Bataan Page #6

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Come on, get her off the ground!

Get her up in the air!

He's off! Look!

I should have been in that plane.

I should have been in that plane!

Hey, come back here. Come here!

Come here!

He don't know what he's doing.

He's a sick man. He's delirious.

You can't help him anyway now.

He wouldn't even want you to try.

Don't you know any other songs?

Sure, but I'm partial to

the St. Louis blues.

Same as me.

All right, that's deep enough.

Relax, Sailor.

Here, I got one.

Tobacco kind of takes the edge off

when a man's hungry, don't it, Corporal?

You can promise your mind, but you gotta

deliver somethin' to your stomach...

...even if it's only tobacco smoke.

All right, we'll put one gun here

and one over there.

Sight 'em in for interlocking fire

across the front.

Okay, Sarge.

You figure they'll come at us today, Sarge?

Well, if I was running their show

I'd figure now's the time.

The way they operate,

they put off usin' cold iron till last.

They try everything else first.

They've tried everything else.

Seems like they done give up

on that bridge-buildin', don't it?

Well, maybe. That don't mean

they won't take care of us.

No, we held 'em up too long.

It kind of sounds like this is it.

This is it, kid.

You've been askin' to see a Jap.

You're probably gonna see a whole mess

of them before you're a day older.

Come on, we'll move these guns.

Get goin'.

Yeah?

I might make a deal with you.

You doin' me favors, Sarge?

I did a favor for this Danny Burns once.

Yeah, so you say.

I've been thinkin'...

...if you keep your nose clean...

...if, as in when we get out of here...

...I might have a loss of memory.

Don't forget a thing, Sarge.

I never do.

Todd.

Let go of me!

Sarge!

Hey, Sarge! Sarge!

The trees are movin'! The bushes!

They're walkin'!

Everybody down.

Hold it, Sailor.

Fix bayonets.

Don't anybody move.

Don't make any noise.

They can't see us.

They don't know who's here

or how many, not for sure.

Have Japs got whites in their eyes?

We'll find out any minute now, Sailor.

Hold it.

Hold it.

Hold it.

Hold it.

All right...

...on the count.

One...

...two...

Okay!

Jake.

It's that bunion.

It's murderin' me.

Pull it up.

Hold that.

Hey, Sarge. Could I write a letter?

Yeah.

How are you gonna mail it, kid?

Carrier pigeon?

Hey, Todd.

Yeah?

Tell the Sailor to dictate it

and you'll write it.

I didn't join up for a nursemaid.

He's a good kid. He needs to get

pulled together for what's comin'.

Help him with that letter.

Don't make it tough for him.

I never make it tough for anybody, Sarge.

Here. I'll give you a

hand with that, Sailor.

Thanks.

Gee, thanks, Corporal.

Who to?

''Dear Mum.'' M-u-m.

I call my mother Mum.

That's new and different.

''Dear Mum.

''This letter may never reach you...

''...but I want to write it while I can.

''There were 13 of us

when we got to where we are...

''...and now there's only three of us left.

''There's the Sergeant...

''...and Corporal Todd and myself.

''Corporal Todd's writing this for me.

''I happened to hurt my hand kind of.

''Maybe there won't be any of us

ever to get outta here alive.''

Rub that out.

''It's too bad some of the other men

I came here with had to get killed.

''Maybe it don't seem to do

an awful lot of good...

''...a few men gettin' killed holding on

to some place you never heard of...

''...probably never will...

''...but we figure...''

Wait a minute. Give me a chance.

''But we figure the men who died here...

''...may have done more

than we'll ever know...

''...to save this whole world.

''It's like Corporal Juan Katigbak said...''

- Did you hear him when he told me?

- Yeah.

''He said, 'It don't matter

where a man dies...

'''... as long as he dies for freedom.'''

Okay so far?

Sure, Sarge, sure.

''The rest of us are gonna get outta here.''

That's right, Sailor.

''And I'll be home before you know it...

''...so don't you worry none about me.

''Say hello to my girl...''

What's her name?

Marie.

Make that, ''Give my love to Marie.''

Anything else?

No, Sarge, that's all.

Oh, just...

''Thanks for being my family.

Your loving son, Len.''

My name's Leonard, but she calls me Len.

- You got an envelope?

- No.

I'll mail it when I get to Corregidor.

Yeah. That all?

Yeah. Get back on No. 3.

Hey, Sarge, do you mind

if I turn on the radio?

Yeah, it might be a good idea.

Wish I'd brung a slot machine.

Boy, they shower down gum.

If Ramirez was still here, I bet he'd be

trying for Tommy Dorsey from Hollywood.

Be kind of cheerful, huh?

I'm getting something.

- Americans!

- Don't know what.

Filipinos! You are beayen.

This is Japan's lasy warning yo you all.

Lay down your arms.

Surrender now, at once.

You will be yreayed kindly, wiyh chivalry...

...according yo yhe rules

of Japanese bushido.

Bushido! Bushwah! You stink!

It's you and me now, Sarge.

We've been heading for that

for a long time.

The Sailor was standing

right behind that tree.

Sniper couldn't have got him. Couldn't

have even seen him from over there.

One of those monkeys is still alive,

playin' possum.

Maybe more than one.

The question is which?

One way of findin' out.

Spray the batch of them.

You got somethin' there.

Come on, let's take a look.

Don't do me any favors, Sarge.

I guess this just ain't

your day, huh, Sarge?

You could have swindled yourself

a nice, shiny medal...

...takin' me back and stuck a rope

around my neck.

I never figured I'd bump into you again.

I told you I'd have a loss of memory.

Far as I'm concerned, your name is Todd.

It's Burns.

Dan Burns.

Danny Burns...

...Corporal, 31st Infantry,

killed in action.

You know, Sarge...

...I began to have a little respect for you.

For a second back there, I thought it was

you that stuck that chiv in my back...

...and... and not the Jap.

Come on. Come on and get it!

Come on! Come and get it!

Come on, suckers!

What's the matter with you?

What are you waitin' for?

Didn't think we were here, did you?

You dirty rotten rats!

We're still here! We'll always be here!

Why don't you come and get it?

Boris J.

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