Original subtitles

[♪♪♪]

[MUSIC PLAYING OVER RADIO, MAN SINGING INDISTINCTLY]

[WOMAN LAUGHING]

MAN: Hey, we finally got some real music for a change.

This guy's the greatest!

[WOMAN LAUGHS]

♪ Check the rear-view mirror ♪

♪ Everything Is getting nearer ♪

[MAN SINGING ALONG, INDISTINCT]

♪ I'm driving myself crazy I'm losing control ♪

♪ Looks like I'm headed down A rough and rocky road ♪

Hey, baby, yeah!

♪ Heartbreak highway Fast lane to the blues ♪

♪ Each turn I take Leads me back to you ♪

Freedom day, you'll be the one and the all, baby.

That's right. Go for what you know!

Whoo!

Whoo!

[SINGING AND LAUGHING]

♪ I can't see Through the lines ♪

♪ Truck stop hopping, baby ♪

♪ Last night took forever ♪

♪ Can't sleep ♪

♪ With the pain ♪

♪ I still see you with me Every time I lay down ♪

♪ That leaves A burning bridge ♪

♪ To turn my life around ♪

♪ Heartbreak highway Fast lane to the blues ♪

WOMAN: Oh, look out! Get out of the way!

Who was that jerk?

Looks like Decker!

Let's go get him.

[LAUGHING]

♪ Do ♪

Hey, halt, halt!

Stop!

Yeah, it's Decker again-- with a girl this time.

Go get him!

Hey! Come on!

♪ ...It's gotta be my heart ♪

♪ Heartbreak highway Fast lane to the blues ♪

♪ Each turn I take Leads me back to you ♪

[SHUTS OFF RADIO]

Hey, give me a break, will you, fellas?

I've got to make morning formation.

Listen, chaplain thought it might need a brake job...

Uh-huh.

I'm just road-testing the vehicle for him.

What's the matter,

you've got no sense of humor, huh, guys?

Hey, you hit the real jackpot, Decker.

Come on, now. No, I do nothing!

Get over here! Ow! Ow, you...

Hey, wait a minute, she didn't do nothing.

She's on the base on my invitation.

Yeah, right now we've got you

for theft of government property,

impersonating an officer...

and violation of pass restriction.

You're going to the stockade, Decker.

Ow, you're hurting me!

Leave me alone!

Oh, you're real bad.

I wonder how bad you'd be without a backup.

Check this dude out.

Enough, already.

Hey, let her go!

Leave her alone, man! Leave her alone!

All right, come on, you guys. Get on outta here.

You ain't got anything better to do with your lives? Come on.

Decker.

You know that guy, sarge?

Yeah, we used to be hip-pocket buddies

a long time ago.

You used to be friends with this guy

back in the world, sarge?

Now, come on.

Now, didn't I tell you all to get out of here?

What are you still doing here, huh?

You bought it this time.

Do you know who I am, dipstick?

It's your sergeant, boy.

I'm here to tell you to drop your fun,

grab your gun, it's time to be a soldier, son.

Anderson. What the hell are you doing here?

I come to get your butt out of jail, young sergeant.

I knew there had to be somebody pulling some strings.

Let me look at you. Three tours of duty,

they didn't put any holes in you yet, huh?

No, that's because I had myself a drill sergeant at AIT,

taught me how to duck my head, move my butt.

Yeah, you weren't exactly college material,

but I tried to overlook it.

That was a very foolish move you pulled

with the chaplain's jeep this morning, you know that?

Foolish move?

Let me tell you what. Rita Mae happens to be

the best little pro in Chu Lai.

I was counting beans all weekend,

and I had to see her. What else was I going to do?

Sign this.

What is it?

You're in my outfit now--

the U.S. God-bless-them-all

humpin' infantry, boy.

Let's move 'em out.

There are some promising rookies in there, LT.

I know, I checked over all the 201 files myself.

Sergeant Aubrey Decker.

Did you go over his file?

Now, see, I know that man personally.

I can vouch for him myself.

Yeah? What about this?

February '66, court-martial, misconduct.

Drunk on duty. That's good.

Insubordination.

Quartermaster battalion petroleum supply?

Sergeant, this guy's been pumping gas

for a year and a half.

Well, now, lieutenant, I'm not going to lie to you, now.

The man's made some mistakes,

and he's rubbed some people the wrong way.

I don't know what you owe this guy, sergeant.

LT, I don't owe the man anything.

It's just I'm convinced now

that he wants to put all this stuff behind him,

and if I'm right, LT, if I'm right,

we've glommed onto the best field leader

in our corps.

He'll work under you?

I'm convinced of it.

I want him to take Jensen's place as squad leader.

Will he follow orders?

LT, I can handle the man.

I don't intend to jeopardize the safety of the platoon.

We're moving out tomorrow.

We've gotta be at full strength.

Yes. Now go away.

SERGEANT: All right, come on, come on.

Let's go, go, go, go, go!

Move, move, move. Load 'em up!

You heard the man. Let's get the lead out!

All right, you heard the briefing.

Once we're off the chopper,

we're in Indian country the whole way.

No gunfire unless we're under attack.

No talking above a whisper.

I want light noise discipline strictly adhered to.

If I hear you breathing, you're wrong.

I don't even want to hear your damn boots squeak.

Any questions?

Hey, what's so important

about a damn radio station, anyhow?

This ain't exactly Wolfman Jack

we're going after, Baker.

Look, I missed briefing, all right?

I must have dozed off. What's going on?

It's a communications center, dummy.

A what?

It's like a radio relay site

for the entire North Vietnamese command.

Well, if it's a communications center,

why don't the Air Force just go in and blow it away?

They already tried.

Yeah, and Charlie's still signaling.

Yeah, well maybe it's dug in or something.

You know, that guy's one in a million, sarge.

He's got the finest military mind

in Orange County.

Don't be too hard on him, son.

How about you?

If any of us had our brain pan straight,

we'd all be a good 10,000 miles east of here.

Poke 'em if you've got 'em, guys.

[♪♪♪]

All right, people, let's move it out.

Aubrey, your squad takes the lead.

Who's the regular point man?

Matsuda.

I am, sarge.

Okay, you take every other shift till we get there.

Move out.

Move!

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

[♪♪♪]

What in the hell did you do that for?

[SIGHS]

Johnson, you were just about

skewered beef, huh?

Thanks, sarge.

Anytime you see something rigged up high

to make you look up, look down, fast.

Keep it moving, Johnson.

Keep it down, guys.

Well, Aubrey, it looks to me

like you've still got what it takes.

I ain't got squat.

Oh, come on, Aubrey,

what I just saw tells me that you--

What you saw was reflex. I ain't got nothing.

I not only don't have it...

I don't want it.

Geez, that would be an ugly way to die.

There ain't no pretty corpses, Baker,

especially when a man's as big and homely as you.

SOLDIER: Who's got a cigarette over here?

SOLDIER 2: Right here.

Hey, Johnson...

how are you going to make it up to Decker

for saving your life?

It's gonna be tough, let me tell you.

What do you think about Decker?

I don't know. He seems okay...

[LAUGHS]

As long as we don't let him

get behind the wheel of a Jeep.

There ain't no Jeeps out on this road.

You know, he's gotta be nuts.

Anybody with 18 years in

has gotta be missing some trolley wire.

They say the guy was a big deal in Korea.

I heard he enlisted when he was 15.

Fifteen?

Yeah, he lied about his age

just to get in.

Well, I'll tell you what, he's gotta be a survivor.

How else could you live on Army food for that long?

I heard that.

LIEUTENANT: All right, we're going to start climbing

in about an hour.

I figure we'll set up our night perimeter

right about there.

That puts about two hours behind schedule.

Decker, come here.

All right, Decker,

I want you to take Johnson

and scout the trail.

Come here.

Now, there's been a lot

of enemy activity reported right between

this point here and this long rise.

You see that?

So I want you to stay a hundred meters

in front of the platoon.

I want you to travel exactly one hour.

We're gonna give you a two-minute head start.

You got that?

All right, maintain absolute silence.

I don't want any unnecessary firing.

You got it.

Are you okay?

Yeah.

All right, specialist, move out.

[WHISTLES]

That's far enough.

We're only a minute ahead of the rest of them.

Relax, will you?

We'll start up again in another minute.

Okay, sarge, what you got in mind?

Nothing fancy.

I just don't believe in sticking my neck out

for no reason.

Why should we?

What do you mean?

Why should we?

Now, you know why.

The further forward we are,

the more time the guys have to react

in case we get ambushed.

Look, Johnson, you think we're going to win this war

if we're ahead another 50 yards, huh?

It don't make a damn bit of difference...

so why bother?

Relax.

[SIGHS]

Let's go.

I knew that ridgeway was mismapped.

We've still got

six or seven klicks to go.

Yeah, well let's just hope that border is marked right.

The communication center is supposed to be

right on the Laotian border.

All right, now, LT, it's 1420.

That means we've been walking

for about one hour straight.

Five minutes, pass it down.

Percell.

Sir.

I want you to move up,

check on the forward position.

Yes, sir.

No, wait. I'm gonna go with you.

I want to check on the train up ahead.

We'll both go, LT

Tell you what, Percell.

You stay here. You're in charge.

You get the men to take their five,

and then you keep 'em quiet.

Let's go.

Yeah.

Ain't life grand?

Why the hell aren't you further forward, sergeant?

Is that all the ground you can cover

with a two-minute head start?

The platoon must have been moving too fast,

Lieutenant.

I guess you gained ground on us.

Anderson, there's no point in having scouts

if they're only a few yards ahead of you.

Yes, sir.

I could do that with a stick.

Decker, Johnson...

get on back down the hill to the platoon.

Yeah, I'll be further forward,

where you men are supposed to be.

Well, we're in for a hell of a climb.

Yeah, you got that right.

Well, what is it with Decker?

Has he got slow feet or cold feet?

Hey, that man's not a coward, LT.

He's got a Silver Star and two Purple Hearts.

Yeah, well, maybe he's had a change of hear