This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend
The end
Of our elaborate plans
The end
Of everything that stands
The end
No safety nor surprise
The end
I'll never look into your eyes
Again
Can you picture
What will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need
Of some
Stranger's hand
In a
Desperate land
Lost in a Roman
Wilderness of pain
And all the children
Are insane
All the children
Are insane
Waiting for the summer rain
Yeah
Saigon.
Shit.
I'm still only in Saigon.
Every time, I think I'm gonna wake up back in the jungle.
When I was home after my first tour, it was worse.
I'd wake up, and there'd be nothing.
I hardly said a word to my wife until I said yes to a divorce.
When I was here, I wanted to be there.
When I was there, all I could think of was getting back into the jungle.
I'm here a week now.
Waiting for a mission...
getting softer.
Every minute I stay in this room, I get weaker.
And every minute Charlie squats in the bush, he gets stronger.
Each time I looked around, the walls moved in a little tighter.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck Yeah
Come on, babe, come on now Livin' life, yeah
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck Yeah
Fuck, yeah, come on, baby
Fuck, baby, fuck, fuck
Oh, yeah, oh, fuck
Yeah, do it, yeah, come on
Yeah, all right
Yeah
Yeah, yeah
Yeah
Yeah, yeah
Yeah
Everyone gets everything he wants.
I wanted a mission...
and for my sins, they gave me one.
Brought it up to me like room service.
Captain Willard? Are you in there?
Yeah, I'm comin'.
It was a real choice mission.
And when it was over, I'd never want another.
- What do you want? - Are you all right, Captain?
What does it look like?
- Are you Willard, 505th Battalion? - Affirmative.
- 173rd Airborne? - Yeah.
- Assigned to SOG? - Hey, buddy, gonna shut the door?
We have orders to escort you to the airfield.
- What are the charges? - Sir?
- What'd I do? - There's no charges, Captain.
You have orders to report to Com-Sec Intelligence at Nha Trang.
- I see. - All right?
- Nha Trang, for me? - That's right.
Come on, Captain. You still have a few hours to get cleaned up.
- I'm not feeling too good. - Captain?
Dave, come here and give me a hand. We got a dead one.
Come on, Captain. Let's take a shower.
- Don't be an ass. - Get a hold of him good.
We're gonna take a shower, Captain. In we go.
Stand underneath this, Captain.
I was going to the worst place in the world...
and I didn't even know it yet.
Weeks away and hundreds of miles up a river...
that snaked through the war like a main circuit cable...
plugged straight into Kurtz.
It was no accident that I got to be the caretaker...
of Colonel Walter E. Kurtz's memory...
any more than being back in Saigon was an accident.
There is no way to tell his story without telling my own.
If his story is really a confession...
- Captain Willard reporting, sir. - Then so is mine.
- Captain. Good. Come on in. - Thank you, sir.
- Stand at ease. - General.
You want a cigarette?
No, thank you, sir.
- Have you ever seen this man before? - No, sir.
- Met the general or myself? - No, sir.
Not personally.
- You've worked a lot on your own? - Yes, sir, I have.
Your report specifies intelligence...
counterintelligence with Com-Sec, "l" Corps.
I'm not presently disposed to discuss those operations, sir.
Did you not work for the CIA in "l" Corps?
No, sir.
Did you not assassinate a government tax collector...
Quang Tri Province, June 18, 1968?
Captain?
Sir, I am unaware of any such activity or operation...
nor would I be disposed to discuss such an operation...
if it did, in fact, exist, sir.
I thought we'd have a bite of lunch while we talk.
I hope you brought a good appetite, Captain.
I notice that you have a bad hand there. You wounded?
I had a little fishing accident on R and R, sir.
- Fishing on R and R? - Yes, sir.
But you're feeling fit? You're ready for duty?
Yes, General. Very much so, sir.
Well, let's see what we have here, roast beef, and usually it's not bad.
Try some, Jerry, and pass it around.
To save a little time, we might pass both ways.
Captain, I don't know how you feel about this shrimp...
but if you'll eat it...
you'll never have to prove your courage in any other way.
I swear, why don't I just take a piece here?
Captain, you've heard of Colonel Walter E. Kurtz?
Yes, sir, I've heard the name.
Oh, Jesus! Operations officer, Fifth Special Forces.
Luke, would you play that tape for the captain, please?
- Yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir. - Listen to this carefully, Captain.
October 9, 0430 hours, sector Peter, Victor, King.
These were monitored out of Cambodia.
This has been verified as Col. Kurtz's voice.
I watched a snail...
crawl along the edge of a straight razor.
That's my dream.
That's my nightmare.
Crawling, slithering...
along the edge...
of a straight razor...
and surviving.
Transmission 11, received '68, December 30, 0500 hours.
Sector King, Zulu, King.
But we must kill them.
We must incinerate them.
Pig after pig.
Cow after cow.
Village after village. Army after army.
And they call me an assassin.
What do you call it when the assassins accuse the assassin?
They lie. They lie, and we have to be merciful...
for those who lie.
Those nabobs.
I hate them.
I do hate them.
Walt Kurtz was one of the most outstanding officers...
this country's ever produced.
He was brilliant. He was outstanding in every way.
And he was a good man, too, a humanitarian man.
A man of wit and humor.
He joined the Special Forces.
And after that his...
ideas, methods...
became...
unsound.
Unsound.
Now he's crossed into Cambodia with this...
Montagnard army of his that worship...
the man like a god...
and follow every order, however ridiculous.
Well, I have some other shocking news to tell you.
Col. Kurtz was about to be arrested for murder.
I don't follow, sir. Murdered who?
Kurtz had ordered the execution of some Vietnamese intelligence agents...
men he believed were double agents.
So he took matters into his own hands.
Well, you see, Willard...
in this war, things get confused out there.
Power, ideals, the old morality...
and practical military necessity.
But out there with these natives...
it must be a temptation to...
be God.
Because there's a conflict in every human heart...
between the rational and the irrational...
between good and evil...
and good does not always triumph.
Sometimes...
the dark side...
overcomes what Lincoln called the better angels of our nature.
Every man has got a breaking point.
You and I have them.
Walt Kurtz has reached his.
And very obviously, he has gone insane.
Yes, sir. Very much so, sir. Obviously insane.
Your mission is to proceed up the Nung River in a navy patrol boat...
pick up Col. Kurtz's path at Nu Mung Ba...
follow it, learn what you can along the way.
When you find the colonel, infiltrate his team by...
whatever means available and terminate the colonel's command.
Terminate the colonel?
He's out there operating without any decent restraint...
totally beyond the pale of any acceptable...
human conduct...
and he is still on the field, commanding troops.
Terminate with extreme prejudice.
You understand, Captain, that this mission...
does not exist nor will it ever exist.
How many people had I already killed?
There were those six that I knew about for sure...
close enough to blow their last breath in my face.
But this time it was an American...
and an officer.
That wasn't supposed to make any difference to me...
but it did.
Shit. Charging a man with murder in this place...
was like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500.
I took the mission. What the hell else was I gonna do?
But I really didn't know what I'd do when I found him.
- Did you check the tank? - Yeah.
I was being ferried down the coast in a navy PBR...
a type of plastic patrol boat... a pretty common sight on the rivers.
They said it was a good way to pick up information and move...
without drawing a lot of attention, and that was okay.
I needed the air and the time.
Only problem was I wouldn't be alone.
Mornin', Captain.
The crew were mostly just kids...
rock and rollers with one foot in their graves.
- How old are you? - Seventeen.
The machinist... the one they called Chef... was from New Orleans.
He was wrapped too tight for Vietnam.
Probably wrapped too tight for New Orleans.
Lance, on the forward fifties...
was a famous surfer from the beaches south of L.A.
To look at him, you wouldn't believe he'd ever fired a weapon in his life.
Clean... Mr. Clean... was from some South Bronx shit-hole...
and I think the light and the space of Vietnam...
really put the zap on his head.
Then there was Phillips, the chief.
It might have been my mission, but it sure as shit was the chief�s boat.
There's about two points where we can draw enough water...
to get into the Nung River.
They're both hot. Belong to Charlie.
Don't worry about it.
Don't smoke.
You know, I've pulled a few special ops in here.
About six months ago...
I took a man who was going up past the bridge at Do Lung.
He was regular army too.
Heard he shot himself in the head.
At first I thought they handed me the wrong dossier.
I couldn't believe they wanted this man dead.
Third-generation West Point, top of his class.
Korea, Airborne, about a thousand decorations.
Et cetera, et cetera.
I'd heard his voice on the tape, and it really put the hook in me...
but I couldn't connect up that voice with this man.
Like they said, he had an impressive career.
Maybe too impressive. I mean, perfect.
He was being groomed for one of the top slots in the corporation...
general, chief of staff, anything.
In 1964, he returned from a tour with Advisory Command in Vietnam...
and things started to slip.
His report to the Joint Chiefs of Staff...
and Lyndon Johnson was restricted.
Seems they didn't dig what he had to tell them.
During the next few months, he made three requests for transfer...
to Airborne training, Fort Benning, Georgia, and was finally accepted.
Airborne?
He was 38 years old.
Why the fuck would he do that?
1966, joins Special Forces...
returns to Vietnam.
Hey, what's that?
- Arc light. - What's up?
- B-52 strike. - Yeah?
- What's that? - Arc light.
I hate that. Every time I hear that, something terrible happens.
Charlie don't never see 'em or hear 'em, man.
There they are.
Concussion will suck the air out of your damn lungs.
Something terrible is gonna happen.
Smoke! Secondary burning.
Hueys over there. Lots of Hueys.
Let's have a look, Chief.
It was the Air-Cav. First of the Ninth...
That's them.
our escorts to the mouth of the Nung River.
But they were supposed to be waiting for us another 30 kilometers ahead.
Well, Air Mobile. Those boys just couldn't stay put.
Hey, kid, come on. Get down. Come on.
First of the Ninth was an old cavalry division...
that had cashed in its horses for choppers...
and gone tear-assing around 'Nam looking for the shit.
They'd given Charlie a few surprises in their time here.
What they were mopping up now hadn't even happened yet an hour ago.
Just keeping running by. We're for television.
Don't look at the camera. Just keep... Go on. Keep going.
This is for television. Don't look at the camera.
Just go by like you're fighting, like you're fighting.
Don't look at the camera. It's for television. Just go through.
Just go by. Keep on going.
Keep going. Don't look at the camera. Go on. Keep going.
All right, come on. Go.
Right here. Yes. Over here. Over here.
Where can I find the CO?
That's the colonel comin' down!
The CO's on that chopper.
Lieutenant, bomb that tree line back about 100 yards!
- Give me some room to breathe! - Yes, sir!
Body cards!
- Sir? - Bring my body cards!
Yes, sir!
I'm the Fourth Tank commander. I got five tanks broken down.
We're all right with the tanks. It's all right, Captain.
Captain Willard!
I carry priority papers from Com-Sec Intelligence, II Corps.
I understand Nha Trang has briefed you...
on the requirements of my mission.
What mission? I haven't heard from Nha Trang.
Sir, your unit is supposed to escort us into the Nung!
- We'll see what we can do. - Colonel!
But just stay out of my way until this is done, Captain.
All right, let's see what we have. Let's see what we have.
A two of spades, three of spades, four of diamonds...
six of clubs, eight of spades.
There isn't one worth a jack in the whole bunch.
Four of diamonds.
- Hey, Captain, what's that? - Death cards!
- What? - Death cards!
- Death? - Lets Charlie know who did this.
- Cheer up, son. - We will not hurt or harm you.
- Fire in the hole! - Fire in the hole!
This is an area that is controlled...
by the Vietcong and North Vietnamese.
Jim.
We are here to help you.
- We extend a welcome hand... - Come on.
-to those who would like to return... - Everybody in?
to the arms of the South Vietnamese government.
Get in. Hurry up.
Move it out.
This is an area that is controlled...
by the Vietcong and North Vietnamese.
Hey! What's this? What is this?
This man's hurt pretty bad, sir.
About the only thing that's holding his guts in, sir, is that pot lid.
Yeah? What do you have to say?
This soldier is dirty VC. He wants water. He can drink paddy water.
Get outta here! Give me that canteen.
- He's VC! - Any man that's brave enough to...
Get outta here! I'll kick your fuckin' ass!
He killed a lot of our people!
Any man brave enough to fight with his guts...
strapped on him can drink from my canteen.
Hey, Colonel, I think one of those sailors is Lance Johnson, the surfer.
- Where? Here? You sure? - Down there.
Yeah? Here.
Repeat. We have a body count. We have...
What's your name, sailor?
- Gunner's Mate Third Class Johnson. - Gunner's Mate Third Class...
- Lance Johnson, the surfer? - Yes, sir.
It's an honor to meet you. I've admired your nose riding for years.
I like your cutback too. I think you have the best cutback there is.
- Thank you, sir. - You can cut out the "sir" crap.
I'm Bill Kilgore. I'm a goofy foot.
- This guy with ya? - Yeah.
I want you to meet some guys.
- This is Mike from San Diego. - Far out.
- Johnny from Malibu. Solid surfers. - John, hi. Far out.
None of us are anywhere near your class though.
No way.
We do a lot of surfing around here. I like to finish operations early.
Fly down to Yung Tau for the evening glass.
Been riding since you got here?
No way. I haven't surfed since I been here.
Through Christ, our Lord...
from Whom all good things come...
through Him in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
All glory and honor is Yours, Almighty Father.
Let us bring our iniquities to the Father...
in the words our Savior gave us.
Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread...
and forgive us our trespasses...
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Kilgore had had a pretty good day for himself.
They choppered in the T-bones and the beer...
and turned the LZ into a beach party.
The more they tried to make it just like home...
the more they made everybody miss it.
Make my meat rare... rare but not cold.
Well, he wasn't a bad officer, I guess.
He loved his boys, and you felt safe with him.
He was one of those guys that had that weird light around him.
You just knew he wasn't gonna get so much as a scratch here.
What happened to your mission? Nha Trang forget all about you?
Airborne.
Sir, two places we can get into the river.
- Yeah. - Here and here.
It's a pretty wide delta, but these are the only two spots I'm sure of.
That village you're pointing at is kind of hairy.
- What do you mean "hairy," sir? - It's hairy.
Got some pretty heavy ordnance.
I lost a few recon ships in there now and again.
What's the name of that goddam village? Vin Drin...
- Dop. - Dop or Lop?
Damn gook names all sound the same.
Mike, you know anything about this point at Vin Drin Dop?
That's a fantastic peak.
- Peak? - About six foot.
It's an outstanding peak. It's got both the long right and left slide...
with a bowl section that's unbelievable.
It's just tube city.
Why didn't you tell me that before? A good peak.
There aren't any good peaks in this whole shitty country.
It's all goddam beach break.
It's really hairy in there. That's where we lost McDonald.
They shot the hell out of us there. That's Charlie's point.
Sir, we can go in there tomorrow at dawn.
There's always a good offshore breeze in the morning.
We may not be able to get the boat in.
The draught at the mouth of that river may be too shallow.
We'll pick your boat up and put it down like a baby where you want it.
This is the First of the Ninth, Air-Cav, son.
Air mobile! I can take that point and hold it as long as I like.
You can get anyplace up that river that suits you, young Captain.
Hell, a six-foot peak.
Take a gunship back to the division.
Lance, go with Mike and let him pick out a board for you.
Bring me my Yater Spoon, the eight-six.
- I don't know, sir... - What is it, soldier?
It's hairy in there. It's Charlie's point.
Charlie don't surf!
Hey, Jesus, Clean, you ain't gonna believe this. Look.
Hey, man! They're pickin' up the boat!
- How are you feeling, Jimmy? - Like a mean motherfucker, sir!
All right, son, let 'er rip.
Let's go!
I never have got used to a light board. I can't get used to one.
- I'm used to a heavy board. - I know, it's a real drag.
- You prefer a heavy or light board? - Heavier.
- Really? - Yeah!
I thought all the young guys like lighter boards.
- You can't ride the nose on those. - Big Duke Six.
This is Eagle Thrust Seven. We've got it spotted.
Duke Six to Eagle Thrust.
Put on heading two-seven-zero. Assume attack formation.
That's a roger, Big Duke. We're going in.
Hey, Lance, we'll come in low out of the rising sun.
About a mile out, we'll put on the music.
- Music? - Yeah, I use Wagner.
Scares the hell out of the slopes. My boys love it.
Hey, they're gonna play music!
How come all you guys sit on your helmet?
So we don't get our balls blown off.
Big Duke Six to Eagle Thrust. Put on psy war op.
Make it loud. This is a Romeo Fox Trot. Shall we dance?
Yes, sir!
- Come on! - All right. Fire.
We got a couple... at that tree line.
We're taking fire from the holes.
Run, Charlie!
This should make everything burn.
We got a couple of people ahead here.
-What's going down here? -We got an automatic! Shoot to kill!
-Shoot to kill in the open! -I spotted a large weapon down below.
We're gonna go down and check it out.
All right, this is Fox Trot. We're pullin' in.
What a shot.
Outstanding, Red Team. Outstanding. Get you a case of beer for that.
Six-four-one-zero, we're over the village right now.
I see a vehicle in the courtyard. I'm gonna check it out.
Well done, Hawks.
Want some twenty-Mike-Mike-Vulcan along those tree lines.
Ripple the shit out of 'em.
Got a vehicle on the bridge, 50 caliber on board.
He's moving across to resupply the weapon.
Big Duke Six, clear the area. I'm coming down myself.
Don't these people ever give up?
Nice shot, Bill.
- Shit! - All right, all right!
- It's just a flare! - It's a flare! Gotta get outta here!
Un-ass that shit. Get it outta here!
Get it out. It's just a flare. It's all right.
- Everybody all right? Lance? - I'm fine!
Get down!
I'm not going! I'm not going! I'm not going.
We just got a secondary down there in the plaza.
Hold on to your position.
Duke Six, we've got wounded down there.
- Get a stretcher over here! - You're all right.
- Please, God! Help me! - Give him some morphine.
My God! Oh!
- Seven-four-two! - Where's that duster?
I want my wounded out of there and in the hospital in 15 minutes.
I want my men out.
Somebody stay in there tight with Big Duke.
This is Ten-Ten. We're gonna be in, throw 'em on and get out.
She's got a grenade!
The whole thing blew up.
- She blew the shit... - Fucking savages.
- Get a medevac. - Holy Christ, she's a SAP.
I'm gonna get that dink bitch.
Get over there, Johnny. Roll that right skid right up her ass.
We gotta get some air in these trees.
It's goddam eat-up with enemy down here.
I'm taking fire. I'm taking hits all over.
Three o'clock! I'm drawing heavy fire!
I'm hit! Mayday! Mayday! I'm goin' in.
My tail rotor's out. I got control.
- What do you think? - Wow! This is really exciting, man.
- No! No! The waves! The waves! - Oh, right.
Look at that. Breaks both ways. Watch. Watch.
Look! Good six-foot swells!
Come here, Lance.
Incoming!
This LZ is still pretty hot, sir.
Maybe you ought to surf somewhere else.
What do you know about surfing, Major?
You're from goddam New Jersey.
Come here! Come here!
- Change! - You mean right now, sir?
I wanna see how rideable that stuff is. Go change.
It's still pretty hairy out there.
- Do you wanna surf, soldier? - Yes, sir.
That's good, son, 'cause you either surf or fight.
That clear? Get going. I'll cover for 'em.
And bring a board for Lance.
We can't do shit until the boat gets here.
Lance, I'll bet you can't wait to get out there.
- What? - See how they break both ways?
One guy can break right, one left, simultaneous. What do you think?
We ought to wait for the tide to come up.
- Come here. Look. - Incoming!
The tide doesn't come in for six hours!
You wanna wait here for six hours?
Yo! Chief! Chief!
Okay, fellas, quit hiding. Come on! Let's go!
- Dick-heads, take off! - Goddam it!
Don't you think it's a little risky for R and R?
If I say it's safe to surf this beach, it's safe to surf this beach!
I'm not afraid to surf this place!
I'll surf this fuckin' place.
Give me that R-T, soldier.
Dove Four, this is Big Duke Six. Goddam it!
I want that tree line bombed!
Big Duke Six, roger. Dove One-Three, stand by.
Blow them into the Stone Age, son!
- Out! - No, back, no!
Let me take care of this. Get that out of here!
- I'm sorry. - Come here now. All right.
- No, ma'am. Sorry! - Jimmy!
Hawk One-Two, Dove One-Three.
They need some napalm in the tree line. Can you put it down there?
Right, One-Three. We're fixin' to fuck with 'em. What's the target?
We're trying to suppress some mortar fire off the tree line down there.
- Roger. Here we come. - Good. Give it all you got.
Bring in all your ships.
Put him in my chopper. Get him back to the hospital.
No, no, no, you got to go with him.
Come on! Go! Go! Get it outta here!
Tell my guys I want my board!
Big Duke Six, this is Dove One-Three.
The jets are inbound now. You got about 30 seconds to bomb station.
Get your people back and heads down. This is gonna be a big one.
Don't worry.
We'll have this place cleaned up in a jiffy, son. Don't you worry.
Give me those shorts.
These are from the Air-Cav, a present from me and the boys.
I want to see you do your stuff in 'em out there.
You smell that?
- Do you smell that? - What?
Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that.
Come on. Move it! Move it! Move it!
I love the smell of napalm in the morning.
You know, one time we had a hill bombed for 12 hours.
When it was all over, I walked up.
We didn't find one of them, not one stinking dink body.
But the smell... You know, that gasoline smell.
The whole hill smelled like...
victory.
Someday this war's gonna end.
- Lance! The wind! - Huh?
- The wind! - What?
It's blowin' onshore! It's gonna blow this place out.
- It's gonna ruin it! - Not cool! It's gonna blow out!
It's the goddam napalm! That's what's doin' it!
I know. I'm really sorry, Colonel. I'm afraid that does it.
The kid's got a reputation.
You can't expect him to surf those sloppy waves.
- I understand. - I'm an artist, Bill.
- I couldn't surf that stuff. - I apologize. It's not my fault.
The waves are gettin' blown out by the napalm.
Don't get me wrong...
It was the bombs causing a vortex with the wind.
I accept your apology.
But if you could hang around 20 minutes...
- Some other time, Bill. - Just 20 minutes!
- I'm an artist. - Keep walking.
Okay, give it a try, guys. One goes left and one goes right.
Look, Lance.
- You through surfing? - Yeah!
- Wanna say good-bye to the colonel? - No.
- You sure? - Yeah!
- Get the fuck outta here. - It's the napalm.
Just wait 20 minutes!