say?

She says they've had their problems in the past

but she can't believe the Sergeant-Major

is capable of anything like this.

What do you mean she can't believe it? Doesn't she know?

Sir, the last thing she remembers is having

egg salad for lunch yesterday, alone.

Traumatic memory loss, sir

aggravated by the blow to the head.

[computer beeping]

Tiner, what did the literature say?

You volunteered to use your computer's downtime, sir

to analyze chunks of raw data

picked up by the Arecibo radio telescope.

Looking for signals

that might have come from intelligent life...

sir.

From outer space?

It's a very exciting program, sir.

Millions of people are using it.

I have it on both of my computers.

You think you've got room

on your computer for this case file?

Lieutenant, you'll prosecute.

Yes, sir.

-Commander, you'll defend. -Aye, sir.

Here you go, sir. You won't even notice.

It runs in the background.

[Krohn] Do you believe in God, Commander?

We have more productive things to discuss, Sergeant-Major

than my religious preferences.

I'm innocent, sir.

Were you innocent of giving your wife a bloody lip in 1995?

Because the prosecution is going to bring that up.

I love my wife, Commander, and she loves me.

And we both love God.

Then tell me what happened yesterday.

I got home at 1800.

I was a little late because I'd been going over

monthly unit reports with the General.

Robin, my wife

was going to make pork chops for dinner.

-Mm-hmm. -So, she went to the market in Dumfries.

She should have been back in 20 minutes.

After a while, I got to be worried.

I had a... terrible feeling.

So, I went out looking for her.

And I found her.

You found your wife in an alley in Baltimore, Sergeant-Major.

She was supposed to be at a market in Dumfries.

So, how did you find her?

I prayed, sir...

and my prayer was answered...

with a miracle.

-Mac, hi. -Hi.

-Harm isn't here, is he? -I don't know.

I want to put this on his desk; it's a surprise.

-The Roches? -Yeah. They're doing a benefit next month.

I'm doing the video.

Didn't they sing that song, "Oh, Mr. Sellack"?

♪ Oh, Mr. Sellack ♪

♪ Can I have my job back? ♪

I love them.

Well, you know

they're warming up at the Ten-Spot

in Georgetown next Friday; I'm dragging Harm.

-Why don't you and Mic... -We'd...

You know what?

I have to be at Cherry Point

on the 18th for three or four days.

Well, maybe next time.

Yeah.

Actually, you know, uh

the 18th is the week after next.

Right. You said that they were playing next Friday.

I think so. You know, I could always, you know, double-check.

Well, if they are...

Then it's a date.

Chaplain Wiggins was a Catholic chaplain.

The Ninth Marines in Vietnam-- my unit.

Some of the chaplains over there, sir, they, uh...

well, they kind of missed the point.

But, uh, Chaplain Wiggins, he'd have a beer with you, sir.

He'd come out into the field.

He carried the same pack we carried.

-You never heard of him? -I don't think so, no.

He got to be kind of famous, sir-- for the way he died.

What does this have to do with you and your wife?

I'm getting to that, sir.

Some of the guys who were shot, sir

were out in the open, in plain sight of the enemy.

One Marine, Rosebrock, kept calling out, "Help me."

But we couldn't get to him. We were pinned down.

But Chaplain Wiggins went out anyway, sir.

He, um, checked on a couple of the guys who were dead.

He got hit, but he kept going.

And the Marine who was calling out "help me"

he gave him the last rites.

Bullets hitting all around.

And he got killed.

Nobody gave him the last rites.

Well, he sounds like a very brave man.

He's got a reputation for...

holiness, sir.

A group has been formed to honor him.

There's a newsletter, a website.

People pray to him, sir.

You... prayed to him when your wife was missing?

Yes, sir.

And he interceded with God to answer my prayer.

I saw a vision of the Padre

right in front of me, sir

and I followed him.

I followed him out to my car.

I followed him all the way into Baltimore

and he led me to my wife...

just in time to save her life.

[Renee] Maybe you should plead him insane.

He's not insane, Renee, he's religious.

Or delusional.

Or religious and delusional.

Or a liar and a murderer.

Or that.

You have "Travel"?

Yeah. You got "Sports".

[knock on door]

Hey, the comics are mine.

Mm-hmm.

[chatter on TV]

Since when, if you don't go to church on Sunday

do they send a priest to your house?

[knock at door]

Hello.

Mrs. Rabb?

Uh, no, that would be his mother. Come in.

I'm sorry to interrupt your, uh... your breakfast

but I just got in from Rome

and I thought I'd get right to it.

I'm Harry O'Rourke.

Harmon Rabb.

This is Renee Peterson.

Hi. I'm going to go get dressed. Excuse me.

Get right to what, Father?

The alleged miracle granted through prayer to Walter Wiggins.

You heard about it?

Well, his backers made sure I did, yeah.

His backers?

You don't know what's going on here?

Apparently not everything.

Well, the Vatican has already recognized one miracle

performed as a result of prayer to Chaplain Walter Wiggins.

A small child cured of cancer in Toledo 11 years ago.

As a result, the Chaplain has been beatified.

Beatified?

Proclaimed a Blessed of the Church

by the Pope.

If this new miracle is verified

then Chaplain Walter Wiggins could well be declared a saint.

Your defense is going to be that God led him to the alley?

-Maybe. -And the Roman Catholic Church is going to back this up?

Possibly. We don't accept that a miracle occurred

just because someone said so. I'm here to investigate.

-Investigate what? -If there's any other rational explanation for what happened.

Well, how about this? The Sergeant-Major tosses his wife in the car

drives her to an alley, and tries to kill her?

Well, that is one explanation.

Yeah, I'd say so.

I'm sure you will.

Commander. Father.

I gather you don't have much of a case.

Sergeant-Major Krohn has no alibi.

I can find no witnesses to substantiate his story.

He was found at the scene of the crime

with no reasonable explanation as to how he got there.

And you're not prepared to entertain an unreasonable one?

Father, how exactly are you planning to investigate this?

Talk to the police, the Sergeant-Major.

Follow the trial.

Let you do the work.

Well, I'm not trying to prove

that Chaplain Wiggins performed a miracle.

I'm trying to prove that Jarvis Krohn

did not attempt to murder his wife.

Well, without anything else to work with, Commander

aren't those two the same thing?

Are you sure it's not in your briefcase, sir?

-[Chegwidden] Very sure. -I don't see it here, sir.

-Keep looking, Tiner. -Yes, sir.

[syncopated beeps]

Tiner?

Tiner!

[beeping snappy rhythm]

Oh, my God...

Look, Gunny, I told the Father that while he was here

you might be able to help him out with something.

I've been trying to track down more people

who knew the Chaplain in Vietnam

to add to his positio, his spiritual biography.

Firsthand witnesses are very important.

Witnesses to what, Father?

His virtues.

You know, faith, hope, charity...

You want me to find Marines who witnessed virtue in Vietnam?

Well, there was a little bit of it going on there, Gunny.

-Yes, sir. -[Brumby] I've never been

to Colonial Williamsburg and since I'm marrying a genuine American...

This weekend's no good, Mic.

You're not working.

No. I made us a date.

With Harm and Renee.

-Oh. -To see a singing group, you know, the Roches

They sang "The Married Men," "My Sick Mind"...

Renee and Harm, you and me?

And the Roches.

The four of us.

That's very couplish.

Exactly.

Couplish.

Thanks for lunch.

Hey, Mic.

How's the job hunting going?

Interesting.

I'll tell you all about it Friday.

-Friday? -Yeah, on our double date.

See you.

Double date?

[Tiner] And I looked over here at the screen, and all of a sudden

I started noticing these regular spikes emerging.

They'd never been there before.

-Tiner... -Attention on deck!

Is the carnival in town?

It's your computer, sir.

Look.

[syncopated beeps]

Well, that's pretty. At ease, Tiner.

Those are radio signals picked up from outer space, sir

in a regular pattern.

Do you know what this means, Admiral?

Little green men are communicating with my computer?

Most days I can't get email from Norfolk.

This is what the SETI program is all about, sir.

Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.

Where does it come from?

I don't know, sir.

Alpha Centauri?

The program.

The University of California, sir.

I've been trying to reach them.

Keep trying.

Yes, sir.

-Gunny. -Yes, sir?

Can I have my office back?

Aye, aye, sir. Dismissed.

[Roberts] Are you sure you want to do this, sweetie?

We can't just leave it in the closet forever.

It's been long enough, Bud.

-Okay. -And what better place for all this stuff to go

but the Children's Hospital?

You're right.

Brand new.

Somebody can get some use out of that.

I'm sure they will.

Oh, not that.

My mother sent that to me.

It was mine.

Well, then, uh, we can send it back to her.

Or we could keep it.

Good.

Oh...

What?

It has her name.

Sweetie, I'm sure there's a Sarah at Children's Hospital.

Can you do this?

I'll take care of it.

Are you sure?

Yeah, I'm fine.

[detective] The patrol officers at the scene

called an ambulance for Mrs. Krohn

and they placed her husband under arrest.

And did the Sergeant-Major offer any explanation

for what had happened to his wife, Detective?

Yes. He said he thought she'd been carjacked.

Did the patrol officers see a carjacker?

No. There was nobody else in the alley.

But they did find... this brick.

Yes. Our forensic laboratory

found bits of Mrs. Krohn's scalp embedded in it.

It was a few feet from the victim.

And a few feet from the defendant?

That's correct. There were also several

spots of her blood on his jacket.

Thank you, Detective.

Did you find fingerprints on the brick, Detective?

No. The defendant was wearing gloves.

Were you wearing gloves when you arrived at the crime scene?

Yes. It was cold.

So there's nothing suspicious about

Sergeant-Major Krohn wearing gloves that night?

It wasn't the gloves that made us suspicious.

Was it the blood on the jacket?

Didn't he tell you when he found his wife

he bent over to feel if she was still breathing?

Couldn't he have gotten blood on his jacket that way?

That's one way.

Detective, didn't he tell the patrol officers that he believed his wife

had been carjacked from a market in Dumfries?

Yes.

Now, isn't it true that somebody has been abducting women

from parking lots in the Baltimore-Washington area

assaulting them and dumping them out of their cars?

It's happened three times in the last seven months.

Including this one?

No. Our carjacker stabs his victims.

He doesn't hit them with bricks

and he always dumps them in rural areas.

After abducting them and stealing their cars

which is consistent with this case.

Isn't it possible he just changed some of the details?

Or somebody did a bad job of imitating him to throw us off the scent.

Your Honor, would you please instruct the witness

to answer the questions I've asked?

Detective, please answer the questions you're asked.

I think we still managed to get your drift, Commander.

Detective, does anybody know

the whereabouts of Mrs. Krohn's car?

We're still looking for it; we haven't found it.

Which is consistent with a carjacker

having stolen it and disposed of it?

-Yes. -Detective, if the patrol officers

had not called an ambulance when they did, at the urging of Sergeant-Major Krohn

would his wife be alive today?

-The doctors say no. -Would the patrol officers

have seen her if Sergeant-Major Krohn had not been

kneeling over her in the headlights of his car?

-Probably not. -So if Sergeant-Major Krohn had not been there just then

and the patrol officers had not come by just then

would she have died?

Yes.

Pretty good timing, wouldn't you say?

Well, sometimes we catch a break.

Sometimes somebody gives us one.

-Your Honor... -Withdrawn.

Nothing further.

[Roberts] Redirect.

Has any major crime suspect told you that he was led to the scene of a crime

by a miracle from God?

-Objection. Relevance. -I'll allow it.

One guy who killed his girlfriend told me that Jesus helped him do it

because she was a sinner.

Was that the truth?

Jesus wasn't the one we convicted.

Detective, did you or any of the other patrolmen see anything

unusual in the alley where you found Mrs. Krohn?

-Like what? -Celestial glowing?

Fluttering angels? Images of a dead chaplain?

-Objection! -Sustained.

Detective, what did you see in the alley?

Dumpsters

condoms, liquor bottles...

and him and his wife.

Pretty powerful stuff in there, Lieutenant.

I didn't hit my wife with a brick.

Your client did.

"Fluttering angels," huh?

That is your defense, isn't it, Commander?

-Not exactly. -Well, then, tell me.

I'm interested, Father, what is the theology here?

Well, the Church's position

and I suppose now Commander Rabb's

is that it's not inconceivable for a faithful servant of God

ascended to Heaven at God's right hand

can intercede for a miracle on behalf of a deserving soul.

Like a cure for a fatal illness?

-It happens. -Saving a drowning man

helping little babies?

-Bud. -What?

All Harriet and I needed to do was pray to Walter Wiggins?

The Lieutenant and his wife recently lost a baby, Father.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Sergeant-Major Krohn's wife is worth saving and our...

...our baby daughter isn't?

Nobody can explain these things, Lieutenant.

Then why are you here, Father?

[Krohn] I started praying to Chaplain Wiggins

a couple of years ago, sir.

And what led you to do that?

I had a friend with a drinking problem

and he prayed for the strength to stop, and he got it.

Well, you don't always need a miracle from God to stop drinking.

My friend did, sir. He was in pretty bad shape.

Now, you knew Chaplain Wiggins personally, didn't you?

Yes, sir, in Vietnam.

That must seem odd to pray to somebody

who you used to drink beer with

who would stand next to you in line

waiting for chow.

Well, there was always something

pretty special about the Padre, sir.

You witnessed his last moments, didn't you, Sergeant-Major?

Yes, sir.

Helping dying men, after he was shot seven times.

Must have left

a pretty powerful image in your mind.

Yes, sir.

The, uh... the night that my wife was attacked

that's the way he appeared to me, sir--

his helmet, his pack...

the way he was when he died.

Now, you realize, Sergeant-Major that some people

are going to find this story hard to believe?

It happened, sir. I'd never even been to that part of Baltimore.

If he hadn't led me, how would I have found her?

The prosecution says that you took her there

to kill her and to dump her body.

I have no reason to kill her, sir.

I love my wife.

That's why I prayed for help to find her.

That's why it was granted.

Thank you, Sergeant-Major.

Nothing further.

How did Chaplain Wiggins give you signals

to turn on the Beltway?

Was it with hand gestures?

Or did this vision of yours have flashing turn indicators?

Objection. Argumentative.

Overruled.

He... just... led me, sir.

It's...

-It's hard to explain. -Now, you say

that you'd never been to that part of Baltimore

-but have you ever been to Baltimore? -Yes, sir.

So, you could've gotten to the city on your own.

-Yes, sir. -Sergeant-Major,

have you read any articles in the newspaper

about the carjacker that we've heard testimony about?

Yes, sir. That's why I was so worried when my wife didn't come home.

And didn't those articles give you the idea

to pretend your wife was the victim of a carjacking?

No, sir.

So, you just went out looking for her

when she was late coming home from the market?

-That's right, sir. -Well, then

why doesn't anybody at the market remember seeing you?

Because I didn't go to the market, sir.

The Padre...

What... I... saw... led me to Baltimore.

Wait. Your wife is late

coming home from the market

so you decide to go look for her

but you don't look for her at the market?

That wasn't where I was led.

How stupid do you think we are?

Objection.

Sustained.

Dial it back, Lieutenant.

My religion means something to me.

Didn't you make up this story?

If you don't have faith, you can't understand.

Aren't you the one that tried to kill your wife?

I got there just in time to save her

before she bled to death inside her brain.

That was a miracle.

Miracles happen.

They are a sign of the power and the presence of God.

That's what we believe and about a billion other Roman Catholics

around the world as well.

Your Honor, I renew my objection to this line of questioning.

We're trying to consider the facts here

and miracles, by definition, transcend the factual.

Not when they occur and whether one has occurred here

is exactly what we're supposed to be discussing, Your Honor.

I'll let you run with it, Commander

as long as you keep a few degrees

south of the supernatural.

-Aye, sir. -Father O'Rourke, do you take

the existence of miracles strictly on faith?

On faith? No, I don't.

My job as a postulator is to investigate proposed saints.

And the miracles attributed to them?

Aye, that's right. So it does, scientifically.

Most common miracles are unexpected medical recoveries.

When one allegedly occurs

we get the patient's complete medical records

interview doctors, collect X rays, slides of biopsies

test results, things of that nature.

We have the whole package reviewed

by a panel of physicians who must find that that recovery

was not caused by any medical treatment.

-And that makes it a miracle? -Not necessarily.

Lymphoma and renal-cell cancer cures, for example

don't qualify, since those diseases

have a high rate of natural remission.

Father, have any miracles accepted by the Vatican

-been attributed through prayer to Chaplain Walter Wiggins? -Yes.

Clay Norberg, age seven, lay dying in a Toledo hospital

with a neuroblastoma that had spread to his bones.

Drug and radiation treatment had failed the boy

and he slipped into a coma.

Now, his father who had served with Chaplain Wiggins

prayed all night, and in the morning Clay woke up, the tumor was gone

and there was no further sign of the disease.

Clay is now a freshman in Notre Dame.

Plays trombone in the school band.

Now, what about non-medical miracles, Father

like the one we're discussing here?

In the eyes of the Church

-can they occur? -They have.

In 1949, a cook in a Spanish orphanage

didn't have enough rice to feed everybody who was hungry.

She prayed to John Macias,

a monk who had been born in the village

in the 16th century and was much revered there

and a single pot of rice overflowed for hours.

That miracle was later verified in 1975,

and John Macias was declared a saint.

So, what happened to Sergeant-Major Krohn

couldhave been a miracle?

Aye. An unusual one

but so it could.

-[funky dance music playing] -[chattering and laughter]

-[waitress] Oh, sorry, madam. -[MacKenzie] No problem.

-Can you believe this place? -Yeah, full house.

I think we had more elbow room on that submarine.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, 15 days under the polar ice.

Very close quarters.

So, how's the case going, Harm?

Oh, piece of cake. All I have to do to win is prove there is a God

and a dead Navy Chaplain named Walter Wiggins

is sitting by his side in Heaven.

-Piece of cake. -[applause]

Ladies and gentlemen, the Roches' train

has been delayed again.

So... I know. We expect them within an hour.

So... thank you.

[clears throat]

Ah... well, this is a natural case for Harm.

He's always believed in miracles.

He has?

Yeah, he believed his father might be alive

when no one else did.

He saw his father at least once after his father died.

You never told me that.

Harm, open up--

thatwould be a miracle.

Yeah, I'll pray to Saint Wiggins.

While you're talking to him, you might

-ask him to send Mac... -Wedgwood China.

We're starting to get our wish list together.

Oh, did you guys set a date?

Uh, Mic wants a formal wedding.

Sarah wants to get married on a hillside

with a minister and two goats as witnesses.

He wants to invite half the population of Sydney.

You're the one who says you miss Australia.

[whispering]

Mic...

[giggling]

-[Brumby chuckling] -[Mackenzie clears her throat]

I love the Roches. Did they sing their a capella "Hallelujah Chorus"?

I used to sneak women up to my dorm room

to listen to that one.

Father.

I wasn't born a priest.

[Gunny] Commander, Father

this is Mr. Hamill.

He drove down from Wilmington.

You're the one talking about

making Chaplain Wiggins a saint?

God makes the saints, Mr. Hamill.

The Church merely identifies them.

Well, I've got to tell you, Father

the Church is barking up the wrong tree on this one.

[Roberts] Father O'Rourke, is the defendant's wife

-in the courtroom today? -I don't believe so.

She hasn't been here during this trial, has she?

No. She's in a rehabilitation center

recovering from her injury.

Well, if God granted a miracle to save her

why does she need rehabilitation?

Her doctors expect her to make a full recovery.

With the help of her doctors.

Yes.

Father, on direct examination

you stated that every medical miracle

is documented by expert physicians.

-That's right. -Interesting.

How many people is Saint Louis of Anjou

credited with raising from the dead?

I don't know.

Twelve.

It's in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

Were these miracles documented by expert physicians?

That was the 13th century. The Church had different procedures then.

[Roberts] But Saint Louis of Anjou is still credited with the 12 miracles.

Once a saint's been canonized, it's not revocable.

And you're sure that someday

Saint Walter Wiggins will be in that holy company?

No.

No? Why not?

Well, I've received new evidence

that puts Chaplain Wiggins' cause in doubt.

-What evidence? -Objection.

Counsel is asking the witness to repeat what someone has told him.

It's hearsay.

This is your witness, Commander.

And I've given you a great deal of leeway. Overruled.

[Roberts] What evidence, Father?

A new witness to the battle where Chaplain Wiggins died.

-[whispering] What's he talking about? -We'll discuss it later.

[O'Rourke] He said that Chaplain Wiggins was panicked, that he was crying

and that he lost his faith.

[Roberts] So, what about ministering

to the dead and wounded?

This is just one witness.

Others contradict him.

Tell us what the one witness said, Father.

That Chaplain Wiggins threw down his gear

and tried to run back to the surviving Marines.

That he stopped by the dead and the dying...

to use them for cover.

But if that's true, Father then Walter Wiggins can't be a saint, can he?

-No. -And if he isn't a saint

could he have performed the alleged miracle?

No, he could not have been responsible for any miracle.

Which makes Sergeant-Major Krohn a liar and a would-be murderer.

Objection. Calls for a conclusion.

[Roberts] Withdrawn.

I'm finished.

It can't be true, sir.

It was a battlefield, Sergeant-Major.

It was dark, people see different things.

I saw what the Padre did, sir, and he was not running scared.

This hurt our case.

If there's anything else, any other way you want to go...

I did not try to kill my wife.

Who'd the priest hear this from, anyway?

His name is Hamill, Randy Hamill.

He was in your platoon.

Hamill...

Was he there?

Was he in a position to see the Chaplain?

Better than any of us, sir.

He was with us for a month.

He was being transferred out because he was a coward.

Maybe I can use that.

-The prosecution-- -But not that day, sir.

That day, he saved our lives.

[Roberts] Mr. Hamill, do you have a grudge against Sergeant-Major Krohn?

No, sir.

Do you have, or did you have

a grudge against Chaplain Walter Wiggins?

No, sir. I... always liked the Padre.

So, then, why did you decide to come forward now?

Well, it was disgraceful what he did that night, sir.

And then when I saw in the papers about this trial

and the idea of making him a saint...

[scoffing] Well, I'm Catholic, sir.

No way he's a saint.

And you're sure of what you saw that night?

Yes, sir. When we got to the village and the shooting started

I jumped into an empty hooch with the Padre.

The gooks never saw us.

So there was no reason for either one of you to leave there?

I didn't think so.

But the enemy was hiding

right behind the hooch, right next to us.

I mean, we could hear them firing, reloading

and talking.

The Padre just panicked and ran out.

To save the wounded and dying?

No, sir. He was not performing his duties as chaplain

or even as a Christian.

He was just running away.

After you saw that, what did you do?

Well, one of the men that was killed, Malkovich,

he was carrying an M-79.

I ran out, picked it up and fired a couple of grenades

at the spot where we'd heard the gooks.

-Which cleared the way for you and your squad to escape?

That's right, sir.

And for that action, you were awarded the Silver Star

-weren't you? -Yes, sir.

Thank you, Mr. Hamill.

Mr. Hamill, by your testimony

Chaplain Wiggins left a place of safety

ran across exposed ground during a fierce firefight.

Is this the act of a coward?

Well, I guess he figured, sir

that it was just a matter of time

before the enemy figured out we were in that hooch.

Then we were dead.

You stayed.

For a while.

I took off my pack and pulled out some extra ammunition

while I was trying to figure out what to do.

-You took off your pack? -Yes, sir.

I didn't see any need to be slowed down

by C-rations and a shelter half.

Now, you told Father O'Rourke

that Chaplain Wiggins took off his pack, too.

Yeah, that's right, sir.

But Sergeant-Major Krohn testified

that Chaplain Wiggins was wearing his pack.

Well, that's not what I saw, sir.

Huh.

Mr. Hamill, you were in a unique position

to help your squad that night, weren't you?

What do you mean, sir?

Well, you were near the fallen man with the M-79

you heard the enemy, you knew where they were

yet you did nothing.

Well, not at first, no, sir.

Now, isn't it a fact, Mr. Hamill,

that until that night you were considered

by your fellow Marines to be a coward?

Yes, sir.

It seemed I wasn't cut out to be a Marine.

And when your squad was ambushed

you stayed hidden in the hooch

while your fellow Marines were being killed

and you had the means to protect them, didn't you?

I didn't have the 79. It was out in the open.

It was a miracle I wasn't killed trying to get it.

You saw the Chaplain flee in fear

at a time when you were feeling fear.

-Isn't that right? -I suppose.

But seeing him act like that, I got so disgusted

I stopped being afraid and just did what I did.

-After you saw what he did. -Yeah.

You saw your cowardice acted out in the Chaplain

and it motivated you to overcome it.

Objection, Your Honor. Is Commander Rabb now

testifying as an expert psychiatrist?

I'm only suggesting he didn't really see the Chaplain.

What, he saw himself-- I mean, why stop there?

Maybe he saw the Easter bunny.

-Lieutenant, you're out of line. -I apologize, Your Honor

but this is stretching things to the absurd

if Commander Rabb is suggesting that Chaplain Wiggins

miraculously gave Mr. Hamill

some kind of battlefield vision...

It may just have been psychological projection

but if the prosecution wants to call it a second miracle...

Who said there was a first miracle? Just you.

-Your own witness backtracked on the stand... -[gavel banging]

That's enough.

Both of you.

[knock at door]

-Enter. -Excuse me, Admiral.

They called back from Berkeley, sir.

They said it's nothing special.

Just the standard emission from the Binion-Pratt pulsar

a binary source in the Sculptor group of galaxies.

Which means the signals left there...?

Five million years ago, sir.

Thanks, Tiner.

I was really hoping, sir.

Thanks, Tiner.

Aye, sir.

Did we have one miracle here?

Or did we have two miracles here?

Or did we have no miracles here?

First, we should consider the evidence.

A man who has fought with his wife.

A man who has a history of striking his wife.

A man who has the means and opportunity

to attempt to kill his wife.

A man whose story as to how he happened to be

at the scene of the crime makes absolutely no sense.

Unless you subscribe to his story

of a supernatural power at work.

Many of us are religious people.

Many of us believe in a powerful God.

But we're being asked to believe in a convenient God

who acts not so much to save a stricken woman

but to give her husband an alibi

making God the metaphysical equivalent

of the dog who ate the homework.

And you're sworn to consider the evidence

presented in the light of your own common sense.

Well, common sense only offers one conclusion.

Sergeant-Major Jarvis Krohn is guilty as charged.

Moses parts the Red Sea.

The Son of God turns water into wine. Are they fairy tales?

Have the billions who believe them been deluded?

There's no hard evidence that makes Sergeant-Major Krohn a liar.

There is no eyewitness to the attack on his wife.

No fingerprints, no trail of blood.

There is a vicious carjacker on the loose.

The victim's car has not been located

despite the best efforts of law enforcement to find it.

And it is uncontested

that because Sergeant-Major Krohn appeared on the scene

at that particular moment his wife's life was saved.

Is it a miracle?

In our line of work, we see miracles all the time.

Bullets that should miss that hit.

Bullets that should hit that miss.

Ordinary human beings transformed into heroes

making unimaginable sacrifices

for their country and their fellow man.

The world is a mysterious place.

And we would make it a poorer place

if we dismissed everything about it we didn't understand.

You don't have to believe to a certainty

in what Sergeant-Major Krohn is saying.

You just have to believe that it might be true.

[Renee] Did they blink? Smile? Laugh?

Not that I noticed.

And you kept a straight face?

I take it you find this humorous.

You told them the miracle really happened?

I said it might have happened.

I think you either believe in these things or you don't.

Hmm, and you don't?

I don't know.

Renee, you just...

Harm, this one is weird, admit it.

Okay, how about a nice, everyday miracle?

Child is cured of...

Mac and Brumby.

Excuse me?

Two people, Harm.

From opposite ends of the earth, literally.

Both independent, all grown up, set in their ways...

and they find each other.

and now they're going to become one.

I tell you where the miracle is.

That anybody would want to spend time with Brumby.

Yes, it is.

Why do I get the feeling we've suddenly changed the subject?

Two strangers... one couple.

Do you think it could happen again?

I don't know.

[cell phone ringing]

Rabb.

I'll be right there.

Jury's in.

I've got to go.

I wonder who he prayed to for that.

[Judge] The accused and counsel will rise.

Announce your findings.

Sergeant-Major Jarvis Krohn, United States Marine Corps

this court-martial finds you

on the charge and specification of attempted murder

guilty.

I thank the members for their service.

We'll reconvene for sentencing tomorrow at 0900.

I'm so sorry.

I don't understand.

You explained to them about Hamill.

You made it clear what happened.

I guess it was a lot for them to accept.

What about you, Father? You see it, don't you?

I was considering whether or not

to recommend closing out Chaplain Wiggins' cause.

I'm not; it's going forward.

Well, sir, you won the more important one.

Sergeant-Major, you understand...

Don't worry about me, sir.

The Padre saved my wife's life.

Now all I need is somebody to find the man who attacked her.

Her car will show up, or her credit cards.

Something.

It will happen.

Won't even take a miracle.

No, sir.

But if it does...

-You didn't just say that to cheer him up, did you, Father? -No, Commander.

You may have failed to convince that jury

but you convinced this one.

You're going to make Chaplain Wiggins a saint?

Well, call me in a hundred years.

That's about how long it takes.

[closing theme music playing]