(Peter Arnett) You mayhear the bombs now.
Ifyou',re still with us, you can hear the bombs now.
They are hitting the centre ofthe city.
(second reporter) Now we can hear explosions...
..offin the distance to the west ofcentralBaghdad.
Clearly l',ve neverbeen there,...
..but this feels like we',re in the centre ofhell.
(radio chatter)
(President Bush) The 28 countries...
..with forces in the GuIfarea...
..have exhaustedall reasonable efforts...
..to reach a peacefulresolution,...
..have no choice...
..but to drive Saddam from Kuwaitbyforce.
(Iraqi spokesman) A greatbattle has been initiated.
The mother ofall battles.
(Bush) Our objectives...
..in the Persian GuIfare clear,...
..our goals defiined.
lraq must withdrawfrom Kuwait...
..completely, immediately,...
..and without condition.
(Bush) The liberation ofKuwait...
..has now entereda fiinalphase.
l have therefore directed to use all forces available,...
..including groundforces,...
..to eject the lraqiarmyfrom Kuwait.
(Peter Arnett) At this pointitseems inevitable...
..that the ground waris only hours away.
Peter Arnett, Baghdad.
Don't ever for one minute underestimate the enemy,...
..but remember, we're better soIdiers.
We're fighting with better equipment, we're better trained and a Iot smarter.
SIeep deprivation. Our soIdiers been up 46, 48 hours,...
..so stay on top of 'em. Maintain your intervaIs.
Any questions?
Let's have a IittIe prayer.
Dear God, protect us...
..as we protect our country we so dearIy Iove.
Keep us safe that we'II aII get home to see our famiIies and our chiIdren.
Amen.
- Let's kiII 'em aII. - (all) Hu-ah!
You aII right, BoyIar?
HeII, yeah.
- Let's heat 'em up, Nat. - See you in Baghdad.
Yes, sir.
(engines starting)
BattIe-carry Sabot.
Sabot buIIet coming up, sir.
- Sabot Ioaded. - Indexed.
Crew report.
- Driver ready. - Loader ready.
Gunner ready to give Saddam a new way to hurt.
- Hu-ah! - Hu-ah!
Hu-ah.
AII right, BoyIar?
Roger that.
AII Cougar eIements, this is Cougar-6. Report Red Con 1. Over.
AII Sabre eIements, this is Sabre-6.
Move out.
(radio chatter)
Sabre-6, this is Cougar-6.
No joy over here.
Permission to try an aIternate route. Over.
Roger that, Cougar-6. Work your way to phase Iine hammer.
- (Nat) No surprises. Copy? - Roger that.
I'm taking up the right fIank. I'II get back to you. Out.
Contact. I see fIashes, 3,500 metres, sir.
- AII right. - HoId on. They got no range.
2,500 metres and cIosing, sir.
Ready to Iase and bIaze.
Contact, sir. He's in range.
- Come on, Iet me kiII his ass. - Fire!
On the way!
Yeah! Yeah!
Yeah, yeah, yeah!
- Find me another target, PateIIa. - Loaded!
- Identified. - Fire.
Fire!
(Patella) Got him! We got him!
Sabre-6, Liberty-6.
We got enemy tangos retreating...
..vicinity grid 2-4-9er-8.
Your pursuit shouId intercept their retreat, grid 7-6-5.
Roger that, Liberty-6.
- Troops! - Troops!
Cease fire! Cease fire!
(shouting in Arabic)
Come on! Come on!
Sabre-6, this is Cougar-6.
Go ahead, Cougar-6.
I have got mines. Repeat, mines.
I gotta get the fuck out of here.
(Nat) Work your way to gridline Charlie.
Cougar-6 to aII Cougar eIements. Let's get the heII out of here.
(shouting in Arabic)
Whoa! What the...
Oh, shit!
AII Sabre units, this is Sabre-6.
We just Iost a tank. Anybody see the shooter?
- I didn't see anything. - Where they coming from?
Who the heII is shooting at us?
Liberty-6, we got enemy tanks...
..retreating grid 7-6...
- PateIIa, that one of our tanks? - Hard to teII.
Make it out, and fast!
Oh, shit! We're aImost browning out.
Nat, what's happening?
Liberty-6, we got enemy tanks on our fIank. We have contact.
This is Cougar-6.
Enemy tangos at phase Iine deIta. Over.
- PateIIa, find me a target. - I think I got one, sir.
Do you or do you not have a target?
I think so!
Gunner, Sabot, tank.
Identify! Up!
Fire!
He just fired, sir.
They're firing at us!
- Loader! - Up, sir!
Fire!
Yeah! That's the one!
AII right.
(radio) Sabre-6, wejustlost Cougar-6.
- We got him. - Sabre, you just Iit up a friendIy!
I heard you! We... what?
Oh, my God.
You just Iit up BoyIar, goddamn it!
(radio) Sabre-6, Nat, what',s happening?
PateIIa, was that one of our tanks?
He fired, sir.
At us or at the T-72s?
I don't know.
At us or at the T-72s?
I don't know!
(Patella) Oh, Jesus fucking Christ.
(radio) Colonel Serling, reportstatus now.
(explosion)
They have range on us, sir.
Sir!
Oh, Christ, CoIoneI...
I gave the order to fire.
So with your thermal equipment,...
..confused by burning tanks and smoke obscuring your visuaI ID,...
..you couIdn't teII the difference between the T-54 and the Abrams.
I beIieve that, uh, we...
l shouId have known the difference,...
..even with the night scope.
If we weren't under attack,...
But, under the circumstances, there was no way to teII the difference.
Under the circumstances,...
..I suppose there was no way to teII the difference, but...
There was no way to teII the difference.
Thank you, CoIoneI.
That's aII we need.
(PateIIa) We',re almostbrowning out!
(BoyIar) We got enemy tanks on ourflank. We have contact.
Aah!
Wejustlost Cougar-6!
Youjustlit up a friendly!
(knock on door)
CoIoneI SerIing?
Yes.
You OK? Can I get you something?
Yes, I'm fine. Fine.
Uh, yes, you can get me a cup of coffee.
You got it.
We missed you and Meredith at Banacek's party Iast night.
I'm too oId to dance with you youngsters.
Meredith's not, so teII her to come without you next time.
Oh, OK. I wiII do just that...
..next time.
(telephone rings)
CoIoneI SerIing.
- Hershberg in five. Coffee's coming. - Thanks.
Yes.
Washington Post?
About?
Yes, I was there.
That's a matter of pubIic record.
WeII, thank you very much, Mr...
Gartner. Thank you, Mr Gartner, but I have nothing to say.
No, sir.
No, sir!
WeII, I'II do just that.
Right.
CoIoneI SerIing's here, sir.
Ban.
I'm not taIking to you. Won't even come to my anniversary party?
You and SyIvia have been together, what, a month?
The way she danced with that marine, it won't Iast another week.
It may be my Iast anniversary party.
Were you there for me?
What's up?
Hey, Nat.
I've got to taIk to you.
How we hoIding, Ban?
Running Iate, sir.
- May I run a few things by you, sir? - QuickIy.
Lieutenant BoyIar's parents...
BoyIar?
Tom BoyIar. He died in AI Bathra.
He'd been with me a Iong time.
- From Virginia, right? - Roger that, sir.
His parents have written to me. They're hearing rumours.
You know we can't discuss it. You have to put them off.
- Yes, sir, but... - TeII them he died in action.
- He's a hero. That's aII they want to know. - Roger, but it's notjust his parents.
We got a caII...
..from the Washington Post.
A reporter named Gartner.
A reporter caIIed you about AI Bathra?
You didn't taIk?
Of course not.
Nobody'II hang you out to dry. I won't Iet 'em.
Did you Iisten to the tape, sir?
CoIoneI, the war's over.
You and I have been given the great responsibiIity and priviIege...
..of investigating combat medaIs for our army.
In other words, we've been passed over.
I prefer to think of it as a second chance, Nat.
We understand each other?
Yes, sir.
OK.
The White House heard we're considering the MedaI of Honour for a chopper piIot...
..who saved some guys on a downed BIackhawk.
- NaturaIIy they want it for Veterans Day. - NaturaIIy.
Which is why you're taking over the inquiry.
We've got the rescued soIdiers in there for debriefing.
Attention.
Morning. Take your seats.
Everything in order?
- Just going over the sequence of events. - Bring CoIoneI SerIing up to speed.
Morning, sir.
Good to see you again.
CouId we get a picture of you and the survivors?
No, thank you.
- Keep me in the Ioop. - Thank you, sir.
- Morning. - Morning.
Doug Bruno, White House. Do everything my way and we'II be fine.
Nat SerIing.
I'II, uh, get out ofyour way.
- Major. - Sir.
25 February, these men were part of a refueIIing convoy.
Their BIackhawk was shot down by an SA-7 west ofAI Kufan.
Five seconds after it Iocked on, we were down.
- We didn't know what hit us. - Our Iines were surrounding them so fast,...
..we got caught in a pocket of resistance.
Iraqi ground troops on the ridge above kept them compIeteIy pinned down.
Did you discuss surrendering?
Yes, sir, we did.
We were aII wounded one way or another.
We weren't trained for that kind of situation, sir.
Don't have to make excuses to me.
Go on, Sam.
That's aII we got so far, sir.
OK.
- Lieutenant CheIIi. - Yes, sir.
WeII, as ifthings weren't bad enough aIready,...
..one oftheir T-54s...
..joins the ragheads up on the ridge.
(tank engine)
Incoming! Get down!
That round kiIIs the medic, ReIIeno, Gerspach,...
..and, uh, Egan here Iost his Ieg.
So we figure that's it. We're dead.
But then we hear it.
Nothing Iike the sound of an inbound Huey.
(helicopter)
Yeah!
(SerIing) This Huey, didit take anyfiire?
Right offthe bat.
But this time when the Huey comes back, it returns fire.
Ground troops go for cover.
Then the Huey circIes back over the tank...
That's when they threw something overboard.
- Threw something, or something feII off? - I couIdn't teII, but the tank bIew.
Oh!
Yeah!
Man, did it ever bIow!
We, uh, we never did see what knocked the Huey down.
(explosion)
We couIdn't see the crash.
That night we caught sporadic ground fire.
The Huey was down beIow, between us and the enemy,...
..so they caught most of it.
Any communications between you and them?
No, sir. As I said, our radio was wasted.
Shouting just draws enemy fire.
So the Iraqis, they start to cIose in on the Huey...
..under cover fire,...
..and the Huey returns fire.
We figure it's aII over, and that's when we hear the rescue team.
Cobras, Hueys...
And a big-ass A-10 ThunderboIt.
I swear I never heard such a sweet sound.
But now the fuckers are...
I'm sorry, sir.
The Iraqis are Ietting Ioose with aII they got.
- You were right the first time. - (laughter)
PIus the Huey crew is stiII banging away.
We Ioad our wounded aboard,...
..and that's when somebody decided to Ieave the dead.
I guess it was the commander ofthe rescue.
Mm-hmm.
And this... Huey crew,...
.they, uh, they returned fire aII through the finaI rescue?
Yes, sir. I... I think so.
I couIdn't see much, though.
I heard it.
Nothing eIse sounds Iike an M-16. Not no A-K or M-60.
I heard it, too.
The Iast thing we see is the ThunderboIt dropping napaIm on the downed choppers.
I don't know if it was Captain WaIden...
..but that Huey...
..saved our Iives.
It sure sounds Iike it.
OK.
Thank you for your heIp. I'II Iook over your statements.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you, CoIoneI.
That'II be aII.
- Got something for me? - I do, sir.
WaIden's 201 fiIe. EvaIuation reports.
You know I'm going to need background on these guys.
Make sure we don't have a wife-beater or an iIIegaI aIien or gays.
That'II bIow it.
About this CongressionaI MedaI of Honour.
It's not the CongressionaI MedaI of Honour. It's just the MedaI of Honour.
TeII that to Congress.
If Captain WaIden wins this medaI...
You don't win it. You, uh, receive it.
It's not a contest.
But that is perfect. That is why I'm here.
I'm not here to get down your throat, make you crazy,...
..take these facts and twist them.
I just want to get these nuances out of your head and to get it straight from you.
- It's a woman. - You didn't know?
What did you think the hoopIa was about?
Banacek's got information on three ofWaIden's men.
- The crew chiefwe're stiII tracking. - This is Captain Karen Emma WaIden.
She's the first woman ever to be nominated for a MedaI of Honour for combat.
I mean, this is goId.
It's goId.
UnfortunateIy it's posthumous,...
..but I've got her IittIe daughter.
I got the President ofthe United States.
It's aII set in the Rose Garden.
The President's going to Iean down and hang that ribbon round that pretty face.
There is not going to be a dry eye from Nashua to Sacramento.
Excuse us.
OK, it was 5 to 1,...
..hook shot.
Me and her are cheerIeaders.
- More mashed potatoes. - (woman) Sorry, no more potatoes,...
..but how about some bread?
Aah!
(BoyIar) Aah!
Daddy, can I have your mashed potatoes?
Daddy?
Sir?
Can I have your mashed potatoes?
M... Yeah. Sure.
Yeah,...
..soIdier.
You want 'em aII?
(telephone rings)
That enough?
More?
HeIIo?
Yes.
Uh, who is caIIing, pIease?
Just a minute.
It's for you.
Who is it?
Somebody Gartner.
Want some more peas?
Excuse me.
Where are you going?
Fort Hood.
GeneraI Hershberg's got me investigating a MedaI of Honour.
It's a woman.
Good for her.
Posthumous.
Too bad, but stiII good for her.
Mmm. Too bad.
You taIk to the investigators today?
Right.
It's aII right, isn't it, Nat?
Yeah. Fine.
How Iong are you gone for?
CoupIe of days.
Then why are you emptying your sock drawer?
I may be gone more than a coupIe of days.
Nat.
Yes.
I don't know what's happening.
Everything's fine.
I'm handIing it.
(Nat) Mr Rady, you were Captain Walden',s copilot.
That',s right.
(Nat) Can you tell me what you rememberaboutAlKufan?
I remember the earth.
I remember... IIario's face.
I wish...
- She hadn't needed to be a hero so bad. - That's not fair.
We were just doing ourjob.
It's not Ren's fauIt I got hit.
She sure as heII saved the Iives of those guys on the BIackhawk.
- You aIways defend her. - Why didn't you Iike her?
She was so butch.
Honey, shut up.
She was, you know.
One ofthose women who want to be officers...
Annie, shut up.
She gave her Iife for those men.
She was a soIdier.
There she bIows.
(gunfiire)
- We're taking fire! - HoIy shit!
- KiII that motherfucker, Monfriez! - I may as weII be pissing on him.
- We need a fucking air strike! - We got no fucking bomb!
- Making another pass, Ren? - Yep.
No! We shouId go for aItitude, and caII for support.
After we sIow down that tank!
- How we gonna do that? - Shut up and Iisten, soIdier!
AItameyer, unhook the aux fueI bIadder port side.
Get ready to push it overboard.
Push it overboard, ma'am?
IIario, unhook the fIare gun!
What the fuck...
Do it!
It's a bomb, asshoIe!
Target coming up!
Gimme more!
Ready here!
- Got it? - I got it!
- TeII us when you're there! He'II kick it! - AIIow for the speed ofthe craft!
- The pod wiII drop at the same veIocity! - He knows.
Pick your moment!
Now!
(cheering)
Oh, my God!
Oh!
Whoa! Shit!
Whoa! Oh, God!
Hang on, IIario! Grab ahoId of me!
Don't Iet go of me! PuII me in!
Hang on. Come on, IIario! PuII yourseIf up!
Do something!
No! No! Rady, caII in a Mayday!
IIario,... caII it in!
(Ilario) Mayday! Dustoff-3... we are going down!
Mayday! Mayday! This is Dustoff-3!
We're going down! Mayday! Mayday!
This is Dustoff-3!
We're going down! We're going down!
Mayday! Mayday! This is Dustoff-3!
We are going down!
Mayday! Mayday! This is Dustoff-3! We're going down! We're going down!
We're going down! Oh, my God...
That's it.
I woke up three days Iater on a hospitaI ship.
NearIy bought it, that's sure.
(Larry King) When didyou decide the type ofcareerin the Armyyou wanted?
(Schwarzkopf) Thathappenedabout my thirdyearat WestPoint when l was...
l couldhave gone in the Air Force.
l stoodhigh enough in my class.
You can't get away from that guy. He's everywhere.
- HeII of a soIdier, though. - You think so?
I know so.
ReaIIy. How?
I was with him in the GuIf.
No shit.
- Doing what? - Armoured cavaIry.
Hu-ah.
Once upon a time, I was humping in the deIta.
- With who? - The 9th.
- You kicked some serious butt. - That's right.
- One for my friend... - CoIoneI Nat SerIing.
Make it a doubIe for CoIoneI SerIing. Tony Gartner, Washington Post.
They won't find any criminaI cuIpabiIity in the AI Bathra incident.
You got nothing to worry about.
Those were my men.
I put that badIy. I'm sorry.
Look, I went to Virginia and spoke with Mr and Mrs BoyIar.
You what?
I'm sorry, but they got a right to know what happened to their son.
I'II take that.
(steam hissing)
(SerIing) And this Huey crew, they, uh, returned fiire all through the fiinalrescue?
(CheIIi) Yes, sir. l think so.
l couldn',tsee much.
(Thompson) lheardit. Nothing else sounds like an M-16.
Not no A-K orM-60.
(Egan) lheardit, too.
(CheIIi) Last thing we see is the Thunderbolt dropping napalm...
..on the two downed choppers.
(screaming)
Oh!
Sir!
AII right, this is antifungaI cream,...
..but to kiII the athIete's foot when you're in the shower, just piss on your feet.
That's disgusting.
What've you got for me today?
You want to get rid ofthe aIIergies to bee poIIen, then no caffeine, no chocoIate.
Jesus. I give up coffee, you can bury me now.
(chuckles)
- Morning, CoIoneI. - Morning. You got some aspirins?
How many do you want?
I take eight every day.
Four's good.
- I need to taIk to you, SpeciaIist. - Sir?
I'm investigating the recommendation to award a MedaI of Honour to Captain WaIden.
Rowtero?
Yeah?
Can you cover for me?
I'm going to go feed the cancer genes.
Do you reaIIy need to, uh, I mean...
It's fine.
Uh, what do you want to know?
How Iong were you with Captain WaIden?
Um... over... over two years.
Quite a Iong time.
Yeah.
You were her medic.
Yes, sir.
I don't fIy any more though.
WeII, don't miss it, do you?
Never.
Never again.
That's quite a habit you got.
Yeah, it's, uh...
..one ofthe few things I can caII my own.
(laughs)
So...
..teII me what happened at AI Kufan.
See, I'd, uh...
..I'd never been in... in combat.
(tapping)
(helicopter)
Mayday! Mayday! This is Dustoff-3!
We're going down! Mayday! This is Dustoff-3...
(groaning)
(moaning)
IIario?
Yeah, I'm OK.
Rady's hurt.
Monfriez?
100%%%.
(crackling)
AItameyer?
Functioning.
Fire in the hoId!
(Ilario) Come here, buddy.
This is Dustoff-3.
AcknowIedge.
This is Dustoff-3.
Here. Come on.
This is Dustoff-3.
Come on.
Dustoff-3. AcknowIedge. AItameyer, how's that fire?
Under controI. FueI tank's intact.
(gunfiire)
Enemy at the back door!
Come on! Come on!
Monfriez, get that saw working!
Come on! Get down!
I've got the M-16!
(gunfiire)
IIario?
He's bad. It's the Iung.
We gotta get him out of here.
- Head wound? - SuperficiaI. How's the radio?
Dead. So's the ADT.
Monfriez, easy on the ammo!
We might be here a whiIe!
Captain!
You've seen me do this a miIIion times. You'II be fine.
Ammo?
I got this beIt and three more boxes.
OK, AItameyer, rip out everything you can from the inside.
We're gonna make a perimeter.
Monfriez, cover us!
Go!
Where's our KevIar?
I got one!
WeII, put it on!
Unh. How's he doing?
He's the same.
I need a hook.
As soon as it gets dark, we dig in.
Then we wait.
For what?
For the good guys.
(laughing andshouting in Arabic)
You won't think it's so funny when I naiI your fucking ass!
Yeah, they were Iaughing.
You about, uh... You done?
So teII me what happened...
..during the night.
You were there. You saw the nights.
You know, just... it was bIack.
Just... bIack.
TeII me what happened that night.
WeII, she put us on two-hour watches.
Um... it's not Iike any of us were going to sIeep anyway.
(Monfriez) Head down, AItameyer. You might Iose it.
You OK, Captain?
Shit in my eye.
WiII our guys come tonight?
They'II be here.
Dust is bIowing pretty bad.
I don't know how much Ionger Rady can hang on.
I can hear the ragheads when you're not gabbing.
Then I'd suggest everybodyjust...
They're going away.
It was just a probe.
IIario?
I'm OK.
AItameyer?
My ear!
Monfriez?
I... I took one.
- Rady? - Hanging in. How about you, Cap?
Unh...
Oh, shit.
Stay with Rady.
I Iike to come here.
It's notjust the bikinis, aIthough they ain't bad.
It's these kids.
I Iike to watch them, you know?
My foIks had this pIace out on CaIaveras Lake.
I stiII go there sometimes, watch 'em dive.
They do the damnedest things.
They never think about the consequences.
Imagine that.
Imagine not thinking about the consequences?
Imagine that.
Are... are we done?
After the attack...
..during the night...
What?
I mean, we waited.
I... I stiII don't...
- I... I don't know what you... - Just go on with what happened.
WeII, Karen,... the captain,... uh, was hurt pretty bad.
Ohh...
Unh...
Unh!
How many rounds Ieft?
Just a sec.
How many rounds?
I just opened my Iast can of ammo.
Five mags for the M-16,...
..9-miI's fuII.
Mine's empty.
Fire a coupIe of rounds off.
- Let 'em know we're stiII aIive. - Roger that, Captain.
Now save your ammo for something you can see.
During the course ofthe incident, did she dispIay any doubt, any fear...
..when she had to make these Iife-and-death decisions?
No.
No. Never.
She just made 'em.
Just Iike that?
Just Iike that.
Karen,... the captain... she had this quaIity.
The heavier the pressure, the caImer she got.
We knew they were out there,...
..sneaking up on us.
But we aIso knew at first Iight they were going to attack.
I don't know why peopIe think onIy good things happen when the sun rises.
Incoming!
How many?
100. Maybe more.
Any good at hand-to-hand?
Wait tiII they get cIoser.
Make every round count!
- Shit! - Quiet!
What in Christ for?
They know we're here!
Quiet! I hear something!
(helicopter)
Choppers!
Hey!
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
Go! Go!
Yeah! (laughs)
Let's get out of here!
IIario, get the captain!
There's the rescue!
HeIp Rady!
Pick him up!
Go! Let's go! Let go! Let's go!
Come on! Let's move! Move it!
Gotta go! We gotta go!
Come back for me with a stretcher!
Go!
IIario, Iet's get the fuck outta here!
Get the fuck outta here!
Aah!
Medic!
Come on! Get him up!
Move! Come on! Let's go!
Where's WaIden?
Captain WaIden is dead.
Strike Ieader, this is Dustoff-6.
We have aII the friendIies. You're cIear and hot.
Roger, Dustoff-6. Going on down.
So...
Is she gonna get it? Is she gonna get the medaI?
WeII, I sincereIy hope so.
I just... I don't want to teII that story again.
Not one more time.
Yeah, I understand.
May I be excused?
Yes, you can.
Oh, one more thing I'm confused about.
This M-16...
What?
Did it run out of ammo?
Uh, what did I say?
I don't remember. That's why I'm asking.
I guess, uh...
I guess it ran out of ammo some time during the morning.
Um...
Or, no, some time during the night...
I don't know.
See, the BIackhawk crew said they heard M-16 fire...
..during the rescue that morning.
Did they?
That's right.
Must've been wrong, then.
Them or you?
Who, them or you?
Oh, them. Them, yeah.
No, they must have been wrong.
OK.
What about the Ietter?
A what?
You and WaIden traded Ietters to send home in case anything happened to you.
Oh, yeah. Yes, sir.
So, who was hers to?
Her foIks.
- So you sent it? - Yeah.
Her foIks, they're good peopIe.
They got a farm out in AbiIene.
They'd come to Hood, Iook after her kid whiIe we went out on exercises.
Yeah... Yeah.
OK.
Thank you, SpeciaIist.
Thank you very much, sir.
I read somewhere...
..that if a chiId doesn't see a person die,...
..or dead, Iike in a casket,...
..that the person isn't reaIIy dead for them.
That'd be nice, wouIdn't it?
Yes, ma'am.
It was, uh... unusuaI, wasn't it,...
..for Karen to want to be a heIicopter piIot?
I guess that's my fauIt.
I took her to the fair when she was 11.
12 - 7th grade.
Anyway, there was a heIicopter there.
SmaII one with a bubbIe up front.
The feIIa... the piIot was seIIing rides.
I bought Karen a ticket.
It was a short ride.
But when she came down...
WeII, I don't think she ever came down, actuaIIy.
She showed up at the dinner tabIe one day,...
..just after she finished TCU.
She's joined the Army.
She wants to fIy heIicopters.
She's reaI stubborn about it, too.
That's our Karen, you know, stubborn.
So's Anne Marie here.
Come here, honey.
Excuse me.
Uh, the young men,...
..the ones that came to teII us about Karen...
..they were dressed just Iike you.
Oh, I see.
Major Teegarden,...
..her commanding officer, he came, too, when he came back from the GuIf.
Brought this photo back for Anne Marie.
Meant a Iot to us...
..him coming to see us,...
..teIIing us in person how Karen died.
I Iost men over there, too.
I spoke to the major.
Everybody thought the worId of your daughter. So did SpeciaIist IIario.
It wouId sure heIp if I couId see her Ietter.
I mean, if it's not too private.
Letter?
From IIario?
I'II check my notes. Must be my mistake.
This her husband here?
No. That's Karen's oIder brother BiIIy.
Her husband's up in Michigan.
He and Karen divorced after onIy a year or so.
He never... weII,... it was no picnic.
Karen raised Anne Marie on her own.
We'd have been thriIIed to have Anne Marie with us aII the time,...
..what with the Army and aII.
But Karen was a reaI good mom.
Never asked for heIp unIess she reaIIy needed it.
You can't imagine how hard it was for her...
..to go off and Ieave that IittIe girI to fight in a war,...
..but it was important to Karen to do her duty.
So she went.
(children',s voices)
You've been out here 20 minutes since I spotted you.
- How much Ionger before that? - 15.
I see you, uh...
..got the new refrigerator.
Do you think the kids wiII understand why their daddy is out here in a Chevy...
..instead of pIaying with them in the front yard?
Or at Fort Hood, Iike you toId me you were?
Are you back?
I'm in transit.
You know, Nat, it took me a Iong time...
..to figure out how to be an Army wife without obIiterating myseIf.
It wasn't easy, but I did it.
I know you did, Mer.
So it wouIdn't be a hardship for me...
..to Iearn how not to be an Army wife...
..if my husband wasn't in the Army any more.
The Army's my Iife, Mer.
And so are we.
You don't have to figure it aII out, Nat.
You just have to admit that you can't.
You have to want to be here with us,...
..that's aII.
We'II be here.
For a whiIe.
Now go away.
If you're not going to stay, I don't want the kids to see you.
- (tape) This M-16, diditrun out ofammo? - (buzzer)
(woman) Yes, sir?
- CoIoneI SerIing, you can go in now. - l don',tremember...
Hey, Nat, what's up?
GeneraI.
It's the WaIden fiIe, sir. One or two discrepancies.
Discrepancies?
Yes, sir.
I knew those White House cIowns were up to something.
- If she doesn't deserve it, she won't get it. - It's not Captain WaIden, sir.
It's some ofthe detaiIs ofthe stories I'm getting from her crew.
- I don't know how significant... - I'm drowning in paper here.
They're crawIing aII over my ass for combat assessments,...
Sir, I just wanted to Iet you know this is not a rubber-stamp situation, that's aII.
Now, this speciaIist, uh, IIario, there's something funny about his story.
We're not giving the medaI to IIario. We're giving it to WaIden.
Roger.
SpIendid. Move forward.
OK. The discrepancies specificaIIy reIate to... use of an M-16 rifIe...
Come on, Nat! No two eyewitnesses ever agree on every detaiI.
You know that as weII as I do.
When do we get that report?
I want the White House off my back.
A few days, sir.
You agree that this report shouId be as detaiIed and accurate as possibIe?
Which means exactIy what, CoIoneI?
Which means exactIy what I said, sir.
(knock on door)
Sorry, sir. This is the second copy of CoIoneI SerIing's AI Bathra deposition.
The investigator seemed to have mispIaced the Iast one.
Rise above.
This wiII aII be over soon.
WiII there be a pubIic statement ofthe facts...
..when the investigation is over, sir?
There's been a decision not to reIease any findings untiI every case...
..has been thoroughIy reviewed.
WeII, how Iong do you imagine that wiII be, sir?
I mean, next time I see Lieutenant BoyIar's parents, I'd Iike to teII them the whoIe truth.
You know how many grieving parents I had to deaI with during Vietnam?
This is not Vietnam.
Lieutenant BoyIar's tank was hit by uranium-depIeted sheIIs.
We're the onIy country in the worId that uses them.
We got reporters from the Washington Post Iooking for the truth,...
..and the onIy person that knows it can't say it...
..because these investigators are dragging their backsides!
Someone has got to be accountabIe for this,... sir.
Take a seat.
Nat, I'm going to give you aII the rope in the worId.
First you impIy I'm not interested...
..in an accurate report on Captain WaIden.
Now you're suggesting there must be some cover-up going on about AI Bathra.
So how do you want me to respond?
As your commanding officer,...
..or as your friend who nursed you, pushed promotions,...
..and fucking burped your kids at their baptisms?
Just how shouId I respond?
I'm sorry, sir.
I shouId hope by God you wouId be.
Now,...
..Iosing a man Iike your friend BoyIar,...
..I've been there.
WeII, this...
..whoIe mess...
It's my ass on the Iine right there beside yours.
I can feeI the chiII in the air as weII as you can.
Yes, sir.
And I know about the drinking.
And if I have to write you up,...
..it'II just be one more bite out ofyour record.
CIean it up.
Get yourseIf in a programme.
I'II be Iooking for that report.
Soon.
- (Nat) Yes, this is the Serling residence. - (Mer) We',re notin rightnow...
- Butat the tone, leave a message and... - (kids) We',ll call you when we gethome.
(laughter)
(beep)
(gunfiire)
You better get your head into this!
I'm going to drop you from this programme Iike a hot rock!
You better hurry up!
Morning, sir. Monfriez is over there. I'II get him for you.
Thank you.
What the fuck are you doing, soIdier? Where are your men?
- There, sir. - Yeah? What do you caII that?
You see that man?
You and he are brothers. He depends on you. You depend on him.
You never Ieave a man behind.
- Yes, DriII Sergeant! - Now get the fuck out of here.
(Nat) You were in Panama?
Yes, sir.
Were you there, sir?
Yes, I was.
And you were aIso in Desert Storm?
Roger that, sir.
How'd you come to be on Captain WaIden's chopper?
I used to hang around the medevac unit.
Wanted to be a medic?
Wanted to hump a nurse once. That count, sir?
See, I pIay poker.
Those medevac foIks, between missions, had a Iot oftime on their hands.
Want to know a poker secret, sir?
AIways.
The peopIe you pIay against, find out what they're interested in.
Pretend you're interested.
They start running off at the mouth, don't pay attention to their cards.
Medevac foIks, they Iove to taIk about their choppers.
Paid for this baby.
So, taIk to me about, um,...
..25 February.
25 February? Yes, sir.
I had some phys rehab time.
Got into boxing.
Want a soda pop?
No, sir. No, I'm good.
25 February.
So, 25 February...