The stars...
There's no right or wrong in 'em. They're just there.
That's a nice way of putting it.
Barnes has got it in for you, doesn't he?
Barnes believes in what he's doing.
And you? Do you believe?
In '65... yeah.
Now...
no.
What happened today is just the beginning.
We're gonna lose this war.
Come on!
You really think so? Us?
We've been kicking other people's asses for so long, it's time we got ours kicked.
Day by day, I struggle to maintain not only my strength, but my sanity.
It"s all a blur. I have no energy to write.
I don"t know what"s right and what"s wrong any more.
The morale of the men is low. There"s civil war in the platoon.
Half the men with Elias, half with Barnes.
There"s a lot of suspicion and hate. I can"t believe we"re fighting each other
when we should be fighting them.
Counting days, and the six inches in front of my face. Not much else.
Hope things are well, Grandma. Tell Mom and Dad I...
Well... just tell them. Chris.
Hey, big boy, I know you thought you had that laundry gig all laid out.
I gotta paint myself white just to get me one of them jobs!
I got my request in for a circumcision! I'm gonna get my big ass outta here!
You gonna become a rabbi?
Leech.
All right!
Move it out!
Don't drink that, asshole. You're gonna get malaria.
Yeah, I hope so!
Let's go!
Doc! Get up here! Lerner's hit!
Sergeant Warren's hit!
- What the fuck's going on? - They got RPGs, man! It's an ambush!
- Who's on point? - Lerner and Warren!
Taylor, where are you going?
Goddamn it, you assholes! Get some firepower up there!
Watch out! Rockets!
- Where the fuck's Lerner? - He's over there! By the log!
Fire mission! Grid 649402.
Direction, 610...
Adjust fire! Over!
Lieutenant, they're gonna get in tight under the arty!
Let me get some men and roll up that flank. I can work right up on them!
Get me Barnes! Elias, we got four down up there! What do you want me to do?
Where the fuck is Red Platoon? Tell those assholes to get up here!
- Elias, what the fuck are you...! - Listen, Barnes, there's holes here.
Third Platoon's coming up here. We're here.
Dinks get men in these holes, they got us caught in the crossfire.
- Sounds pretty far out to me, Elias. - I've seen it happen-la Drang in '66.
They cut us to fucking pieces! I need three men!
- OK, you got 'em. Take off. - Keep pouring off that cover fire.
I don't want to be stuck out there with my ass hanging in the breeze!
Don't tell me how to run my war.
You go crying to brigade on your own time!
Out here you belong to me! Now, move!
You're an asshole, Barnes!
Sir, get that asshole O'Neill up here!
Two Charlie, this is two! Be advised...!
Stay down!
Ammo!
Sarge! Short round!
Medic!
Satchel charge!
Doc!
Doc, help me out!
- Don't leave me, man. - All right.
- Hey, Gator... you'll be OK, man. - Don't leave me, man.
Gator, hang tough. You'll be OK.
Drop your rucks.
Taylor, you're coming with us.
- Please don't go! Don't! - You're gonna be OK.
Doc! Take care of him, man.
Redleg! Redleg! Ripper Bravo Two actual!
Adjustment follows!
You ignorant asshole! What the fuck coordinates are you giving?
You wasted a lot of people up there with your fucked-up fire mission!
You know that?
You know that? Ah, shit!
Redleg! Redleg! Ripper Bravo Two!
Check your fire! Check your fire!
They're coming.
Stagger yourself across this line. Shoot anything that moves.
They'll be coming from over there.
Any one of 'em gets through, we're truly fucked.
Where the hell are you going?
Down by the river, about 100 metres,
in case they try to flank us.
Third Platoon's coming up to our rear, so watch for 'em.
Can I go with you?
No. I move faster alone.
Come here. Let's let arty do a little bit of the work here.
You tell everybody to pull back to the church.
We link up with Third Platoon. You got that?
What about Elias? If we pull back, he'll be cut off.
You just haul ass, too, Lieutenant!
I'll get him.
- I got two of them fuckers, man! - I got one!
Ho Chi Minh sucks dead dicks!
Crawford!
Oh, man!
Kiss my ass, man! I never thought I'd get hit!
It's a lung, babe. You got two of them fuckers.
Where's Elias?
A bunch of gooks came through there. We got three of 'em!
Did you hear the arty shift? We're pulling back. Get back to church.
- Elias is still out there, Sarge! - Taylor, I'll get him!
You get Crawford in. Now! Before you Article 15 both your asses!
Move it!
- Come on, brother. - Medic, where the fuck are you?
You're gonna be all right in a minute, brother.
Taylor, where are you going?
Elias is dead. Fall back with the platoon.
- Get going. - He's dead?
Yeah. He's back there about 100 metres.
You saw him? Where?
He's dead! There's gooks all over the goddamn place! Get moving!
Let's go, let's go, let's go! Move it!
Let's go! Move it, move it! OK, let's go!
You OK, Harold? You're on the next one. You're OK, bud.
Oh, fuck!
- They've got Elias! - What?
Back down! Back down there!
Snake One-Nine, Fly Four. There"s still one of the men down there.
Hold your armour! Guns, pull up!
We"re trying to cover it on my side.
He killed him. I know that he killed him. I saw his eyes when he came back in.
How do you know the dinks didn't get him? You got no proof, man.
The proof's in the eyes, man. You were there. I know what you were thinking.
I say we frag that fucker tonight!
I go with that. An eye for an eye.
I say let military justice do the job on him.
Fuck the military justice! Are you joking me?
Who do you think they'll believe? O'Neill? Bunny? Wolfe? Bullshit!
Shit, man, you try that, Barnes'll shove it up your ass with a candle on it!
What do we do?
You all watch your own asses! Barnes'll come down on all of 'em!
You gonna forget about Elias and all the good times we done had in here?
You're trying to cure the headache by cutting off the head.
Elias didn't ask you to fight his battles for him.
And if there's a heaven - and, God, I hope there is -
I know he's sitting up there drunk as a fucking monkey, and smoking shit,
cos he done left his pains down here.
You're wrong, man! Any way you cut it, Barnes is a fucking murderer!
Taylor...
I remember when you first came in here, telling me how you admired the bastard!
I was wrong.
You ain't never been right... about nothing!
And dig this, you assholes, and dig it good!
Barnes has been shot seven times, and he ain't dead!
Does that mean anything to you, huh?
Barnes ain't meant to die!
The only thing that could kill Barnes... is Barnes.
Talking about killing?
You all experts?
You all know about killing?
I'd like to hear about it, potheads.
You smoking this shit so as to escape from reality?
Me, I don't need this shit.
I am reality.
There's the way it ought to be, and there's the way it is.
Elias was full of shit.
Elias was a crusader.
I got no fight with any man who does what he's told,
but when he don't... the machine breaks down.
And when the machine breaks down we break down.
And I ain't gonna allow that from any of you.
Not one.
You all love Elias.
You wanna kick ass.
Well, here I am, all by my Ionesome.
And there ain't nobody gonna know.
Six of you boys against me.
Kill me.
I shit on all of you!
You motherfucker!
Easy, Barnes. Don't do it, man.
You'll go dinky dow in LBJ.
Ten years for killing an enlisted man. Ten years climbing the fucking walls.
Don't do it!
Death?
What do you all know about death?
They sent us back into the valley the next day,
about 2000 metres from Cambodia, into a battalion perimeter.
It felt like we were returning to the scene of a crime.
Alpha Company had been hit hard by a sizeable force
and Charlie Company had been probed that night.
There were other battalions in the valley,
but we knew we were gonna be the bait to lure them out.
Somewhere out there was the entire 141 st NVA Regiment.
Caught those motherfuckers trying to pull some shit on Charlie Company.
They found maps on 'em, man.
A friend at Battalion says they had every fucking foxhole fixed on it.
Distances... tree lines... our claymores...
- Everything. - This is bad, man. I got bad vibes here.
I also heard we're in fucking Cambodia now.
Cambodia? Man, you kidding me!
You wanted to see me, sir?
Looks like you got Elias's squad now.
I didn't know we were still referring to this platoon in terms of squads.
Take those two holes there and there.
You're tying it off with Barnes up here, King down there.
My holes are far enough apart you could run a regiment through and never see it!
I got five live bodies left, sir.
I don't wanna hear your problems. You'll get new men any day.
- Make do like everybody else. - I didn't ask for this job.
- I don't wanna hear it. - You don't wanna hear it?
That's right. I don't wanna hear it cos, to tell you the truth, I don't give a shit, OK?
I don't give a flying fuck any more.
I'm glad I ain't going with 'em.
Somewhere out there's the beast, and he hungry tonight.
Fuckin' bummer!
Ten days and a wake-up and I'm still dealing with this shit.
What's the matter with you, man?
How come you ain't writing nobody?
What about your folks? That grandma you was telling me about?
Girl?
Got a mother and father, don't you? There must be somebody.
Nah, there's nobody.
You been smoking too much of this shit, troop.
Gotta control that-bring a man down.
I remember when you first come out here to the bush. You was green as a...
Ever get caught in a mistake that you just can't get out of, King?
There's a way out of anything, man.
Just keep your pecker hard and your powder dry
and the worm will turn.
- How many days are you short? - Nah, it's not just me.
It's the way the whole thing works. People like Elias get wasted.
People like Barnes go on making up the rules any way they want.
So what do we do? Sit in the middle and suck on it.
We just don't add up to dry shit, King.
Whoever said we did, man?
All you got to do is make it outta here
and it's all gravy. Every day, the rest of your life-gravy!
Oh, shit. Superlifer.
King, collect up your shit. Your order's just come through.
- Don't fuck with me. - What, you need a written invitation?
Cocksucker! Oh, wow! The lifers have made a mistake!
They cut me some slack, Taylor!
Get your pig to Rodriguez. You got ten minutes to make the last chopper out.
If you're not on it... I'm gonna be.
Taylor, Francis is coming up.
Great, King. I'm happy for you, man. You take it on home for me, OK?
You got my address. You know where to get hold of me.
I gotta di-di, man. I don't wanna miss that chopper.
- You OK? - Yeah, I'm OK.
Take it easy.
Don't think too much, and don't you be no fool.
Ain't no such thing as a coward out here. It don't mean nothing.
My man!
I'll walk you out, man.
Take it easy, King.
I'll take it any way I can get it, brother!
I'm pretty fucked up. No, don't touch this!
I gotta get on that chopper, man!
- So what's the problem? - Says he can't walk.
Shit...!
Martin... get your boots on.
Next time I catch you spraying 'skeeter repellant on your fucking feet,
I'm gonna court-martial your nigger ass.
Then court-martial me, motherfucker!
Bust my ass! Send me to fucking Long Binh!
Do your fucking worst! You white folks have got your last klik outta Junior!
O'Neill, get me that centipede.
Sergeant?
That... long, hairy, red and black bastard I found in the ammo crate.
- I'll put it in his crotch, see if he can walk. - I remember now.
Hold up, man! You just hold up! Wait, all right?
Fuck it, I'll walk! I'll fucking walk, man!
Fucking pussy! Sarge, I gotta have him in my hole?
Yeah.
Bob? I'd like to speak to you a minute.
I can't take it no more!
- I'd like to speak to you. Bob... - Yeah, what is it?
Bob, I got Elias's R and R. It's coming up in three days.
I was thinking about going to Hawaii to see Patsy.
Bob, I never asked you for a fucking thing.
I hoped you'd put me on that chopper with King. Whaddaya say, chief-a-rooney?
I can't do that for you, Red. We need every swinging dick in the field.
Talk to me! All I'm asking you for is three fucking days here!
I am talking to you, Red, and I'm telling you no.
- Get back in your foxhole! - Bob...
I got a bad feeling on this one, all right?
I got a bad feeling.
I don't think I'm gonna make it outta here.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
Everybody gotta die sometime, Red.
Goodbye, motherfuckers!
There goes a fucking ambush.
They ain't even waiting till later. It's fucking coming now, man.
Right fucking now.
You know, Junior, some of the things we done, man,
I don't feel like we done something wrong.
Sometimes, man,
I get this bad feeling.
I told the padre the truth. I like it here.
You get to do what you want. Nobody fucks with you.
The only worry you got is dying.
If that happens, you won't know about it anyway. So what the fuck, man?
Shit! I gotta be in this hole with you, man?
I know I shouldn't have come.
Don't you worry, Junior. You're hanging with Audie Murphy here, my man!
Bravo Three, Bravo Six. Send me a grid. Over.
I can"t, sir! We"re pinned down!
Calm down, son. I'll get you a fire mission ASAP. Smoke'll be first.
Lieutenant"s dead, radio man"s dead.
I don"t know where the map is. They"re all around us-hundreds!
OK, now spot that smoke and tell me where to shift. Calm down, son.
We'll get you out. Tell me where the rounds hit. Over.
Three Alpha Six, how about those rounds, son? Can you adjust fire? Over.
Three Alpha Six, if you can't talk, son, just key your handset twice. Over.
Shit!
Trip flare - Rodriguez's hole!
RPG!
Doc!
- Taylor! Francis! - Over here, man!
What the fuck's going on? Rodriguez's hole just got nailed, man!
We got gooks in the fucking perimeter!
Shit, that's it!
Anything behind you don't identify itself, fucking blow it away, OK?
Fuck! Two! Air strikes coming in - they'll be laying snake and nape.
Don't get outta your fucking holes. Stay right here.
They'll search this line all night trying to get through.
All right, stay here, stay cool. I'll be right back.
Who is it?
Don't shoot! Don't shoot!
It's the ambush! Over here, man, hurry!
They're all over the place! Hundreds of 'em-moving this way!
They wiped us out, man! We didn't have a chance! Where's the CP?
- Back there! - You guys get outta here!
They're right on my ass! They ain't stopping for shit!
Taylor, man, let's di-di.
You go.
There!
No, hold it, hold it!
Out of the hole! Fast!
Get outta the fucking hole! They're gonna blow it! Let's go!
Francis, move your fucking ass! They're gonna...
- Follow me. - What is it?
Die, you motherfuckers!
It's fucking beautiful!
Come on, motherfuckers!
Come on! You can do better than that!
They just keep coming, man! Fuck this shit!
Get back here, you gutless shit!
- Get me Bravo! - Charlie Company reports hand-to-hand.
Three holes down. They need help.
OK, get two squads from Alpha down there! Go! Where's that air strike?
Where the fuck are you going?
- Can't you get anybody?! - Negative contact! I can't raise Barnes!
- Nothing! - Get me Six!
Bravo Six, Bravo Six!
Get him in!
They're coming through our line!
- Where's Barnes? - Dead! I think they're all dead!
- Give it up, Doc! He's dead! - Six, LT! Six!
Captain, we're pulling back! Over!
Where are you gonna pull back to?
They're all over the perimeter!
You will hold in place and you will fight!
That means you, Lieutenant! Bravo Six out.
Be advised, we got zips in the wire down here.
Roger your last, Bravo Six. Can"t run it any closer.
We"re packing snake and nape, but we"re bingo on fuel.
For the record, it's my call! Dump everything you've got left on my pos!
I say again, expend all remaining in my perimeter!
It's a lovely fucking war. Bravo Six out.
Roger your last, Bravo Six. We copy. It"s your call.
Get "em in their holes down there. Hang tough, Bravo Six.
We are coming cocked for treetops.
Barnes!
No...!
Get me a medic.
Go on, boy!
Do it.
Look out, Mad Dog! We got live gooks at three o'clock!
What's down here? Let's go!
Come on, Elmo! Move your flea-bitten ass!
Hey... you OK? You all right?
Can you walk?
Hey, Doc! We need a medic up here!
- Come on, Elmo. - Come on, Doc! We got wounded here!
That must've been some fucking fight.
You alone here, man?
Yeah.
Bunch of faggots all left me!
122 wounded and still counting.
Estimate 500 Victor Charlie KIA.
122 and still counting. Over.
Hey, Taylor!
- Hey, Francis. - Hey, man, how you doing?
I'm OK. How are you doing?
Just fine, man! Hey, dig it!
We two-timers, man. We gonna get outta here, boy!
I'm gonna see you in the hospital. We gonna get high, high!
Sergeant O'Neill!
- How are you doing? - Just fine, sir.
That's good, cos you got second platoon.
Yes, sir.
- Ready? - You bet.
I think now, looking back,
we did not fight the enemy, we fought ourselves,
and the enemy... was in us.
The war is over for me now,
but it will always be there, for the rest of my days,
as l"m sure Elias will be,
fighting with Barnes for what Rhah called possession of my soul.
There are times since
l"ve felt like the child born of those two fathers.
But be that as it may, those of us who did make it
have an obligation to build again,
to teach to others what we know,
and to try with what"s left of our lives
to find a goodness, and meaning, to this life.
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