Courage Under Fire Page #8

You see?

Rady will never make it. I say we go.

Oh, great.

Great. The Captain's crying.

It's just tension, a**hole.

It doesn't mean sh*t.

Come on, Captain.

I don't want to wait here to die.

llario?

- I don't know.

- Come on, it's a majority.

That'd be great if this was a democracy,

but it isn't.

We stay with Rady.

I wouldn't risk your life. I won't risk his.

So if we surrender,

the Iraqis would doctor him up.

No surrender.

(footsteps)

I hear something moving.

- I say we make for the chopper now.

- And I say I heard enough of that sh*t.

You don't have to go.

We don't need your permission.

I am in command here!

Well, maybe not any more.

Give me the saw, Monfriez.

I can't stop you from running, but

you're not taking our fire power with you.

You're not taking away my weapon.

Yes, I am.

Hey, I can make a white flag, all right?

There's no way

you're taking away my weapon, c*nt.

Section 28-J,...

..code of millitary justice.

Mutiny,...

..an offence punishable by death.

Jesus, Monfriez.

Shut up! She's trying to get us killed!

llario, who you with?

Come on, llario, shithead,

do you want to die?

Please, Captain.

Oh!

Unh.

They're going away.

It was just a probe.

Oh.

Sh*t.

(Altameyer) Are you all right?

(Walden) Sh*t!

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

Sh*t.

I don't f***ing believe it.

Give me your weapon.

Christ, I thought you were firing at me!

(click)

You're wounded, ma'am. Let me see.

You're with him.

You got to let me look at it.

Christ, let him look at it!

I gave birth to a nine-pound baby,...

..a**hole!

I think I can handle it!

Cap, we got to get you out of here.

We stay with Rady.

- And then?

- And then...

- (Altameyer) Incoming!

- (explosions)

(Altameyer) 140!

(Altameyer) 130!

Give me my weapon!

llario, how's Rady?

- He's dead!

- No, he's alive!

Come on, Captain, give him his weapon!

- This is insane! Give me my weapon!

- Shut up!

I'm sorry.

OK. OK.

OK, well get you out of here, Captain.

It's all over.

No, Monfriez,...

..it's not over.

There will be a reckoning.

Count on it.

Hey, what's that?

(helicopters)

There's the rescue!

Let's move it! Move it!

Move it! Move it!

No!

Wait.

Help Rady.

We're pinned down here!

llario, give me the M-16.

Give me the goddamn M-16!

Ill cover you.

Go!

Ill cover you!

Negative, ma'am!

Come back for me

with a stretcher and more guns!

- Karen, please!

- Go! It's an order!

Karen, please!

Go! Go!

Wait!

Wait!

Where's Walden?

She's dead!

No!

Monfriez said she would

have court-martial led us.

AItameyer was too f***ed up to say anything.

She was...

She was probably killed by small arms...

..before the napalm ever hit.

Either way,...

..she never could have

survived that stomach wound.

You think that matters?

No.

No.

Hmm.

I couldn't bear to send this.

Uh, I didn't even want to...

I didn't even want to touch it.

Uh...

Can you get it to her parents for me?

Can you...?

Please?

Yeah.

Uh, listen,

I'm going to have to call you back.

You got off the phone for me?

- Youll want me there for this.

- Meaning?

Remember that stereo you told me not to buy

cos who needs a dual cassette deck?

When does anyone ever have

a reason to copy a tape?

Nat, just the man I wanted to see.

Uh, do you know Colonel Serling?

This is Tony Gartner

of the Washington Post.

He was with the 9th in Vietnam.

Mr. Gartner.

Colonel.

Take a seat, Nat.

He's following up

our investigation of AI Bathra,...

..and it seems that he has a few questions

that he'd like to ask us.

Let's give him every facility.

- I appreciate that.

- Some ground rules, though.

I insist we be allowed to schedule

the release of all information...

..to the public regarding casualties.

Well, I wish I could accommodate you, sir,...

..but, unfortunately, well be going with

a story based on a tape that I've acquired...

..of all radio communications that night.

So,...

..I'd like you to listen...

..and then comment for the record.

I can't comment for the record.

This is an ongoing investigation.

(Serling) First right! Turn to the right!

Sabre-6, this is Bobcat-5.

Enemy tangos!

Say again! Enemy tanks in our lines. Over.

(Boylar) Sabre-6, this is Cougar-6.

Enemy tangos at phase line delta...

- I don't think any more of this...

- This is what happened, General.

(Serling) Liberty-6, this is Sabre-6.

Enemy tanks on our flank. Out!

Patella, find me a target.

- l think l got one, sir.

- Do you or do you not have a target?

It must be, sir. Theyre firing at us.

Loader!

Up, sir!

Fire!

On the way!

- Target! We got that sucker!

- Yeah!

Sabre-6, we just lost Cougar-6.

Repeat, we just lost Boylar.

Roger that, sir. We got him.

- You just lit up a friendly.

- Roger that. We... What?

- You just lit up a friendly, goddamn it!

- (turns off tape)

Cougar-6 was one of your own Abrams,

Colonel Serling. Is that correct?

Yes, that's correct.

Sabre-6, Nat, whats happening?

Sabre-6, report.

(Serling) Patella, was that one of our tanks?

They fired.

At us or at the T-72s?

l don',t know.

- At us or at the T-72s, Patella?

- l don,t know!

- Colonel Serling, report status now.

- (bang)

They have range on us!

All Sabre elements,

stop all tanks, turn on your lights.

I say again,

stop all tanks and turn on your Lights.

Sabre-6, Nat, whats happening out there?

Load us up.

Patella, find me a target.

Snap out of it. Find me a target.

Patella, come on!

- Target!

- We're up.

- Lights on or off?

- Off.

- Fire!

- On the way.

- Sir?

- Fire!

Colonel Serling, report status now!

Sabre-6, situation under control, General.

General, Colonel Serling's order

to activate Lights,...

..was that a standard response

to enemy infiltration of the lines?

At the critical moment,...

..in spite of terrible losses,...

..Colonel Serling didn't hesitate to act.

Ordering those tanks

to turn on their Lights...

..saved the lives

of God knows how many of our men.

Heroic acts arise...

..out of desperate circumstances.

I have no trouble at all

believing that Colonel Serling is a hero.

Like Captain Karen Walden.

Did you know, Mr. Gartner, for the first time

a woman is being considered...

..for the Medal of Honour

for her performance under fire?

And, um,...

..Colonel Serling...

..is just finishing up the inquiry.

How's that going, Nat?

I think, uh,...

..in order to honour

a soldier like Karen Walden,...

..we have to tell the truth, General,...

..about what happened over there.

The whole, hard,...

..cold truth.

And until we do that, uh,...

..we dishonor her...

..and every soldier who died,...

..who gave their life for their country.

My full report, General.

Few of us are given the opportunity,...

..even fewer the courage,...

..to sacrifice ourselves

for the lives of our comrades.

In daily life, even as in battle,...

..each one of us is mysteriously

and irrevocably bound to our fellow man.

And yet,...

..it is only in death

that the power of this bond...

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