Fixed Bayonets! Page #4

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I can take an order.

I can't give one.

Some men are afraid of high places,

some are afraid of water...

and some are afraid to be responsible

for the deaths of a lot of other guys.

That's me, Rock.

I don't want to

carry that load.

Yeah. Well, a lot of guys

sweat out leading an outfit.

I mean, nobody goes out

looking for responsibility.

Sometimes you find it whether

you're looking for it or not.

But I'm not looking for it.

It takes brains to be a leader.

I'm just smart enough

not to want any part ofit.

Even a two-striper like you,

you'll find out.

It takes more than brains

to be a corporal.

You got to have

the guts to lead.

Look, I'll do my job.

It's just... I don't want to

lead, that's all.

Hey, take it easy.

I ain't promoting you.

Lonergan and me,

we'll be around for a long time.

Ain't no burp gun fast enough

to cut down an old doggy like me.

If anything happened to you,

Rock, I'd pull out.

Look, don't suck around nobody

in the army for apron strings.

That's all you got

to depend on.

You take care of her,

and she'll take care of you.

You're over the hump.

You're a rifleman.

You're wrong, Rock.

I didn't shoot that Red.

Jonesy did.

Oh, well, there's

a lot of Reds out there.

You'll get plenty of chances.

- One flare.

- One flare dead ahead.

Hey, Rock! People!

Commie medics pulling

back their casualties.

Just because they shoot our medics

don't mean we have to shoot theirs.

Hey, down there!

Hold your fire!

Denno, come here.

Go on up

and relieve Ramirez.

Hey, you jokers, did you hear me?

I said hold your fire!

Denno. Lonergan.

Do you see anything?

- No. Nothing.

- Vogl?

- No. Nothing.

- Vogl?

- Vogl, you see anything?

- Nothing.

Now, why do they blow

them bugles?

Sometimes, it's to herald

their armed approach.

Mostly, it's to confuse and frighten us.

It's a psychological trick.

Hey, they're blowing "Taps."

That's our own call. They stole our music!

No, that's not our "Taps."

That's a Chinese reassembly call. Listen.

It ends on the same three

mournful notes.

I don't like that tune!

- Let's stop the music! - Wait a minute.

Theywant to suck us out there.

Whitey, you know

all about them horns, don't you?

- Yeah, Sarge, I do.

- Yeah?

- You go out there and get me one.

- Me?

Sure, Mr. Belvedere.

You know all about everything.

Wait a minute. That's one thing

I don't know anything about.

- I'll go with you, Whitey.

- Okay, both of you. Move out!

Hey, you guys going out

to relieve Bigmouth?

No. We've got to get a Chinese bugle.

You got one on you?

Look, wise guy, that minefield

starts right here.

- I can walk through it with my eyes closed.

- Some other time.

No. I'm on the level about getting

that Chinese bugle.

- Say, Harvey?

- Yeah?

- How'd you like to make a fast five

dollar bill? - How would you like-

Save it.

Come on.

I'm beginning to know

that tune.

I made that up myself.

- Hey, wise guy, are you a full-blooded

Cherokee? - That's what they tell me.

All right, you guys, relax.

We got O.P.'s all over the place.

Whose coffee is this?

- Who belongs to this coffee?

- Not me.

- Oh, thanks, Rock.

- Here.

You wanted it hot. Who's next?

Hey, Doc, need any

hot water over there?

Yeah. I want to shave away

some hair near this wound.

- Here, take mine, Doc.

- Not with the coffee.

Get him down.

The kid had a tough time taking it away

from him. He didn't want to give it up.

We couldn't find Bigmouth.

Lonergan! We got one

of those commie bugles up here!

Keep those guys quiet

down there for a minute!

All right,

who can play a horn?

- I'm no Gabriel.

- Whitey does enough blowing for a regiment.

Blow it!

Now those little weasels are running around

trying to figure out what's happening.

Lonergan!

That ought to keep 'em confused for

a while, huh? Psychological warfare.

Yeah, yeah. Real psychological.

Who's doin' all that blowin' up there?

Whitey! Hey, he says he didn't

see Bigmouth out there anywhere!

Hey, Lonergan!

- You goin' out after him?

- I sent him. I'll bring him back.

You take over, Rock!

That's psychological.

- And where do you think you're going?

- I'm going with you, Sarge.

Oh, you are? You said so

yourself you're bad luck, didn't you?

What are you trying to do, get me killed out

there? Besides, I'm beginning to like you too.

- He needs blood, fast.

- Well, what are you waiting for?

We only had six bottles

for the platoon.

A shell got them

at the roadblock.

Will it match?

Yeah, same type.

Bigmouth?

Bigmouth, wake up.

It's Lonergan.

- Where was I hit?

- Oh, you're hit?

You wasn't hit.

You're frozen.

Here's your piece.

Can you belly? All right, come on.

Let's belly.

Gee, Sarge.

- I bet they have to cut my legs off.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

How you feeling?

You think you can make it now?

- Yeah.

- You think you can walk?

- I'll try.

- Huh? Okay. Come on, let's try it.

All right, kid, get on your feet.

Come on, hurry up.

Now, come on. Stamp on your feet.

That's it. That circulates the blood.

Stamp on 'em!

Shove off!

Hey! Where's the sketch

of the minefield?

I gave it to Lieutenant Gibbs.

I took it off

the lieutenant.

- Good. Give it to me.

- Lonergan's got it.

Oh, that's great. Lonergan's lying out there

hit, smack in the middle of the minefield.

I can point out where I buried 'em.

Well, what are you all

staring for?

You know who's got

to go out and get him.

Keep him bundled up, Wheeler.

And see if you can clean up

this mess without passing out.

Medic.

That puts you

in charge of the platoon, Rock.

Lonergan's in command

as long as he's alive.

Come on, Denno. Let's go

cover the noncombatant.

Medic or no medic, I wouldn't

go in that minefield for nobody.

Don't nobody come out to get me,

you hear? Nobody. That's an order.

- I'll get him.

- Okay, Denno. Anything to keep

Lonergan alive, huh?

Okay, go ahead.

- I didn't know Denno had that kind of guts.

- That's why he's a corporal.

Denno, I'm warningyou.

Get back. You'll blow us both up.

Get your hand off.

It's an open wound!

What are you trying to do,

give me blood poison?

Put your head down.

All right. Up.

All right, kid.

Take it easy.

Follow your own footprints.

Take it easy, Denno.

Steady, kid.

Watch that open wound,

will ya?

Wheeler, get to

work on him!

- What's the matter?

- I'm no doctor.

- You're a medic. - No, I-I'm a

litter-bearer. I don't know any-

Wheeler, you're a disgrace to the medics.

You, you're no medic.

You're a chicken-wired,

chicken-hearted jerk!

All you had to do was make a gesture

to help him. That's all you had to do.

It was good try, Denno, butyou're out

ofluck. You were carrying a dead man.

Jonesy, strip him of everything we can

use. Gimme the sketch of the minefield.

A lot of good

that's gonna do.

Roll him up in a blanket,

and bury him.

And mark him!

Only one to go.

- That's great, Whitey. - Hey, Whitey,

that louses up your perfect 300.

Hey, Whitey, let's-let's

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