Flags of Our Fathers Page #5

the men in white.

Right behind me here,

the heroes of lwo Jima,

Private First Class Rene Gagnon,

Private First Class Ira Hayes,

and Navy Corpsman

John "Doc" Bradley!

Thank you.

It's good of you people to come out

tonight in support of the war effort.

We really need you to buy bonds,

that's for sure.

'Cause we can't win the war

without your help.

As far as us being the heroes

of lwo Jima,

that's just not the case.

We really didn't do much at all.

Especially him.

Especially me.

I was just a runner. That's it.

We put up a flag.

The pole we attached it to was heavy,

so it took a number of us.

We had our picture taken doing it.

The real heroes are dead on that island.

And we'd appreciate it if you bought

bonds in honor of them. Thank you.

Jump on any grenades, Ira?

Take out any machine gun nests

I missed?

At least I fired my weapon.

All right, knock it off.

You hit anything

or were you too drunk then, too?

What?

Guys! Come on!

Stop it. Knock it off.

The tall man with the high hat

will be coming down your way

Get your savings out

when you hear him shout

"Any bonds today?"

Any bonds today?

Bonds of freedom that's what I'm selling

Any bonds today?

Rene, right here.

Sit between these two boys.

Here comes the freedom man

Asking you to buy

a share of freedom today

... for us and they need our help.

And, if you think about it,

I think you'll realize

that buying more bonds

is not just the right thing to do

but the only thing to do.

Yes, this war has gone on too long.

We have given too many lives.

And its cost...

- Chocolate or strawberry, sir?

- Strawberry.

... has been far too high.

But if we waver now,

if we don't dig deep and give more

than we think we can

then those sacrifices would be wasted...

Chocolate or strawberry, sir?

... and those lives lost in vain.

Let's move! Go, go!

Easy Six, this is Easy Two, over.

Where the hell are our tanks?

Stuck in the sand.

Captain says you're to go without them.

Christ.

That's real good work

you're doing there, Rene.

All right, prepare to move out.

Pass the word.

Second Platoon! Move! Move! Move!

All right, Second Platoon, on your feet!

Let's move out!

Jackass.

Let's move out!

Go, go! Move, move, move!

Corpsman!

Corpsman!

Second Platoon, move out!

Doc!

Doc, get out of there!

Corpsman!

Doc!

Doc, get the hell out of there!

May I have your attention, please.

Train number 48 with service

from New York City, Boston,

Rochester, New York,

Toledo, Ohio, and South Bend, Indiana

is now arriving on Track 7.

Train number 48 now arriving

on Track number 7.

Okay, let's go. Let's go.

- Come on, boys.

- Let's go.

- Watch your step, ma'am.

- Thank you very much.

Ladies and gentlemen,

may I present the heroes of lwo Jima.

Navy Corpsman John "Doc" Bradley.

Private First Class Ira Hayes.

And Private First Class Rene Gagnon.

Rene! That's my boyfriend!

Who the hell is that?

I don't know.

- Rene, is that your girl?

- Hey, what do they call you?

How about a photo? Hey, look at that!

What's your name, doll?

What's your name?

Hey, she's a beauty.

Let's go find a saloon.

Smile, boys.

Give them their money's worth.

Hey, Doc, how's the tour going for you?

Thank you.

Where exactly are you staying?

- I'm not sure yet.

- Just forget about that.

Senator, I'd like you to meet

Corpsman John Bradley.

- Doc, right?

- Yes, sir. Nice to meet you, Senator.

Good to meet you, young man.

Now, we appreciate everything you've

done and everything you're doing.

- Thank you, sir.

- Quite all right.

This is Captain White.

- Colonel Johns.

- We're proud of you, Corpsman.

And then Colonel McCourtney.

- Major General Green.

- Nice to meet you.

Senator, this is

Private First Class Ira Hayes.

Of course!

Now I hear you used a tomahawk

on those Japs. Is that true, Chief?

No, sir.

Well, tell them you did,

makes a better story, huh?

- Attaboy.

- This is Captain Green.

John?

Madeline Evelley. I recognize you from

all the photographs. I'm Hank's mom.

It's so nice to meet you, ma'am.

Hank was always talking about you.

This is PFC Rene Gagnon.

Pleasure to meet you, son.

Thanks for everything.

- My pleasure.

- Not at all.

Ira, I'd like you to meet Mrs. Strank,

Mike's mom.

It's all right.

When I got the telegram, I...

I don't know what I'm trying to say here.

Knowing he was with you that day

and seeing him in that photograph,

I don't know why it makes me

feel better, but it does.

- It's so silly, isn't it?

- No, it's not.

How are you, son?

Thank you very much.

We're the largest furniture wholesaler

in Illinois.

Thank you. Excuse me.

- I'll make sure he calls.

- Well, thank you. Thank you.

Are you Rene?

Yes, ma'am.

I'm Franklin's mother.

It's an honor to meet you, ma'am.

I'm Pauline, Rene's girlfriend.

Would you mind?

Paper said that's Hank,

and I honestly can't tell.

It's horrible of a mother

not to know her own son, isn't it?

But that's him, isn't it?

Well, to be honest, ma'am,

it happened so quick,

and with everything that was going on

it's kind of hard to remember

who was where.

But...

Yeah, I think...

I think that's where he was.

That's Hank.

Thank you.

Excuse me.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Excuse us.

Take him outside.

I'm Pauline.

- Very nice to meet you.

- Hi, nice to meet you.

He was the best Marine I ever knew.

Thank you.

- You okay, Chief?

- Oh, Christ!

I'm okay.

Yeah, you look it.

You're gonna screw this up, aren't you?

You're gonna screw it up for all of us.

I've got him.

Get some sleep, Ira.

- Mike?

- Yeah?

- You see this?

- What?

- Mike!

- Oh, sh*t, go!

He's killing me!

Hey, Doc, you think they got them all?

What?

Well, they're not shooting at us.

Maybe we killed them all.

Or they ran off in the night

or something.

Or they're waiting for us

to start climbing.

Third Platoon!

Grab your gear, we're going up the hill.

- Just us?

- Yeah, just us, lgg.

All right, Third Platoon, move!

I tag along?

Yeah, you can lead the way if you want.

Get a good shot of my face.

It's your ass

I'm gonna make famous, Hank.

Hey, that'll work for me, too.

Lieutenant,

if you make it to the top, put this up.

Yes, sir.

Don't worry, lggy.

They never shoot at the first patrol.

- They don't?

- No.

They want us to go up to the top,

signal to the others that it's okay,

then shoot everybody else

as they come up the mountain.

- Really?

- Yeah.

Unless of course they want to

make an example of us

and discourage all the others.

I think you're full of crap,

you know that, Hank?

Really?

Jesus.

Thank God that ain't us.

Told you.

Boots, spread them out

and put them on a line.

Set up a perimeter! First Squad!

- Hank? Find me a pole.

- Yeah.

Let's put this flag up.

Watch it.

Right over here.

Right here. That's good. That's good.

Right here, right here.

Got that end? Hold that steady.

Lindberg.

- Hey, who's got rope?

- Right here.

Give me something. Yeah, good.

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