Uh, that'll be Colonel Cozzens' beer, am I not right?
- That's right, Joe. You're not right. - Ah-ah-ah.
Just a moment, soldier. My name is Miller. Captain Miller.
And I have been sent with two of my men for the colonel's beer ration.
- So we'll just relieve you of it. Gentlemen. - Aw, lay down, yardbird.
Oh, soldier...
You're addressing a commissioned officer.
Soldier... do you have any idea
what the penalty is for insubordination in a combat zone?
Do you?
Well, young man, the penalty is death.
You ain't got no bars on.
Snipers, man. Snipers.
- Having trouble, Captain? - Take his name, Sergeant. Take his name!
What's your name, soldier?
- Well, sir, I'm sorry. It's just that... - Oh, very well. Never mind, Sergeant.
- Take the beer. - Yes, sir.
Attention! Left face! Forward march!
Hup, two, three. Hup, two, three, four.
Hup, two, three, four. Double time. March! Let's go, men!
(blows kiss)
(yelps)
(shouting excitedly)
Open it up!
(shouting)
Get it open? Aah!
Ohh!
- It's warm. - Man, I don't care if it's boilin'.
It's beer!
Boy, if they ship us back to Australia, I am gonna drink that whole continent dry.
Well, I got a little old girl waitin' for me in Australia.
Man, she's gonna wish I'd never seen combat.
- Sam... Listen. - (man in distance) Gifford!
Sounds like someone's callin' you.
Wonder what's up.
- Suppose they know who snitched the beer? - No, they'd be lookin' for a Captain Miller.
I'd better go check. Don't drink all the beer while I'm gone, huh?
- Oh, never, never. - Kenny?
We'd best have one more. One more, huh?
Hey, Corporal, were you callin' me?
- Are you Gifford? - Yeah.
They want you over at the first aid station. The colonel got hit by a sniper.
Sam.
Yeah?
Look, about Colonel Cozzens...
Well, Little Joe and me feel real bad about bringing it up.
That's all right. Forget it.
It's just that I know how it feels to lose a friend.
Again.
That's all.
The new colonel wants us to take another look at Destacado.
He plans to use it for regimental headquarters.
Did you tell him I was up there with the patrol last night? The place was deserted.
They could've come back.
Is that your idea or the new colonel's?
Mine, but he agreed. You never know which way the Japanese mightjump.
You're getting a little jumpy yourself, aren't you, Ray?
Never mind what I am, Sergeant.
- (Ray) I knew they'd come back. - Aw, that piece of wall was ready to fall.
Walls don't fall like that unless they're made to fall. I think we're running into an ambush.
- Relax. - I'm not taking any chances.
You and the others go in on foot and scout around. I'll cover you.
- You really mean that? - I mean it.
Sam, that's an order!
All right, all right. Take it easy. Let's go.
- What's up, Sam? - We're gonna take a little walk.
We walked into this joint the last time. Why can't we ride in?
You heard the lieutenant.
Did you ever do much bird-shootin' back home, Sam?
Yeah, plenty.
Let's do plenty more after the war.
This reminds you of bird-shootin'?
- Sure. - Why?
Well, it's kinda like fannin' out over a field, four abreast.
I got an old 10-gauge to home, used to belong to my grandpappy.
Wait'll you try her. Kick'll knock you clear into the next county.
When we get back home I'll take you up to my cousin's place. Tom Knox.
Best hunting country you ever saw.
Man, when I get out of the army I ain't never, never gonna fire a rifle again.
But I will come along with you guys and...
(Southern accent) Hold y'all's crock o' corn liquor.
(birds chirping)
Hello! Anybody home?
(crack)
Told you we should've called before we came.
Gifford!
(Waco) Hey, Gifford!
- Yeah? - Get in here!
Gifford, itjust dawned on me that I oughta give a real, live ex-noncom Silver Star winner
a test to see if he's still on the ball.
I want you to take a patrol, go up to Norzagaray.
Aw, it's a lovely day for it, Gifford. Nice and balmy, like we used to say in Honolulu.
Where is Norzagaray?
Oh, it's a lovely little town. Beautiful, in fact. It's just around the corner from here.
- What do you want to know about it? - What do I want to know? Let me see.
Oh! I want to know how many beer bottles the Japanese tossed into the church.
(laughing)
Waco, you know they're using that place for their headquarters.
Yeah, I know it. Gifford?
Count the number of guys that threw the bottles too.
And don't get the idea you and the patrol are gonna goof off behind a hill
then come back and tell me you scouted the place,
because I'm gonna have the outposts check on you every 15 minutes.
All right, Frances, get lost.
(birds cawing/chirping)
Hold it. Let's take a break.
- Terry. - Yeah?
Watch the trail.
(groaning) Oh, boy.
(indistinct voices in distance)
Shh.
(whispers) Do you hear what I hear?
Take cover.
(soldiers speaking Japanese)
We shoulda took care of 'em.
- Knock it off, Terry. - Quiet!
Take cover.
(speaking Japanese)
Wonder how many more of 'em's comin' by.
If another squad comes by we'll fall in behind it.
- Are you crazy or something? - Not enough to stay here and get cut off.
Get back.
(speaking Japanese)
(chuckling)
(speaking Japanese)
- (whispering) Hold it. - That does it.
- Which trail did they take? - Question is, which one we gonna take?
- Let's split up. Then some of us can get out. - I don't want to lose any men.
- More of 'em coming, Sam. - (soldiers speaking Japanese)
We'll take the left fork. If it's the wrong one, it'll make no difference soon anyway.
Come on. Let's move, on the double.
(speaking Japanese)
Come on, Willie.
Looks deserted to me.
What do you think, Willie?
Never know what to think about them people.
Well, we'll just go down and see.
Nothin' here.
Let's count the beer bottles.
OK, let's move out.
That's as fanciful a tale as I ever did hear.
So you walked right along with 'em, huh, Francis?
- He's speakin' truth, Waco. - Anybody talkin' to you?
- No, Waco. - Shut up!
You know what I think? I think you never got to Norzagaray.
I think you been goofin' off behind the trees someplace.
That's what they been doing, all right, Waco.
All right, so you got there. So what?
That doesn't matter. But you better worry about those mortar squads he saw.
- You telling me my business? - Yep.
Little Joe...
I'm getting awful tired of that face of yours.
Why don't you take Francis and this patrol here,
go up to Parade George and relieve Tom Thumb.
- That's the best news I've heard in a week. - Johnson, one of these days...
Mortars!
(bombing stops)
Well, that was short and sweet.
OK, Sam. OK.
Take it easy, Sam. Old Willie'll take care of you.
I don't need any help.
Millard?
Millard!
Where's Millard?
Waco, out there.
- I think he was crying. - Yeah.
- Wonder what made him want to cry. - Shut up, Terry.
We still going on the outpost, Little Joe?
Beats me, Willie. I'll just have to find out.
Waco.
Waco!
Go ahead up to Parade George.
OK, gents, end of the line.
(birds cawing/chirping)
- Uh-oh. - What, Little Joe?
Forgot something. Tom Thumb!
Hey, Tom Thumb!
- What is it? - Forgot the password!
That you, Little Joe?
Yeah. Don't shoot, you hear?
Come on up!
Must be goin' off your rocker, Little Joe. Never knew you to forget a password before.
Well, I'll tell you, Tom Thumb, it's been a busy day.
Yeah. I heard the mortars. You have any casualties?
- Millard got killed. - They beat us to him.
Tough tidings.
Listen, Little Joe, we've had it pretty easy up here,
but there's something going on across the river.
I can't quite figure it out.
- Better keep your eyes peeled after sundown. - Sure will.
Well, I hate to leave this exclusive mountain resort,
but... back to Waco, boys!
Let's go!
Pick a home, gents. They're all rent-free.
What did you do before the war, Sam?
Cotton business.
- Have your own gin? - Mm-hmm. Three of 'em.
My own croppers, too.
Whereabouts was this?
Gray's Landing.
Me, I'm from Walnut Creek. Used to be a cropper myself.
I figured you were.
Funny, I had you figured for quality folks, but, I don't know,
you just don't act like you was.
Want to know something?
I liked you the minute I set eyes on you, before I even knowed your name.
You looked beat, and I like beat people.
Yeah, Willie, that's what I am: Beat.
The army give you a real bad time, huh?
No.
No, I've been giving myself a real bad time,
since long before the war.
Then I found three friends in the army.
I never had any real friends before.
Then they got killed.
After that I really was beat.
Nice thing about being beat is
there's nothing left for a man to do but to rear hisself up off of the earth.
(explosions in distance)
(gunfire)
It looks like Parade George Four is really getting it.
(rustling)
(whispers) Willie, keep your eye on the trail.
OK, Joe.
(crackling)
Grenades!
(explosions)
Oh, no more. Please, no more.
Hold it down, Sam. Keep it quiet.
He can't help it, Joe.
- Take it easy, Sam boy. - No more.
- Easy, boy. - (sobbing)
You'll be all right pretty soon.
Well, I reckon that's about all we can do for Sellers.
Yeah. I'm gonna try and catch some sleep.
Hey, Willie. Notice anything funny about this morning?
- What do you mean, Little Joe? - Waco hasn't been on the radio.
Now, that's a fact, ain't it?
Guess I'll check with him.
Parade George Charlie.
Morgan, are you sure there isn't an undamaged battery down there?
I'll take another look.
Nope. A grenade got 'em all.
- Sam? - Yeah?
You and Terry go back to the company for batteries.
OK.
Sam?
Don't worry, Willie. I'll be all right.
Anyhow, I suppose Waco'll be hungry for the sight of me by now.
Hey, Terry, let's go. See you.
Waco inside?
Where's Waco?
He's in there. He's been relieved.
- No kiddin'? - Relieved?
Yeah. We had a couple of wounded men last week that we sent down to regiment.
They musta talked, because Colonel Miles found out what's been goin' on up here.
He's been on the radio all mornin'. He's comin' up tomorrow himself.
- That's the best news in a month of Sundays. - A year of Sundays, kid.
You musta had a rough time up there last night, huh?
- Yeah. We lost a man. - Tough.
Well, maybe Colonel Miles will relieve you. Maybe he'll relieve all of us.
What's this about bein' relieved?
Ain't nobody gonna be relieved except me!
On your feet. What are you doing here, Gifford?
The radio went dead, Waco. We came to get batteries.
Oh, what you want to listen to the radio for?
All you'll hear is somebody tellin' you you've been relieved.
- But you ain't relieved. Get back to outpost! - Easy, Waco.
Captain Grimes, and don't you forget it!
And I've been put in charge until they name the new C.O. Now don't you forget that!
The batteries are in there.
Hold it!
I ain't dismissed you yet.
I may have been relieved, but I'm still ranking officer around here.
A man can stand so much.
Then he ain't a man anymore.
Well, I've stood about all I can.
You... you used to be a sergeant, didn't you, Gifford?
Yeah, well, I was a sergeant, too. First sergeant.
20 years in the regular army.
It was a real army then, not like it is now.
Millard was in my outfit. Ask him. Swanson, too. Ask him!
- You'd better be starting back... - Don't give me no orders!
They busted both of us, Gifford.
You to private, and me to captain.
You guys think I'm yellow, don't you?
Well, I'm not. Here, look at this.
Look at it. Look at it!
They gave it to me for what I did at Schofield Barracks on Pearl Harbor Day.
No, I ain't yellow.
It's just that I don't want to get knocked off by a crummy sniper on a crummy island.
Now that I've been relieved, they'll send me back to Schofield.
When I get there the first thing I'm gonna do is send to Waco, Texas, for my wife.
You know, Honolulu's the only place to live.
I ought to know. I lived there for 20 years.
All my time in the army.
- All right, you can take over now. - OK, Waco.
- Captain Grimes! - OK, Captain Grimes!
Oh, this is a sloppy outfit! Discipline. Discipline, that's what you need!
Let me tell you something.
There's gonna be a lot of people relieved when I get back to regiment.
Gifford.
Gifford...
You're the one that took that patrol to... Norzagaray, aren't you?
Yes, sir.
That was a fine job.
Yeah, it was a real fine job.
I'm gonna see they make you a sergeant again.
Don't worry, Swanson. I'll have you and Millard back with me in a couple of days.
I won't let 'em throw you to the wolves.
Ten-hut!
Where were you guys trained? Don't you know enough to salute an officer?
All right. I don't need a driver.
(engine sputtering)
Can't you keep your vehicle in running order?
There's a lot of useless people around here. I'm gonna get rid of 'em. What I need is...
Sniper!
Let's get the batteries.
(birds cawing/chirping)
Hey, Sam, wait a minute.
Leave it alone.
(rustling)
Hey, you guys up there!
(whispers) Joe?
- Joe, who's that? - Be quiet.
Hey, you guys up there! Hold your fire! We're reinforcements!
Lillie Lollipop!
Sorry, boys. Waco didn't give us the countersign.
- When'd you talk to Waco? - Not more than an hour ago, Joe.
All right. Come on out where we can see you.
OK, but don't fire any flares. There are enemy soldiers all over this hill!
You'll just have to let us walk up in the dark.
All right, come on in!
Wait for me to fire.
We had a hard time finding you guys. How many men you got, Joe?
Seven. How about you?
A full squad. Nine men.
Glad to see you.
(explosion)
Aah!
- Willie? - Yeah, Joe?
I've been hit.
- I'll help you, Joe. - Stay in your hole.
Take it easy.
Willie, get back to your hole.
That's an order. First one I ever gave you.
Oh. Oh, Willie.
- (whispers) Sam? - Yeah?
Joe's dead.
There's only the two of us left.
Think you're gonna make it, Sam?
I don't know. I don't know.
You a rich man, Sam?
Yeah, I guess you'd say so.
How's it feel?
Oh, right now it doesn't make much difference.
I always wished I had money.
Maybe you will have.
Nah. I'm nothin' but a sharecropper.
Croppers'll be better off after the war.
You think so?
Mine will. That's for sure.
You ever been in Walnut Creek?
Yeah.
What'd you think of it?
Not much.
Yeah, it ain't much of a town. I ain't goin' back there after the war.
- Where you goin'? - Gray's Landing.
Hey, that's great.
Can I get ajob workin' for you?
Sure.
What kind? Truck driver? I'm a good truck driver.
All right. You're hired.
How much you pay?
Oh, 150 a month.
Lot of money for a fella that's lived on 300 a year.
Any good-lookin' girls in Gray's Landing?
- Lots of 'em. - Reckon they'd go for me?
- Sure. - Even if I'm a country jake?
They'd be foolish if they didn't.
I wouldn't want no high-class woman.
You can find the kind you want.
How'd you get along on 300 a year?
Growed the vittles. Ma canned 'em.
That's no way to live.
Lots of folks do it that way.
My croppers might have, but they never will again.
You used to be rough on your croppers?
Yeah.
Why?
Well, didn't know any better.
What made you change?
Oh, people. What they've done for me.
You're one of them, Willie.
I ain't done nothin' for you, Sam.
You've done more than you know, and I won't forget.
I won't forget anybody.
Think you're gonna make it now?
Yeah. Yeah, I... I think so, Willie.
I reckon you will, Sam.
(sighs)
Look out!
- Willie. - My leg.
- Does it hurt you bad? - No. But it scares me.
Blood really scares me.
Not you, though. Your hands ain't shakin'.
They will be.
Sam, look down at that river.
We haven't got a chance with that many.
My leg's ruined, ain't it?
No, Willie. It'll be stiff,
but I've heard of stiff-legged truck drivers, Willie.
Sam, you better make a run for it.
These hills'll be crawlin' with 'em pretty soon.
You get out before we get cut off.
I'm staying with you. We'll be relieved before long.
Don't argue. Take the B.A.R. And go. I don't wanna see your wife a widow.
I can't go runnin' away like that, Willie. You're my friend.
Well, you ain't my friend if you don't go.
Go on. Git.
That's better.
It's got a full magazine.
And a couple of extras.
See you in Gray's Landing.
You'll see me before that.
(shouts in Japanese)
Gifford!
Gifford! What happened, boy? What happened?
Let go! Willie's up there.
Hold it! Hold it.
Easy, Sam. Let me help you. Give me the gun.
- Don't try! - We only wanna help you, buddy.
All right, now come on, Sam.
- Give me the gun, huh? - Stay back.
I've got to see the colonel. I gotta see the colonel!
I-I gotta see him...
What's goin' on here?
- Colonel! - What is it? What's happened?
- Colonel, there's a hill called Parade George. - Yes.
Willie Crawford's up there.
He's the only man alive, and he's badly wounded.
You gotta get him down.
Lt Thomas, take two half-tracks full of men and get up there. Take a couple of medics.
I want that man off the hill and I want him off fast, so on the double.
Yes, sir!
- You, go get the doctor. - Yes, sir.
You men, give me a hand here.
Take him inside.
Hey, wait a minute. Wait. Listen, I'm not leavin' here without Willie.
- Take it easy, soldier. - Relax, son.
- Can he have a cigarette? - Yes, sir.
I'm not leaving here without Willie. Not without Willie.
One of the half-tracks was just on the radio. They're bringing him in.
What's the doctor's report?
Lt'll be a long time before he sees combat again.
Here's your Willie now.
Is he dead?
Nope.
But he's through fighting, that's for sure.
Well, Colonel, where do we go from here?
Home, I should say.
Do you hear that, Willie?
- Willie. - Yep.
You ought to be stateside in a week. I'll see that you're flown there.
Yeah, Willie, we got it made.
That's what we got, for sure.
I'll have Jenny fix us up a big banquet. We'll have fried chicken and drinkin' whiskey.
And chewin' tobacco?
And chewin' tobacco. A whole warehouse full.
Yeah, Willie, we're gonna have a ball.