Original subtitles

Right, left, right, left, right, left.

Left, right, left, right, left, right, left.

Right, left.

The Army trust a grunt

with rifles that fire 700 rounds a minute,

yet insist to use a ration card to buy items

that any American could find in any local drugstore...

Excuse me.

Family sick. Need... Need alcohol and bandage.

You buy in PX for me?

I'm sorry, what?

What's she so scared of?

Vietnamese aren't allowed to buy at the PX

unless they're real friendly with us.

It's a ration card.

Uh-huh.

Sergeant Jackson.

Well, it's not exactly a front-page story.

Well, why would a Vietnamese girl have it?

Can you find out something about Jackson for me?

She probably stole it.

Myron, please.

Just find out. This could be a story.

Well, it sounds like a long shot.

And what's so urgent about a ration card?

Because we just got a new bureau manager,

and since I'm the only woman here,

of course, I've gotta prove myself again.

You don't have to prove yourself.

You're an excellent writer.

Yeah, well, I know that.

But he wants productivity. He wants it quick and dirty.

Please?

All right, all right.

I will try and find out who Sergeant Frank C. Jackson is.

But dinner at the Officer's Club

says that a hooch maid probably took this

when she was doing his laundry.

It's not important.

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

You guys, left side.

All right.

Spread out. Spread out.

- We're clear. - Cover!

Cover!

This Sergeant Jackson must really rate

for them to be calling out the dogs like this.

I don't know. All they told me is

he's Special Forces' sole contact

with the village informant.

His CO wants us to find him, dead or alive.

Let's get it done.

All right.

Down, boy! Down!

Heel! Heel!

Put a muzzle on that sucker, will you?

Hey, hey, hey, come on.

You sure that dog's okay, Roselli?

He's more or less okay. Just stay clear.

Okay, there's the trail to Nang Ban ville.

Those woodchoppers just walked it.

They say no sign of Victor Charles.

Well, Sergeant Jackson was camped out here

for a reason, Ruiz.

And we ain't taking no trail.

No.

Taylor,

take point with Roselli.

Whoa. Your dog's a little nervous, huh?

After six straight months tracking wounded VC in combat?

Last blood trail we were on

led to a 750-pound bomb that killed four people.

No, we ain't nervous. We're just glad we could be here.

No shoot. Hold it right there!

Hold your fire! No shoot.

Hold your fire!

Hey, Sergeant, John Wayne.

Taylor!

Yo!

Get back here and check this kid out.

Ru...

Take your hat off.

Are you friend Sergeant Jackson?

Check under his shirt.

Turn around.

That's napalm.

F-4, American jet.

It says, "Made in Texas."

Jackson hat. Ten gallon.

What do you know about Jackson?

He camp that way. About 100 yard.

I number one deputy. I show the way.

We already know the way.

VC Injun watch for you. I take you around.

Special Forces guys make some strange friends.

Well, what do you think?

I'm thinking about the Indians.

We're gonna follow him, LT?

Real carefully.

All right, Percell, Moody, saddle up!

This girl was trying to buy PX supplies

with military money.

A hooch maid who knows her

thinks the VC are making her do it.

Charlie's desperate for anything that can be used for bandages,

antiseptic, even aspirin.

So what?

Where's the story?

She's Vietnamese.

So she has to get a GI to shop for her.

Her friend thinks she's gonna end up having to hustle GIs

at the Chitchat Club for this.

A prostitute.

I think it's an important story

on how the people we're supposed to be defending are victimized.

Forget them! That sob-sister junk is strictly a sideshow.

Concentrate on that, uh, Special Forces guy, Jackson.

Find out the inside scoop on Jackson

from that Lieutenant Goldman you've been shacking up with.

What was he doing? Where? When? Why?

Blood and guts. Catch?

Catch.

Security out.

All right, Roselli, check out the path.

Taylor, you go with him.

What're you doing with all this stuff?

Hey, John Wayne.

Sergeant Jackson out hunt VC Injun.

He come back later.

You know that?

Me the number one deputy, the kid.

LT, trail's about 80 meters back that way.

Charlie's already got an ambush set up.

We got company! Down. Stay. Stay.

White Horse Three, this is two-six!

Heavy enemy contact. We're pulling back to the LD.

Request immediate extraction. Over.

Pull back to the LD!

Percell, Taylor, look out!

Leapfrog! Let's go! Go, go, go!

Here it comes, now! Get to the LD!

Now, now, now!

- Now! Here we go. - Evacuate. Go, go, go!

Load him up.

- Watch his head. Take it easy. - All right.

Let's go! He's bleeding! Let's go!

Doesn't look like you found Jackson.

No. And we lost a man.

But I can't talk to you about it

till after I talk to Special Forces,

if at all, so don't even ask.

Roselli!

Hey, sit! Sit! Sit!

Look, you know this goes without saying, man,

but thanks a lot.

It's all in a day's work.

Well, my new bureau chief is a slime.

He wants me to entice the story out of you.

Sounds like fun.

He has no idea what I do.

Tonight, I'm just gonna go down to the Chitchat Club

and see if I can find that girl.

Maybe she knows where Jackson...

Wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait, wait.

First of all, the Chitchat Club is on Trudeau Street.

I don't want you going down there.

Well, I don't wanna end up writing some fashion blurb

for some Portland newsletter.

My job is on the line here.

Don't worry. I can handle it.

I will worry about it.

But I'll worry a lot less if you take two guys with you.

You can buy 'em dinner on the paper.

All right, I think I can handle that.

Yeah?

Hey, Taylor! Percell!

What's going on here?

Uh, keepin' an eye on that VC kid

they brought in from Nang Ban.

What are you talking about?

First of all, I brought him in.

Second of all, he's not a VC kid.

He saved our butts in an ambush today.

Hey, whoa.

Now, I'm just following orders.

Whose orders?

Captain Quentin Carey.

And if you're the sergeant who brought the boy back,

the captain's looking for you.

Wrong. I'm looking for him.

This morning's attack

proves that Nang Ban is being controlled by the VC.

Staff Sergeant Anderson reporting as ordered, sir.

Next office, sergeant.

Have Lieutenant Goldman brief you.

Mind telling me what in the hell's going on here?

I'll tell you in here.

Carey works with a Special Forces op called I-6.

You heard of it? Yeah. They're classified.

They try to ID the VC's secret government.

Right. They work with the Vietnamese national police

all over the country.

Now, wait a minute. If this Captain Carey

can trust the field police, why can't he trust the kid?

Because it's his call.

And right now, he just wants us

to worry about replacing Jackson with a new man.

Tonto's the one that wants to string the kid up,

and Carey's got him under control.

My name is Nguyen.

Captain Carey would like to see the both of you.

You recognize any of the men who ambushed you

around Nang Ban village?

We were a little bit rushed, sir.

The red armband means they were the K-22.

That's the muscle of Uncle Ho's secret army.

They bodyguard all the communist officials,

which means we'd love to have a nice, long talk

with one of them.

The rest of the time, they use terror to destabilize

rural villages on which American policy depends,

which means we'd love to grease them.

Which do you recommend

for the villager you brought back, sergeant?

None of the above.

Your lieutenant says that kid led you

into the K-22 ambush this morning.

Led us around it, sir.

The K-22 were watching for us.

The kid was smart enough to keep us away from them.

All right, let's leave the interpretation

to the experts, gentlemen.

Both of you and two of your men be ready at 0500 tomorrow.

We'll insert a man to look for Jackson.

Dismissed.

Ngh! Damn dog!

Careful, boy. She makes those samurai dogs look like Lassie.

Sergeant Putnam.

That's right. What's your business here?

Well, Roselli there pretty much saved our butts today.

We got us a cush detail at the Chitchat Club,

and we was hoping we could write him on our ticket.

A nightclub? He's got no time to chase tail in Saigon.

He's gotta walk this animal around the base

from now till lights out.

Better get to it

if you want time to write your new bambino tomorrow.

Roselli, you got a new baby?

Yeah.

The day I was due to get out of the field.

My LT was all set to make me a clerk in the rear,

and, don't you know, he gets killed before he signs my 1049?

So Putnam takes over and gives the job to his buddy,

who can't even read.

Well, did you try taking it higher?

Yeah. It didn't work. It really got Putnam P.O.'d.

Ain't there something else in the rear you can do?

He owes a really big favor

to an officer in Long Binh who wants a cook,

so Putnam says, "Roselli, you want the job?

"Here's what you gotta do.

"You gotta make my favorite dish, beef bourguignon.

If I like it, you're a cook."

Can you cook?

I used to be a short-order cook,

but I can't make any beef bourguignon.

Putnam said if I tried and he didn't like it,

he'd keep me in the field my entire tour.

Well, that's crazy.

Is there some way we can help you out?

You wanna help me out?

If I get killed, write my wife, okay?

Phew.

It's a long way from here to any Sergeant Jackson.

There she is.

Mmm. I'll help you talk to her.

No, no, that's all right.

Now, why don't you go sit down so you don't scare her?

Thanks.

Lam Chi Chi?

I got your name from a hooch maid.

No arrest, please.

No, no. I'm not with the police.

I just want to talk to you.

No talk here.

Look, I'm an American newspaper correspondent.

Do you remember? From Tan Son Nhut? We met.

I just want to talk to you.

Where did you get Jackson's card and money from?

Three men give me.

My God.

Did they do this to you?

Did they?

Lam Chi Chi!

Don't threaten her! Just leave her alone!

Get your... Get your hands off me!

That jive cracker Putnam's right about one thing:

This French food is good.

It just makes me think we ought to do something for Roselli.

What are we gonna do for him?

Get off me! Just get off me!

All right, I'm going!

Come on! Come on!

Bastard!

All right, this is a real simple stay-behind.

We drop this guy off, he goes out and finds Jackson.

You ready?

Let's go, let's go! Let's get the hell out of here!

I can't believe it.

They hit us as soon as we got off the chopper.

He's gone, LT.

What the hell happened?

They knew we were coming.

I've been ordered to brief the director of I-6

about Sergeant Halloran's death in 48 hours,

and I intend to destroy those K-22 killers

around Nang Ban well before then.

With all due respect,

it's obvious that the K-22 have penetrated your program.

They were waiting for us when we went to look for Jackson,

they were waiting for us this morning.

Lieutenant, I had a year of training at Fort Holibird

to do just what I am doing now.

If you don't happen to agree with it,

keep it to yourself like a responsible officer.

Is it responsible, sir, to take men out who might die

because the VC have penetrated your program?

The lieutenant may have a point.

I think this is a very poorly designed program.

It was set up too quickly.

One leak to K-22 could mean disaster for everyone,

as you recall from your own first tour.

I say interrogate the villager in the hospital.

Make an example of him for all of Nang Ban.

No, no. I agree with my sergeant.

That kid was with us all the way.

There's no reason to put pressure on him.

Then burn Nang Ban. Make the villagers talk.

That might do the job.

You... You go around burning down villages

and you may as well just hand the countryside over to the VC.

The villagers aren't trying to protect the enemy.

They're scared.

Now, maybe if we just offered them some help

instead of trying to hurt them,

well, maybe, just maybe they'd tell us the truth.

I know that's policy, lieutenant,

and as a first step, I have to try it.

But it's not gonna do one thing more than prove you wrong.

And, lieutenant, when it doesn't work,

we'll do it the hard way,

starting with your sergeant's kid.

And you better be on the team.

We're all on the team, sir.

Hey, kid.

Hey, John Wayne. We make it.

Yeah, we made it. The Injun just grazed you.

Here. Try to hang on to it this time.

We all figure we owe you one, you know?

We all want you to get out of this hospital in one piece,

so if people start coming around here,

asking you questions about the VC and Nang Ban,

you tell them everything you know.

You understand me?

I no live in village. Live in jungle.

Wait, you don't have family in the village?

Sergeant Jackson my family. He come get me.

We'll tell him just as soon as we find him.

I saw you.

We need more John Wayne fighting the VC Injun.

Hey, don't get out of there. Now, come on. Come on. Go on.

It's all right.

Whoo-hoo! Need some help countin' that, homeboy?

You figure that Putnam's low enough to take a bribe

to get Roselli outta here?

Man, Vietnam's a hard dollar, brother.

Why you wanna spend your money on Roselli?

Taylor, the guy's a father.

It'd be nice if he'd get home

and take care of his kid himself.

I think about my old man,

and I don't know if we could've made it without him.

When I was growing up,

it was just me and my grandmother.

And half the time, she was working.

I had to take care of myself.

Well, thanks a lot, Taylor.

I'll do it on my own.

All right, hold on, man. Hold on, look.

If you don't be careful and watch out,

jive dude like Putnam

just gonna take your money and laugh at you.

I think we can do better than that.

What, are you saying you wanna help Roselli?

No, no. I'm saying I wanna help you.

The kid thinks Jackson's still alive.

The kid's got a lot of crazy ideas, Zeke.

Yeah, well, LT,

he lost his family in the worst possible way, napalm.

In fact, he almost got killed himself.

I think I'd have a few crazy ideas myself

if I went through that.

Well, the worst is yet to come.

In a couple hours, we're going back to Nang Ban.

We're gonna ask the villagers real nicely

whether they know anything about the K-22.

If Carey doesn't hear what he wants to hear,

he's gonna put this kid through the wringer.

Why is he pushing so hard?

Well, I got it straight from Nguyen.

On Carey's first tour, he was out with an A-team,

helping some villagers build a fort.

One of the villagers turned out to be a VC informant,

and Carey lost his whole company.

The informant was a 13-year-old girl.

Come on, LT, you and I both know this kid is not VC.

He's got no family. He was raised on his own.

All right, I'll do my best to help convince Carey.

You do your best not to get too attached to that kid.

Hey, uh...

you the cook for the Chitchat Club?

No cook, Jack. Chef.

Trained 10 years in Paris.

Let me talk to the man, Danny.

Ahem. Excuse me.

The officers on our base are having a banquet,

and they'd like to audition you to be the chef.

They pay real good.

What is audition?

You cook one meal on our base tomorrow night.

Can you cook, uh...? What's it called?

Beef... Beef bourgon... ying?

Beef bourguignon.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's it.

You got fresh beef?

Man, Marcus Taylor's on the case. Write me a list.

We got Grade A U.S.A., whatever you need.

You got Grade A U.S. $20?

Man, you really want to help Roselli?

Then you owe my granmama.

She sent me this money from the world.

You gonna be there, right?

Yeah.

Alex.

Listen, I'm on my way to Nang Ban.

Did your big story show up yet?

Any minute, I think.

Listen to me.

If she does, keep real quiet about it.

You, uh, see that guy standing behind me with the khakis on?

He's a Special Forces advisor,

and he's looking to hurt anyone remotely connected with the VC:

your girl, that kid we brought back, anybody.

So be real careful.

You have supply for me?

Yes, Lam. Uh, one second. Come here.

Here it is.

Now, is this going to the VC?

Yes.

When I sleep, VC come.

Beat me.

They give me MPC and card, say, "Buy PX supply."

But no can buy without GI friend.

They say, "Make friend.

Maybe sell drug, maybe sell boom-boom."

Look, you don't have to do that.

I will give you the supplies

if you take me with you and show me who gets them.

I take to man in car.

He bring to other man someplace else.

VC move it all over city.

Not know each other, not know where it going.

Well, when will you meet this guy in the car?

I not know now.

They tell me soon.

When they tell you, you call me at this number here, okay?

They find out, they kill me.

Lam, you have to trust me.

Okay?

Okay.

I'll do it.

You call me.

So this is Captain Carey's idea of friendly persuasion?

Mmm. I'll bet his full-scale interrogations

aren't real pretty either.

I just hope the kid doesn't have to find out, you understand?

She says your kid who lives in the jungle

is a very nice boy.

She also says she has not seen the K-22.

She's a liar.

If she's never seen the K-22,

how come it looks like she's running away?

Ask her why her bags are packed.

I did.

She says she's visiting her sister

in the Hong Bao Refugee Center at Saigon.

Another lie.

LT, sarge,

come here!

Didn't even cover them up, man.

Red cloth. K-22.

Sergeant Frank Jackson. Dead a long time.

Tortured and murdered.

Captain, you know the kid?

This is gonna break his heart.

That's a lot of bull.

I didn't buy his act for a minute.

Now he's gonna talk. One way or another.

Right.

Payback time. We just got clearance for a sweep.

We arrest every suspected VC in the Nang Ban area tonight.

Well, then, you've got plenty of people to question.

Why do you still want to interrogate the kid?

Because I still think he was in with Jackson's killers.

He trusts you, lieutenant.

You handle the interrogation.

Come on, come on, one more game.

McKay.

McKay, who can tell me when Myron's gonna be finished

talking to Special Forces?

You never know with those guys.

This girl Lam I've been talking to just called me.

She's gonna meet the VC who gave her Jackson's ration card.

Jackson's dead, Alex.

Yeah, I know.

But the VC had his card.

They might be connected to the ones who killed him.

I'm gonna go follow her.

Do me a favor, don't tell Myron, all right?

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second.

Alex, Goldman would have my butt if I let you do this alone.

Okay, let me get a jeep.

All right. Come on.

I want you to look real closely.

Now, some of these are VC military,

some of them are VC political.

Who in Nang Ban gives you your orders?

Nguyen, Captain Carey left me in charge of this interrogation.

I'll ask the questions.

Ask him who killed Sergeant Jackson.

Jackson not dead.

I see him one week ago.

You need another story.

He not dead! You wrong! You wrong!

That's where it is, right there.

What is this?

He does not know how to interrogate VC!

I have people who could get answers!

The kid doesn't have any answers.

My police interrogators will find out, captain.

Police interrogators will just tear him apart.

You cannot do this, sir. We are dealing with a child.

Lieutenant, you saw what they did to Sergeant Jackson!

Don't tell me what I can and can't do.

Let's remind ourselves what the deal is here.

We either got a four-star beef bourguignon

served in my quarters by 1600 hours

or chicken Roselli served up to Victor-Charlie daily at 0900.

Come on, come on.

Damn dog!

You stay out of here.

That's the whole idea, buddy.

So where's the cow, man?

It's on its way.

All right!

Delta Company beef.

Smitty comes through almost as good as me.

Well, he said he did the best he could.

Thanks, Hurley. Sure.

Bye.

Oh, wow.

We got a problem.

That ain't gonna help us much.

It ain't over yet.

First thing is to get Roselli out of here before he flips out.

I ain't gonna let you down.

Hey, Roselli!

Go with Danny. He's gonna talk to the banquet people.

Dig?

Okay, sure thing.

Marcus. Counting on you.

You got some slick cooking to do, my friend.

You don't need a chef, Jack, you need a magician.

I can't make beef bourguignon from fish like this for $20!

How about 40?

For 40, I try.

So, what kind of car is this VC supposed to be driving?

Lam said a taxi.

There she is.

Johnny, look.

That guy's supposed to be a Special Forces advisor.

Special Forces? Yeah.

What the hell is going on here?

I'm getting a terrific story, that's what's going on.

Forget the story!

Lam! Hold it!

Are you okay?

Are you all right?

Oh, God!

That's Nguyen.

And the VC courier taking his latest report on all of us

straight to the K-22.

So Nguyen fed the enemy every move we've made?

Apparently.

Who took the photos?

An A.N.I. correspondent.

She was following up on some story

about the VC buying med supplies through the PX.

Was it Alex Devlin?

Yes, it was. Is she all right?

She's fine.

We got the location of the drop

where the courier was supposed to leave Nguyen's report,

but the courier died before he could tell us anything else,

which means it's time we found out what the kid knows.

Explain it to your man, lieutenant.

Sir, if you just... Sergeant, wait a minute.

You can't blame him for thinking the kid's a plant. Nguyen was.

Captain. What is it, sergeant?

You wanna nail the K-22, I got a better idea.

Make it fast. All right.

You send me in alone to replace Sergeant Jackson.

The K-22 don't know the courier is dead,

so you rewrite news reports to say where I'll be.

You know where the drop point for the message is. Deliver it.

That will get the K-22 after me.

If we put enough troops around to protect you,

the K-22 will never bite.

No troops. Just me and the radio.

The K-22'll show up, I'll take cover and call in an air strike.

You'll never get out of there without help on the ground.

That's a suicide mission.

I'll take the radio.

Self-sacrifice seems to be in the air today.

You can join the party too, sir, if you want to.

Just send the interrogators home and let that kid go.

Not until you get me those K-22 killers.

That's as far as I can go. Take it or leave it.

I'll take it.

All right, Ruiz, listen up.

The LT and I got a tough one coming up,

and, uh, if for some reason we don't make it back,

I'm just kind of afraid the boy there

is gonna be in a world of hurt, you understand?

So, what I want you to do is the minute we're gone,

I mean, the minute we're out of here,

sneak him out of here,

get him to that refugee center in Saigon.

I know some of the people from his village are there. Hear me?

You got it, sarge.

Good luck out there.

Yeah.

All right, listen up. I gotta go now.

Gotta take care of some Injuns. Know what I mean?

Yeah. It's real important, now.

While I'm gone, you gotta listen to my buddies back there.

Do everything they say.

They're number one deputies, just like you.

Good luck. Good luck.

Partner.

Proud of you.

You saved that girl, you exposed Nguyen.

I'm sorry.

I'm just not very tough.

You never get used to

somebody being killed in front of your face.

That's not all of it.

I'm thinking about you going out there with Zeke right now.

It's a piece of cake.

Come here.

This better be good.

Because I ain't sending nobody nowhere

if it's going to make me look bad.

This guy who's looking for a chef

is the guy that got me this rear-end job.

I send him somebody who's not an A, number one cook,

you know I'm gonna catch the flak.

And that ain't gonna happen.

Boy...

I been looking to pay off this favor six months.

You're gonna make me shine.

Hey, man, at least Roselli... Hey! Chef!

Not bad for $40, huh?

You did it, man!

You guys want this?

It looks worth several dollars to me.

Oh, look.

No!

No!

No!

Always take the enemy by surprise,

and on throat, like this!

Say you've gotta go to the bathroom.

Hey.

Got to go bathroom.

You're in luck. We've got one right here.

You wanna go with him?

Why don't you take him?

Hell, he's strong enough to go alone.

Right on time, kid.

Put this on. Let's get out of here.

Come on, come on.

All right, if the messenger got through,

the K-22 should be looking for us

right down over in there somewhere.

I'm gonna go check it out. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

You're getting way ahead of me in the hero department here.

It's best you wait here.

You hear my rifle shot, you call in the air strike.

You're not listening to me.

Both of us come back,

or neither one of us comes back.

End of discussion.

Let's go.

All right.

Look, the sarge wants you to stay with these people.

Sarge come see me?

We don't know.

He'll be thinking about you,

but his orders are different.

Look. He gave me this.

You're promoted.

In America, kids like you don't fight Injuns.

They play baseball.

John Wayne never die, right?

Yeah, that's right.

So give to him.

Take care, kid.

All right, we got movement.

Let's give them the bait

and see if we can lure them up to the tree line.

You ready? Ready.

Let's go!

Go, Zeke! Go!

Run!

They're flanking us, LT!

Call in the air strike!

Go!

Storm Cloud, this is Bluebird! Over!

This is Storm Cloud. Go.

Contact. At my smoke.

Let it rain!

Zeke, they're coming in!

Come on, Zeke!

Bluebird, how's it look down there? Over.

Looks perfect.

I gotta tell you, this piece on the VC agent is dynamite stuff.

Well, if you want the story,

we need an understanding.

If I want it?

Either I have a voice in what I write,

when I write and how I write,

or you lose this piece and me

to another wire service.

I was afraid you wanted more money.

I'm happy to have your input.

Here you go. Thanks for the coffee.

Oh! Mmm.

You made it.

I told you...

piece of cake.

Mmm.

Roselli's wife and baby!

Mrs. Roselli's the real cook in the family.

Hey!

Whoa! Pecan pie!

Hey, take it, man. You saved his tail. You have it.

No, doing it was your idea.

I'd have passed the brother by.

Yeah, but, Taylor, you didn't pass him by.

You came through for him. And me.

You know, his having this baby didn't mean nothing to me,

since growing up, I didn't have a family.

I didn't know anything about it.

But now that I'm over here, it's like...

It's like you're my family.

So you keep the pie.

I'll keep the picture.

Hey, Danny! Keep this too!

I just came all the way over here

to tell everybody to get some sleep tonight,

because tomorrow's duty roster

is posted outside my hooch, just like always.

Sarge. Yeah?

The kid wanted you to have this.

No.

Why did he do this?

Maybe because you're John Wayne.