Flying Leathernecks Page #3

...for a professional soldier?

And Kirby's a professional soldier.

You interest me no end.

You know I didn't mean you

in that crack, Griff.

- You've worn a uniform all your life...

- Some guys take a look...

...at the world when they're young...

...and they don't like what they see.

They realize some of us

will have to fight...

...for the rest of us from here on in.

I'm a professional soldier...

...and I don't mind saying

that I'm kind of proud of it.

Well, I hope Griff didn't think I was

including him in that remark.

I know you weren't,

because if I thought you were...

...l'd knock you for a series of slow rolls.

Because you know something?

I'm a rarity.

I'm a guy who's fond of his brother-in-law.

- Let's watch it, Black.

- Take it easy.

Sorry, Injun.

You flyguys have sure got it easy.

What a break.

Imagine, sleeping under cover.

The lieutenant made a funny.

Thank you and good night, lieutenant!

- Naval bombardment! Come on!

- It's a raid!

You guys get this kind

of treatment every night?

Not every night, sir.

They didn't come down this slot

last Thursday night.

Hope we still have this strip

for you in the morning, major.

- Get under this.

- Thanks, sarge.

Hey, Cowboy!

Let's get off the deck

and get upstairs.

- Count them off.

- Right.

All right. Let's line up.

- Griff, how are you?

- How you been?

- Good.

- Attaboy.

- Malotke.

- Never knew what hit him.

What a guy.

He won't get even to collect

what they owed him.

- He never even got off the deck.

- Hit the sack. You'll need some sleep.

He was the nicest guy in the squadron.

- Of course, you never got to know him.

- Get some sleep, Griff.

I knew him. I knew

a whole squadron of him at Midway.

I knew him, all right.

Jigsaw 1, this is Jigsaw 4.

My engine's running rough.

I'm returning to base.

Jigsaw 1 to Jigsaw 4. Negative.

Stay with us as long as you can.

Jigsaw 1, this is Jigsaw 4.

I can't keep up.

My engine's still running rough.

I'm returning to base. Over.

Jigsaw 1. I roger.

Tallyho. Bandits.

Ten o'clock, low. Two miles.

Jigsaw, commencing attack.

Jigsaw 4, get back in formation.

Jigsaw 4, they're on your tail!

Well, the way I figure it,

Jorgy might have made it.

He bailed out at 12,000 feet,

about 3 miles north of the beach.

The wind was about 15 knots

to the east.

With any luck,

he might have hit the island.

If he did,

I hope the natives find him first.

Charlie's right.

He could've made it, with a little luck.

We haven't had any luck so far,

why should it change now?

- Man, who could win a war without coffee?

- Who's winning what war?

Excuse me, gentlemen.

Is it anybody's birthday?

- All right, what's the gag?

- I found a cake.

What do you mean, you "found a cake"?

Where did you find it,

in some deserted galley?

Certainly not. It was cooling

over at the artillery mess.

Oh, buddy, and how. It is a cake!

I suggest you eat it in a hurry.

A slight beef may develop any minute.

Where would them guys in the artillery

get the stuff to make a thing like that?

They must have influence.

- Want a piece, Clancy?

- Sure.

- Here you are.

- Thank you.

Old, ugly and mean.

But his honesty's never been questioned.

It's never even been mentioned.

- How about a piece?

- Here you are.

- Tanner?

- Here you are.

- How about another piece?

- Here. Here.

- Thanks a lot.

- How is it, good?

I want everybody to go over

to Graves Registration.

The mud Marines just brought in

Jorgensen's body.

I want you to take a good, long look

and remember what you've seen...

...the next time you feel

like going hunting on your own.

You heard what the man said.

You didn't win any friends there,

but you certainly influenced people.

With two divisions set up

for today's strike...

You made your point.

The object lesson was brutal.

You're making your point

by your tone of voice. You disapprove.

The wet blanket could've waited.

Clancy saved that cake to give them a lift.

Let Clancy win the popularity contest.

We got a different job.

I know we can't have them

leaving formation...

...and you were right about

Simmons' court-martial.

Otherwise, they'd wind up

like Jorgensen.

No, I was wrong about

the Simmons thing.

And now your wet-nursing them's

gonna come in handy.

Go tell them you talked me

out of the court-martial.

I don't get the change of pace.

Between jungle fever and Japs,

we'll run out of pilots soon enough.

And anyway, they've had a better

object lesson now than Simmons.

- McCabe?

- Yes, major?

I'm rearranging divisions.

Ernie's gonna fly on your wing.

Whatever you say is the word, sir...

...but is it good for morale to make a

section when the guys dislike each other?

You don't like Ernie?

About Ernie as a person,

I'm neither hot nor cold.

I just don't like guys

who have rough engines.

Order rescinded.

Major?

By making this beef, have I

gotten myself in trouble with you?

Pudge, you just keep speaking plain English

to me and we'll get along fine.

Put a new chamois on there.

- Ernie?

- Yes, sir?

I've had to reorganize

since losing Jorgensen.

- You're gonna fly on my wing.

- Major, my engine was running rough.

If you say it was rough, it was rough.

I got $ 100 to 50 that says

some of the guys refused to fly with me.

- You're on my wing.

- Hey, major?

Lt'd be easy for me to claim

that my engine was rough.

If you're telling me that,

you're gonna get a court-martial.

- And I'll lose a good pilot.

- Good pilot?

Major, does a good pilot get so scared

he breaks out in a sweat on a mission?

- His mouth gets so dry he can't...

- Every one of them.

- You?

- The second I push that throttle forward.

And any time you meet a guy

who says he doesn't, avoid him.

He's an idiot.

See you, Ernie.

You got yourself a wingman, major.

Thanks.

What are you doing,

painting my portrait?

Just practicing a little

exterior decoration, junior.

I'll be catching up with you soon.

- Hey, fellas.

- Hi, Griff.

Come here. I got news for you.

There's a tropical front with

a thermodynamically warm cumulonimbus.

Hydrometeor's moving east at 13 knots.

Longitude 17.

Why, that's absolutely fascinating.

What do you want us to do...

...jump up and down, kick our heels?

- Maybe you should.

It means the Jap bases are socked in.

They can't get a plane

off the ground for 24 hours.

I'm gonna get myself a neat,

sweet, 24-hour sleep.

In that case, it's a bath.

The Seabees are beginning to sniff

whenever they get downwind of me.

All pilots report to the operations hut.

Clancy never brought

any good news in his life.

Colonel Riley and his battalion

have hit a snag.

They want assist from us,

so we're going in...

...in a little different method of attack

this time, which the colonel will explain.

My outfit's pinned down...

...by a heavy concentration

of machine gun emplacements...

...just below the top of the ridge.

We need some help.

Our front lines are marked

by intermittent panels like these.

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