BELGIUM DECEMBER 16, 1944
On the other side of the world,
the Allied forces are pounding the Germans with relentless force.
We do not expect to have a winter lull in Europe.
We expect to keep striking...
HEADQUARTERS BATTALION V CORPS
1944, December.
I was miles from the front, and a stranger to war.
Troops, fuel dumps, enemy units.
They were pins on a map to me.
Champagne? Are you trying to score a few points?
Just trying to aid the war effort, Hart.
- Tom? - Sir?
The captain needs a lift back to the 106th. Can you find him a driver?
- I can take him, sir. - Funny. I had a feeling you'd say that.
- There isn't much movement today, sir. - So I see. Captain.
Oh, don't forget, sir. You wanted to send some of that champagne along as well.
Yes. Thank you for reminding me, Tom.
The general should get a kick out of that.
Sir.
...are now fighting along a battle line of 300 miles
in northern France and Germany.
Within ten weeks after the first landings in France last June,
the Allies had landed nearly two million men.
You know what this army could use, sir? Snowplough service.
We could use half a million gallons of gasoline
and a road or two that wasn't paved with Bouncing Betties.
- German S-mines. - Yes, sir.
You really ought to spend a night on the line sometime, Lieutenant.
- I know that, sir. - Of course, it's not too likely, is it?
- Sir? - Colonel says your father is a senator.
So I guess you won't spend too many nights in a foxhole, will ya?
It's nothing to be ashamed of, son. That's a hell of a father to have.
- Where to, sir? - St Vith.
I'm afraid you're going the wrong way, sir. St Vith is due west.
I'm pretty sure St Vith is due east, Sergeant. Straight ahead.
Can I see that, sir?
I drove this route yesterday, Sergeant.
Get your hands up!
Up!
See what's in the box.
It's nailed shut. Could be wine or champagne.
Halt!
Are you in great pain?
First Lieutenant Thomas Hart.
Serial number
1841287.
Would you care for a cigarette?
Your train is an eight-kilometer march from here.
Of course, with some shoes on you might be all right.
First Lieutenant Thomas Hart.
Serial number 1841287.
Thank you, Lieutenant. But we both know there is much more to you than that.
Show me the locations of the fuel dumps.
Just point, and we can end all this.
Get the lieutenant's uniform.
I'll have your clothes returned to you immediately.
When you are dressed we'll have another chat. A last one, I hope.
Smile, Joe. For you, the war is over.
Lieutenant. This'll help against the cold.
No, thanks, soldier. I'll be all right.
No, you won't. Come on, take it. Just till you warm up.
Take it, sir.
Hey, Captain, does somebody tell our folks about us being captured?
The Germans give a list to the military, the military notifies the families.
Is that voluntary, sir?
How do you mean, Lieutenant?
I mean, can you ask them not to?
I don't think so.
Have to put some straw in there.
Straw. In your shoes.
For frostbite.
Another slave detail, sir.
Hey, ladies! Next batch of shells you turn out, nothing but duds this time, all right?
Mortars no boom-boom, ja?
Captain! P-51, incoming!
- Ours? - Everybody get down!
Everybody stay down! Keep low!
- Captain, why are they shooting at us? - They can't read the roof.
Unhook the engine!
All right, get the doors! Everybody, get the doors!
Hart, help them!
Get to the other cars! Get those men out! We're spelling out!
Round up your men now! We're spelling out!
Hart! Get that man clear of here! All right, men, get in line!
Assemble on me!
Move it! Move it!
We're spelling out!
All right, men! Let's get back in line!
Don't you fuckin' die on me. Oh, God.
Aw, Christ.
OK, keep looking at me. Look at me. Look at me.
- Shit. Shit. - I couldn't get to him, sir.
You're all right. It's all right.
Stand still!
Easy, son. Easy.
They're telling us to march.
Probably ought to take his boots, Lieutenant.
Lieutenant! Take his boots! Cos either you or some Jerry's gonna get 'em.
Take 'em, sir, while you still got feet to put 'em on.
His socks, too. Ain't gonna help him any.
Stay together. Six abreast.
All right, let's do what they say.
I'm sorry.
STALAG VI A AUGSBURG, GERMANY
Once again,
I'm forced to remind you,
escape is not a sport.
Think of it this way.
Now these Russians have a chance at a Happy New Year.
Those are dogs you're saluting, Colonel.
Animals.
Untermenschen.
My country doesn't make those kind of distinctions, Colonel.
They don't make such distinctions.
They're our allies, Colonel.
Oh, yeah, you and your allies.
Let me tell you about you and your allies.
The Ministry of War has released figures from our offensive in the Ardennes.
200,000 Allied killed or captured.
Your Third Army, Patton, in full retreat.
And the Wehrmacht has captured enough abandoned fuel to retake Paris,
perhaps even drive your troops back to the sea.
Might be a bit crowded around here this winter.
- Major Fussel? - Take them to de-lousing.
Turn around, Joe. Yeah, that's it. Turn around.
Ross? Hart?
Ross and Hart?
Captain Ross.
Major Clary.
- Lieutenant Hart. - Lieutenant.
Debriefing, gentlemen. Officers' hut. On the double.
...German offensive on the American front is still going on.
The entire front, stretching about 30 miles south of Monschau, is in motion.
Countermeasures are being taken...
Got a pack of Chesterfields. I'll trade you.
- Sure. - This is a major German effort.
Some of the best units in the German army are involved in this penetration.
At ease, soldier. Sit down.
Thank you, sir.
So tell me, Lieutenant, how come you're not dead?
Sir?
First you survive crashing that Jeep, then Hans and Fritz take your boots.
You got a rabbit's foot in your pocket?
Two horseshoes and a four-leaf clover, sir.
Attaboy.
And by the way, you might want to take it easy on that bread.
You've had nothing solid for a while. Don't want you to end up in the infirmary.
I don't know, sir.
After the march I just made, an infirmary might look like the Waldorf to me.
Well, stomach can shrink quite a bit in 17 days.
That's the number, isn't it? 17 days?
Six days on the train, another six days of marching.
What was it, Joe? Five days of interrogation?
No, sir.
Three days.
Well, anyway, easy does it.
Yes, sir. Thank you.
So, this interrogator they threw at ya. His name wasn't Schumann, was it?
No, sir.
Lutz.
Schumann was a real prick.
Almost broke me in two.
Goon up.
- Not much for small talk, I guess. - Yeah, you'll come to appreciate that.
Smoke, Lieutenant?
Would you care for a cigarette?
Again, Lieutenant, I need to ask you.
The fuel dumps?
Thank you.
So this Captain Lutz, he know much about your operations at the chateau?
He knew everything, sir.
Fuel dump locations? Troop movements?
Sir, he knew what I'd had for breakfast the morning of my capture.
Point, and we can end all this.
Just name, rank, and serial number.
Good enough. You're excused, Lieutenant.
Unfortunately, we won't be able to quarter you here. Full up.
Gonna have to put you in Barracks 27.
Isn't Barracks 27 for enlisted men, sir?
Yes. But as you can see, the Germans are doing rather brisk business these days.
You'll be comfortable there.
Yes, sir.
- Lieutenant. - Sir.
Point!
Point! Or say hello to stumps for the rest of your life!
Good.
Donny, you in? I call.
Hold your water, Joe. Looks like a whole division just surrendered.
Who's in charge here?
- All right, how many we up to? - Three lovely ladies, big shot.
Excuse me. I'm looking for who's in charge here.
From the looks of things, I'd say Adolf Hitler.
I'm Lieutenant Tom Hart.
It's OK, fellas.
Staff Sergeant Vic Bedford. Good to meet you.
- You, too. - You just come in from Ardennes?
Yeah. Colonel sent me over to bunk in here. Officers' barracks are full.
Well, in that case, welcome to Rio.
Hope you don't mind, sir, all we have is this middle bunk right here.
Middle's fine.
- I'm betting you're a Lucky Strike man. - You bet right.
Care for some hooch? Ringing in the new year.
No, thanks.
It's fermented raisins, mostly. A little turpentine for flavor.
- I'm fine. - We got anybody left on the front, sir?
- How are you, Lieutenant? - It's all the guards talk about.
- What the hell happened, sir? - Give him a break. He just got here.
Guard 'em with your life. They double for cash here, especially with the guards.
- Thanks, Sergeant. - Excuse me a second.
Fellas! Listen up.
Lieutenant Hart here is gonna be staying with us for a while.
Men.
Say, what's it take to get in that poker game?
- I expect we can work something out. - Good.
Sir, you about a size ten?
Why? They got a Woolworths behind one of these barracks?
You never know.
Just piss on him, sir. It's the only thing that gets 'em moving.
Happy New Year.
Raus! Raus!
Happy New Year!
It's 1945!
Happy New Year!
10½½½ was the best I could do
with the holiday season and all.
Look at the smile on this guy.
Socks, too. Could've used those in the Hürtgen.
- What, you don't like trench foot? - Sure.
It's just once my toenails turned black, I didn't have a single purse that matched.
Major Fussel.
- Square 'em up, Major. - Yes, sir.
Barracks, attention!
Look at this. Got those poor bastards going around the clock now.
See that factory out past the north tower?
Germans making bombs right under our noses.
Supposed to be a shoe factory. Instead, they got Russians making mortar shells.
What the hell is that?
- Oh, they're fliers. - They got niggers flying airplanes now?
332nd Fighter Squadron. Read about 'em in Yank magazine.
I'll be damned. Well, we got us some nigger officers.
Fuckin' Jerry's right. We must be losing this war.
...five, six, seven, eight.
Lift. Lift.
Lieutenant.
Sir.
- Looks like it'll be a good show. - Yeah, it does.
It's high stakes around here, sir.
What do you mean?
Half the smokes in camp are riding on where you're putting the new men.
Where do you think we should put 'em?
I think I'd give 'em their own billet tent, sir.
Well, we can't do that.
I was thinking about putting them in 27 with you.
No, sir, wouldn't they be better off in the officers' barracks?
They don't carry enough weight to move two officers out of 22.
I can't make them the only two officers in the enlisted men's barracks.
You're in 27. Figure you could keep an eye on 'em for me.
Sir, I'm still new to that barracks. I don't carry a lot of weight with the men yet.
You got bars on your shoulder, Lieutenant.
That ought to be weight enough.
- What do you got? Come on. - I got two pair.
- Tastes like chicken, right? - No. No. Maggots.
- It's protein. Eat. - You call?
- What do you got? - Three pair.
Gonna have to make some room in here, fellas. Come on in, men.
We got two more guests.
Second Lieutenants Lamar Archer and Lincoln Scott.
You got to be kidding, sir. They're gonna live here?
Two officers just entered the barracks. Where's your salute?
What's the big idea, sir? I mean, we're all full up in here.
- Not any more. Croutch? Krasner? - Yes, sir?
You're reassigned. Barracks 28. Colonel wants you situated before lockdown.
Goon up.
- What were you flying? - P-51 bomber escorts.
Must be a shitload of dead bomber crews scattered across Europe.
See these bars, Sergeant?
Don't make you fit to share with white folks, boy.
- Bedford! - That's "Lieutenant Boy". You got that?
Call yourself whatever you want. You're still just a nigger to me.
- I didn't quite catch that, Sergeant. - All right! That's enough.
Something like that, OK? And you're gonna do a "stop and go". All right?
Set! Go!
Over here!
Nice, Johnny! Nice!
Ready? Go.
Uh-oh. Deadline.
Lieutenant! You mind grabbing that, boy?
Come on, let's go.
Cromin? Come here.
Do your route. Do your route. Do your route.
- I'm going. I'm going. - Halt, Kriegie! Halt! Halt!
- Nice one, sir. - Cookie! Hey! More bread. More bread.
- Das ist verboten! - Touchdown! Touchdown!
Das ist verboten, Bedford!
Bon appétit!
Shit.
Son of a bitch.
Nobody moves.
- How bad, Sergeant? - It's just a nick. I'll be fine.
- You all right? - Yeah.
Joe, right here!
Fuck 'em.
- Go get that hand looked at. - Yes, sir.
Hey, Bedford. Cigarettes?
You're a regular bank, Vic.
Mm-hm.
- How's the hand? - That really what you came to ask me?
No. Major Clary told me that you went to see him to lodge a complaint.
- Yeah. - About Lieutenants Archer and Scott.
I'm sure he'll take it up with Eisenhower the first chance he gets.
They don't belong here.
Nobody belongs here. But this is where the colonel put them.
Yeah. I bet you wish the colonel had given you that open bunk
in the officers' barracks right about now, huh, Lieutenant?
I mean, this is hardly the Waldorf. Ain't that right?
We're not gonna have a problem about this. Understood?
What'd you do before the war?
For a living.
I was in law school. Second year.
- Harvard? - Yale.
- Meet many coloreds up there? - A few.
Yeah, well, I dealt with their kind.
Two years I was on the police force in East St Louis, and I know what they are.
So let's not pretend we're fuckin' neighbors.
- You finished, Sergeant? - No, I'm not finished.
We never did set on a price, did we, for them boots and socks?
It might be as cold as the North Pole here but that don't make me Santa Claus.
What do you want?
I'll take your watch.
This was a gift from my father.
I'm bettin' your daddy can afford you another one.
This gonna buy me a little civility, Sergeant?
Tons.
Oh, that was great.
Oh, baby.
Not much of a picture, is it?
Well, we do feel a little misled, sir.
The guard told us they'd be showing The Life and Times of Jesse Owens.
You know, you men can sit up front with everyone else.
We're fine, sir.
Nobody's gonna bother you.
I said we're fine, sir.
Take your places!
Barracks, attention!
- How was that? - Nice, DW. That was 18 inches.
- Come on, Joe. It was two feet at least. - Hey, either way, my record still stands.
- Up! Up! Up! Raus! Raus! - Everybody, out of your beds!
- Out! - Raus!
- Out! Out of beds!
Attention at the bunks! Attention at the bunks! Now, now, now! Now!
Who is the ranking man in here?
Lieutenant Thomas Hart.
One of your men was out on the compound tonight, Lieutenant.
He was spotted on the east field removing a spike from one of the billet tents.
Your men are aware of this camp's policy
concerning the possession and concealment of weapons, are they not?
Major, no one has left this barracks.
- Wait a minute. What the...? - Quiet!
- This is a plant! Somebody put that in... - Quiet. Quiet!
- Mitkommen. Mitkommen! - You bastard, I heard you go out!
- I shoulda seen this coming! - Where are you taking him?
Examples must be made, Lieutenant. We take the safety of our men very seriously.
- Major! - Where are y'all taking him to?
What did he do?!
Lamar!
Hey, Lamar!
Lamar!
Fire!
I'll fuckin' kill you.
I'll fuckin' kill you, Bedford! You put that spike there!
- Watch your mouth, nigger! - He put that spike there! Get off of me!
- Lincoln, look at me. Lincoln, look at me. - Get off of me! Get off of me!
Can I let you go? Lincoln?
It was a minor offence, Colonel. This man deserved 15 days in the cooler.
- Not execution. - He attempted to escape.
Bullshit. You dragged him out of his barracks, barely clothed.
Your men lined him up and shot him.
He wasn't trying to escape
any more than those Russians you hung the other day. Was he a dog?
A lesser race?
There's a word you Americans use, as I remember.
But, of course, your country doesn't make such distinctions.
And neither do you, I'm sure.
He was an officer. A lieutenant in the Army Air Corps.
Yeah.
That's why you were so eager to welcome him and the other one into your barracks.
Look at that, Colonel. We had every right to question a man
for concealment of a dangerous weapon.
This man had rights too. The Geneva Convention specifically forbids...
Take a look around you, Colonel.
This is not Geneva.
- Where are you going? - To check on my men.
You're welcome to do so, of course.
In the meantime, I'll be looking in on your barracks
to listen to what's on the BBC this evening.
"Goon up!"
Now,
go see your men, Colonel.
Good night.
Excuse us, Captain.
How's Scott holding up?
It's hard to tell. He isn't saying much.
He was asking about the body. And there were some personal effects.
Dog tags.
- Come on! - Get him!
- Come on, boys! - Yeah!
- How does that taste, you bastard? - Careful, Bedford.
That's a nigger you're rooting for. Tail's painted red.
Means he's 99th. Right out of Tuskegee, boy.
Clear the barracks!
- Come on! Let's get him out! - Get him out of there!