Well, look at the nigger.
You come to attention right now, and that is an order.
I ain't doin' nothin' white folks say do. No more.
-I'll teach you-- -Leave him alone. He's drunk.
I want the nigger to do like I tell him. Do it!
No!
-I'll teach him to do it. -Easy.
Look what it's done to me.
I hate myself.
Don't blame me. God's the one who made you black, not me, boy.
My daddy said, "Don't talk like dis...
"...talk like that!
"Don't say heah...
"...say...
"...here."
I even killed for you.
You wanna kill him? The man is sick!
-Let me go! -You're gonna kill him.
Come on.
White men are killing for you, nigger.
Good men dyin' for you.
So, anyway, they said they left Waters about 23:10.
Everyone in the barracks confirms that they were in by 23:30...
...and that neither man left till the following morning.
That's nothing but white officers lying to protect their own...
...and you know that.
I'm arresting both of them, Captain.
Consider yourself under arrest pending my charges against you.
What charges?
It was your duty to go over Nivens' head if you had to.
You're going to arrest the colonel, too? He's part of their alibi.
He was there in the officers' billet when they came in.
Played poker till 3:30 in the morning.
Yeah, the colonel, Major Hines and four other white officers.
They're all lying.
You just go out and prove it.
Sir, I intend to arrest Lieutenant Byrd and Captain Wilcox.
You will do nothing of the kind.
Colonel.
Sir, I believe these two men had something to do with Sergeant Waters' death.
No, I can't allow that.
You have no authority to arrest white officers.
Then give me the authority, sir.
Colonel.
Your breakfast is ready.
Thank you, honey.
Can I have someone fetch you coffee, Captain?
No, thank you, ma'am.
I hope they're making your stay here at Fort Neal real comfortable, Captain.
They're taking good care of me, ma'am. It's very thoughtful of you to ask.
Good morning.
No, I can't give you that authority.
I told you. They were in by 11:30. I was there.
Now, you've read our affidavits on this thing.
Colonel, what will the Army say when they find out two white officers...
...beat up the murder victim not long before he was shot to death?
Their CO refuses to report that they had anything to do with it...
...and he signs an affidavit supporting their alibi.
These two are our best suspects. How can you not have them arrested...
...or at least questioned by the investigating officer?
Something like this is bound to get out.
I didn't say you couldn't question them.
But I want a white officer present.
And I want everything that's said reported to me.
-Is that clear? -Of course, sir.
You're dismissed, Captain.
Yes, sir.
Go with God.
Virge, same old sermon.
I didn't know you were a religious man, Henson.
I'm not. I just play this organ.
If I play on Sundays, I get out of a few work details during the week.
That's all.
-I want to talk about Sergeant Waters. -Yeah?
There ain't much to talk about, except for I didn't like the man myself...
...on account of what he did to CJ.
What did he do?
I don't mean you no offence, but I ain't exactly crazy about...
...talking to no officer.
Coloured or white.
You're gonna talk, Henson, or I'll put your ass in the stockade...
...so long, you'll forget how to.
He was always on CJ's back about somethin'.
Every little thing.
Least ways, that's how it seemed to me.
Then the shootin' went down.
What shooting?
The shootin' over at Williams' Golden Palace.
Happened just last year right at the end of the baseball season.
A whole lot of shots had gone off right near the barracks.
I, myself, had gone over and gotten a little juiced at the Enlisted Men's Club.
Somebody's shootin'.
They're shootin' over there.
-Everyone up. Wake 'em up, Wilkie! -Come on, move it.
Unass them bunks. Come on, you Geechees.
Off your asses, on your feet. Everybody up.
Let's go.
Company, ten-hut!
There's been a shooting.
One of ours bucked the line at Williams' pay phone and three soldiers are dead.
Two coloured, one white MP.
Now, the man who bucked the line, he killed the MP...
...and the white boys started shooting everybody.
That's how our two got shot.
And this low-down nigger we're looking for got chased down here.
And was almost caught, until someone in these barracks...
...started shooting at the men chasing him.
So...
...we got us a vicious, low-down murdering piece of black trash...
...in here somewhere.
And a few people who helped him.
If any of you are in this...
...I want you to step forward.
All you baseball niggers are innocent?
-Wilkie! -Sir.
Make the search.
Open those footlockers. Come on, Smalls.
All right, Peterson, what are you waiting for, an invitation?
Open 'em up. Spread 'em out.
I want to see what's happening inside.
Memphis, you in this?
No, sir, Sarge.
Okay, guys, you heard what the sergeant said.
How many of you were out tonight?
Sir, I was over at Williams' 'round about 7:00.
I got me a pack of Lucky Strikes.
But I didn't try to call home.
Got something.
Still warm.
-CJ, is this yours? -You know it ain't mine, Sarge.
Probably not.
Probably just crawled in through a window...
...passed everybody's bunk, Peterson, Cobb...
...and just snuggled up under yours. Must be voodoo, right, boy?
Or that Farmer's Dust.
That pistol ain't mine, Sarge. I hate guns.
Makes me feel bad just to see a gun.
Liar! Place this man under arrest.
Look, sir, CJ couldn't hurt a fly, Sarge. You know that.
I found a gun, soldier.
-Waters, you know it ain't him. -Who is it then? You?
Sarge, I saw somebody sneak in here.
You were drunk when you left the club. I saw you.
Throw his ass in the shower.
Well, I was here all night. CJ ain't go nowhere.
He was asleep before I got to bed.
You think he's innocent?
CJ Memphis...
...playin' cotton picker, singin' the blues...
...bowin' and scrapin', smilin' in white folks' faces.
This man undermined us: you, me, everybody.
That "yassuh-boss" is hiding something.
Are we like that today, in 1944?
He shot that white boy!
What did you go and do now, boy?
Hit a noncommissioned officer.
CJ just lost his head--
Shut up!
Get him out of here.
Sarge, I know I saw somebody.
Smalls, I saw somebody, really.
CJ was sleeping when I came in.
It's Waters. Can't y'all see that?
You know, I seen 'em before.
We had 'em in Alabama.
White man give him a small-ass job as a servant and when the boss ain't looking...
...that old copy-cat nigger act like he the new boss.
Shouting, ordering people around.
You see, arresting CJ, that'll get Waters another stripe.
Next, it'll be you or you.
You see, he can't look good unless he's standing on you.
Cobb told him CJ was in here all evening. Waters didn't even listen, did he?
Turning somebody in. "Well, look what I done, Captain-boss."
Only reason he's in the Army is 'cause they know he'll do what they tell him to.
I've seen this kind of fool before.
Somebody's gonna kill him one of these days.
You know, I heard they killed a sergeant at Fort Robinson. A recruit did it.
Forget it, Pete.
With our luck, Sarge'll come through the whole war, won't even get a scratch.
Yeah, maybe. But I'm going over to them stockades.
Tell them MPs what I know:
CJ was in here all evening.
I'm going with you!
You all wait up. I'm coming, too.
Was Wilkie the only person out of his bunk that night?
I guess. Wilkie came in with the Sarge.
But it's hard to say.
It's been a while and, like I said, I was a little juiced that night.
-Ellis! -Yes? Yes, sir?
Find out what's holding up my investigation of Wilcox and Byrd.
Yes, sir.
The night Sergeant Waters was killed, where were you?
I was in the barracks.
I played checkers with Cobb till 9:30 and then I went to bed.
Is there gonna be anything else, sir?
Dismissed, Private.
Let her go.
Let me know when it's full board. Here we go. Let's go, baby.
Pick 'em up.
Pick your rifles up. That's it.
That's it. Move out!
Move your ass!
That's it, move out!
Goddamn it, keep going! That's it, move it up!
Shake it up! Hit that wall! Get your feet up!
Hurry it up! Move up!
Watch it!
Ellis!
Hold it!
Stop shooting!
Which one of you idiots is Cobb?
That's me, sir. You all right, Captain?
I want to talk to you.
What'd he want old Cobb for?
I don't know.
What did he ask you, Pete?
He just asked a couple of questions about the baseball game...
...some about the Sarge. Didn't amount to too much.
Yeah, we was homeys, me and CJ, both from Mississippi.
CJ, from Carmella. Me, I'm from up 'round Jutlerville, what they call Snake County.
How did you feel when your best friend was arrested?
I hated Waters for it, sir.
"Hated"?
CJ ain't killed nobody.
He hit Waters, didn't he?
Yeah, but the sergeant made him, sir.
He called that boy things he ain't never heard before.
CJ was from the farm, a country boy.
That jail cell started doing crazy things to CJ, sir.
It started closing in on him.
You all right?
It's hard to breathe in these little spaces, Cobb.
What they doin' to you in here, CJ?
Man wasn't made for this here.
Nothin' was.
Don't think I'll ever see an animal in a cage again and not feel sorry for it.
Rather be on a chain gang.
Come on, homey!
Don't think I'm getting out of here, Cobb.
Feel like I'm going crazy.
Can't walk in here.
Can't see the sun.
I try to sing...
...but nothin' won't come out.
Yesterday, I broke a guitar string.
And I lost my Dust!
Got no protection, Cobb.
Nothin' to keep the dogs from tearin' at my bones.
CJ, stop talkin' crazy.
You know who come up here last night?
Sergeant Waters.
They talking about giving you five years.
They call what you did "mutiny," boy.
That gun ain't mine.
We know that, CJ.
We changed the charge on you this morning.
You're in here for striking a superior officer.
And everybody seen it, too.
Why are you doin' this to me, Sarge?
Don't feel too bad, CJ.
It has to be this way.
You see...
...the First War didn't change nothing for the Negro.
But this one's gonna change everything.
Them Nazis ain't all crazy.
Whole lot of people just can't seem to fit in to where things seem to be going.
Like you, CJ.
See, the Black race can't afford you no more.
There used to be a time, we'd see someone like you singin', clownin', yassuh-bossin'...
...and we wouldn't do anything.
Folks liked that.
You were good.
Homey kind of nigger.
When they needed somebody to mistreat, call a name or two, they paraded you.
Reminded them of the good old days.
Not no more.
The day of the Geechee is gone, boy.
And you're going with it.
We can't let nobody go on believing we're all fools like you.
I waited a long time for you, boy.
But I got you.
I put two Geechees in jail in Camp Campbell, Kentucky.
Three in Fort Huachuca.
Now I've got you.
One less fool for the race to be ashamed of.
What happened to him?
CJ killed himself, sir.
The day after I saw him, the MPs found him hanging from the bars.
We lost our last game.
We just threw it.
We did it for CJ.
Captain Taylor was mad 'cause we ain't get to play the Yankees.
Peterson was right on that one. We needed to protest that man.
And the sergeant, what did he do?
They broke up the team and assigned us to this smoke-generating company.
And the Sarge, he just started acting funny.
He stayed drunk all the time.
What time did you get in the night he was killed?
Between 9:20 and 9:30.
Me and Henson listened to "The Jack Benny Show", played checkers.
Who was the last man in that night?
Peterson and Smalls. They had guard duty.
-Is that it, Captain? -Thank you, Corporal.
Yes, sir.
Eight ball, corner pocket.
-Whose idea was this, Charlie? -Nivens'.
You're going to have to clear the area, Jim. We're here to question these two.
He's got no business in here.
Take it up with the colonel.
Now, this is Captain Davenport.
You both understand you're to give the captain your full cooperation.
You're a lawyer?
I'm not here to answer your questions, Lieutenant. Sit down.
Sit down.
Yes, sir.
When did you last see Sergeant Waters?
The same night somebody killed him.
Of course, I should have done it myself, by the way he spoke to Wilcox and me.
How did he speak to you, Captain?
Well, he was drunk.
He said things he shouldn't have.
I told the lieutenant not to make the situation worse than it was.
So, we left him there, on the side of the road, on his knees.
Alive.
Exactly what did he say?
He said he wasn't gonna obey the white man's orders anymore.
Then he starts blaming Wilcox and me for him being black.
I mean, imagine that. Hell, I didn't even know the man.
He said he killed somebody, too.
And some pretty insulting things about us. I mean, white officers.
Did he say who? Mention a name?
Look, the goddamn nigger was disrespectful.
No way does a coloured soldier speak to a white officer like that.
What are we doing, wasting time on this?
You answer him like he wants you to, Byrd, or I'll stick it to your ass...
...every chance I get. You got that?
Yes, sir.
Captain, let me handle this.
Then handle it! Jesus.
You said he was disrespectful. Is that why you killed him?
I killed no one.
Sit down!
-You hit him, huh? -I knocked him down.
-Then you shot him. -He was alive.
You beat him up then shot him--
No! Get outta my face before I kill you!
-Like Waters? -No.
Soldier!
-He's trying to put it on me. -Sit down.
Answer his questions, Lieutenant.
You were both coming off bivouac, right? Speak up.
-You both had weapons. -We didn't fire them.
-When'd you turn them in? -Right away.
Colonel Nivens took our .45s to the MPs.
He kept it quiet so the coloured boys wouldn't know anyone white...
...was involved, but those weapons cleared ballistics.
Besides, we've been short on .45 calibre ammo for what, six months?
It's for MPs and special duty people only.
Look, nobody on that exercise was issued any.
What?
I said, sir, nobody on the bivouac was issued any .45 ammo.
I don't believe you. Why wasn't I told?
The weapons had cleared and the colonel felt if he involved you...
...you'd tell Washington, which he thinks you did anyway.
Sir, we were not involved in any way with the sergeant's death.
I'm a doctor.
We left that man on the side of the road. Alive.
You're both under arrest. The charge is murder.
-Captain-- -Do you think I believe that crap?
Let them go.
What?
-Are we being charged? -Not by me.
What are you doing? You've got a motive and a witness.
What more do you want?
This is still my investigation, Charlie.
We've both been had, Captain. The colonel knew this all along.
-I've been going in circles. -They are guilty as hell and you know it.
I'll back you up. Charge them!
I do what the facts tell me, Captain, not you.
You don't know what a fact is, Davenport.
I'm the lawyer. They teach you law at West Point?
You don't have to be a goddamn lawyer to deal with those two assholes.
And if they didn't kill Waters, who did?
I don't know yet.
What do you know about CJ Memphis?
A great ballplayer.
Committed suicide.
It was a tragedy.
I think Waters tricked the kid into attacking him.
No, I can't believe that, Davenport.
I mean, this man managed the finest baseball team in the entire US Army.
Coloured people aren't that devious. Hell, we hadn't lost a game for two years.
And the finest player that Waters ever had was CJ Memphis.
Now, if you'd have seen him, you'd know what I mean.
Captain Davenport!
We found Wilkie, but we haven't located Peterson and Smalls yet.
-Where's Wilkie? -In the barracks, sir.
Wait a minute. Didn't you question Wilkie and Peterson already?
I asked you a question.
This is still my investigation. Let's go.
That's been the problem all along, you arrogant son of a bitch!
You nervous, Wilkie?
No, I just couldn't figure out why you called me back, sir.
You said the Sarge busted you, right?
Yeah, he got me busted, sir. He reported me to the captain.
-How'd you feel? -Well, I....
You and the Sarge were good friends.
-He was a nice guy. -Yes, he....
-Didn't you tell me that? -Yeah....
-Would a nice guy get a friend busted? -Well--
No, speak up.
-You lied when you said he was nice. -No.
-What I said was he-- -Was Waters a nice guy or not?
No! He wasn't a nice guy.
You don't turn somebody in for that. You give extra duty.
You chew 'em out. But three stripes.... It took me 10 years to get them stripes.
That's right. That made you mad, didn't it?
Yes. All the things I did for him.
That's right. You were his boy, weren't you?
You took care of the team.
You ran his errands.
You policed his quarters.
You listened to his stories. Put the gun under CJ's bunk.
Yes. No, l--
Sit down!
It was you Henson saw that night. You lied about Waters, you're lying now.
You were the only one out that night.
Who else could've found CJ's bunk in the dark? It was you.
No, it was Sarge. He ordered me. Said I'd get my stripes back.
He wanted to teach CJ a lesson. Put him in jail for a few days.
Scare him. But CJ hit him and he had CJ where he wanted.
And then CJ, he hung himself.
He died like he was spiting the Sarge. And then the Sarge...
...he didn't figure that.
What did he have against CJ?
He despised him, but he hid it 'cause everyone liked CJ.
Underneath, it was a crazy kind of hate.
A crazy kind of hate. You won't believe it. I mean, sometimes you could just feel it....
He's the kind of boy that seems innocent.
Got everybody on the post thinking he's a strong, black buck.
White boys envy his strength. His speed.
Power in his swing.
Then this coloured champion lets those same white boys call him...
..."Shine" or "Sambo" and he just smiles.
Can't talk. Can barely read or write his own name...
...and don't care.
He'll tell you they like him...
...or that coloured folks ain't supposed to have but so much sense.
Do you know the damage one ignorant Negro can do?
We were in France in the First War.
We'd won decorations, but the white boys had told all them French gals...
...that we had tails.
And they found this ignorant coloured soldier.
Paid him to tie a tail to his ass and run around half-naked making monkey sounds.
They put him on a big round table in the Cafe Napoleon.
Put a reed in his hand, a crown on his head...
...a blanket on his shoulders and made him eat bananas...
...in front of all them Frenchies.
The white boys danced and passed out leaflets with his picture on it.
Called him "Moonshine, King of the Monkeys."
When we slit his throat, you know that fool asked us...
...what he had done wrong.
My daddy told me, we got to turn our backs on his kind.
Close our ranks to the chitlins, collard greens, cornbread style.
We are men, soldiers.
I don't intend for our race...
...to be cheated out of its place of honour and respect in this war...
...because of fools like CJ.
You watch everything he does. Everything.
And I watched him. But Waters couldn't wait.
He wouldn't talk about nothing else. CJ this, CJ all the time.
Why didn't he pick on Peterson? They had the fight.
He liked Peterson.
Pete fought back. Sarge admired that. He was planning to promote Pete.
You imagine that? He thought Peterson would make a fine soldier.
What did Peterson do when CJ died?
Everybody blamed the Sarge.
Pete put together that protest that lost our last game.
Afterwards, he kept to himself or with Smalls.
-I didn't mean to do what I did. -Ellis!
-It wasn't my fault. -Ellis!
Yes, sir!
-What's going on? -We're shipping out.
They finally letting us Negroes fight!
Hitler ain't got a chance.
And after what Joe Louis did to Max Schmeling....
24-hour standby alert. It's the invasion of Europe, boys.
Look out, Hitler, the niggers is comin' to get your ass through the fog!
We gonna "goose" the goose step, daddy!
"Heil" Hitler!
We gonna turn them Nazis around, sir.
We're gonna teach them a thing or two about them "Schwarze".
-Ellis. -Yes, sir.
Private Wilkie is under arrest. Take him to the stockade.
Sir?
You heard me.
Private Smalls, as you requested, sir.
Leave us alone, Sergeant.
Yes, sir.
Why'd you go AWOL, soldier?
Private Anthony Smalls, sir.
Answer my question!
I didn't go A-W-O-L, sir.
See, I got drunk in Tynin and I was just....
Weren't you and Peterson supposed to be on detail?
Where was Peterson? Speak up.
I don't know, sir.
You just walked off your detail and Peterson did nothing?
No, sir. See, he warned me, sir. "Listen, Smalls," he said.
"Now, if you...."
Are you trying to make a fool out of me, Smalls?
No, sir.
You two went over the hill together, didn't you?
Answer me!
Yes.
Yes. You went over the hill together because Peterson knew...
...I'd find out the two of you killed Waters. Didn't you?
What? I can't hear you!
You killed Waters, didn't you?
I want an answer!
Did you kill Waters?
It was Peterson, sir.
It wasn't me.
People are blind.
Smalls, look who's drunk on his ass.
Leave him be, Pete. He ain't worth it.
No.
I'm gonna enjoy this.
Big, bad Sergeant Waters down on his knees.
No, sir, Smalls.
No, I'm gonna love this.
Sarge, need some help?
Hi, Pete.
Here, come on now, here we go. Yes.
-That's the help I'll give you. -Peterson!
Shut up!
Smalls, some people....
If this was a German, would you kill it?
If it was Hitler or that fucking Tojo, would you kill him?
There's a trick to it, Peterson.
It's the only way you can win.
See, CJ could never make it.
He was a clown. A clown in blackface.
A nigger.
See, you got to be like them.
But the rules are fixed and--
Listen.
Hear it?
It's CJ.
"Low-down, low-down dirty shame"
I made him do it.
But it doesn't make any difference.
They still hate you.
-Peterson. -It's justice, Smalls.
It's for CJ.
Everybody.
They still hate you.
And you call that justice?
No, sir.
Then why the fuck didn't you do something?
I was just...
...scared of him, sir.
He said everybody would think...
...white people did it.
God, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. I was just so scared that I....
Caught this one on Old Bridge Road, sir.
That'll be all, thank you.
You told it, didn't you?
I didn't kill much.
Some things need getting rid of.
A man like Waters never did nobody no good anyway, Captain.
Who gave you...
...the right to judge?
To decide who is fit...
...to be a Negro...
...and who is not?
Who?
Sergeant!
Sir?
Get these goddamn men out of here.
Yes, sir.
I hear they caught Peterson.
I guess that's it. Got your man.
Yeah, I got him.
I was wrong.
So was I. Charlie, look, I could do with a lift.
Well, hop in.
I guess I'll have to get used to Negroes with bars on their shoulders, Davenport.
You know, being in charge.
You'll get used to it, Captain. You can bet your ass on that.
You'll get used to it.
Eyes...
...front!