A Soldier's Story Page #2

Now...

...is there anything else?

- Ellis!

- Yes, sir?

Captain Davenport will need

some assistance with the men.

- You'll excuse me, won't you, Captain?

- I'm glad I met you.

Captain.

I hope we get to fight soon, sir.

Next, they'll have us picking

this year's cotton crop.

Don't worry, Corporal.

They don't grow much cotton in Germany.

Yes, sir.

How long was

Captain Taylor's investigation?

Two days, sir.

Two days? Who did he question?

Well, mostly guys who had contact

with Sarge that day: guys in his platoon...

...then anybody who could've seen him

on the road. Wasn't but a handful.

- Did you see him that day?

- Nope.

No, sir.

Did your sergeant drink a lot?

I didn't know him well enough to say, sir.

All right, soldiers,

let's get back to those exercises.

Haven't you ever seen

a colored officer before?

No, sir. Have you, sir?

Ten-hut!

This is it, sir.

The captain instructed everyone

in the sergeant's platoon to be here.

As you were.

Sergeant Waters' room is right there, sir.

Sir...

I think I ought to tell you, sir:

Captain Taylor questioned

two white officers from this fort that night.

How do you know?

I delivered his report to Colonel Nivens, sir.

And on the way over, the jeep hit a hole.

The papers flew all over the road, and...

I just happened to notice it, sir.

Who are they?

No names, sir. Just the mentioning

of the questioning.

It seems they were on the road that night.

Well...

...don't let any more reports

fly away from you, Corporal.

No, sir.

Sir, may I say something, though?

It sure is good seeing one of us

wearing captain's bars, sir.

Call in the first man, Corporal.

Yes, sir.

Private Wilkie, Captain wants to see you!

Yes, indeedy. On my way.

Private Wilkie reports as ordered, sir.

Close the door.

- Have a seat.

- Yes, sir.

- I'm Captain Davenport. I'm conducting...

- We all know that, sir.

Word went out on the grapevine

you were here the minute you hit the fort.

I'm conducting an inquiry into the events

surrounding the death of Sergeant Waters.

The report I file will be confidential.

How long did you know the sergeant?

About a year, sir.

You see, this company, sir,

was basically a baseball team.

Most of the guys had played

in the Negro League, so...

...naturally, the Army put us all together.

The Army sent Sergeant Waters here

to manage the team in the summer of '42...

...right after the invasion of North Africa.

He'd been in Field Artillery,

a gunnery sergeant.

He had a FEF and an ETO,

a Croix de Guerre from World War I.

What kind of man was he?

He was all spit and polish, sir.

He took my stripes, sir,

but I was in the wrong.

Sergeant Wilkie.

You're a noncommissioned officer

in the Army of a country at war.

The penalty for being

drunk on duty is severe.

So don't bring me no:

"Us colored folks can't do nothin'

unless they're drunk" sh*t as an excuse.

You're supposed to be

an example to your men.

I'm going to put you in the stockade

for 10 days and take those stripes.

- Wait a minute, Sergeant...

- Teach you a lesson.

You're in the Army.

Colored folks always talkin'

about what they'll do...

...if the white man give 'em a chance.

You get it, and what do you do with it?

You wind up drunk on guard duty.

I don't blame the white man.

Why the hell should he put

colored and white together?

You can't even guard your own quarters.

- Wait a minute, Sergeant...

- Where's your pride?

Where's your respect for this uniform?

Get out of my sight, Private.

How was he with the other men?

Sometimes the Southern guys caught hell.

Sergeant wasn't too big

on guys from the South.

Me, I'm from Detroit.

Did you know that Joe Louis

got his start in Detroit?

What about the Southern men?

Sarge didn't like 'em. Except for CJ.

It could've been because

CJ was the best ballplayer on the team.

He could sing, too. Boy, could he sing.

"Well, it's a low-down

low-down dirty shame

"Yes, it's a low-down

low-down dirty shame

"They say we fightin' Hitler

But they won't let us in the game, Lord

"Yes, it's a low-down dirty shame

"Yes, it's a low-down dirty stinkin' shame"

Sing it for Big Mary, you little sweet thing.

"Left home to join this Army

Won't somebody tell me who's to blame?"

I'll tell you something, CJ, right now.

"I'm gonna kill my man

"Then I'm gonna turn around

and kill myself

"I'm gonna kill him with a razor

Yes, I am

"And then I'm going to use it on myself

"I'd rather see us both dead and buried

"Than see him with someone else

"Well, it's a low-down dirty shame

"Yes, it's a low-down

"dirty shame

"You ain't nothin' in this man's army

Till Big Mary knows your name"

All right. Drink up, boys.

A man can't make no money

when the US Army stops sippin'...

...so drink up now, 'cause I need a new car.

I'm gonna ask that boy something.

Come on, Wilkie.

Boy...

You ever heard of Blind Willie Reynolds?

Son House?

I knew it.

I bet you're from Mississippi, too, ain't ya?

Yes, sir.

I used to hear him at the...

...Bandana Club outside Camp JJ Reilly.

Folks came from everywhere, Wilkie.

Folks would be dancing, sweating...

Reminded me of a place

I used to go in France.

The whiskey, the women.

Place called the Cafe Napoleon.

Where'd you learn to play, son?

My daddy taught me, Sarge.

You play pretty good, boy.

Wilkie, wasn't that good?

That was good, Sarge.

Take it easy, son.

I mostly agreed with the sergeant, sir.

He was a good man.

Good to his men.

Talked about his wife and kid all the time.

As a matter of fact,

he wrote home to his wife everyday.

I just don't see why anybody

would want to kill the Sarge.

See this?

My wife let a neighbor take this

just a couple of weeks ago.

Army's not for my son.

See, when this war is over,

things are gonna change.

I want him to be ready for it.

I'll send him to some big white college.

Let him rub elbows with the whites.

Learn the white man's language,

how he does things.

White don't rub off.

Well, what are we gonna do?

Stay behind in everything?

Hell, you can see it in the Army.

The white man's running rings around us.

Lot of us ain't had the chance

them white boys had, Sarge.

That ain't no excuse.

My daddy shoveled coal

from a wagon all his life.

Couldn't read or write,

but he saw to it that we did.

Now, not having

is no excuse for not getting.

You can't get pee from a tree, Sarge.

You're just like the rest of them, Wilkie:

ignorant, scared.

- Stop thinking like a n*gger!

- Take it easy.

- All I said...

- Is the equipment ready for the game?

- No.

- Then see that it gets ready.

Here's to the war, gents.

To the war.

Two people, sir.

Mr. Warm and Mr. Cold.

But, deep down, a real nice guy.

You could always borrow $10 from him

if you needed it.

Did you see him the night he was killed?

I saw him in town, at the club, earlier.

But I left around 10:00.

He was juicin' pretty heavy.

Is it true, sir, that when they found him...

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