Original subtitles

[military march]

I have a nice load of ladies for you this morning.

Them city dick turd packing hookey motherfuckers have drafted...

my main man away. They'll send you off to kill Chinks.

Who's gonna take care of the vineyards for me on the street?

Look son, I don't care what you mother says.

You're doing the right thing by joining up now. Get the service out of the way.

You're fighting a real war over there, boy. It's not like your make up stories.

You're always bragging about how you ran off and joined up.

It's good enough for you.

- Vinnie... - Come on, Jill.

Vinnie, I've got work to do.

You've got work to do? What am I, going to a picnic?

Hey, where you going?

Excuse me, Inspector. You think J. Edgar Hoover would fire you?

Well, the cuffs have got to stay on.

Bets, about last night, I...

Well, I just... I want you to know...

Don't worry, Billy. I wanted to.

It'll make me feel closer while you're away.

Well, take care of your ass, nigger.

Take care.

You take care of yourself, you hear.

You relax, just relax.

I'll get out of this. I'll kiss the sergeant or something.

Hey, peace, man. Make love, not war, man.

[ALVIN]: August 27, 1967. We took the oath this morning.

Tyrone Washington, Chicago, Illinois.

Billy Ray Pike, Galveston, Texas.

Me, Alvin Foster, Emporia, Kansas.

Vinnie Fazio, Brooklyn, New York.

Dave Bisbee, Seattle, Washington.

And a bunch of other guys from all over the country.

I decided to keep a journal...

and write about our experiences in the Marine Corps.

Maybe I can get it published some day.

That is if anybody even wants to read about what happens...

to a bunch of guys they're gonna send to Vietnam.

- Hey, look at them guys march. - What?

Hey, you think we're gonna get machine guns?

I don't know. What do I look like, an information booth over here?

- Just guys are marching. - Hey, my name's Alvin.

Hey, Alvin, I'm Vinnie. Vinnie Fazio.

- Pleased to meet you. - Nice to know you.

- Hey? - What?

- You ever shot a machine gun? - Have I ever shot a machine gun?

- Yeah. - I'm from Brooklyn.

- We play ball on the streets, you know. - You play baseball?

Yeah.

All right, you people, listen up.

You are now at the US Marine Corps recruit depot San Diego, California.

When you left home, you were under your mother's care, you are now...

under mine. From now on, you will not eat, sleep, blow your nose...

or scratch your ass until someone tells you to do so.

I am going to give you approximately 30 seconds to fall out of this bus...

and god help the last man off because you better give your soul to god...

because your ass is mine. Do you understand?

- Yes! - I can't hear you.

Yes!

Are you a bunch of old ladies? I still can't hear you.

- Yes, sir! - Move!

Move. Get out. Get out.

You get out of the bus right now.

[continuous shouts and yelling]

God dammit!

What the fuck has the goddamn recruiters given me now?

Holy shit!

I've never seen a bunch fucking walking garbage heap in my life.

You look like a bunch of sorry son of a bitches if I ever saw them!

Mister, you got something tickling up your ass?

What the fuck are you bouncing up and down at rest for?

What are you looking at, Hollywood? Straight eyes.

I don't owe you no money.

Man, we got Jesus Christ with us today.

What are you looking at? You should be looking at your father...

God, not me.

Do you find something funny? Get on fucking knees...

and you be his disciple.

You freaking... You find again something funny, huh?

Listen, man...

- Listen, man? - I don't want any hassles.

I mean, I like you. I like you.

I ain't gonna give you no hassle, I like you too.

- Okay. - Maybe you love me?

- Yeah, I love you. I love everybody. - Very good.

I love you, too. Maybe one day we'll get married.

If you don't get your shit together, you ain't even have to worry...

about getting engaged!

Okay? What?!

- All right, sir! - Thank you very much!

You find something funny?

- Did you eat shit this morning? - No, sir.

Then why the fucking shit eating grin? What do you mean?

Don't even start to explain yourself. You're a bad fucking excuse.

Get up on your goddamn feet, you shit head!

Come on, snap to!

Hollywood, what are you looking at?

Take off those goddamn glasses before I yank them off you.

Hey, god dammit. You, with the fucking pretty face.

What are you spitting on the ground for?

- What is that shit in your mouth? - Chewing tobacco, sir.

- it's what?! - Chewing tobacco, sir!

What the hell are you doing, chewing tobacco in your mouth?

I don't know sir. I chew when I play baseball.

Do you think this looks like a baseball stadium?

- No sir, it doesn't. - Then what the hell...

are you chewing tobacco for? You got on the wrong fucking train?

- Or did they draft you? - No, sir. I enlisted, sir.

- You did what?! - I enlisted in the marines, sir.

What the hell did you do a thing like that for?!

- Answer me, god dammit! - I wanna be a marine, sir.

What the hell for?

- So I can fight for my country, sir. - You fucking turd!

Right now I can't stand to look at you.

Sergeant, get this shit out of my fucking face.

I'm Sgt. Loyce.

I'm your drill instructor for the next two fucking months, maggots.

Jesus. How in the hell do they expect me to train fucking marines...

when they won't even send me human goddamn beings to start with!

Sergeant, get these fucking people through receiving barracks.

I'm gonna help you out. I don't wanna drop any of their fucking civilian...

slime on the way through. Jesus!

When you are told to do so, you will reach down by your right foot...

...pick up your bags, empty the contents on the table in front of you.

You will empty your pockets and place the contents of your pockets...

on the table in front of you.

Do it, now!

What do you got in your back pocket?

- A diary. - Contraband, get rid of it!

What do you got in your pocket? All right, Technicolor rubber.

- I bet you're a virgin, aren't you? - I lost it when I was 13.

- What? - I lost it when I was 13, sir!

Contraband, get rid of it.

- What's in the plastic there, private? - Cookies from my girlfriend, sir.

Bullshit, contraband, put it on the table.

Oh, what do we have here? A little faggot, huh?

Get your jewelry off there, sweetheart, and put it on the table.

What do you have in your pocket there, lipstick?

Jesus. Put the goddamn thing on the table!

You will answer the following questions.

Have you ever had any sexual act with another man?

With an animal? Do you wet your bed?

Do you like to wear women's clothing? How often do you masturbate?

- Where's your belt, private? - What?

- Where's your belt? - Well, I don't know. Where's his?

I'm asking you private. Where's your belt?

I must have left it in my bed.

You get your belt and you better report back to me when you're through.

- You understand? - Okay.

- You get your belt too. - Yes, sir.

Unhook.

Move it out, guys. Get out there.

Move it out. Move it out.

Go, go, go, go.

Asshole! Get up there.

Move it up to the private in front of you in file.

Platoon 163 here. First five privates, get on the chair.

Move it up. Hurry! We don't have all day, private.

Move it up. Hold it up there, little man.

[electric clipper buzzing]

[buzzing stops]

Get out of here. Move.

Move it up. We're late.

We don't have all day, ladies. Anytime, anytime.

Move it up. Next five. Next five.

Come on up, quickly!

Get in here. Get in there, Jesus.

I want you to do a special job on Jesus for me there, huh.

Very nice. Yeah.

Do Jesus real good there for me. I want to see Jesus' bald head.

Huh, Jesus? Huh?

Very cute.

Sexy.

Very nice.

Cute.

Try to stay in step with the private in front of you.

Keep your head always up.

Move it up. Get in there.

Move. Move. Move.

All right, you maggots. Listen up.

We're gonna say your Marine Corps prayer.

You will repeat after me.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...

I will fear no evil...

for I am the biggest, baddest, meanest motherfucker in the valley.

For I am the biggest, baddest meanest motherfucker in the valley.

When I tell you to prepare to mount you will say "Prepare to mount" after me.

You're will say "Aye, aye, sir."

Then you will do it as I give you the command.

- Prepare to mount. - Prepare to mount, aye, aye, sir.

Do it.

At attention worms. At attention.

You will repeat after me.

- Gung ho. - Gung ho.

- Louder! - Gung ho!

- Gung ho. - Gung ho.

- Good night, Chesty, wherever you are. - Good night, Chesty, wherever you are.

Revelry you at 0430.

You boneheads go to sleep.

Who the fuck is Chesty?

[laughter]

Who's gung ho?

[more laughter]

Hey, what do you think, we're gonna get to shoot tomorrow?

Oh, great, they got bizzaro over there, one of those gung ho types.

Hey, what the hell is that?

It's the only paper I could find to write on.

Oh, yeah?

Tell me, what are you writing, a note to your asshole?

- No, it's sort of like a journal, sort of. - Oh, a journal, huh?

Why don't you write in your notebook or something like that?

You saw them, they took my notebook.

They did?

What's that under your pillow then, Swiss cheese? What?

- Hey, that's it. - Hey...

This is mine. This is my notebook.

That's right.

- Hey, how'd you get it? - I don't reveal my sources.

I didn't register because I figured if they got you, they got you.

If they don't, they don't.

Well, they got me.

I guess that's my karma coming out the Marines.

Shoot

I knew the Army could draft you, but did you know the Marines can draft you?

The guy at the recruiting office told me that if I can prove myself as a writer...

he could get me assigned to public information in the Marines.

- Oh, yeah? - Right.

So I can write about all the stuff we do around here. And then...

if we get sent to Vietnam I can get into combat information...

...write about the war.

- Combat? - Yeah.

- You wanna get into combat? - I'm gonna write about it.

What, are you kidding me? Listen, I'll tell you something.

The only thing I wanna get into is how I'm gonna get the hell out of here.

And Vinnie Fazio is gonna get his ass out of here.

- Out of boot camp? - Yeah, out of boot camp.

- Good luck. - Good luck?

Hey, listen.

You gotta know the angles.

I've seen a golf range on the base on the way in.

All the hoi polloi use the golf range.

All you gotta do is move in, get with the people that can help you.

That's what I'm talking about.

Well, you're gonna have to do it without me.

I'm not going. I'm getting out of here.

- I'm not killing anybody. - Hey...

What's the matter with you, you chicken?

Shit.

Pussy.

Hey, what are you doing, son?

And what are you doing, son?

You're gonna get warts, boy?

Hey, stop shouting, you jerk!

Jerkin' himself off!

Give me back my blanket.

Shut up!

You listen to me dip shit. And I ain't gonna repeat myself.

Don't mess with me.

Don't mess near me.

Don't bring no heat down on me.

You're all headed for a fall and I ain't taking the ride. Do you dig?

You just stay clear of Tyrone.

Because your all a bunch of fuck ups.

And you're all gonna die.

Every last one of you.

You too, dipshit.

Platoon 163.

Sir, Platoon 163. Aye, aye sir.

Get on the road.

Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go!

Hurry up. Quickly, quickly, quickly.

What are you doing on my grass, private, huh?!

Move, move, move.

You wanna rest on that grass? Get in line!

Move it down. Move it down.

Oh, what do we have here?

Nice fucking move sweetheart.

When we come out of the village we're fully dressed, you understand me?

Do I make myself clear?!

Oh, Christ, my nuts!

- Do you like your nuts? - Let go, man, what are you doing?!

You don't talk to me like that.

- Do you like your nuts? - Yeah.

- You want some? - Shit, yeah.

- Do you wanna keep them? - Yeah.

All of you son of a bitches, grab your fucking nuts.

Right now, grab your nuts!

You too, you freak.

All of you guys grab your nuts.

- Grab your fucking nuts. - Get a hold of them.

- Do you like them? - Yes, sir.

- Do they feel good to you? - Yes, sir.

If you fucking guys wanna keep them son of a bitches...

...you better listen to your drill instructors.

I'm trying to help you keep them.

- Is that clear? - Yes, sir.

Do you think your girlfriends is gonna love it if you come back without them?

No, sir.

If you come back without your balls they're gonna find another guy.

Did you understand what I'm saying to you?

Yes, sir!

I've got eight weeks to train you...

to think, to act, to be one.

I'll have to make you depend on each other.

I have to make you a fighting Marines unit.

Look around you. You like the man next to you?

You think he's a nigger or that one's a Jew or that one's a spik!

I don't care.

That motherfucker is gonna save your life one day!

And you better depend on you buddy. And you're buddy's buddy.

- You understand what I'm saying to you? - Yes, sir.

Sergeant!

Explain your two tours to these people...

and clean this shit off the fucking street.

I spent 26 months in Vietnam.

And I can tell you right goddamn now, privates...

if you don't pay attention to what's happening here in the recruit training...

and learn, you're gonna come back from Vietnam in a goddamn plastic body bag.

Right now the casualty rate for young Marines is over 50 percent.

If you don't pay attention, you are gonna be that private in the body bag.

September 1, 1967.

We can't seem to do anything right.

In fact, half of us don't even know our right from our left.

Sgt. Loyce says if Uncle Sam is counting on our platoon...

to win the war for him, he's betting on the wrong side.

Without my rifle I am useless.

[gunshots]

Undoubtedly, you people have set some kind of a new record today.

You have fucked over these weapons so goddamn bad...

they'll probably never fire again!

Let's move.

Oh, come on, baby, pull that out. Get out of here!

Peace!

Kill, kill, kill!

Come on, Alvin. Protect yourself, Alvin.

Alvin, get up, get up.

- Come on man, get up now. - Come on Alvin, get up.

Protect yourself!

Come on Alvin, get up. Protect yourself.

- Pop it! - Hey, man!

Why'd you get on my foot, boy?

All right, move it up. Quickly. Quickly.

Jesus, get your ass back there. Go over that goddamn bar.

Let see a little goddamn teamwork. Quickly!

God damn it, you're in combat!

AK-47s are firing over your head.

They'll tear your asshole the size of a goddamn basketball.

Move it up. Get over there. Get over there.

- How's my time, sir? - Good work, but you lost, dummy.

You left the half of your goddamn platoon behind the enemy lines!

Come on, get moving. Don't wait.

Don't you wait for him. Shit!

Faster private!

God damn it, Washington, you just put two private's on a trip wire.

You just wiped out everybody in a 50 meter radius, you dummy.

You wiped me out!

Go!

[splash]

God damn it, teamwork.

You're all dead!

Get in the fucking water. Get in the water.

Get in the fucking water.

You're all dead.

Get over there Washington, quickly.

You're dead!

The VC just heard you and you're dead!

And you can thank that man.

Washington, you're instructors have been telling you for weeks...

...to pull together, pull together. But he let you get wiped out.

That's all it takes, one fuck up.

You look like shit.

So I'm going to give you a shit detail that will help you pull together.

Let's get this goddamn aircraft loaded. Let's get this aircraft loaded.

Get them moving.

Hey, Billy Ray Pike.

Billy the Vile.

Damn, you ain't Smoke Spaulding, are you?

In the flesh, bro, in the flesh.

You know, I got me a nice soft desk job here.

I'm the company clerk. You know, I thought that was your name I saw...

- on that telegram I got the other day. - What telegram?

Your D.l.'s got it, man.

Betsy's up at Ocean side, and the Marines...

- Wait man, Betsy's here? - What a hole in the wall!

- Full of sailors. - Shit man. She might need me bad.

Hey man, you gotta... Can I get to see her?

- Can you give me a pass? - Hold your horses.

Don't get your balls in an uproar. Look...

I gotta take some stuff op tomorrow and I'm gonna a private to help me...

[gunshots]

Goddamn shit.

Oh, my god! Christ Almighty!

Shit! God, no!

- Who's in charge here? - The Lieutenant, sir.

The Lieutenant. Is that your Lieutenant?

Leave me. Leave me. Get away.

- Are you all right? - Alvin...

- What the hell. - I'm okay, nothing happened.

Damn bastards. Just trying to make fools of us.

I knew they were just trying to scare us.

They did a good job on you, Billy Ray. You almost pissed in your pants.

Bullshit.

Good afternoon, Lieutenant. What seems to be going on here?

Well, sir, it looks like we just wiped out your entire platoon here.

We got an airplane and two trucks beside.

Now, sir, I'm afraid there has been mistake.

These people die at my command.

Excuse me, you gentlemen are all dead. Will you please lie down?

I'm their drill instructor. This a recruit platoon...

Are you all right?

All right? Hey, I knew they were blanks the whole time.

El Toro called up and they said they had an emergency shipment...

...that had to go to Vietnam. I volunteered my privates...

to come up here and now they are involved in some kind...

- of a silly ass war game. - Excuse me, sir.

This is not a game.

This is an advance combat tactical exercise and these men are all dead.

Now, lay down, that's an order!

Come here, Lieutenant. May I have a word with you?

You're dead. You're dead. Get down.

Get down!

What is all this stuff anyway?

- HQ111 Marine Air Force, Da Nang. - RVN. What's RVN?

Republic of Vietnam.

This stuff is going to Vietnam, Alvin. What is this?

Ouch!

What the hell is this?

I don't know.

Hey, Fazio.

- Foster, what is this stuff? - We don't know.

I think it's a giant rubber.

Put it over your head, Pike, you're a big prick.

Shit.

Hey, look here, man. Looks like an airbag or something.

I don't think so.

Hey, I got it, you sleep in it.

It's a lightweight, sleeping bag. Look at this!

Hey, look at this. It's for sleeping, man.

I can sleep all night in this thing.

Hey, Billy...

Billy, if you fall asleep in that, you won't wake up.

It says it's a body bag.

What's a body bag?

What's a body bag? That's what they ship the stiffs in.

Damn, the zipper is stuck.

Get me out of here. Get me out!

- Come on. Come on. - Come on, take it easy.

Hey, Alvin, are you still writing about that creepy shit?

Listen, I'm gonna show this to the public information officer.

This is a story I can really say something about.

I mean, the way they stick somebody in one of those bags...

...seal it up and send it off?

It's like a neat little convenient package.

And nobody even thinks about what's inside.

Yeah?

Nobody ever looks inside.

Alvin, Alvin, look at this.

This is that driving range I was telling you about. Look at this.

And look, look at the full bird colonel out there.

And look at the legs on the chick his playing with.

Well, I'm gonna be that guy's Caddie. I'm not fooling around here, no more.

- Hey, Vinnie, no, no... - Hey, hey, listen...

You only got one shot, right?

I mean, it's not like you got forever, you know what I mean?

- Yeah, I know what you mean. - Okay, see you.

Take it easy, man.

Stupid motherfucker.

What else can we do?

You know...

You see...

I heard about, you know, down in Tijuana...

they got real doctors. They ain't like it as here.

You're allowed to...

You know. I mean...

- I can get the money. - I have the money.

It's just ain't the right time now.

It's just not the right time.

You see?

I see.

Baby...

I gotta go.

Please don't leave yet.

Halt. Who goes there? Hey, you!

- [gunshots.] - Goddamn! Oh, Goddamn!

Jesus!

You son of a bitch, you didn't have to shoot me.

Well, you scared the shit out of me, asshole.

Goddamn!

Sir, here are the agents of Hanoi who have come to fuck the Marine Corps, sir.

Which one is the Dago, Fazio?

Ain't he the cute one?

It says here, he was trying to get his end in with the Colonel's daughter...

...out on the driving range.

Let me tell you this, private.

We'll take care of your overactive sex drive in here.

We got us a Foster, Alvin, apprehended by public information...

...for disseminating classified and subversive material.

- No, sir, that was... - Quiet, Billy Ray.

AWOL and resisting arrest.

Sir, private's wounded, sir.

Quit your whining you candy ass turd! You ain't got nothing but a scratch!

And you, what are you doing bleeding all over my floor?

Sir, this prisoner is by nature a filthy hippie.

He was trying to desert, but he was so high on marijuana...

that he tripped and fell into the barbed wire, sir.

That's a lie.

I'm sorry. That's a lie, sir.

Don't you wanna be n the Marine Corps, Private?

Don't you want to fight for your country?

Sir, the war in Vietnam is a purely, internal, civil war.

- Do you believe that crap? - Yes, I believe that.

You're all fucking communists. Sergeant...

Get this faggots out here. See if you can teach them how to walk around...

without falling down and hurting themselves all the time.

About face! Move out!

♫ Don't wanna fight ♫

♫ War is hell so we might as well Make love tonight ♫

♫ Oh, put down your gun Let's have some fun by the moonlight. ♫

Hey, there Jethro, what for they stick us in this outfit?

They got more niggers in this platoon than the Oakland fucking Raiders.

Sambo, why don't you get some of that whitewash on your black ass there?

Hey, boy, what you going inside for there, boy?

I thought the hot sun don't bother you.

[banging]

Sir, Private Washington requests permission to speak with...

- the drill instructor, sir. - Speak.

Sir, Private Washington requesting permission to enter the duty office, sir.

Enter.

Sit down.

You've met our four new replacements yet?

Their drill instructors call them the four fucking stooges.

Replacements? Man, I ain't no fool.

Those fucks won't last a week out there.

And anybody who's gotta depend on them is already dead meat.

I don't believe that.

But I'll tell you what, Washington. I respect your judge of character.

You think they're anymore fucked ups in the rest of the shit we got in this...

- goddamn platoon? - No, shit.

Why don't you just march the whole fucking platoon right here...

blow their damn brains out right here...

cause you're gonna end up killing all of us.

I'm not the goddamn one, Washington, that's killing these people.

It's you, asshole. You're the one!

- Not me. - That's bullshit. That's Bullshit.

That's bullshit!

Let me tell you something, Washington.

I've got one hell of a shitty goddamn job here.

They send me 60 to 80 buckets of civilian shit...

and expect me to train them to become combat-goddamn-ready marines.

I've got to send these people to Vietnam.

I'm the one that has to send them.

They're gonna come back in bags.

They're gonna come back in wheelchairs.

They're gonna be maimed.

They're gonna be fucked up people when they come back.

It's up to me how they come back.

And you, asshole, Washington, you're not motivated.

You're not motivated at all. You can fucking help me.

But no, hell no.

You've got your goddamn head up your ass all the time.

You're playing your own silly ass goddamn game.

But I tell you one thing, hippie, you're gonna start playing my game...

or you're gonna find yourself in combat in Vietnam...

and you're gonna have Charlie shooting at you from the front...

and the four Stooges are gonna be shooting at you from the rear.

Sir, are you talking to me man to man?

Yeah, I'm talking to you, man to man.

Then will you remove your hat, sir so I could face you eye to eye.

I don't mind at all, Washington, if it's gonna help you out.

Okay, sir, what do you want me to do, huh?

I mean, what the fuck do you want me to do, man?

You want me to... You want me to be a good nigger...

so you can march those boys out of the brig, is that it?

No, Washington, I don't want... Goddamn, I don't want a good nigger!

I want a goddamn man that's out there pushing these people.

Somebody they can trust, somebody that they know is trying to help them.

I want somebody that they can count on in Vietnam.

I don't want them to be afraid to fall down...

because they know somebody's behind them to pick them up

and stand them back up on their goddamn feet.

I got eight fucking weeks to teach these goddamn people...

what it took you to 20 years to learn on the streets.

Now, you show me that kind of a goddamn nigger...

and I'll give you a platoon that will stand by you.

A platoon that will save your ass in combat, Washington.

And they will save their own asses, too.

Teamwork, goddamn it. Teamwork.

Yes, sir.

Sir...

Can you get them back?

Yeah, I can get them back. But I'll you one fucking thing right now, hippie.

You start this lone wolf shit again on me...

and I'll stick you with a maggoty ass bunch of goddamn shit...

you've ever seen in your life. You are bound to get fucking killed...

in the first week in Vietnam.

Get them back.

- I got your goddamn word? - You got my goddamn word.

All right.

Go out there and get rid of that...

Those four fucking scumbags. Send them beck where the fuck they came from...

and I'll go down to the brig and I'll pull some strings...

- and I'll get our people back. - Thank you. Sir.

You don't have to thank me.

Oh, shit.

Hey, boys, here comes our pickaninny friend again.

What's the matter boy, they quit giving away fried chicken in there?

Excuse me sir, but do you mind moving your asshole downwind of me?

- You said what? - Oh, I'm sorry, that's your mouth.

I didn't see the teeth. Hey man, anybody could have made a mistake.

[multiple kicks and painful yells]

[cheering and laughter]

October 7, 1967.

Now we can't seem to do anything wrong.

We're good and we know it.

We're the biggest, baddest, meanest mothers in the valley.

I still don't know if we can win the war single-handed.

But I feel sorry for anyone who gets in our way.

Harch!

Rifle salute.

Harch!

Arms at ease!

Perfect. Perfect. Outstanding, girls.

Haarch!

Hold on in front, you're running away.

[calling cadence]

Settle down.

[calling cadence]

♫ Who are those recruits I see? ♫

♫ We're Platoon 1613! ♫

♫ Why you got them funny walk? ♫

♫ Navy nurses suck our... ♫

♫ -Sound off. -1-2. ♫

♫ -Sound off. -3-4. ♫

♫ Sound off. ♫

♫ 1-2-3-4. 1-2, 3-4! ♫

♫ I'm the sergeant, Loyce's my name. ♫

♫ Took this job 'coz he's insane. ♫

♫ Sergeant's stripes they give me class. ♫

♫ He just likes to kick our ass. ♫

Washington, you're letting me down. What we talked about the other day?

♫ -3- 4. -Sound off. ♫

♫ 1-2-3-4. 1-2, 3-4! ♫

♫ He's the sergeant, Loyce's his name. ♫

♫ Took the job 'coz he's insane. ♫

♫ Sergeant's stripes they give him class. ♫

♫ He just likes to kick our ass. ♫

♫ -Sound off. -1-2. ♫

♫ -Sound off. -3-4. ♫

♫ Sound off. ♫

♫ 1-2-3-4. 1-2, 3-4! ♫

♫ Get your hands out off your shorts. ♫

♫ Sergeant says it gives you wart. ♫

♫ Clean your rifles, clean of sand. ♫

♫ Graduation day's at hand. ♫

♫ -Sound off. -1- 2. ♫

♫ -Sound off. -3-4. ♫

♫ Sound off. ♫

♫ 1-2-3-4. 1-2... ♫

♫ 3-4! ♫

You are now a marine.

I am proud to be the first to call you marines.

[jet plane whooshes over]

At 1400 hours you will receive your orders...

assigning you to advance training.

Due to an urgent demand for additional Marine manpower...

by the Navy's Mediterranean fleet...

only half this series will be assigned to combat duty in Vietnam.

The other half will receive orders for sea duty.

Drill instructors take charge and dismiss your platoon.

Attention.

- Platoon 163 dismissed. - [March music in.]

Platoon 163 dismissed! Aye, aye, sir!

[cheering]

- What's the matter? - Oh, nothing.

Come on. You got a 50-50 chance to go on a sea duty.

What are you talking about? Buford's been looking at me the same way...

he looked when he found out I was trying to hump his daughters.

I wound up in the brig, right? I'll only wind up in Vietnam.

No, no, no, listen. He can't change orders, they're already written.

Honest, listen.

In two weeks, you'll be in a beach somewhere in Italy, take my word.

God, sea duty. I got to get it.

All right, man. Well, just think good thoughts. Think good karma...

and you will get it man, sea duty. Sea duty, think sea duty, you know.

- Sea duty, sea duty, sea duty. - Spaulding, man, he could swing it.

Yeah, you say things are dry on the street.

Hey, man, well, before you know, traffics gonna start to flow.

It will be coming in on a C-130 and Uncle Sam is paying the postage.

Is it safe?!

Spoon, it's air-tight and waterproof.

With Marine guards and a band to boot.

I love it.

All right.

You too, brother, easy.

All right, last two people for sea duty.

Daugherty M.

Fazio V.

You did it! That's it!

What's the matter, garlic breath, you don't like boat?

- You get seasick? - Oh no, I love boats. I love boats!

Boats, the Mediterranean Alvin!

Sorry, Sir, but we got a change of orders.

- Private Vincent Fazio... - Fazio, that's me.

-I'm out of here man. Signed by Colonel Buford...

- a new friend of yours. - Buford?

Don't be getting your nut off yet, private. Get back in formation.

You are now an O-300. Col. Buford doesn't like people...

to come around and get a little pussy off of his daughters.

- What's O-300? - He just changed your orders.

- O-300, basic infantryman. - Does that mean Vietnam?

Yeah.

Goddamn right, it means Vietnam, numb nuts.

Goddamn it, O-300 is basic infantryman.

O-3 fucking hundred is the United States Marine corp.

Goddamn, bag of shit.

Now, I want you people over here to get in this truck over here.

We're going to Pendleton. And you, people, from here on over...

jump in the 6 by 8 it's by right here. Quickly, let's get it done.

Come on girls.

Washington, come here.

I just want you to know, Washington, I'm watching you.

You're under surveillance all the time. You fuck up in Vietnam...

somebody's gonna tell me. I swear to god...

I'll jump up on a goddamn troop transport...

and come over and straighten your ass out. Now, get in the fucking truck.

- Bye, girls. - Bye, Sergeant.

♫ I'm the sergeant, Loyce's my name. ♫

♫ Took the job 'coz he's insane. ♫

♫ Stars and stripe, they give me class. ♫

♫ He just like to kick our ass. ♫

♫ -Sound off. -1-2. ♫

♫ -Sound off. -3-4. ♫

♫ Sound off. ♫

♫ 1-2-3-4. 1-2, 3-4! ♫

♫ Sergeant Loyce don't give a damn. ♫

♫ Shipped our ass to Vietnam. ♫

♫ Good marines, they never die. ♫

♫ When they're shot, they never cry. ♫

♫ -Sound off. -1-2. ♫

♫ Sound off... ♫

January 4, 1968.

Vinnie finally got his boat ride.

And I finally have some time to catch up with my journal...

after three tough months of advanced training. The Marine Corp...

prepared us for everything except our new company commander.

It's easy to see what's in your minds as we steam for far-off angry shores.

So I'd like to share with you some figures that have come my way. Gunny?

From 1961 until this past summer 1967, only 13,000 Americans...

have died in combat in Vietnam. You, you step forward.

That means...

of the 110 men in C company, the chances are only two...

will die. I find that pretty reassuring. Thank you, men.

I have a theory as to why we aren't doing as well as we might in Vietnam.

Our thinking is shaped by the games we grow up with.

The VC don't play by our rules. They grew up with a game that demands...

constant movement and fluid shifting strategy.

Now while you're on the ship, you will all learn to play their game.

And, gentlemen, their game is soccer.

Soccer?

Kiss my ass.

All right, you catch up with the ball and kick it into the goal...

before it hits the white line. You ready? You got to run. Go!

Come on, Fazio. Go.

Lt. Archer, sir?

Sir, some of the men were talking about Captain Collins' theory.

And I was curious about what you think of it.

Well, Foster...

I... I think it's bullshit.

January 9, 1968.

Maybe Lt. Archer is right about the Captain 's theory...

on how soccer can help us beat the enemy. But at least, playing soccer...

keeps us from thinking about the Captain's other theory...

and wondering if he's right that only two guys in the company will die.

Anyways, he's get me keeping stats on the team...

but I'm using the time to write in this journal. Vinnie says...

if I play my cards right, this journal could prove my writing ability...

and get me a desk job, behind the lines, writing propaganda.

But what I wanna do, is get in to combat and write about the real thing.

I guess I won't have to wait much longer.

We're docking at Cam Ranh Bay, Republic of Vietnam.

Hello, you darlings.

Dave, how do you say "how much"?

[foreign language]

- She says 300 Piestas. - 300 Piestas? What am I, the bank?

- How much is 300 Piestas? - That's about three bucks.

Three bucks... to get laid?!

Hey!

That's what I'm talking about!

Come on, man.

[booing]

Keep your hands off my girl.

Hey, watch it.

You big asshole.

[explosion]

[Voice over PA]: General quarters. All hands man your battle stations.

Come on, come on, up.

Look out, we're the bad ass boys of Company C are coming to save you ass.

Go, go, go.

Move, move, move.

Come on, come on, come on.

Al! Al! I got the price down to two bucks.

[explosion]

What's the fuck is wrong with you? Get out of here now! Let's move!

- Wait. - Move!

Okay, I'm going. I'm going.

Goddamn it, come on!

Leave it, damn it!

Hurry! It's coming in here.

[explosion]

Captain, in here!

We've got to check on transportation.

Lieutenant, get them all there. I gotta check on the transportation.

Go on! In here, in here! Move, move, move!

Come, you guys, let's go. Move it, line up. Come on, move.

Move, line up!

Let's go, let's go.

Let's go, on the double!

[explosion]

Get your ass inside there!

Move!

- OK, go back. - Fazio, what the hell are doing?!

- I got it down to one buck. - Get the hell inside!

Move people move.

Pull in the rear. Attention!

Now, drop your duffle bags.

Drop your pants, this won't last a second.

I am going to have to insert this, take a little sample.

- It won't hurt. - OK, I speak English.

You've got cold hands, little lady.

- It's Lieutenant. - Sorry, Sir... Miss. Whatever.

What's the fuck's going on here?

With all due respect, sir, this is an army matter.

These people are under quarantine and will not be returned to the States...

until they've been checked and treated for VD.

We must consider the loved ones and wives back home.

That's absolute bullshit.

- People, please put on your trousers. - Sir, I said the right...

Sergeant! These people just got in the country five minutes ago!

They're United States Marines, not the goddamn army.

Men, the airbase is shut down by incoming rockets.

Looks like we're gonna be stranded here for a couple of days.

Now, there is a vital army convoy leaving for Long Khe in the morning.

General Dearborne up there is goddamn anxious to get it through safely...

and I volunteered Company C to ride shotgun.

We're gonna show that Army General what a few good Marines can do.

Get in bed early. We leave first thing in the morning.

What the hell are these nurses doing in here?

- You won't believe me if I told you sir. - Well get them out of here before...

somebody jumps them, for Chrissakes.

January 10, 1968.

The convoy staffed at dawn.

Before we left, this army major gave us a big speech...

on how vital and urgent it was to get the convoy through safely...

to General Dearborne up at Long Khe.

The country is beautiful, it's so quiet.

It's herd to believe there's a war going on.

- Do you play guitar? - Oh yeah, you kidding me?

- Here. - You do?

- Hold on, Fazio. - Hold my rifle for me.

I got it.

Come on, Tom, you and do me do some blues. Give me some of that...

West side Chicago stuff.

[blues music]

Well, you play like you've got some black in you.

- He does. - Come on, baby.

♫ Hey, streets of Chicago... ♫

♫ that gets cold at night... ♫

♫ We've learned some good things... ♫

♫ and it's good to learn to fly... ♫

The pause that refreshes.

While we were stopped, the Captain spotted some...

Vietnamese kicking a ball around here. That was all he needed.

Billy is really a hotshot. The Captain calls him twinkle toes...

and says with e star like Billy we could put together e greet team.

What good that would do us, nobody seems to know.

The Captain keeps getting lost.

But we 're not complaining.

And every time we stopped, someone tries to sell us something.

We're having a great time.

But I just keep wondering about those poor army guys sweating it out...

waiting for us up at Long Khe.

Get on that radio and get a recovery vehicle down.

And get this road clear on the double. Do it now.

I've got a working party. Get this thing cleared in a minute, skipper.

Don't touch anything at all. This whole goddamn place could be boobied.

We've got to get out of here.

Hey, Alvin, goddamn it! Put the camera away. Are you crazy?

I don't like it.

I don't like it at all, we're sitting ducks.

All right get back in here. We're moving out, back it up!

No, Captain, you're gonna bunch us up!

We can turn around in that clearing and let's get the fuck out of here.

- Go, go! - Keep your interval.

Do not bunch up. Keep your distance.

Back, back, back.

All right, people, get down and men the flanks.

Keep your distance, keep your distance.

Don't bunch up. Do not bunch up.

Keep your interval. You must keep your interval.

[explosion]

Dismount, people, get out of here.

Get the hell out of the way, damn it!

Dismount, people.

Keep your distance, people.

[machine gun fire]

Get on my shoulder man and you be cool here.

I'm gonna make a tourniquet for your leg. And you hold on to it...

you hold it tight, or you're gonna die!

[explosion]

I see him. You wanna fight?