in front of this position for 1,000 yards. They've left this ledge unguarded.
Now, goddamn it, that's a mistake. That's a hell of a mistake.
We need to take advantage of it before they see their error.
All right, all right, I know you're all pretty exhausted,
and we've had a hell of a time getting water up here.
For that I'm sorry. I apologise to you all.
But if we can reduce this bunker tomorrow, I think we can take this ridge.
So I'm asking for volunteers.
Go back up there and knock it out.
Sir?
I'll be glad to go back up
- and lead the way back for a party. - Right.
- I'll go, sir. - You.
All right.
- I'd like to lead the party, Colonel. - All right, John. I was hoping you'd say that.
- You'll be in command. - I'll go, sir.
- Sir? - You.
All right, men, that's enough. Seven is plenty. Gather up.
I don't know if you realise the importance of this operation, Staros.
Once our position is secured, we can move the bombers in.
That means air power for 1,000 miles in every direction.
Guadalcanal may be the turning point in the war.
- It'll cost lives. Is that what's troubling you? - No, sir.
I explained to you the importance of this objective.
How many men do you think it's worth? How many lives?
I can't say, sir.
Are you prepared to sacrifice the lives of any of your men in this campaign?
How many? One? Two?
Twenty?
Lives will be lost in your company, Captain.
And if you don't have the stomach for it, now is the time to let me know.
No, sir. You're right... about everything you said.
Fine, fine.
That's all, Captain.
One more thing, Staros.
It's not necessary for you to ever tell me thatyou think I'm right.
Ever.
We'll assume it.
Dismissed.
I feel sorry for you, kid.
- Yeah? - Yeah, a little.
This army's gonna kill you.
If you were smart, you'd take care of yourself. There's nothing you can do for anybody else.
You're just running into a burning house where nobody can be saved.
What difference do you think you can make? One single man in all this madness.
If you die, it's gonna be for nothing.
There's not some other world out there where everything's gonna be OK.
There's just this one.
Just this rock.
Go ahead! Come on, come on.
Who's deciding who's gonna live?
Who's deciding who's gonna die?
This is futile!
Look at me! I stand right up here and not one bullet.
Not one shot!
Why?
How come they all had to die?
I can stand right here, I can stand right up and nothing happens to me!
We.
We together.
One being.
Flow together like water,
till I can't tell youfrom me.
I drink you.
Now.
You're my light.
My guide.
John, I'll be behind you. If you wanna breakthrough, we'll come after.
We'll charge atyour whistle signal.
All right, let's go, men. Go get 'em.
OK.
Stay down, belowthis ledge,
and I'll call down the data from above.
Once the 81s have plastered that rock... as much as possible,
we're gonna crawl out along that big rock for cover
and then flank 'em to the right.
OK?
OK. OK.
Azimuth 1470... from Easy Roger 7.
100 left, add 200.
Uncle Baker 1, fire mission.
Azimuth 1470 from Easy Roger 7.
Left 100, add 200.
Machine gun. Will adjust. Over.
Understand. 1470 from Easy Roger 7.
Left 25, drop 50!
Left 25, Uncle Baker 1.
Left 25, drop 50.
Fire for effect. Over.
Roger, Uncle Baker 1.
Let's go!
OK, we're gonna continue on up the hill to the right.
Nobody fire or throwthe grenades till I give the signal.
OK, let's do it.
Is he OK? Is he all right?
What we gonna do? Can't take him with us.
- No, we can't leave him here. - He's from your platoon. You stay with him.
We can leave him and pick him up on the way back,... if he's still alive.
- Is he dead? - Notyet.
Dale, stay with him! Cover our flank! Move!
Behind you!
We're pinned down!
Fall back!
Go!
Watch out.
Clear!
Come on. Get out.
Go on.
Think you're soldiers?
You piece of shit!
Son of a bitch!
All right?
I shot a man.
Stinks around here.
- All these dead people. - Put a cigarette up your nose.
Look at 'em move!
We got 'em on the run!
Way to go, John. When they saw you make that attack and win,
you put their hearts back into them.
- Hey, hey! - Don't do that, soldier.
Take care of the others. G-2 will want them. There'll be somebody around before long.
We've wasted enough time here. Let's go.
Sir, I've a few recommendations for decorations.
Yes. We'll get everything for all of'em that we can, but later.
Meantime, I wantyou to know I'm personally recommending you for something, John.
Perhaps the big one.
- Thank you, sir, but I don't feel... - Yes, you do, John.
Getting it for you will be the goddamn problem!
But, hell, it'd be a big thing for the battalion and the regiment, if you did get it.
We better move out.
We need to extend our lines, hook up with the other companies and push on to the top.
Would you like to take command of Baker Company?
Of course.
Sir, I don't mean to be a wet blanket, but about the water. If we don't get water...
Don't worry about water.
John, I don't want anything to break up this attack of ours now we have the momentum.
We'll have some water in a... couple of hours.
I've arranged for that.
Now, we just can't stop now, goddamn it, and wait for it.
No, sir.
That's right.
And if some of the men... pass out, why, hell, they'll just have to pass out.
All right.
They could...
- They could die from it. - They could die from enemy fire, too!
They're all tough boys.
Come on, men, let's go! You'll see plenty more of those where we're going!
Are we going up this hill or aren't we?
John, I'm convinced that the Japanese position can be broken now.
All we have to do is keep going and we'll have this hill. We'll have this hill by sundown.
You see the spirit in these men? D'you see the new spirit?
Well, I want to take advantage of that before something happens to sap their strength.
To have this battalion relieved in a defeat,
or even to have it reinforced from troops from the reserves,
if we were to stall before reaching the top, well,
Jesus Christ, that's just a hell of a lot more than I could stand!
I've waited all my life for this.
I've worked, slaved, eaten... oh, untold buckets of shit to have this opportunity!
And I don't intend to give it up now.
You don't know what it feels like to be passed over.
I mean, you're young. You're just out of the Academy.
You're, you know, you've gotyour war! This 15 years, this is my first war!
John, some day you'll understand.
You're like a son to me, John.
You know what my son does?
He's a bait salesman.
You've done a hell of a job, John.
I'm gonna make sure thatyou get everything, everything thatyou deserve.
Thank you, sir.
God...
Goddamn it! I want three runners!
Get me three runners!
You go backto the rear to find water
and get back here with it as fast as you can!
We attack in one hour! We'll throw everything we got at 'em.
We're going all the way! Nothing'll stop us.
It's high ground by nightfall!
You seen many dead people?
Plenty.
They're no different than dead dogs,
once you get used to the idea.
They're meat, kid.
Are you righteous? Kind?
Does your confiidence lie in this?
Are you loved by all?
Know that I was, too.
Do you imagine your sufferings will be less because you loved goodness?
Truth?
Get fucking on the ground! Get down! Get down!
Get down. Stay there.
Get on the ground! Get on the fucking ground!
Now!
This great evil.
Where's it come from?
How'd it steal into the world?
What seed, what root did it growfrom?
Who's doing this?
Who's killing us?
Robbing us of life and light.
Mocking us with the sight of what we might have known.
Does our ruin benefiit the Earth?
Does it help the grass to grow or the sun to shine?
Is this darkness in you, too?
Have you passed through this night?
I'm gonna sink my teeth into your liver.
You're dying.
See them birds up there?
You knowthey eatyou raw?
Where you're going, you're not coming back from.
What are you to me?
Nothing.
Have a seat here.
Staros, I'm relieving you of your command.
Lieutenant Band will take over for you.
I already told him.
It's a hard thing to do.
Difficult decision to make.
I don't think you're tough enough.
You're too soft. You're just too softhearted. You're not tough-fibred enough.
Anyway, it's my decision to make. I've already made it.
I don't like to see my men get killed, sir.
Have you ever had anyone die in your arms, sir?
Have you?
I don't see any reason to make a scandal out of this.
I don't want it in the records of the battalion. There's no reason for you to have it on yours.
This has nothing to do with cowardice or inefficiency.
Look at this jungle.
Look at those vines, the way they twine around the trees, swallowing everything.
Nature's cruel, Staros.
I'm going to letyou apply for reassignment to the Judge Advocate General Corps
for reasons of ill health.
You're a lawyer.
- You had malaria yet? - No, I haven't.
Doesn't matter. I can fix that.
Anyway, you probably will have it.
I'm also recommending you for the Silver Star.
And I'll recommend it in such a way it definitely won't be refused.
Might as well have the Purple Heart, too.
Why?
Because of that scratch on your face and because of those cuts on your hands.
Listen to me, Staros.
I think it's bestyou go back with the next batch of wounded and prisoners.
It is no goddamn good for you to keep hanging around.
The quieter we keep this, the better it'll be for all.
This is from Colonel Tall.
"Our victory gives us the highest reasons for pride."
"It will prove a milestone in the battle for Guadalcanal."
"Tomorrow the division commander will arrive to make an inspection of the line."
"After the inspection we're to be relieved by a battalion of the division's reserve regiment."
"I've secured for the battalion a week's rest off the line."
That's all.
Hours like months.
Days like years.
Walked into the golden age.
Stood on the shores of the New World.
I would've come by and paid you guys a visit,
but...
I just felt like being alone, you know?
Yeah?
We wanted to thank you, sir.
For asking to make that flanking move.
For watching out for us.
Keeping us together.
We're all sorry to see you go.
We feel like you got a rotten deal.
Well, I'm not sure thatyou're right.
Tough part is...
not knowing if you're doing any good.
That's the hard part.
But it doesn't matter. I don't care.
I'm glad to be going.
I'm glad.
- There's still time. We could file a complaint. - For what?
What good would that do?
Anyway, I wanna go.
Leave it alone. Let it lay.
What does that mean, sir?
It means "You've been like my sons".
You are my sons.
My dear sons.
You live inside me now.
I'll carry you wherever I go.
Can't nothing make youforget it.
Each time you start from scratch.
War don't ennoble men.
It turns 'em into dogs.
Poisons the soul.
My dear wife,
you get something twisted out of your insides by all this blood, fiilth, and noise.
I wanna stay changeless for you.
I wanna come back to you the man I was before.
How do we get to those other shores?
To those blue hills.
Love.
Where does it come from?
Who lit this flame in us?
No war can put it out,
conquer it.
I was a prisoner.
You set me free.
No matter how much training you got,
how careful you are,
it's a matter of luck whether or notyou get killed.
Makes no difference who you are, or howtough a guy you might be,
if you're in the wrong spot at the wrong time, you're gonna get it.
I look at that boy dying,
I don't feel nothing.
I don't care about nothing any more.
Sounds like bliss.
I don't have that feeling yet.
That numbness.
Not like the rest of you guys.
Maybe cos I knew what to expect.
Maybe I was just frozen up already.
I haven't touched another woman since I was called up.
Or talked to one.
I don't wanna...
I don't wanna feel the desire.
All right. Abrahams!
Abrahams. Here you go.
Stack! Where's Stack?
Bring him out.
Bell?
Bell!
Another one for Bell. Another one for Bell.
Dear Jack,
I've met an Air Force captain. I've fallen in love with him.
I want a divorce to marry him.
I know you can say no, but I'm asking you anyway,
out of the memory of what we had together.
Forgive me.
It just got too lonely, Jack.
We'll meet again some day.
People who have been as close as we've been always meet again.
I have no right to speak to you this way.
I can't stop myself.
A habit so strong.
Oh, my friend of all those shining years.
Help me leave you!
What's your name?
We were a family.
How'd it break up and come apart?
So that now we're turned against each other.
Each standing in the other's light.
How did we lose the good that was given us?
Let it slip away?
Scatter it careless?
What's keeping us from reaching out?
Touching the glory?
I'd have had you, Witt, if you was a Jap,
long ago.
They leave you here?
Yup.
I slowed 'em up.
Don't mind, really.
The medic fixed me up pretty good.
I got plenty of ammo.
Somebody'll be along for me eventually.
- They gotyou good. - Right in the knee.
Yeah.
I'm out of this war for good, Witt.
- Whatyou doin' down here? - Just, you know,
I'm heading backto the company.
Yeah.
Well, you give all them boys my best.
You can come with me if you want.
I'll help you along.
No, it's nice and quiet.
Peaceful up here.
I'd just slow you up. There'll be somebody along.
I'll remind 'em.
OK.
Hey, Witt.
Who you making trouble for today?
What d'you mean?
Well, isn't that whatyou like to do?
Turn left when they say go right?
Why are you such a troublemaker, Witt?
You care about me, don'tyou, Sergeant?
I always felt like you did.
Why do you always make yourself out like a rock?
One day I can come up and talkto you,
by the next day it's like we never even met.
Lonely house now.
You ever get Ionely?
Only around people.
You still believing in the beautiful light, are you?
How do you do that?
You're a magician to me.
I still see a spark in you.
One man looks at a dying bird and thinks there's nothing but unanswered pain.
But death's got the fiinal word.
It's laughing at him.
Another man sees that same bird,
feels the glory.
Feels something smiling through him.
We need to get out of here right now.
- You explain to... headquarters the situation? - No.
Do they know where we are? Cos we're sitting ducks out here.
Well, I thinkthat's... up to me to judge, Sergeant.
I think we just need to send somebody up there and find out how close they are. OK?
It's easy.
Hey, Weld... get headquarters on that thing.
The fire's coming closer, sir.
Line's cut!
We need to send somebody out there to find out where that line is being cut.
And we need to find out how close they are.
Come on.
OK. OK.
Hey, you.
You go.
You're going, Fife.
Coombs. You go, too.
Come on!
I'll go. I wantyou to know I thinkthe whole thing's a bad idea, though.
If they come down here in any strength, Lieutenant, they'll knock our position to hell.
You don't have to go. Others'll volunteer.
No, I wanna go, sir. In case something bad happens, I wanna be there.
All right. You stay by the river.
That jungle's too thick. And be very careful.
I will.
Good luck, Witt.
You OK, Fife?
A reinforce battalion.
We need to go back.
Tell the lieutenant.
Let's go.
I'm hit!
One of us needs to stay here and hold 'em off.
We'll be all right.
My friend here doesn't have long,
so... you go.
You go on ahead.
Witt!
They're coming.
I gotta go. I don't wantyou to be afraid.
Just hide out here till you hear firing, then push on down the river.
No.
- Where's Coombs? - Get back. Get back, they're coming.
Fall back.
Where's Witt? Fife, where's Witt?
Fife, where's Witt?
Fife. Fife, where's Witt?
America.
Where's your spark now?
Now, I know you men have been making and drinking this goddamn swipe.
That's OK by me.
Everything a lie.
Any man in my outfit can get as drunk as he wants to every night.
Everything you hear and see.
As long as he's in shape to make reveille and carry out any assignment given.
If he can't do that, he's gonna have trouble from me.
- So much to spew out. - I prefer to think of myself as a family man,
and that's what we all are here, whether we like it or not.
We are a family.
I'm the father.
Guess that makes Sergeant Welsh here the mother.
They just keep coming, one after another.
That makes you all the children in this family.
Now, a family can have only one head, and that is the father.
Father's the head, mother runs it. That's the way it's gonna work here.
- If any of you wanna see me about anything, - You're in a box.
- anything at all, - A moving box.
you will find that I am available.
This war is not gonna be over by next Christmas.
It's gonna be a long time before we get home...
They wantyou dead.
Or in their lie.
Only one thing a man can do.
Find something that's his.
Make an islandfor himself.
If I never meetyou in this life,
let me feel the lack.
A glance from your eyes, and my life will be yours.
Somethin' I can come backto. Some kind of foundation.
I mean, I don't know what, you know, what your plans are, but...
I'm determined now. I've been through the thick and thin of it.
You know, I may be young, but I've lived plenty of life.
I'm ready to start living it good.
You know, my daddy always told me it's gonna get a lot worse before it gets better.
You know, cos life ain't supposed to be that hard when you're young.
Well, I figure after this the worst is gonna be gone.
It's time for things to get better. That's what I want.
That's what's gonna happen.
I'm getting older now.
By no means old, but older.
Where is it that we were together?
Who were you that I lived with?
Walked with?
The brother.
The friend.
Darkness from light.
Strife from love.
Are they the workings of one mind?
The features of the same face?
Oh, my soul,
let me be in you now.
Look out through my eyes.
Look out at the things you made.
All things shining.