Casualties Of War Page #5

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Why are you here?

-I can't find Wilkins.

-Find any pound cake?

-No, just chicken.

-Where is yours?

Somebody stole it.

Can I stay with you?

Yeah, back there.

I should have gone to Captain Hill.

He'd straighten this out.

When we reconnoitre to those caves,

do you think...?

Private, move out.

-You told Reilly?

-Reilly's bullshit. He's doing zip.

No, I gotta see Captain Hill.

He'll square this sh*t away.

Don't go around

your immediate superior.

If I do nothing, she'd just vanish.

You can't do that.

There's a chain of command.

I wouldn't violate something

so sacred for a murder.

What are you talking about?

Don't worry about it.

I better go. I feel like

I'm doing something wrong.

-I'll see you later.

-Hey.

You won't see us later if you don't

stop bopping around here.

Just take it easy, okay? Slow down.

All right.

Tough. There he goes.

-Pathetic.

-He ain't rendezvoused with his brain...

Cease fire! Cease fire!

What's the haps, sarge?

Booby trap.

Somebody stepped on a toe-popper.

All right, let's move it out.

Get where we should.

-Who got hit, sarge?

-Cherry.

That boy was bagged

the minute they sent him here.

They should have

just shot him at home.

Okay, let's move out.

Get your people out of here.

Let's go.

Oh, Jesus.

Pathetic, dumb-ass Cherry.

Wait a minute.

This goddamn thing

is turning us on our heads.

We're getting it backwards.

Because every day

is a dose of bullshit.

Just because we could

all be blown away...

...everybody's acting like

we can do anything.

And it don't matter what we do.

But I think it's the other way around.

The main thing is the opposite.

Because we might die

in the next second...

...maybe we gotta

be extra careful what we do.

Because maybe it matters more.

Maybe it matters more

than we even know.

-PFC Eriksson reporting, sir.

-At ease, Eriksson.

-Captain Hill, something happened...

-I'm aware of why you're here.

Reilly detailed it to me

just after you brought it to him.

I'm handling everything.

I didn't know that, sir.

That just about cover it, trooper?

I am max-attentive to this situation.

Yes, sir.

Is there someone I should speak to?

Has the investigation started?

I hope you understand

how serious this situation is.

Yes, sir.

That's why I reported it, sir.

This could cause a major international

incident. Do you know that?

Yes, sir.

Eriksson...

...these men f***ed up good...

...but you bringing

formal charges against them...

...is that gonna help that girl

one little bit?

Maybe if you had been there, sir.

If you heard her screaming...

Don't tell me sh*t about screaming!

I've heard a lot of f***ing screaming!

Most of it's come from

wounded American boys.

I'm gonna transfer you out

of my company. That okay?

I'll get you out of the bush,

any f***ing place you want to go.

I saw your 201 file in the rear.

You volunteered to be a tunnel rat.

Is that what you want?

I want out of this company.

Well, that's a rog.

You're a tunnel rat.

It won't keep me

from bringing this out, sir.

Nobody's trying to keep you

from doing a goddamn thing.

My function here is just to tell you

how this will come down.

And you ought to be advised...

...that military

court-martials are lenient.

And stateside review boards

are even more lenient.

If these guys get convicted

they won't do any real time.

Yes, sir.

In fact, they'll be out of the stockade

before you know it.

And if I was them, I'd be pissed off.

Wouldn't you?

I'd be looking for payback!

Now, a man like you,

wife, baby daughter...

...l'd be considering

those factors very carefully.

Pardon me, sir.

What's your point, sir?

There ain't no point, Eriksson.

I'm just illuminating the terrain

in which we find ourselves deployed.

You don't mind, do you?

And if you do, f*** you!

-You on my frequency?

-Yes, sir.

You maggot!

Who do you think you are?

You recommended Meserve

for a Bronze Star!

He pulled you out

of a VC tunnel, boy!

What he did was wrong.

But he's a kid.

He's 20 goddamn years old!

And you're gonna ruin his life?

He saved yours!

No, man, no!

Now listen to me, man.

Just don't get too happy

with those dice.

-I'll be there in two seconds.

-Okay. All right.

Hey, Clarkie!

What?

-Charlie's in the wire!

-What the hell's going on?

Christ! What was it?

Who was on watch?

Anybody still in there?

Get that fire out over there.

Let's roll. Come on, let's roll.

-Get over here.

-On the perimeter now. Let's go!

-I need some help down front.

-Go, go, go.

Come on. Sweetest of the day.

Come to daddy, sweet ones.

You sick son of a b*tch!

I told you, cherry.

What happens...

Nobody cares, Meserve.

Oh, I told everybody.

You don't have to worry.

You don't have to kill me.

I told them, and they don't care!

You dinky dau, man.

You beaucoup dinky dau!

All right, sergeant. Let's go.

Come on, move it.

I said, go, man.

Goddamn it, we got a fire here.

How you doing, son?

Sir.

I'm sorry, sir.

Drunk, sir.

Mind if I join you?

Drunk. Very drunk, sir.

You going on leave?

Getting transferred, sir.

Fini boonies.

This little darling

must be your daughter.

You're not gonna do anything

crazy with that gun, are you?

Just protecting myself, sir.

I gotta protect myself.

Trouble at home, son?

Pardon, sir?

I thought you had problems at home,

with the wife, sickness in the family.

The answer's not in that can, son.

Are you sure, sir?

I'm a chaplain. Try me.

That's what I do.

You a chaplain, sir?

Are you religious, son?

I'm a Methodist.

I'm a Lutheran.

We can still talk, can't we?

I went on a long-range patrol, sir.

And we kidnapped a girl...

...from a village.

And the other four men...

...raped her.

And they murdered her.

And I failed, sir...

...to stop them.

Where was the girl supposed

to have been abducted from?

-Nghia Hanh ville, sir.

-How old was she?

She was...

-...eighteen, 18 to 20, sir.

-How do you know that?

Because her mother was there.

She was just... She was young.

She just appeared young...

How do you know she wasn't 14 or 12?

How do you know she wasn't 28?

Because she... I don't know. I guess

that's how old she seemed to be.

-Was she VC?

-No, no. I really didn't...

How do you know she wasn't?

-Did she struggle?

-Yeah, her mom was...

How do you know she wasn't

struggling because she was a VC...

...being taken prisoner?

Look, sir...

...the sarge said

we were gonna get us a girl.

And we did.

That's what he said, sir.

How far out did the patrol go?

We went to Hill 209, sir...

...that's about a five hour hike.

And you did it all on foot?

No helicopters?

No. No helicopters.

We hiked in.

So after you got there

what happened to the girl?

They killed her. They...

-She was stabbed.

-The chaplain says you said...

...they shot her.

Yeah, well, first this guy Clark, he said

he stabbed her two or three times.

And then he saw her

crawling away.

So he started screaming

and then everybody came running over.

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