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captioning provided byscreen media ventures, llc. [helicopter blades whirring] [man over radio]echo six,airhose tac one, over. (man)copy. check hedgerow,northwest paddy. get down! fuckin' chopper reportsthere's n.v.a. at the tree line. our boys are walking rightinto a fuckin' ambush, n.v.a. they're walking into an ambushright in the fucking tree line.
company, halt! bama, bama. get up therewith jimmy joe. you dipshit stupid fucks! fuck.goddamn it! you're walkinginto a fuckin' ambush. return to your p.o.s. andsweep charlie with sidewinders. get turf club.i need a fire mission. sir,turf club, turf club,
this is echo six, over. incoming! [explosions rumbling] no!no, stop! check your fire! cease fucking fire! [explosions] [men screaming] stop!holy fuck!
you son of a bitch. you fuckin' son of a bitch. you see what he fuckin' did? he sent artilleryon his fuckin' own men! for disobeyinga goddamn fuckin' order. i'll fuckin' kill him. fuckin' kill him.let me go. you son of a bitch, ramsey. you are the enemy.
[woman singing in vietnamese] hi, hello.how are you? fine. welcome to vietnam. one, two, three,testing. we're good. we're good? sounds great. all right.
still 200% humidity. (woman)during the war,this network held a seriesof nightly visits with the marinesof echo company. a little asian honeygone up a quarter since we'vebeen around. now we're bringing backthe remnants of what came to be one of the hardest hit companiesof the vietnam war. we'll walk beside them,and so will you
on this, their first visitback to vietnam since the war. i'm kathleen martin,and the men of echo company are tex atkins,now a car dealer in el paso; red fuentes, leader of folsom prison'stactical squad; eric ames, professor of oriental languagesat stanford; jimmy joe colter,freelance security consultant; ray shepard,
pastor of the light of lovemission church. keep going back.keep going. keep pulling back.good job. man, oh, man,oh, man alive. and cut.great, guys. so i guessyou guys heard ramsey didn't show upat the airport. yeah, i've been trying toreach him on my cell phone. (ray)oh, and helet you down too, huh?
chicken shitmotherfucker, man. this is our ride,gentlemen, so let's geton the bus. (tex)saddle up, boys. (man)this way, please. (kathleen)what's going througheverybody's mind right now? uncensored. (eric)it's like visitingyour own tombstone in a way, seeing that part of youthat never came back.
(red)buffalo shittin' humidity. definitely the 'nam. (tex)i was just thinkin' how many fine used carsi could dupe these fuckersinto buying. [chuckling] last time we were here,i was killing these people. uh-huh. ray?
y'all remember ramsey's day one? (jimmy joe)what a day that was. yeah. (man)hey, butterfly niner, y'all clear for approach. just watchthe red smoke marker. watch the tree linenortheast of the l.z. got y'all in our sights. you can startyour descent now.
ain't no sign of charlie. we'd like to welcome youto echo six, the best of the best. let me get that,skipper. i got it. this way, skipper.good to have you aboard. men have been a bit edgy since captain mckennagot his head blown off. welcome aboard, skip.
i'm tom taylor. that there's gunny billy. this is lieutenant fox. da nang got hit hardlast night, sir. us three made it back,choppers too. got to do an immediate evac,fox trot's wounded on wheels. what's the bad news, tom? well, skipper, you may wantto subdue this rank. i don't want to loseanother captain.
(tom)let's get on with it. (ray)another fuckin' cherryfor me to bag and send home to mama. (red)check out those bars. looks like he's been inthe bush all of five minutes. he's not exactlygeneral patton, is he? what should we call him? how about captain brush cut? (jimmy joe)jesus christ,looks like a goddamn model.
looks like he's gotsomething up his ass. he's just climbingup the ladder. (fox)listen up.this is your new skipper. at ease. i'm captain ramsey. i consider myself a marine firstand an officer second. marine to marine,my primary mission here is to get all your sorry assesback intact. (eric)so you ain't no gung-homotherfucker
fixin' to builda career over the bodiesof his dead grunts, huh, sir? (fox)you fixing to get your assbusted again, numb-nuts? just askin'. save it. (ramsey)when you call for me, i'll come for you,no matter what. i expect you to dothe same for me. fair enough?
(men)yes, sir. i've never seen a chaplainhumping in the bush before. father... bryzynski, sir. aren't you assignedto battalion headquarters to only come outas needed? well, i was needed. casualties were so heavy. (fox)corporal, load 'em up.
we're movin' out. understood. what's your blood type? (ramsey)"a" positive,corpsman. yeah, he's goingto harvard medical school right after the war. i don't know about that,but something. soon as he finisheshigh school. [all laughing]
that's very cute.thank you. (tex)where'd youcome over from, sir, huh? quantico. (tex)quantico, huh? what'd you do there, sir? instructor. in--in what? advanced military tactics. (eric)ray studied advancedmilitary tactics at harlem.
yeah, i ran reconfrom 125th street to 109th every saturday night. (gunny)all right, men,heads on a swivel. this is the pickup point.prepare to dismount. i want pigs at each pointof the compass. (jimmy joe)okay, guys, you heard gunny.move it; move it. [all talking at once] (man)go, go, go! (gunny)when we spot the wounded,
i want two to fireand one getting a medic. (man)copy, over. [screaming] (gunny)on the double,turn him around. (man)echo in position! (gunny)we are definitelyin indian country. i could not designa better place for an ambush. what idiot in da nangpointed to a map and declared thisa pickup point, sir?
(tom)sir, nothing backfrom tacair or arty fire. (gunny)listen up. we got friendlies coming in. doc. bring him in. check the perimeter. come on. anson, get to the rear. (gunny)sergeant, bring 'em in.
i don't wanna be hereany longer than i have to. (man)i need help. get the woundedon the vehicles. (ray)move! (ramsey)move 'em!come on! let's get the fuckoutta here! what are you doing? move that ass.move that ass. come on now.go, go, go.
[man speaking vietnamese] [explosion rumbling] reaction squad, clearthe other side of the river. and, gunny,get 'em outta here. get those wounded loaded now! (gunny)abandon these vehicles. let 'em zero inon the trucks. everyone, on footacross the river. carry the wounded.
bring upour reserve element. move, move, move! [gunfire] (man)i got you.we got you. (ramsey)get those wounded loadedon the vehicles! jesus, what the fuck is that? that's corporal austin. he's been getting uson the news back home. (ray)move, move, move.
get that fuckin' cameraout of here. get on the damn truck. let's go; let's go!come on! (tex)let's go, let's go, let's go! (ramsey)they are right on our ass. (red)holy shit, grenade! [all shouting at once] jesus christ. [grunts]
[explosion rumbles] (ray)get on the trucks now! (ramsey)get these vehicles moving! [machine gun fire] take cover. get me tacair. [engine thrumming] hit 'em with all you got. [man over radio]sorry, captain,dropped my bombs off,
even my gun bag. got nothing left to give you. (ramsey)you gota spare fuel pod, right? i want youto drop that pod on an n.v.a. tanknorthwest of my green smoke. you got green smoke? yes, sir. crash of the impactain't gonna explode it. that's my problem.just drop the fucker.
you got it. pigs up.prepare to fire on my command. smoke's ready, sir. coming in, sir. (ramsey)fire on my command. (ray)i hear it,where it's coming from. we see you. he's coming on, sir. (ramsey)just hold it.hold it.
now, sir? (ramsey)no! he's approaching. he's dropped the pod, sir! [explosion] [men cheering] (ramsey)thanks for the help,sky raider. [all cheering] it was a hellof a baptism, huh?
looked like we had ourselvesan a.j. squared-away guy. (kathleen)so the captain did okay itby you that day? no, he wasn't just okay.he was exceptional. that is why what happened laterwas so devastating. that's why it cut so deep. (ray)hey, look at that. everybody gets a ride. (tex)you think they got a grenade? (kathleen)when you get this message,captain,
i just want you to knowone thing. you really fucked everything up. come with me, please. welcome to the new vietnam. [applause] this way, please. (man)the people of vietnam welcomethe returning americans. (man)for life,
for peace,for the future, we must try to forget the past and greet each otherwith open arms. your ranking soldier, please come. (ray)um-- [footsteps approaching] captain ramsey, united states marine corps,retired.
oh, captain nguyen bendong, people's vietnamese army,retired. i just want one thing: peace. war destroys everything. looking fora photo op, huh? well, it ain't gonna happenin front of that goddamn camera, no fucking way. fuck that.
your call, guys. i didn't come here to beg. nice to meet you. come on.let's get up. i want a close-up. back off. hi. i'm kathleen martin. it's an honorto finally meet you.
thanks. [bluesy music] ♪ ♪ [dance music] [laughing] don't worry, honey. i think you look great. really? echo company.
at last we meet in the flesh.brad. [together]brad, hey! i can't believe it. it's great to meet you,doctor. jimmy joe. look he's gothis daddy's eyes. excuse me.who are you? i'm brad jordan,son of pete jordan. doc jordan,
the corpsmanwho's still m.i.a. you flew all the way hereto meet us? i've been in saigonfor two years now putting deals together. i'm an investment bankerfor now. (tex)ooh, money bags, maybe i canhit him up for a loan. i'm glad you made it, sir. welcome aboard, brad. thank you.thank you very much.
brad, come on.join us. no, no, no. bradley, hey. you guys,if i could just have everybody's attentionfor a minute. i think there's somethingwe should discuss while we're all here. (tex)what's that? i've been lookingat the old footage.
somehow, we have got to find outwhat happened at the village. (jimmy joe)some brave marines got killed. others got limbscracked open. that's what happened. i thought we were hereto heal old wounds, not rip them open again. (kathleen)the resultsof the court-martial were inconclusive, captain.
that's why i thinkthere's only one thing to do. what's that? what? stage a reenactment. whatever happened,whoever did what to who, it is over. (jimmy joe)no. uh-uh, no,it's not. not by a fuckin' long shot.
(jimmy joe)let's get it done,kathleen. (ray)let's do it. suit yourself. no village for me. (jimmy joe)see?look at that. keep runnin'.keep going. like always. (tex)that's it,all right? the truth, you can just tellour side of it now.
that's all you needis the truth. the truth, just clear the recordfor us, kathleen, all right? please? all right,with or without him, we go. yes! to the village! (brad)let me intro you to the nightlifein the new vietnam.
free tour of the newand improved beer street. (all)all right. you're coming with us. don't get intoo much trouble, boys. (tex)see you nice and earlyat 8:00 a.m. there, freddy. real sharp. (man)♪ well, come on all of youbig strong men, ♪ ♪ uncle sam needsyour help again. ♪ ♪ he's got himselfin a terrible jam ♪
♪ way down yonderin vietnam ♪ ♪ so put down your booksand pick up a gun. ♪ ♪ we're gonna havea whole lotta fun. ♪ ♪ and it's one, two, three,what are we fighting for? ♪ ♪ don't ask me.i don't give a damn. ♪ ♪ next stop is vietnam. ♪ ♪ and it's five, six, seven,open up the pearly gates. ♪ ♪ well, there ain't no timeto wonder why. ♪ ♪ whoopee!we're all gonna die. ♪ ♪
all right! (fred)come on,let's do something fun. let's play.no more work. darlin', i can't.i committed tonight. come on. without ramseyat the village-- we need him. yeah, we need him. i got big holesin the reenactment.
this whole thinghinges on him. zero, niner, one, zero,repeat. what? zero, niner, one, zero! all right? good night. [groans] [slow guitar music] ♪ there's somethinghappening here. ♪
♪ what it isain't exactly clear. ♪ ♪ there's a manwith a gun over there ♪ ♪ telling me i got to beware. ♪ ♪ i think it's timewe stop, children. ♪ ♪ what's that sound? ♪ ♪ everybody lookwhat's going down. ♪ ♪ there's battle linesbeing drawn. ♪ ♪ nobody's rightif everybody's wrong. ♪ ♪ young peoplespeaking their minds ♪
♪ getting so much resistancefrom behind. ♪ ♪ it's time we stop.hey, what's that sound? ♪ ♪ what a field dayfor the heat. ♪ ♪ a thousand peoplein the street ♪ ♪ singing songs-- ♪ ♪ (man)hey, good morning,captain. do we know each other? oh, not yet. so how'd you knowi was a captain?
[man chuckles] once a captain,always a captain. you need ride? yeah, sure. okay. here you go. whoo. [bells ringing] (kathleen)well, fancy meeting you here.
look, i really just wanted usto have a chance to talk. save it.the answer's no. well, do you mindif i just tag along? do i have a choice? freedom of the press,darlin'. (man)it was a great honor. here. thank you. line of duty,captain.
got your phone message. i'm sorry. i apologize.obviously, i was wrong. just tell the truth. it's all i want. it's what i want too. come on.let's collect the troops. (bendong)one of many complexes connected by tunnelsthree or four miles long.
gentlemen, would you like to see where we spentmost of our lives? please, excuse my glasses,captain. i spent many yearsin these tunnels. the lack of lightaffects me to this day. i had only three survivors here. and i commanded a battalion. ah.one of my three survivors.
lieutenant tesai. [speaking vietnamese] i know you. (chicago)aw, shit. fuck that, man.fuck that. fuck the point. i ain't gettingmy black ass wasted for no honky motherfuckers. this is the bush,bitch,
and in the bush, you ain't white, black,or nothin', just green, baby. you got that? yes, sergeant. get up, chicago. i'll take point. drinks for the poor. kool-aid.hey, thanks, padre.
hey, father,can i ask you a question? sure. were you drafted? they don't draft priests. well, what the fuckare you doin'-- hey, jim, come on. sorry.all right, all right. point. (gunny)reaction squad,on me.
hold up. goddamn it. (gunny)corporal colter,take two men. set up your 6020 meters to my front. red, eric, come with me. got it. roger. come on, move it, red.eric, let's go. what happened here?chicago?
(chicago)tripped a booby trap, sir. think it was a shellor something. fires came outof both sides, captain. you'll be okay.where's ray? i don't know, captain. (jimmy joe)skipper! skipper. over here. (ramsey)what do you got?
that's ray's helmet, sir. they got him. shit! shit. way to go, skipper. careful,careful. i need volunteers. sir, they got ray, and there ain't a damn thingwe can do about it now.
my men wouldn't leave me. it's my man,my responsibility. they got him. if i gotta crawl down to hellto get him, then so be it. better get started. sir, i could takea bullet for you, but i could nottake that, no, sir. space that tight, i will lose it,get us both wasted.
(doc)no, i'll go. i'll go. i mean, shit,ray's gotta be hurt, and in tight spots,i can handle him. i mean, my momused to lock me in the closet when i got out of hand. i w--i was sort of a wild kid,you know? you, doc? i can handle it, man.
(ramsey)all right, man. get your shirt off.get all your gear down. you want to strip downto necessities. (tex)go get him, doc. get him. make your mom proud, doc.good luck. go get ray.bring him home. (ramsey)semper fi. (red)watch your back.good luck.
(tex)give 'em hell. let's do it. make texas proud, doc. (eric)you're nota kid anymore, doc. get in there,you skinny motherfucker. go get him, doc.we got your back, okay? (fox)doc, don't come backwithout my skipper. go get ray. (fox)all right, stay frosty.all these tunnels link up.
(jimmy joe)be careful, doc. hey, you see anything? [gunshots] ahhh! what the fuck is that? shit. holy shit. jimmy joe,jimmy joe. take your squad.find those mortars.
corporal, you buckin'for an emmy or purple heart? come with me.gotta do this. jimmy, i got your cover.jim! fuck! fuck!move! fuck!move, move, move! goddamnmotherfuckers. you all right? you okay? fuck.there's a sniper.
hey, whoop 'em, tex. (tex)all right. (red)all right, tex. oh, okay. tex! they're everywhere, man! you okay? yeah. you come up.come on.
right behind you, tex. stand right besidethe palm tree. 2 o'clock.2 o'clock. (tex)by the palm treeat 2 o'clock? yeah, you scared? scared? motherfucker. let's go. come on, okay?
okay, 2 o'clock. okay, on three, okay? one, two... (both)three! [men speaking indistinctly] [gunshot] fire, doc.fire! there's more and more. [all yelling at once]
[man and womanspeaking vietnamese] take it easy. just medics. (man)don't shoot. di di mau. eric, 3 o'clock. [screams] jimmy joe! no!
clear. come on, doc. gunny, we got noise. (ray)hold your fire, you jive-ass, taco-bending,pork-fucking peckerwoods! charlie can't fake it that good.gotta be a marine. marine! marine, sound off! captain ramsey.
sergeant shepard. come.hold your fire. stand-down.stand-down. whoa, whoa, whoa. hey, eric.eric. easy, easy.come on, man. what the fuck are you do--what the fuck? i thought youwere dead, man. i thought you werea fucking ghost.
get down. jesus. keep moving.go, go, go! (ray)can we pull back to the river? watch it! spider hole. go! (jimmy joe)jesus christ,what have we done? oh, my god.
they're just girls. jesus. oh, shit. they're all women, man. they're all fuckin' women. (jimmy joe)usually just guys. i mean, these guysare usually guys. they're not usually like this. they're not usually girls.
(tex)this is fuckin' wrong. there's one alivedown there. (jimmy joe)eric, go check her out. (tex)come on.come on. oh, man. (eric)it's okay.it's okay. we're not gonna hurt you. we're gonna take careof you. (tex)fuckin' wrong,this ain't right.
it's not fuckin' right, man.they're kids. (eric)she's justa little girl. fuck! what the fuck is this? you fuckin' cherriesscrape your dick gettin' some? we're not hereto butcher children! shut the fuck up! they're just girls, sarge. shut the fuck up.
shut the fuck up.you still talkin'? ju--they're fucking girls. their mothers put them here.their fathers put them here. fuck 'em. you believethese fuckin' pussies? this is the fuckin' faceof the enemy! sarge-- corporal colter,get these fuckin' pussies, and you take 'em to bagtheir fuckin' brothers,
six of 'em laying downover there! get your ass outof that fuckin' hole. what about these girls, sarge? are you still here,corporal colter? eric, red, tex,let's go. (ray)save your fuckin' tearsfor your-- i ain't no fuckin' pussy,sarge. save your tears foryour fuckin' sleep, corporal.
you still standing here? you see me crying? get your ass over thereand go look at your brother. cry for him,goddamn it. they were just kids, sarge. i just lost four of mine,goddamn it. sarge! now, you take and put 'emin fuckin' body bags. fuckin' boys,fuckin' pussies.
get the fuck outta here. all right!all right! are you stillfuckin' here? that's the fuckin' faceof the enemy. look at it. you understand?are you confused about it? [women sobbing] [whimpering] it's all right.
it's okay. you spare me, patch me here, [crying] the war hides many colors. one color was honor, a color often obscured, but not here on that day.
we salute you. i salute you, sir. just wish i'd known him. you kind of bring him alive. thanks, captain. okay, i'm on board. the village. [ramsey over tv]mutiny! get your asses back in line.
it's mutiny! mutiny! stand-down! get back here, marines! hello. [bottle shattering] [all sobbing] (red)all right, boys,let's go. hey, where's brad?where is he?
(tex)he said hewas gonna be here. (red)did he show up? (tex)hey, maybe he's gettin' himselfsome of that fine asian honey. that could be. there's so many daysthat i just felt this war was a contestof beastliness. what was the worst thingyou saw? one of the uglier things wasordered by a battalion commander after a firefightwith the vietcong troops
near this village, a villagethis lieutenant colonel found guilty of aiding the v.c. without a shredof goddamn proof. (jimmy joe)helo comin' inat 6 o'clock. (ray)keep your damn eyes forward. (jimmy joe)what the fuck they gotin there? bunch of dead fucking' gooks. (ray)watch your ammoup there.
god is dead,isn't she? hey, captain, what the fuckare they doin'? [people screaming] the son of a bitch dropped 40 dead v.c. bodieson the village. the bodies became bombs.bombs kill. (doc)i need field dressings. this woman's dead.get this woman outta here. [woman screaming]
i filed chargeswith high command. they dropped them. colonel had ties to the grandmasterof destruction himself, l.b. fuckin' j. (brad)ray, wait up. forgive usfor our sins? ray, you're a different man now.
i came to vietnamfor redemption. but i'm not worthy of it. hey, ray, that's not true. ray! (jimmy joe)holy shit,whoever thought we'd be coming back here to go fishing? this beach is hallowed ground,freddy, hallowed ground. hallowed ground.freddy, did you hear?
(red)hallowed ground,freddy. (tex)our asses werein a sling here, boy. this is it. (jimmy joe)it's been a longmotherfuckin' time. whoo! yeah, baby. at last,i can goddamn breathe, shit. what a horror show. move, move!
get your ass goin'! [yelling] i'm hit!i'm hit! i got you, buddy.hang on. it's all right! hang on, buddy! i don't want to die! i don't wantto die! what do i fuckin' do, doc?
keep him still. it's all right, buddy.hang on. tell meabout the diary, captain. boxed it upin my war gear. whose was it? an n.v.a. captain, a political officerin charge of morale, but this is filled with poetry,not propaganda. some to his wife,some to his troops.
oh, beautiful. look at those fish ponds. those fish pondsare craters from 500-pound bombsdropped from b-52s. after all these years? god. the b-52 wasthe most feared weapon. the n.v.a. never sawor heard them until it was too late.
[mimicking bird whistle] arc light missions,we called them. bombs were so huge,so tightly clustered, they'd createan electrical storm. turned day into nightand night into day. the concussion crushed organs,stopped hearts, left no oxygen in the airto breathe-- none. they smothered.
when i found outhis wife was still alive, i thought this might give hersome comfort to know that she was alwaysin her husband's thoughts, even though, according to this, they'd been separatedfor five years. maybe it'll give mepeace too. she thanks youfor this great gift, captain. she had always hopedthat her husband
kept her memoryclose to his heart. now she knowsshe was not forgotten. this seems so ironicto her. his last letter spokeof how he was wounded and had to spend five weeksin an underground hospital to recover. above the ground,it was too heavily patrolledby american soldiers.
she says he longedto see the sun again. and now we tell herhe died in a flash of light. she says his next lifewill be very fine indeed. she seesthat you doubt this, but they are buddhists. that's what they believe. that's how they prevailed. they could endure anything. if the americans blew upa bridge,
they tore down their homes and used the timberto rebuild that bridge. no sacrifice was too great, not even hers. [eric speaking vietnamese] i told herhow i was struck by the beautyof her husband's poetry. he inspired his men to fight for love of country,love of family,
always for love. whereas for us, hate, hate for the enemywas what made us fight. it started in boot camp. d.i.s taught us to hate jody. jody was any guy who didn't enlist, some pussy who stayed homeand stole the girls
of the real men, the marines. once we got to 'nam,jody became charlie. hate carried right on overto the new enemy: her. the gook. she says she grew oldwaiting for her husband. they had no children. now she's too old to remarry.
besides, who could love a faceas scarred as hers? it's our white phosphorus. come on, she says.she has something to show us. i have nothing to give you, but i will sing you a song to bless youand your sweetheart. [laughs] to a soldierwho's lost his way. well, this is it,captain,
your village. not much has changedsince that day, has it? captain, just a coupleof questions, since tomorrow's hue city. at the court-martial,eric's testimony was that your mental stateat the village was something lessthan stable. any comment? in his statement,
eric made referencesto what happened at hue as somehow breakingthe bonds between you and your men. can you fill in the blanks so that i'm preppedfor hue city? captain, it's my jobto ask questions, my duty. i'm sorry.i hope you can understand that.
[explosions and gunfire] duty's the nameof the game. (jimmy joe)how come you don't even wantto go back there to hue? shit, i can't fucking wait. (red)hue city. fuck me, man. i've been living in hellever since. hey, freddy, freddy. sit down, man.
turn that off. come on, man,sit down. join us for a beer. sit down. drink beer.kathleen's gone. tomorrow's a big day. you okay? i'm okay. (kathleen)good night.
(ramsey)good night. alone at last. man of god. what a fraud. i mean, who am ito preach to anybody about anything? i killed, i maimed god knows how manyof these people. i wish to helli'd never seen
this goddamnfucking country. (jimmy joe)amen, tex. fuckin' amen. fuck it. (red)what? go ahead. freddy, you got somethingto say? you guysare heroes, man. i think not.
no, you'reheroes, man. whatever happenedback then, what you did,what you didn't do, good, bad,fuck it. you want to be happy,jimmy joe? because it takes guts;you gotta want it. you gotta want it,jimmy joe. you weren't there. you gotta let it go.
you have the guts,jimmy joe? you weren't there, friend, so you don't know shitabout shit! there ain't one goddamn daythat goes by that the 'namain't alive and well and fucking with me in here,not one. so many boys diedfollowing my orders, and for what? big black wong v.c.?
that's it. that's all the recalli can stomach for one night. you want to walk it off? how about a drink? how about a run? [ramsey panting] you still wantthat drink? today we're headingto hue city,
scene of someof the bloodiest fighting of the vietnam war. the marines were up against a heavily armedand well dug-in force of n.v.a. regulars. [whispering]move.go on. i, um, i had the wildest dreamlast night. same here.
(eric)this is hue... the imperial citybuilt in 1804. hue was the capital of vietnamfor 140 years. it was the seatof the last kings of the nguyen dynasty, the city where ho chi minhhimself was raised. i mean, besides his 30 yearsself-education in paris, london, moscow,canton, siam, and, hey, harlem.
harlem? what'd he do,play with the globetrotters? (eric)hue was the citywhere east met west. it was totally untouchedby the war. until tet. tet, wasn't that a party? like christmas, fourth of july,and new year's all rolled into one. this whole countryjust went into party mode,
and everyone herejust went ape-shit. russia was leaning heavilyon the north for a negotiated endto the war. the south vietnamesecommunist party was in pre-negotiationpeace talks with us. the writing was on the wall. the north had to do something. hence resolution 13,the general offensive: attack every major cityand every political center
at once, score a decisive,nationwide military victory. hue was the jewelin the crown of that tet offensive. let's forget about itfor a--shit. (kathleen)shut it off, fred. so, captain,what happened here? 5,000 crack n.v.a.sslammed into hue city, night of january the 30th,
seized everything, dug in, and waited for us. get gunny on the horn. there's a lotof static, skip. fuck, where's gunnywith the recoilless? (ray)get your heads down. (jimmy joe)captain, we can'tsit here forever. (ramsey)get me gunny.
(tex)son of a bitch.shit! (ramsey)find him, and find him now! (tex)goddamn staticon the-- (red)fuck,they're everywhere! (jimmy joe)fuck you, gooks! (ramsey)i'm tying down 51. the recoillesswill knock it out. (jimmy joe)captain, let me take some guys,help find gunny! (ramsey)nobody's moving unlessit's on my command, corporal.
(ray)hold tight, goddamn it. (tex)get in range, captain. skipper,gunny's on the horn. gunny, this is six. (gunny)cap, i locateda recoilless rifle, but i'm taking heavy fire. i'm gonna need some helpto get up to you--over. (ramsey)gunny, your location--over.
i'm along the west wallof the citadel--over. five, this is six. understood.hang in there, gunny. sending support your way. six out. reaction squad,sergeant shepard. gunny's under heavy fireat the west wall. get him the hellout of there, and get me that recoilless.
all right,let's go, come on. let's go. let's move out! (tex)yee-haw, boys, let's go! [all shouting] we're coming, gunny! help! let's take 'em! get these fuckers!
run, johnny, run! motherfucking gooks! (ray)roll, you bitches! grenade! get down. oh, shit! go, check him out,eric. (eric)you're halfway to hawaii,gunny! oh, lord.
(ray)get him up.let's go. gunny! is he all right? let's go! gunny, you all right? take it easy, gunny. let's get that recoillessto the captain. hang in there, gunny. (ray)load him up.let's go.
all right, ray-ray,take the right! flip 'em, tex. red, keep your eyes up! 11 o'clock, sarge.11 o'clock. (red)we got two rounds,so make 'em count. (ray)jimmy joe,keep that pig workin'! (jimmy joe)ray-ray, up top! crank it up. (eric)watch that gook.watch that gook.
move him.move him. stay down,goddamn it. (ramsey)cover me, ray-ray! bring it around!bring it around! 11 o'clock! come on, go, go! get it up!come on, goddamn it! (tex)let's go! fire at will!
fire! yeah, motherfuckers! go, go, go! let's go.doc, get in there! clean it up. [shouting and gunfire] i want it terminated! gunny, how many timesyou been wounded? today?
[men shouting and gunfire] let's go.let's go. (ramsey)hey, gunny. gunny.gunny. you motherfuckers! bitches, go!move in. (ray)in, in, in, in. i want you to stay awakewith me, okay? 'cause if you fall asleep,you might not wake up.
now, listen to me. i want you to all sing alongwith me a song, okay? i learned it when i was a kid,all right? ♪ you are my sunshine,my only sunshine. ♪ ♪ you make me happywhen skies are gray. ♪ ♪ you'll never know, dear, ♪ ♪ how much i love you. ♪ get in there,goddamn it. go, go!
come on, everybody,let's go. (ray)get in there.let's go. [men speaking vietnamese] [man screaming] clear. ladder up. climb up there. (man)come, my children.come, come. come, come.i will lead you to god's safety.
come over here.yes, yes, over here. (ray)check these motherfuckers! (red)check 'em.they might be booby-trapped. (tex)keep your heads up! (eric)it's all clear here, sarge. wait till gunnyhears about this. gunny's dead. chico, cover the road. sergeant shepard.
(ray)sir. (ramsey)make sure your men have ammoand get 'em downstairs. (ray)big dogs. shit, man. (ray)check your shit. on me. goddamn it. (tom)well, boys, you'd have madegunny proud.
thanks, tom. what the fuck? (tex)that son of a bitchgot gunny. let's go, boys. get that fucker! we need to keepthe light shining. we must remember to stayconnected to faith. these are innocents. there he is.
find his ass. [women and children screaming] don't let him get away. get out there.go, go! goddamn it! (ray)make it clear.make it clear. (tex)fire on that fucker! get him! [women and children sobbing]
(ramsey)it was a massacre. i was in command. i surrender myselffor a court-martial, sir. captain ramsey,i'll be goddamned if i'm gonna file chargesagainst you or your men. now, those streetsout there, goddamn it, they're fullof civilians who got caught in crossfire,thousands of 'em. i cannot lead those men,not after today.
request denied, captain. captain, if you can desertyour troops now, you are one piss-poor excuse for a leader of men. go on. go on r&r.get out of my sight. go. you get your assback to your company, and you lead those boys of yoursout of this fucking hellhole
for the good of the corpsand the stars and the stripes, and that's an order, captain. stars and stripes lostsome of their luster that day. (kathleen)captain. what happenedto echo company? i led them out,what was left, a few squads,four weeks later. watch your back. (ramsey)i lost 68 men in hue.
from that day on, it was likethis son of a bitch was just waitin' for usto fall on our goddamn swords. then that day at the vill,he just stopped waitin'. (tex)he walked awayfrom the whole goddamn thing, bodies and all, clean and supposedlyfucking clear. those were notmy coordinates. that's the lie you usedto get your ass out of the brig for playing godwith your men.
they disobeyed a direct order. right in your camera,you saw the footage. too much for him. he snapped. (ray)and god called forthhis vengeance, eye for an eye, [together]life for life. that's not the way it went.it's all up here, ray. always has been.
oh, yeah, it's right herein the 3-d world, man, little bits and piecesof shrapnel in me and red and ray. (red)and the ashesof our dead brothers. (eric)that's what wefought for in hue. not for the street corners,not for the citadel, goddamn it. we fought foreach other, us. (red)we all died there that day. that was a war crime.
you beat it.i beat it. it's still a crime. (ray)war was the crime,the crime we all took part in, day after day. (red)and, listen, 2,000 civilians diedin hue. it happened! they were innocents! you were the best shotsin the company.
you could've takenthe n.v. out without killingall those civilians. if you had wanted to. (eric)not with the father blasted on the floorin front of us, you fuck! (tex)the man was a saint. he was cutto fuckin' pieces. chunks of meat, red meat,layin' on the ground. you got the balls to bitchabout our marksmanship?
fuck you! tell yourselveswhatever you want. i saw what i saw. what was that? [all shouting]what was that? tell us.what was that? a gook was a gook to you,all of you! you didn't give two shitswho was wearing a uniform. you knew it.i know it.
and a lot of dead civiliansknow it. but i was your commander. so it's my failure. i failed everyone. we looked everywherefor doc, brad, but we couldn't find him. (ray)fuck. (tex)ray, hey! no, no!
goddamn it,come on. (ray)fuck no. (tex)ray! no! come on, ray! ray! (jimmy joe)we lost close to 500 men here. n.v.a. lost thousands. shit, we were--we were pilin' up
the goddamn bodiesin goddamn soccer stadiums. (eric)i damn near idolized ramsey. we all did.we all did. he cut us off. he left us alonein a world of shit. (jimmy joe)showtime is over,goddamn it. turn that fucking thing off,fred. easy, jimmy joe. over there.
hey. this is it. ground zero. i think we need to cancel outthe village. no. not a chance. why not? just tell me why. all these years, and i stilldon't know the truth.
'nam is playing so many gamesin my mind right now. maybe it didback then too. maybe way down deep inside, i--i wanted them to payfor what they did in hue. i need to know. i don't want anyone hurt. just do your joband let the chips fall. [sighs] we'll do it.
[snake hissing] i fuckin' hate snakes. what you got there, tex? jesus, be careful. look at that sucker. [both chuckling] let's go, man. nice snake. (jimmy joe)excuse me.
[whispering inaudibly] be right back. follow me. (tex)i know it!i know it! i know! fuck that,fucking guy. fucking guy. (red)hey, tex, you really gonnabuy that?
[spits] post-traumatic stress syndrome? i don't fuckin' buy that. back in the world, fuckin' buy it for a dollar,i personally guarantee it. fuck, yeah. i wanna be able to lookall my dead brothers in the eyes and say, "hey, guys, justice fucking rules."
rules! rest in peace. [together]to our brothers. brothers in arms. (eric)i haven't sent anything because i haven'twritten anything, and i'm not gonna writeanything. herb, herb. i just gotta get throughtomorrow.
i fed the hungry. i clothed the naked, in thy name. why? why, father,why did you forsake me? though i walkthrough the valley of the shadow of death, i shall fear no evil. yeah, i said,i'll fear no evil
because-- i said, because-- [whispering]because i'm the meanest, meanest motherfuckerin the valley. so the question we're hereto answer is... what happened? roger that.right back at you, sir. echo six out. [women yelling in vietnamese]
hold your ass. she says their daughtersare being tortured in the villageover there. okay!okay! [girls screaming] what the hell's going on? get out!i'm in charge here. don't do that. this girl has been lying.
see? they have no calluses. they're not farmers. they are v.c. talk to them if you want,but not like this. du mi ami. more or less,"fuck you, g.i. joe." i lost 2/3 of my menat hue. and those good marinesdidn't die for this shit.
release the girls. you don't have command. marines have no authorityover r.v.n.s. separation of forces. [gun clicks] (man)freeze, motherfucker! (ramsey)separation of forces? i'm gonna separateyour goddamn head from your neck and shit down your throat.
that enough separationfor you? now, these girlsare coming with me, okay? o--okay.okay. chico. yeah, skipper. untie these girls.they're going to s-2. untie them.untie them! (ramsey)everything was unravelingafter hue. untie them!
what happened next? first sounds of battle camefrom there. [distant explosions] s-3, roger, inbound.echo six out. sergeant! move 'em outdown the road! (jimmy joe)no fuckin' way. (ramsey)what's that, corporal? (jimmy joe)no fuckin' way, sir!
this thing stinksof ambush. that road is probably pepperedwith command-detonated mines, and i ain't gonna make your dayby committing suicide for you. sorry.fuck the road. i'm cuttin' across that paddy.you guys comin'? fall in, corporal,or it's your ass. court-martial me.i don't give a goddamn shit! all right?i ain't goin'. you're relieved.
sergeant,disarm this man. (ray)no, sir. it's better to getcourt-martialed than to get your assblown away... sir. disobeying a direct order,sergeant. it is my duty to disregardany unlawful order, sir! i will not lead my men into harm's wayunnecessarily, sir!
sergeant,you're relieved. stand-down. shit birds, that's all we've been to himsince hue. fuck you. i'm fixin' to di di. you're comin' with me,mona. dicks in the wind. (jimmy joe)i ain't listenin' to his assno more, man.
mutiny! sorry, sir.nothin' personal. (ramsey)mutiny! (red)i ain't going homein no body bag, all right? (ramsey)this is mutiny! stand-down! get back here, marines! it is a crime punishableby death in times of war! you lost it,captain.
(jimmy joe)come on,move it, ray-ray. fuck you... captain. (ramsey)red, get back here,private! get your ass back in line! get your asses back here! i will court-martialall your asses! it is a punishmentpunished by death! marines danny, anson, ray, red,jimmy joe, chico, bama!
marines! get back here now! marines! get up.we're moving out. corporal, go! move 'em out! let's go!now! at the ready! at the ready,lance corporal.
get that weapon up. you're a disgraceto the corps. i led my guys out this way. we were brothers once. you don't quit on your brother,no matter how bad he fucks up. you don't quiton him. you don't fuckin' quiton your brother. echo six,airhose tac one, over. (tex)echo six, copy.
(man)you've got movementin the tree line. check hedgerow, northwest paddy. (tex)northwest paddy? (man)charlie's camped out.charlie's camped out. your traffic's headinginto n.v.a. ambush. repeat,charlie holds the tree line. (tex)captain! captain!
our boys are walkingright into a fuckin' ambush. n.v.a.--they're walkinginto an ambush right inthe fuckin' tree line. (ramsey)company! halt! bama, bama, bama. fuck.goddamn it. you're walkinginto a fucking ambush. halt, bama!
[speaking indistinctly] fuckin' halt! (ramsey)there was still timeto maneuver. my men were still way outof rifle range and r.p.g. fire. [helicopter thrumming] (man)l.z. is hot,and i am due now. will return to lookfor wounded to your p.o.s. and sweep charliewith sidewinders. suggest you callarty fire meantime.
airhose tac one, over. (tex)sarge! sarge!sarge! get your assesback here! sir.turf club, turf club. turf club, turf club,this is echo six, over. i can't get 'emon the fucking horn, sir. turf club--i got 'em. i got 'em, sir.
[people clamoring] three at seven, niner, four,three, one, zero. look out!fuck! what the fuck? no!no. no!no! (ramsey)direction:zero, niner, one, zero. unfuck yourself! zero, niner, one, zero!repeat!
zero, niner...one, zero. fire for effect. (tex)direction:zero, niner-- turf club. direction:zero, niner... zero, one. (ray)doesn't matter what he did. still leaves us with the fact,i was a sergeant. i'm the one with the stripes.
i should've never ledyou guys out here. (jimmy joe)it wasn'tyour fault, ray. who's fault was it, ramsey? you tell me that. tell me that, ramsey. you could see usout here, ramsey. my boys died here. (jimmy joe)you could see us in the field. for what?
(jimmy joe)betrayed your own men,ramsey. we're right here. for nothin'. because of me. i'm sorry, chicago. i'm sorry, bama. i'm sorry, guys. forgive me. [sobbing]
check your fire!cease-fire! check your fire,goddamn it! check your fuckin' fire! stop!stop! holy fuck! (ray)get up.get up! goddamn it,get up. [weakly]sir. jacob!
no!goddamn it! (ramsey)lay down suppressive fireon the tree line. you son of a bitch. you fucking son of a bitch. he sent artilleryon his fuckin' own men. i'll kill him. i'll see to it that youare court-martialed for murder. as of this moment, you are relievedof your command.
you motherfucker! you son of a bitch, ramsey! sarge, come on!fuck, come on! save those marines. you never miss. you never miss! incoming!incoming! red!ray! there's incoming!
zero, niner, one, zero,those were my coordinates. that's not wherethe shells landed, goddamn it! fuck you, ramsey. it was you! no!no! this ain't right,eric. this is not right. tex, don't. you gotta get it right.you gotta make it right!
red! you need a handright fuckin' there. and you need an arm--an arm right fuckin there. you need it right fuckin' there. zero, niner-- zero, niner. zero, niner...zero, one. what's he talking about? (red)sergeant.
(jimmy joe)i got you covered, red. fucker, he--fuck, you killed my brothers! it's okay.we're still brothers now. no, jimmy joe. incoming, red.incoming. jimmy joe,put that weapon down! jimmy joe, no! put it down, red! no, red, no!
stop! jimmy joe! no!put it down! stand-down, colter. stand-down, marine! (ray)no, stop! red, weapons down! jimmy! [all screaming]
red! it's not worth it,red. no!no! no! don't do it! [all yelling] kill me! it's my fault! (kathleen)somebody get help! cease fuckin' fire!
get him help! jimmy joe, it's over.it's over. cease-fire! ramsey was right! i fucked up the coordinates.it was me. i fucked it up. i killed 'em all. [tex wailing] (kathleen)tell 'em to callfor an air ambulance.
get a fucking chopperover here now! it's over, jimmy joe. that's enough. jimmy joe,put it down. [grunting] red!red! help!help us! (tex)jimmy joe!oh, no! [wailing]
get up here!it's not your fault! my fault! get over here, marine! you better unfuck yourself,marine. get your ass up now! we have a marine down! get up! get up, maggot!get over here! get up, you maggot.get over here.
get over here. now! get up here.get up here now. on the double, marine. now!get over here. get up! come on! where's the chopper? (tex)chicago, bama,
anson-- [sniffles] i killed them, man. out in that goddamnrice paddy. i wasted our brothers. and now-- now ray's gonna die because of the fuck-up of a mani've become. ain't your faultray's in there.
tex, that's on me. fuckin' i'm spinnin' awaya life for me for so long. it's all in, though. i'm so fuckin' lost, man, oh. i'm so lost. (ramsey)we all did our bestin the 'nam. we all fucked upin one way or another. so what? ray was right.
brothers don't quiton each other. [sobs] (woman)your efforts to revive himwere not in vain. there is no brain damage. he will live. i hear you would've madeone hell of a corpsman. like father,like son, huh? the bestof the best. brad.
let's tryto stay connected, okay? sure.come here. well, this thingwon't be finished till i domy trial in the states. god knows you got everythingyou need for a conviction, so... guess this is gonna be, like,my last gasp of freedom. you just tell the truth. i drove jimmy into it. let them chips fallon my head too.
don't be stupid, guys.there won't be any trial. now, now, we were hit by stray bullets,damndest thing. hey, come on.come on. what'd you expectfrom the 'nam, man? fred put the taperight on a magnet. we lost the whole last hourof that day. (fred)semper fi, fellas. hey.
way to go. semper fi. (jimmy joe)yeah, gentlemen.keep the faith, freddy. (eric)have a nice life. thanks, cap. sergeant. take care of yourself,all right? you too. gentlemen, we must hurry,or else we miss your flight.
ready? up. up, oh. [all chuckling] (tex)see ya, cap. adios. get that off me. captioning by kristiat captionmaxwww.captionmax.com lance corporalrick fyman.
sergeant kevin forrester. p.f.c. bridget garnet. private john garrison. private tom gleason. private bob glover. p.f.c. philip greer. lance corporalphil green. sergeant lamar washington. first lieutenantsolomon finger.
(man)♪ touch downin the dead of night. ♪ ♪ another darkand hellish place. ♪ ♪ we fought hardto the end of the day ♪ ♪ and fought through the nightwhile we prayed. ♪ ♪ we were young.we were brave. ♪ ♪ we were strongwith our pride. ♪ ♪ we would killfor the freedom ♪ ♪ of our mothersand our sisters ♪ ♪ and somehowmake it out alive, ♪
♪ 'cause we're all heroes ♪ ♪ in the letters from home. ♪ (man)i baptize you in the nameof the father. ♪ crawling throughthe smoke and ashes. ♪ amen, brother.hallelujah! ♪ and scrape the bloodfrom my brain. ♪ ♪ and as we head into saigon, ♪ ♪ our souls were scaredand shaken, ♪ ♪ somehow we held ontoour faith. ♪
♪ you tell us we're all heroesin this god-forsaken place. ♪ ♪ where the hell is jesus?can he see my bloody face? ♪ ♪ the dust sits in honor, ♪ ♪ and thereain't no better way. ♪ ♪ so we keep it all together, ♪ ♪ 'cause we're heroesin the letters from home. ♪ ♪ keep it all together, ♪ ♪ we're heroesin the letters from home. ♪ ♪ you take away my brother. ♪
♪ you take away my son. ♪ ♪ shipping us off to war,we try ♪ ♪ to fight for number one. ♪ ♪ and we keep itall together, ♪ ♪ 'cause we're heroesin the letters from home. ♪ ♪ may god help me,when this war ends-- and trust me,they all do end-- i truly feela part of me will die.
