Original subtitles

so

so

the first time i saw her was at the naval air station in alameda california on the morning in

february 1945. you'd have never known to look at her that she was a battle-scarred veteran

who had fought bravely in the philippine sea and had practically been destroyed

when i thought of what this carrier had been through how she'd fought with flying colors

i was proud to be assigned to her i'd heard a lot about her captain too

i was very anxious to meet him maybe a little nervous even because he was supposed to be as

tough as the ship he was reputed to be one of the toughest men in the navy to serve under

whether he was a fair man too or just tough time would tell in a little while now i'd meet him

lieutenant commander mcintyre reporting aboard of course father mcintyre welcome aboard lieutenant

hanson i'm glad to be here lieutenant we didn't expect you until pearl i couldn't wait i caught

a ride on a plane father mcintyre i'm john moody protestant chaplain aboard well i'm glad to know

you john good to know you too father you should have a lot to talk about being we're in the same

business huh chaplain would you show the father a stateroom uh zero one two eight be glad to

come this way father surely hope you find your stateroom comfortable father thanks thanks a lot

have you ever been aboard a carrier before father no never i wanna know this one from

stem to stern i want to know all of her people well that'll take a lot of knowing we have over

3 200 men aboard this ship well that should be enough for both of us uh many protestants

quite a few how was your turn oh it could be better well maybe i can be of some help

what oh i promise not to steal any of your customers padre remember me

pete kelly wow the last time i saw you was in a hospital bed in pensacola

he ditched his training plane nearly drowned himself that was a close call close enough i

remember a pretty girl who used to visit you in the hospital mary uh what was her name mary carney

oh yes of course and uh what became of mary connie she's a mrs p kelly now father oh good for you boy

good for you any little kellys not yet but soon i hope soon i hope well this will be your first

experience at combat duty hey pete that's right father we had our final training at santa rosa

all right you swam chucky's get the light out and get back

why this ship has got to be polluted with a mess of skinheads like you guys is more than i

can figure out but i'm stuck with you and i got to make the best of it i don't know billy again

either that gear ain't stowed by the time dinner is piped down we'll work around the clock many of

you guys don't like the way you're getting treated tell your troubles to chaplain moody right right

buck our new chaplain father mcintyre our chief bolson buck fitzpatrick oh we're proud to have

you aboard father how are you buck all right boys get back to your working parties before i lose my

temper not that i ever do buck the chaplain said he'd like to see the ship and you know her better

than we do are you just leaving to me sir you'll be in good hands buck's been with her ever since

she was launched i'll take your bags and your orders back to your stateroom if you're oh that's

very good of you john thank you very much father see you pete been in the navy long father oh

about a year but never served on a carrier before this is a lot of ship about thirty thousand ten

eddie everett used to be a radio headliner you've probably heard of him yeah i think i have

all right eddie pick up the tempo let's have a little feed in there

shall we

these are some of our bad boys being mustard father the prisoners of large and restricted men

for their sins nothing serious just fighting coming aboard croc you know the usual

but you take that one guy at the end chris jordan that's a case for

you tough guy i'm just in trouble all the time nothing serious just uh just stubborn maybe he

needs a little help from my department well i don't know father maybe he doesn't want to go to

heaven let's go

look you want to go ashore tonight might be our last chance are you nuts look i got a spot where

we can have a real ball i've got it all doped out when the guys break for dinner we hide out

when it gets dark we come back we slip out we go ashore no sir i'll have no part of it

when they ask you about me what are you gonna say my name rate and serial number very clever

we're going top side now father

well there it is this is what most people have in mind when they speak of a flat top

the flight deck where the plane's landing and taking off

what they don't know is that the main part of a carrier is down below that's where her heart is

our ship is as long as three football fields if you stretch them out end to win

below decks we've got everything you'd find in the average american town

and we also have the best barber shop in the navy you with the new air group yeah i'm turret

gunner on ensign pete kelly's plane my name's halsey william come again william halsey yeah

okay admiral address and there is diction what do you want that for nothing's gonna happen to me

i hope oh yes there is after the war look son do you realize hundreds and thousands of kids

have come west to fight this war kids who've never been away from home before what do you think gives

them the biggest kick california and when the war's over and then same lonesome kids come back

where do you think they'll be heading california what do you think they'll be looking for dame

right what does that lead to marriage what happens is a direct result babies that's what can happen

to you admiral no kidding if you pray your cards right hey give me some of that food for will you

see kid in my business i sort of got nature working for me i'm in real estate

i'll put a roof over your head why do you think you're gonna want it

where else but in california say you must be from california hey this kid's pretty smart

this is your new chaplain boys father mcintyre howdy hi carry on fellas the

best way for us to get acquainted is the services well father that's about the end

of the 50-cent tour you want to go further yeah let's keep going as long as my legs hold out

elsian church what's up father so long boys where was i california oh yeah yeah see kid my old man's

got a 60-acre orange grove right in the heart of san fernando valley when i get back i'm gonna

rip up them trees and i'm gonna build homes for vets when them guys come pouring off them ships

into the arms of their ever-loving babes the little loveness are gonna be ready and waiting for

four bedrooms two heads no money down move right in

now we're in the after engine room father this is well below the water line this is

one of the four engines that'll drive the ship through the water at almost 40 miles an hour big

commander good afternoon buck like to have you meet our new chaplain father mcintyre commander

glassy glad to know you father welcome aboard thank you well that's about the end of the tour

has the father seen steering out yet votes

of course you wouldn't want to see that that's a way way out you got to go way down

yes i'd like to if you're not too tired oh no i'm feeling fine i was thinking

that maybe you might be getting a little no no no no staring at it thank you commander

steering after he wants to see there's nothing back there he's got to see more stairs

after you father go ahead

oh this is it father steering it very interesting

oh this is your new chaplain boys he wants to see what goes on down here weird you were

bored father i'm marty brennan mighty how are you this is actually hello auntie tom short

tom wow so this is where the ship can be steered by hand yes or in case the

main controls in the pilot house are damaged or shot away how is it done well in an emergency

we unclutch the steering engine we use this hand crank we get our directions from the pilot house

over the sound power phone it takes 70 turns of this crank to turn the rudder one degree

and this is your battle station yes father this is well thanks boys hey folks chris jordan is

still playing tricks man yeah what are you doing now he's not hiding somewhere on his

ship and they got search parties out looking for him you see what did i tell you father

coming up

that's my father

no telling what this guy might do sir let's go jordan

what's the matter joey well he was due for a promotion of chief boston's mate he didn't get it

he blames everybody but himself i'd like to have a talk with him buck

go ahead father but i'm afraid you're wasting your time i'll wait for you on the hangar deck

i'm father mcintyre the new chaplain i'd like to speak to this man alone all right sir

howdy hello sir

sit down

well first you can forgive my curiosity and then you can tell me what's wrong with you

physically or spiritually mentally i'm 100 sound and i got a brain like a steel trap

and you're stuck with it i can understand your disappointment when you weren't promoted who told

you about that buck bless his dear little heart but i can't understand the fuss you make about it

got a raw deal they promoted a guy with half my experience i've got more sense than a lot

of those dopes wearing chiefs hats i'm a high school graduate oh a high school man

but uh by your behavior you're proving they were right

i got a sneaking idea they were wrong wouldn't be trying to sell me a bill of goods would you father

like religion for instance well religion is my job sooner or later i get around to it but right

now all i'm trying to do is straighten out a fellow who's headed the wrong way

your hatred doesn't hurt anybody but yourself i don't hate anybody father i like everybody on

this ship especially dear old buck i just want to get as far away from them as possible that's all

you requested a transfer naturally but they ignore it and i don't like being ignored so

i get in their hair and one day they'll get tired of looking at me and kiss me goodbye

anything else nope guess not

but you're here for me again thank you sir

if you were a betting man father i'd let you ten to one you didn't get the first base

no i didn't but i'll be up in bed again

and if i were a betting man i'd be inclined to take your bed by the mcintyre

been looking all over for you heard you were aboard i'm commander matthews

how do you do commander our executive officer father he's been with the ship

ever since she was commissioned welcome aboard thank you thank you commander

come along father meet the captain oh i'll be glad to

well buck thanks for everything okay father be seeing you

more coffee father yes thanks

just a drop that's enough it's not thank you

well i've heard some great things about your ship captain

you got a lot of battle stars i wasn't with her when she got them

they gave her to me after she was hit by a job suicide plan and i brought her back for repairs

she's my first big command he forgot to tell you father the captain took an emotion in

order to take over command of this ship well that demotion wasn't much of a sacrifice i

was a fighter pilot for years flew off the old langley i always wanted to command a carrier

i've done just about everything in this navy even swab decks

you see father i started as an enlisted man on what they call a mustang

and the fact that i began at the bottom has always been a kind of a challenge yes i can

understand that that's my wife and daughter leslie leslie's 16. she graduates from high

school this year i hope i'll be there to see you she looks more like my wife than she does like me

i like to be a break for leslie it is

we'll be the flagship of a task group dedicated to a difficult dangerous mission we've got a great

crew but during the session in dry dock with so much leave the usual thing happened they slack off

the men have been getting a little out of hand captain well now it's time to take in the slack

father it's great to have you aboard it's great to be aboard

attention all hands attention all hands this is an order from the captain a message has

just been received which orders our ship to sail tomorrow instead of the day after

for this reason he regrets to announce that all leave and liberty must be cancelled

effective immediately that is all ain't the skipper got no place to go wait till my old

lady hears about this picks up a standard they ought to call this ship the alcatraz all right

you guys cut the chatter you know we never get liberty the last night in port leave your quarters

now the smoking lamp is out throughout the ship while taking aboard aviation gasoline and fuel oil

oh hello mr kelly i didn't know you're standing there in the dark hi admiral sit on

i've never been so low in all my life i wired dad and mom telling him i'd talk to him on long

distance tonight then i had to go send another wire calling it off on a kind of no liberty

my dad's a great old guy but he's been very sick lately

i just have admiral i'll bet you were glad to see your wife when she came in yesterday

yeah i met her at the airport i thought we were going to be together tonight today's her birthday

but we couldn't make it i said goodbye to her on the phone had some new she was saving for me

we're gonna have a baby oh that's tough oh i don't mean about the baby that's swell

but well i mean not being with her when she told you that's terrible now look mr kelly

it's all gonna be okay they'll be waiting for you on the dock when you get back in you just keep

your chin up huh huh that's it just think a baby and i'm your turret gunner oh golly am i proud

tell me how can they do this to me i promise to meet this doll tonight

don't worry somebody'll meet her that's what i'm afraid of let me ask you something

what are we fighting this thinking war for for life liberty and the pursuit of happiness so

now comes the skipper and says we ain't got no liberty we ain't got no right to pursue nothing

now look i don't mind fighting and bleeding when did you ever blade squawk

don't my nose bleed every time then five inches go off that's your psychological reaction to gunfire

what's your language fella every time it goes off it scares the pants off you

you should crack about being scared why'd you want to go ashore the other night i had a date

you mean you were trying to ditch your date the same date we all got in the battle area i've been

on his bucket ever since she made her first strike and i should have got my liberty tonight all you

got to do is tell the captain there's no problem just tell the captain i'd like to tell a captain

quiet if they find out you snuck meyer aboard the ship they'll throw you both overboard

don't worry about maya he knows rain you let a guy with stripes on his arms come in and

vom right under the bunk goes maya say i keep hearing about this guy buck

buck will do this and buckle do that who's buck buck's a chief bolson you'll know him

when you hear him never speaks above a whisper carry on you guys carry on

this is just a social visit i'm making around to see that everything's buttoned up

everybody present accounted for yeah we got our full count warden

you must have done time someplace aren't jordan i'm doing my time now hey how come these guys

don't have liberty tonight what difference does it make to you you wouldn't have gotten one anyway oh

i'm not thinking of myself i'm only thinking of my shipmates my buddies who do you think you're

kidding you don't give a hoot about anybody but yourself look i'm getting sore about this when

we dock back at pearl i'm gonna go to the captain and demand a transfer well if you do i'll okay it

i'll recommend that you could transfer to the waves can't you see he's just stringing you this

last night belongs to the ship she's your dame now you're married to her and she don't want any of

you guys cheating on her you may be married to her but i got big news for you i'm getting a divorce

look jordan there's one thing you gotta learn

there's only three things important to a sailor his wife his kids and his ship

oh so you imitate dogs huh yes sir you imitate any other animals no sir just dogs

well go ahead do a dog imitation of a dog with a can tied to its tail

ah he's also a ventriloquist oh yes sir imitation of a dog on the flight deck

okay kid save it save it

colder

when you asked for permission to bring a dog on this ship i said no no mascots where is he

come out maya come on

please don't make me give him up sir you know the regulations if we'da had to leave

i was gonna take him ashore and find a home for him it's not yours colder if i let you

guys have your own way you'd make a floating zoo out of this ship i gotta have discipline

all right push your penis you don't belong on this ship

i don't like those kids trying to pull the wool over these old navy eyes huh tried to bring the

pooch aboard huh boats tried to he did the kid had it as bug i heard the dog barking

when i walked over one of his buddies tried to make believe he was a ventriloquist is an old

good night don't tell good night folks

on the morning of february 7th 1945 the ship was ready to leave from the anchorage at alameda

as we headed for the golden gate the shores of our homeland seem more beautiful than ever

the desire to keep them so clearly etched that picture in my memory

on the way to pearl harbor intensive training was the order of the day

it was a big job ahead of us and everyone had to be ready computer defense toy peter defended

your gun stations

torpedo attack nine betties coming in from dead ahead distance twenty thousand yards

all 40 millimeter mounts ready all five inch mounts ready all guns ready to commence firing

combat information center ready

distance ten thousand yards firing commands firing

damage control reports conditioned yolk is set throughout the ship

main control reports all boilers on the line for full power cease firing cease firing

three minutes to commence firing six minutes for damage control to secure watertight integrity

not bad on gun stations but six minutes is too long for damage control to button up the ship

if we're not secure below decks we go down like a ton of bricks continue the drills particularly

damage control simulate everything that may come up in the combat zone keep him out of joe when

we go into battle every man aboard this ship should do his job automatically i don't want

one man to die or cause the death of anyone else for lack of training that's all joe thanks yes sir

some of you guys seem to think we won a war in the first round but that ain't the case we

got a long way to go before the final bell and it's going to get tougher every minute

you guys get all thoughts of the beach dames and liberty out of your mind for keeps there just

ain't no such thing where we're going i'm thinking about them only files up the work that's cut out

for us and another thing on the way to pearl we're going to drill around the clock and you go to

these drills on the doubler but from now on on the double means you've got to move faster than sound

general quarters

four minutes and 50 seconds that's still not good enough

men have had a tough day captain they're all [ __ ] out under battle conditions they may not

see their bunks for 72 hours at a time one more drill for damage control and then we'll secure

damage control will be our salvation if a kamikaze ever gets through our

combat air patrol or an aircraft garage hi sir

tv

i know

dear sweetie pie i sleep every night with a picture you sent me under my

pillow and every morning i kiss your big blue eyes hey give me that face

single handed give me that saved your [ __ ] come home to your level your eggs guys

you know when you throw a left you got to keep your guard up otherwise you're wide

open for a right you know i've told you this all right knock it off you're both on report

for fighting fighting knee fight with my old pal squawk or playmates i was just giving

him a couple of lessons in the manly art of self-defense you don't believe me ask anybody

ask father joe

yeah i think it was a sparring match

okay father but you guys watch it we've got enough trouble on the ship the way it is

may i be forgiven for that white lie

maybe you boys are a little over trained a little

overtrained are you kidding father this is the first night we've had without a drill

well you better make the most of it get yourself a good night's rest

come on thanks father good night

oh

no not again

what's that green tip you what are you trying to do rip it off

more training we've got some night fighters out we're responding the deck we'll

need more room to take them aboard when they come back this is the last one kids

i'm glad that's over i'm dying on my feet now there's an idea bill all day long and get called

out of your bunks in the middle of the night did you quit your beefing jordan captain but the

flight deck has been responded due to the number of planes we got on the flight deck we're unable

to get that last barrier up request mission to let the flight deck crew go below until half an

hour before the knight fighters land aboard for bringing aircraft aboard with that last barrier

down is too big a risk you can't get the barrier up because your spot's too loose respect the deck

this guy kidding how much does he think we can take okay boys you heard what the captain said

we got to respond to fight that get moving boys come on i've seen some tough skippers in my life

but this guy's the champ move that front line forward so we can close up what's in back of it

the only thing we have to respond buddy is the guy up on the bridge come back here jordan

what are we gonna do sweetheart oh it's a little come on over here i wanna talk to you

you know better than the sound off like that the captain knows what he's doing and he's right

he's your team god you should have married him i ought to kick you over the side

and i would too if it wasn't against regulations you didn't get rid of me

big shot use your influence get me a transfer stop acting like a juvenile get some sense in your head

maybe right i guess i've been acting like a first-class child third class

all right i'll play it your way you mean that

maybe that'll get me a transfer

get below

on the bridge

captain what happened down there buck nothing sir i just said one of the men below that's all

a little trouble i wouldn't say that sir buck you know this crew better than anybody what's

going on below dex well if you must know captain the men are a little steamed up on account of

these extra drills are we all you see father when this ship took a bomb hit in the philippine sea

the japs reported her sunk i still believe that when they find out she's alive they'll make every

effort to send her to the bottom that's why i want this crew on the ball i want to bring them home

i want to bring this ship home i understand kevin good night good night captain oh oh by the way one

thing i would like to know i heard a crack below that you were about as tough as this captain bly

kevin bly yeah it seems that he's a ceo who had a mutiny on his hands

do we have a ship in our navy called the bounty captain blair is a character in fiction huh

good night captain

hey father

hello chris ah this is one time i'm really glad to see you oh what brought this about well i'll be

leaving the ship right after pearl and now it's as good a time as any to say goodbye oh you mean your

transfer came through not yet but it will what makes you so sure confidentially i took a poking

buck oh so that's what you did you took a poke at him huh he's probably up reporting me right

now to the old man they may give me the worst but at least i'll get a transfer off this ship

well it's been nice knowing your father chris you and i are gonna see a lot of each other not after

pearl oh yes after pearl after pearl because you see i was there when buck reported to the captain

and he didn't say a word about you taking a poke at it you don't realize what a good friend of

yours buck is a friend of mine you must be crazy father well he proved he has your interests at

heart you should learn to appreciate him well so long chris life is full of surprises huh

dirty double crosser

was more to prepare for than battle stations on the day after we left pearl harbor our planes

were having target practice and learning to land safely on the ship while it was in motion

and when this was over mr gensby yes sir tell the captain that last division of

torpedo planes is down to 40 gallons of gas we'll expedite getting them aboard

who's the pilot of that last plane uh kelly sir the young friend from pensacola

how much gas we got left here practically none

five tier 18 to dixie i'm almost out of fuel less than 10 gallons

that's not enough for control the ship's pitching and rolling you've got to take a wave off

pete they're giving you a wave off

pete take the wave off you'll kill somebody don't die before ever ditch again

brace yourself admiral we're landing

tell the air officer to have the pilot of that plane report to the bridge aye aye sir

the captain wants the pilot of five tear 18 to report to the bridge sir very well

all right you heard him the captain wants to see you get going move

mr kelly now i got it coming to me

ends in kelly captain torpedo squadron five didn't you recognize the wave off signal the lso gave you

i was almost out of gas sir i'm afraid to ditch no sir but the plane only a miracle kept you from

crashing into those other planes killing a number of people including you and your crew think of

that yes sir gasoline systems open for refueling a fire could spread to other parts of the ship

a wave off from the lso is mandatory it must be obeyed but captain if you're your attention mr

kelly if you go wrong on a simple training problem like this what are you going to do in a real fight

you won't have any time to think then your reactions will have to be instinctive if

they're not you'll get yourself killed and you'll kill a lot of other people we can't afford to lose

many of the men aboard this ship will wither in our worst hours at trial they faced death many

times to keep her afloat and i'm not going to let any second guesser follow them up is that clear

yes sir mr kelly you're relieved of any further duties involving flying that's all yes

it was the morning of march 13th we were approaching our rendezvous

with task force 58 at the anchorage at ulithi

taskforce 58 joe isn't that something to look at

yes sir

as the intrepid enterprise the hancock i see the pittsburgh santa fe there's our escort the

guam it's just dropping your hook you think we'll get liberty tonight liberty what would

you do with it well this is a south sea island there must be danes on it games not now they

got rid of all abroads are you kidding who done that some wise guy in washington oh

hey pops yeah how many ships you figured there are i don't know must be a thousand a thousand

man i'll bet there a lot of prospective customers for my housing project on them chips

hey listen you guys it says here if i don't show up in person honor before

the 15th and explain why i didn't report for jury duty i'm in contempt of court

well tomorrow's the 15th yeah that's right i can't make it

i've seen you do that i have a dozen times buck how come you don't open them

these are from my dead past

she sued me for divorce named the navy his correspondent she claimed i love the navy

more than i did her how about that she get it nah the judge said love the navy was no infidelity and

threw the case out of court i haven't seen her over three years now she gets part of my page

she keeps writing to me but i'm done i'm done yeah take him back say goodbye

i'm sorry father father how do you pronounce that uh pseudo-thrip citry that's a citrus disease

very destructive oh is that right that's wonderful news that's what my old man's trees have got the

whole 60 acres my dream's coming true oh the homes for vets yeah can't fail father

california climate's perfect for it what a picture 60 acres of diapers blowing in the breeze

but you went away sweetheart i haven't gone anywhere not even to dances but your best

friend louie is home on furlough and and he's sorry for me and comes to see me every night

hey chris yeah here's a letter i got it mixed up with one line hey thanks chuck

excuse me father

i'm gonna have twins i'm gonna have twins you sure don't show up mr kelly no no no don't marry in me

my wife isn't that great father it's gonna be twins how do you know well the doctor says so he

practically guarantees it congratulations i think so often about you dad wondering where you are

praying that you're safe please try to be home when i graduate in june love leslie

she's still a kid still puts a row of x's across the bottom of every letter

yeah it's been a long cruise

listen everybody i just got such wonderful news i've got to share with somebody or bus

what is it father joe i told you my sister was a nun in manila

she was captured by the japanese in 42 and that's the last we heard of her but she's been found

she's alive and well and back on the job that's wonderful isn't that wonderful steve you lived in

manila you must have heard of the mariano order that my sister belonged to i did father what's

the matter my mother and brother escaped from manila they were working with a native underground

my mother was captured this letter from my brother says that she was executed as a spy

on the 14th we were at sea again at general quarters

when word was passed that the captain was about to speak to all hands

this is the captain now that we've left ulysse i can tell you that we're about to become part of

a task group whose mission is to destroy air and naval installations on the japanese home island

when the chips see this carrier they'll think she's a ghost ship they believe she's at the

bottom of the sea they'll soon find out how wrong they are and when they do they're going to give us

everything they've got in the way of suicide planes and submarine attacks the mission in

which we'll be engaged is most important we must all be alert for any emergency and do everything

in our power to protect this ship i have full confidence in you i'm proud of you that's all

all right i'd really understand your pilot won't be flying anymore don't worry about

mr kelly when the first mission comes up he'll be flying and i'll be with him

walakowski the captain's orderly tells me doesn't stand a chance kolakovsky what does he know he's

got big ears he knows what goes on up there well and he shouldn't blab about it mr kelly

passed up a wave off that's serious well lots of pilots got grounded at pensacola but they're back

flying again this isn't pensacola kelly's case comes up before the trouble board tonight why

stop you should be glad over you'll fly with some guy that'll bring you back in one piece

i'm gonna go talk to the captain you're gonna what i'm gonna go see

no enlisted man can get to the captain without permission you couldn't even get past walakoski

well i don't see why not lots of guys got to talk to lincoln during the civil war i'm gonna try it

lincoln see what he gets for reading books

where do you think you're going is the captain on the bridge yeah so what i gotta talk to him

you gotta what talk to the captain about what it's personal yes get lost or i'll throw you in

a booby catch look i gotta talk to the captain it's important what's the trouble walakovsky

it's an enlisted man captain i think he's nuts i am not send him in here aye aye sir

wilson halsey captain wb turret gunner with their group five that is

you say halsey yes captain william halsey they call you admiral

yes sir what's on your mind

speak up well sir

i guess i shouldn't have come up here it must be important or you wouldn't be here

okay relax

sit down

there

cigarette no thank you kevin i don't smoke mr kelly don't want me to mr joey

anderson kelly he don't know i'm here he saw her if he finds out

it's him i came to talk about he's in a jam what's on your mind well i've been turret gunner

on pizza excuse me on mr kelly's plane ever since the group started forming in santa rosa

we get sort of close to our pilot but with him depending on us and we depended on him

you see mr kelly's got a wife he's crazy about now family's on the way and he's all upset

i guess you'd be kind of upset if you were going to have twins

or a little

well he had to ditch a plane once in pensacola and he nearly got drowned he ain't scared of

it sir but a guy with his responsibilities wouldn't be blamed for being sort of careful

he should have taken that wave off but i'll bet even you might have pulled a

crazy stunt like that when you were a young pilot

i might have where's kelly's concern i can't tell

you what my decision will be until i see the findings the trouble for him

couldn't you pull your rank on the board captain you think the captain ought to do that

well maybe not

honest i hate to keep plugging like this but couldn't you give me just a little hope

well you know my decision will have to be based on what i think is best for the ship

but what you've told me about mr kelly will make my decision easier i hope i'll be able

to restore him with flying duty you mean that sir for real for real oh gee captain you don't

know what this means to me maybe i can do something for you someday i'm sure you can

yes sir i mean aye sir thank you captain thank you admiral

one of these days they're gonna come and get you with a butterfly net

get lost get lost or throw you in a booby hatch why you folakovsky yes

during the night as we steamed deeper into enemy waters our destroyer escort sighted the submarine

dixie this is auburn

this is dixie over i have a submarine contact dead

ahead of me sir bearing zero zero zero over roger out right standard runner

zero zero zero range four hundred yards come left ten degrees mr gallon

fire one fire one

and debris on the surface well done out

on the night of march 18 our ship closed within 100 miles of the japanese empire

in the ready room the squadron commander was briefing his pilots on the job waiting for them

the following morning their main mission was to destroy any combatant ships in kobe harbor

and the happiest man among them was my young friend from pensacola anson kelly who had been

reinstated tomorrow's the day we've been waiting for and you guys will really have

something to cut your teeth on and while we're at it let's give tokyo rose something to really talk

about the enemy expects us and he'll throw everything at us but the geesha girls okay

aircraft assignments on the board let's go hit the pads we're going to need all the rest we can get

during the night of the 18th there was no arrest for those whose battle stations were in combat

information center unidentified aircraft appeared on the radar screen constantly

we were so close to japan now and our force was so large that we had been accurately spotted by the

enemy any second we could be blown to pieces hey squawk i wonder what's going on up there

chapstick looking first you can depend on that as we steam nearer to our enemy's homeland

through dangerous waters with enemy planes searching for and making attacks

on different units of our force the night was one of continuous alarms

so

me too the following morning we were less than 40 miles off the coast of japan at approximately

6 45 we had already launched several groups of fighters and farmers to attack the coast

and we're continuing to launch them all the time breakfast have been piped on and men not on their

battle stations are on their way to the mess hall all right boys keep the line movement get your

child get my top side in a hurry we got work to do all right skinhead get down a hatch the boys

wait for their coffee speaking of coffee i could use a cup myself excuse me mister go ahead move

there were 40 planes on the flight deck of 35 on the hangar deck all gassed and

ready to go they were being launched and catapulted from the ship as fast as possible

keep moving boys step lively lively now

and you know what i like about sea duty what nothing

how does it feel to be flying again pete great

i uh heard some scattered about you you're going to see the captain

who me i would dare go see the captain i couldn't even get past walkowski hey patty yeah remember

the little pancake i know in san francisco wow buckwheat yeah yeah that's the one oh yeah

she was tooth timing she already had a boyfriend a marine okay how'd you find out the guy wrote me

a letter about it he was kind of indignant that marines they got no sense of you yeah

cbs message from hancock captain hancock reports bogey 350 degrees relevant distance 15 miles

captain combat information center reports radar screen shows no sign of reported buggy

ahead

unidentified aircraft on ford beam

i can't

hit

all right

are you all right captain yeah

fire

so how i can't touch it

captain says the compartments directly below are on fire the magazines are

late let's go any minute get all the evidence out of there

come on everybody

go ahead

we're trapped yeah we ain't giving up they haven't forgotten about this top side

if we don't get out of here some of these kids are going nuts

that magazine goes it'll blow the bottom out of the ship tell him to flood it if he has to use

buckets get those men out of the number three five inch mouth

the ammunition locker what about it the fire that lock is not more than 150 feet

away if that goes we're done for quiet some of these kids are ready to crack

i gotta get out of here i don't want to die i don't want to die

somebody somebody i gotta let me out of here easy son easy they haven't forgotten about us

sure wish the chaplain was here what for well i could say a few words

but why don't you pray i am praying i mean out loud me yeah i think it'll help the guys

all right fellas we need help fellas

what i mean is i i guess it's up to god

and i hate kitten when i say i sure hope he knows how we feel about this

i ain't much on this praying business when you're scared the

first thing you do is start trying to square things

but all i'm asking is that maybe he'll figure we've done the best we can and let's go with that

we didn't have to get in this spot so maybe he'll give us a break

maybe he'll take a chance on us figuring that we'll all try to do better

i guess this is a funny kind of prayer to you guys but

it's what i'm thinking

elevator

hey father what about the kids in the mess hall it looks bad they're trapped by fire on both sides

they'll get you in a hurry they'll suffocate the mess hall that's easy

hey jordan where are you going see you later father

chris jordan in his previous efforts to hide out of the ship

had many times used the ventilator shaft led to the mess hall

now for the first time he wasn't using his quick thinking for selfish reasons

uh

so

uh

hey it's chris how do you get here

i'm gonna take you top side through the ventilator trunks now look we gotta climb

and crawl in the dark so stay in contact with each other don't lose your heads and don't crowd

now follow me one at a time when did you start giving orders okay guys you heard what he said

don't crowd keep in contact and follow him one at a time let's go kid let's go

so

that's the way i came in we're gonna go someplace

all right come on you guys let's get going and quick we'll run through that hatch wait

a minute that's the ammunition locker sorry we gotta take that chance let's go

all right come on take it easy

easy

make it snappy um

come on let's get out of here

hey look there's our chance for transfer let's transfer aboard the cruiser they'll

abandon this bucket we're not going to abandon her you're married to her you don't get your

way because somebody sets her fire now stop being juvenile get some sense in your head

emergency crews worked all night to put out fires which kept breaking out

one after another there was no arrest for anyone

cbs calling captain from the

flagship dixie this is olympic over

olympic this is dixie over how are you making off

we have everything under control we can just keep these fires down

thanks for the air cover admiral most of them are your own pilots flying from other carriers

we have two boilers lighted by morning we expect to proceed under our own power

destroyers will run antisept patrols through the night and screen you tomorrow roger

you can only keep our next till morning one more bomb or torpedo might send us to the bottom

the next day our ship was barely afloat the enemy bombs had wreaked havoc everywhere

and it was a question whether we'd be able to make it back to you litty or not

how we doing captain not bad we got the rest of the boilers lighted during the night we're making

14 knots quarterly cup of coffee for the commander hi sir the galley's in pretty bad shape i managed

to dig up some sandwiches can i get you some no thanks coffee is all i want never tasted better

well we're still afloat yeah pick up speed during the day and the jab aircraft don't spot us

we ought to make you lithie by tomorrow morning

unidentified aircraft on port beam

hold it when he gets close

[ __ ] stand back stand back you guys haven't you ever seen a dead man before

i ain't dead you dumb church carmen

carmen bring a stretcher over here hurry up take it easy with him now easy free up you guys

easy with him remember he's not as young as he used to be

where do i get on my feet again i'll show you

on the morning of march 24th by the grace of god we limp back into the fleet anchorage

by all the rules of the game she should be at the bottom of the sea

here the job of cleaning up began we had a crippled ship but after two

tries the enemy had still not been able to make a ghost ship out of it

what about the man who died here father i wonder if they resent my being alive

if they feel somehow i let them down i don't think so

how can i plead my case to a jury of dead men there's no common language

they know captain they know

i suppose when we get home they'll have a band to meet us

no band will ever play loud enough for those poor kids that missed muster this morning

we were not out of danger yet however we still had to take the ship back to the

brooklyn navy yard 12 000 miles away the job seemed almost insurmountable

we had only 700 men out of the original 3 000 with whom to take the ship safely

home and there was the possibility every inch of the way of attack by plane or by submarine

men now had more than home on their minds they had prayers on their lips on the way to hawaii

we held a memorial service for those who had given their lives our shipmates our friends after we had

honored the dead we decorated some of the living jordan olsen's made first class front and center

jordan i've heard a lot about you the last few days you're out of uniform take off that way then

try this one on for size congratulations chief thank you sir

hey chris that's a nice looking hat thanks buck i still owe you one when i get back on

my feet i'm gonna pull it down over your ears oh take it easy pop pop

take me back to sick bay i just had a relapse he's having one already as we cited pearl harbor

one thought was uppermost in our minds six thousand more miles to go

the possibility of enemy attack was still imminent we were kept on the alert day of night

home was only 1500 miles in a few days away as we steamed through the panama canal

every minute was bringing us closer and closer to our loved ones our country slowly our war-weary

ship made its way up the atlantic coast to new york harbor the five days seemed endless

the statue of liberty had never looked so young and beautiful as on that day

she stood for everything we'd fought for everything we'd hoped for and none of us

would ever forget our captain whose courage had proved worthy of the ship and worthy of our trust

what was left of our band would express better than words what was in all our hearts

so

you