Bataan Page #2

---

We'll keep on blowing it up.

This is where we stay.

Got good cover.

It'll be hard to get at us.

We can do a lot of harm to the Japs

when they come out in the open.

We got lots to do and little time.

Step out as I call your names.

Hardy! Malloy! Get that stuff stored away

then break out your entrenching tools.

Strengthen defenses

as and where you can.

Feingold! Salazar! Set the machine guns

up. Train 'em to cover the bridge.

Shoot at anything that moves.

Todd, Eeps, Matowski, Ramirez...

Pack that demolition stuff

down at the bridge, on the double!

Purckett!

Get in the way as little as possible.

Put that gear on!

- How long have you been out here?

- About two years.

I've been here four months.

Anytime you get an idea

while we're together on this job...

...give your orders to the men.

You don't have to waste time

asking me first...

...tryin' to make me look good.

And anytime I give an order

that sounds wrong to you, tell me why.

We'll get things done better

and easier that way.

That sounds fine to me, Captain.

Todd?

Yeah?

First hitch in the Army?

I was a little young for World War I.

You could've made it.

You keep reminding me...

...of a guy I knew a few years back

right after I joined up.

Yeah?

His name was Burns.

Burns?

Yeah, Dan Burns, or so he said then.

He was a corporal.

Same as me.

Yeah, same as you.

I don't think that's healthy, Corporal...

...smoking close to the stuff

we just scattered around here.

That'll worry me? What you think?

Get rid of it!

- All right, men, clear the bridge.

- Clear the bridge!

Hey, Sarge, whatever become of this guy

you say I look like?

I'd like to know.

Sooner or later I'll find out.

I'll personally see to it that he stands up

on a parade-ground scaffold and hangs.

- Like he should've done seven years ago.

- What'd he do?

Killed a boy who took him in a stud game,

buck private in our outfit.

Shot him in the back.

I had the MP detail right then,

so I took this Burns in charge.

That was a break for him.

I felt kind of sorry for him, same as

I would for any soldier who gets in a jam.

He double-crossed me, went over the hill.

That's too bad.

Yeah.

Yeah, his getaway cost me my stripes

and my chance for Officers' School.

You got quite a little against him.

Enough.

He probably knows that.

Sure he does.

Well, you know...

...if I was you...

...and this... Burns?

- Burns.

If he comes around me again,

I'd look out for him.

I figure to.

He's liable to try to knock you off

to keep you from turnin' him in.

I don't know. His kind, as long as

you don't turn your back on him...

...they don't do a thing.

Well, then you're okay.

That's what I figure.

- Check the lines?

- Yeah, they're okay.

Hold it, Todd!

Sergeant, the men better

not drink this water

till I chlorinate it in the Lister-bags.

All right, no drinking from this.

Make sure there's always plenty

of purified water available.

What's the matter? Those nasty little Japs

poison our water by remote control?

They don't need to. There are enough

germs in this stuff to poison the lot of us.

You heard the orders?

Yeah, you're easy to hear, Sarge.

All set, Captain.

All right.

Solid!

- Good job.

- Yeah.

We must have enough fire power

to keep them from rebuilding that bridge.

That depends.

On how long we stay here?

We'll stay as long as any of us

can stand up.

We may get orders to withdraw very soon,

and we may not.

I think we'll be able to do our share.

That's all anybody's asking of us.

We can make this place fairly comfortable.

So relax, men,

and get some rest while you can.

Cease firing, Sailor!

Hold your fire till you've got a target!

Eeps, Hardy, get your shovels.

Take positions. Don't fire without orders.

I don't think there are enough Jap snipers

to rush us this soon, but there might be.

All right, get going.

Keep your heads down

or you'll get 'em knocked off.

See what I mean?

Yankee, get over with the Sailor.

He needs you more than Feingold.

Better hurry that up.

Can't hurry too much

putting a soul underground, Sergeant.

Hey, Todd!

They're out there, not over here.

Listen, you guys...

...what happened over there

was no accident!

You better know right now those

no-tail baboons out there are ichiban jozu.

Meaning No. 1 Skillful.

They climb trees better than monkeys.

Got the best trees marked on their maps.

They can live and fight for a month on

what wouldn't last one of you two days!

All I want to do is get me a Jap.

Just one Jap.

I wish something would move.

- You better make him last.

- Oh, gum, I got plenty of.

Look, I'll be back in a minute.

If you see any Japs,

save one for baby, will ya?

Japs, we got plenty of.

There ought to be a cross, hadn't there?

I could make one.

Yeah, do that.

I got chalk too, if you'd want me to print

the Captain's name and rank on the cross.

All right, Sailor.

Medical Corps' duty to check effects

and belongings before burial.

Didn't they tell you

that was part of your job?

Here's his stuff.

Put it in your report

that Captain Lassiter was married.

- Cigarette, Sergeant?

- Thanks.

- You and the Captain were...

- Yeah.

You ever run across a little nurse out here

named Elsie MacAlester?

Yeah, I put her on that last

Red Cross truck going out.

I had a date with her once in Manila.

She was a nice kid...

...from Kansas.

I sent her a Spanish shawl for Christmas

but I don't suppose she ever got it.

Guess the Japs got that when

they grabbed the Manila Post Office.

She and Captain Lassiter

were married yesterday.

Supposed to be a secret.

Guess he had to tell somebody.

Didn't she know any better?

What do you think you're gonna

do with that?

I thought it'd be the right thing

if I'd blow taps for the Captain.

It might be if this was Arlington Cemetery.

Forget it. I said forget it.

Here, put that on your noggin

and glue it there.

What's on your minds?

Well, I think somebody ought to

at least say a few words.

All right. Speak your piece.

Not me, Sergeant.

Eeps here can do it better.

You a preacher back home?

I was studying to be, Sergeant.

All right.

Heavenly Father...

...Captain Lassiter was our captain...

...and he was a good captain.

He did his job and kept on doing it

as long as he could.

He died a long ways from home.

His folks probably won't ever know

where we buried him.

But we reckon he was prepared for that.

As long as we know

that what comes out of graves...

...is the best part of what

goes into them...

...we know he's all right.

''Blessed are the pure in heart...

''...for they shall see God.''

Amen.

Amen.

All right, break it up.

Here you are, Malloy.

Where I come from, you only take

medicine when you're sick.

As long as the quinine lasts, it may

keep you from getting sick with malaria.

Taste bad?

Not when it's in a capsule.

The Sergeant sure is a hard man, ain't he?

I'll bet you could strike matches

on the back of his neck.

According to history, wars are started

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes