Bombardier Page #2

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..but straighten your stocking.

The right one.

Sergeant, I suggest you get

the Major an officer's guide -

there's a chapter on good manners.

He's just like your father.

Don't you remember...?

I wouldn't remember -

not caring much for Army life,

I never knew him well.

Well, I did -

I used to be his orderly.

I was with him the day

your brother turned down his bid

to West Point.

Tom's not the type. No, he's more

the type to own a flying school.

It's a nice business too,

especially if you want to

keep him out of the draft.

I'll get a couple of guys

and get this place cleaned up.

There's a new class, sir.

Don't tell me that's Captain Oliver.

Yes, sir,

that's Captain Oliver.

Burt! Oh, Buck!

What goes on here?

Don't blame me, sir.

Will you marry me? I can't hear you.

Will you marry me?!

ENGINE STOPS:

What's the answer, Burt?

The answer is still maybe.

I'm sure HE'D be for it. Who?

The guy whose sister's got me in a

slow roll, your brother. Hiya, Sis!

Tom!

Hold it, I'll model it for you.

Tom Hughes, you'll be arrested

for impersonating a soldier.

That's not what the

recruiting sergeant told me.

Did you talk him into this?

Me talk anybody

into joining the Bombardiers?

I tried to sell him on pilot

training. He didn't talk me into it.

Come on, I want you

to meet the fella who did.

Hey, Jim,

slip on something and come out here.

Burt, I want you to meet Jim Carter,

All-American halfback when I was

All-American. Hey, water boy, quiet.

What I want to tell you,

if bombardiering is his dish,

that's for me.

You seem to have

a way with you, Mr Carter.

Well, let's hope so, Miss Hughes.

Hello, Buck! Greetings, my lad!

I see you had a very happy landing.

You picked a nice resort to

the winter - you overlooked one

thing, though. What was that?

You're going to have me for your

commanding officer. Well, well,

well! I'll try to be helpful.

There's your newest brood of little

chicks. Look 'em over and see

what you've got,

wash-outs who couldn't qualify for

pilot training, failures who wouldn't

stay grounded. Still in a rut?

I'm going to prove something to

you - there are such things as boys

who don't want to be pilots

but who want to be bombardiers.

..Do further swear

to protect the secrecy...

ALL:
..Do further swear

to protect the secrecy...

..of the American bombsight...

..of the American bombsight...

..if need be with

my life itself, so help me God.

..if need be

with my life itself, so help me God.

All right, men, at ease.

At ease. Give me

that personnel list, Sergeant.

Rafferty. Here I am, sir.

Rafferty, are you sure?

Oh, I'm sure, my mother she said,

my father he said, Rafferty.

What nationality are you?

American, sir. My grandfather

was congressman from Arizona.

Your grandfather Rafferty?

No, sir, my grandfather Jose Maria

Garcia. Hmm.

Rafferty, why did you

decide to become a Bombardier?

Lots of times I go hunting

on my father's ranch -

coyotes, jackrabbits, I never

miss with the little bullets.

Maybe also I can shoot

straight with the big ones.

Connors? Here.

What your story, Connors? I haven't

got a story, I'm just starting.

Jordan? Jordan, wake up!

Did you ever think

you'd want to be a pilot?

I never thought...

Period.

Harris? Here, sir.

Harris, why did you

choose the Bombardiers?

Because I heard it would

be interesting, adventurous,

and requires a certain

amount of intelligence.

Hughes?

Hughes, I don't have to ask you,

your father was one of the

first Bombardiers. Yes, sir.

Isn't there anyone here

who would prefer to be a pilot?

Carter? No, sir!

Thank you, men.

Thank you. Your hearts

are in the right place,

but don't forget this, men - you're

going to be driven and driven hard.

There'll be the times

when you hate me. I expect

that'll be most of the time.

But those of you who pull through,

you will have learned a great creed.

The three greatest things

in a Bombardier's existence

are hit the target, hit the target,

hit the target,

and all day and all night, this

creed will be hammered into you.

Weeks before you ever get off

the ground, you'll be learning

the theory of bombing,

aerial

observation, meteorology,

and you'll

study and study

and study.

When your head aches, we'll dust

the cobwebs off your brain,

and then you'll study some more.

How's it going, Hughes, pretty

tough? Yes, sir, but I'll be

all right, sir.

I'm sure you will. Keep punching.

Hey, Rafferty,

what's been distracting you?

Well, for years on the ranch,

I see nothing but cow guys.

I ride 20 miles horseback to play

with the neighbour kids,

all guy kids.

Sometimes I'm sent away to school -

the school is absolutely for guys.

Then finally here I am

with nothing but guys.

I'm getting to be a guy hater.

Well, if it's a girl, forget it.

There is no girl,

and I can't forget it.

Harris? Yes, sir?

You know...

..you know something? What, sir?

You've made me madder

than I've been all day...

I can't find a thing

wrong with that.

Connors?

Now, look, fella -

you couldn't be born that dumb.

After all, you were all right last

week. What's the matter with you?

Why don't you drop in the

office and we'll talk it over?

There's not much

wrong with any of you a

little hard work can't cure.

And whenever you get that feeling

that you're chained to the ground,

whenever you wonder if you'll

ever get up there, just remember

boys in advanced flight training

have their troubles too.

Pilot to Bombardier.

Go ahead, sir.

Open the bomb bay doors -

we're just about at our altitude.

Stand by for orders.

Buck, you don't give orders

to the Bombardier, ask him

when he's ready to bomb -

he'll tell you air speed,

altitude and heading to fly.

Instructor to Bombardier.

Instructor to Bombardier.

Yes, sir. Listen, Sylvie,

when you're on a bombing mission,

you're in charge of the ship -

make your calculations and give

the necessary orders to the pilot.

Yes, sir. In my book, the ship has

only one skipper, and he's the pilot.

The bombsight's flying this plane -

any orders you take from that boy

is only what the bombsight's

telling him. Very well.

Any time you can sell the idea to the

pilots of the Army, you're a genius.

Taking orders from enlisted men

who will still be nothing more

than non-commissioned officers

after they finish their training.

That situation will be

corrected. Until then...

Bombardier to pilot.

Bombardier to pilot.

Go ahead. Our headings are 25

and 315 degrees...

How do you like that?

That guy burns me up.

Don't get excited,

Sergeant, you'll start a war.

No, he'll start it,

and the Bombardiers will finish it.

German moth.

You're quite an entomologist.

No, but I know all about bugs.

Where's Major Davis?

A cadet dropped by

with something on his mind.

The major took him out to dinner.

He should have been back by now.

Oh, must be that Joe Connors.

I'll be in here for a while.

I don't want to be disturbed.

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