Heartbreak Ridge Page #5

out of the next war.

Platoon, right face.

Sling arms.

Forward march.

Are you sure Highway's our man

to run the ambush?

He's the best I know at small unit tactics.

I doubt that.

Marines, today we're going to kick

some Recon ass.

Attention! About face!

Forward march!

When I first joined the Corps...

...I thought I'd be jumping out of planes,

and fighting the enemy.

This is the new, modern, mechanized

Marine Corps. We'll jump out of our heads.

The only enemy we're fighting is boredom.

You hear that voice?

It's calling me, Hollywood.

Stitch Jones is going be

a rock and roll star.

Don't forget us when you

make it to the top.

Front row center seat, and all the girls

I can't eat for my homeboy.

I love leftovers.

Unsling your rifles.

You're making too much noise.

Why? We're not supposed to win.

He watches too much prime time.

- What was that?

- You're dead, Marine.

You tripped on four booby traps

that blew your legs off...

...and we have to send out a search party

for your testicles. Where's your backup?

Profile.

What good are you back there?

Without any cover fire, I get shot.

While you guys pump the dog,

we get everyone in this platoon killed.

Chill out. That's what we're here for.

Say what?

We've ambushed Major Powers

three times, and always right here.

We know what we're doing.

Who says we're going to ambush

Major Powers right here?

Didn't you hear Lieutenant Ring?

Major Powers wants us to die in a loud,

grotesque, military manner.

I don't give a f*** about Major Powers.

My job is to keep you men alive.

Let's move on.

Coming to the ambush site

over the next hill.

Roger that.

It helps, knowing when and where

you're going to be hit, sir.

Easy. Give them a few more yards,

then we'll nail the coffin shut.

Chill out. Here they come.

Hit them now!

Now!

Cease fire!

You're in the wrong ambush site!

Cease fire!

They're in the wrong ambush site!

Recon! Recon!

- Sergeant Major!

- Yes?

Turn this damn thing off.

Makes a hell of a racket, doesn't it, sir?

This man usurped authority,

disregarded procedures...

...and ignored my personal directives

all week. Why, Lieutenant?

- Sir, I thought the training...

- You think too much and act too little.

You're supposed to be an officer.

Look it up in your leader's handbook.

Who gave you permission to deviate

from the training schedule?

I needed to evaluate my men, sir.

They're not your men, you son of a b*tch.

They're the U.S. Marine Corps' men.

The 2nd Division's men.

The 8th Marine Regiment's men.

In other words, they're my men.

And so are you. Get it?

I'll get my ass shot off if I'm in a hot

landing zone with an untrained platoon.

You will follow my program to the letter.

No questions asked.

We go into combat tomorrow,

you'll plant half those men.

You did it on your own, didn't you?

I can't fix it if I don't know what's broken.

You make it easy.

Sir...

...I gave Gunney permission

to freelance his...

...I mean, the men, sir.

Wait outside, Ring.

Aye, aye, sir.

I'm going to run you

out of the Corps, Highway.

The funny thing is, you'll do all the work.

Sooner or later, you'll disobey orders...

...circumvent procedures again,

or just get drunk.

You can't help it.

You're too old, too stupid and

too prideful to change.

I'll enjoy watching you fall.

Get out and send in that idiot, Ring.

He wants to see you, Lieutenant.

- I'm sorry.

- No need to be.

Lieutenant?

Recon.

You'll let anybody in here. Won't you?

Have one on the house to ease your pain.

Want to get drunk and howl at the moon...

...get us both busted back to low-ass,

no-rank, mud-rolling PFC?

I'm your man.

What are we, Chooz?

We're short-haired bastards with meat

cleavers for pricks and kerosene for blood.

Yes. We're all of that. That's for sure.

We're 0-1-1.

Say again?

Major Powers, one dark cloudy morning,

said to me, "Sergeant Major...

"...you're 0-1-1.

"No wins. One tie, Korea...

"...and one loss, Vietnam."

Maybe we lost the war,

but we won the battles.

I'm not going to lose the next one

because my men aren't ready.

What are you going to do?

Make them Marines.

Stoney Jackson...

...best goddamned platoon sergeant

two short-pricked, piss-ant...

...baby soldier, little f***ers

ever went to war with.

- Yes. Heartbreak Ridge.

- Heartbreak Ridge.

Your CO called.

Your battalion just went on full alert.

God bless.

- I can't find my tent.

- Where's my poncho liner?

Damn it, who's got my web gear?

Profile, that's my canteen.

Aponte better get back here.

He'll do time for being AWOL.

People, let's have an equipment check.

Weapon?

Let's keep it simple.

You got boots on,

you can walk into combat. Let's go.

Where's Aponte?

He's sick. Must've been the chipped beef.

I'm sick myself.

- You've eaten worse.

- Only when I'm sh*t-faced.

These DD-13-48 request forms

are not filled out properly.

We're going to approach this in an orderly,

proficient manner, Sergeant Major.

Yes, sir.

I want you to be sure

that each round of ammo...

...is counted and returned

in the same way it was received.

- I'll personally dot the i's and cross the t's.

- Sloppiness breeds inefficiency.

Your outfit could use

some cleaning up, Gunney.

Sir, I want to issue my squad leader

some night vision glasses.

- I should've thought of that.

- That is not part of your TO&E.

I thought it might...

Fill out the proper request forms

and send it through the chain of command.

Request forms?

Attention!

At ease, men.

Major Malcolm Powers, sir.

Annapolis, Class of '71.

How are your men doing, Major?

My men are ready to fight to the death

to protect our country, sir.

Let's hope that won't be necessary.

Have we ever served together?

I don't know, sir.

Sergeant Major Choozoo and I...

...were in the 2nd Battalion

in the 7th in 1968.

I had a rifle company in 1st Battalion, 7th.

We sure as hell chewed

some of the same dirt, sir.

That's for sure.

What's your assessment of this alert?

It's a cluster f***.

Say again?

Marines are fighting men, sir,

they shouldn't be sitting on their asses...

...filling out forms for equipment

they should already have.

Interesting observation, Gunney.

Carry on, Major.

Now hear this. Now hear this.

This is it. We're going to war.

This has been an emergency deployment

readiness exercise.

We are standing down.

The alert is cancelled.

Damn it.

Maybe next time, sir.

You heard him. Move it out.

Aponte.

Oh, him.

Where is he?

What's wrong with you?

Nobody goes over the hill on me.

If you didn't have those stripes,

I'd kick your ass around the block!

Yes, but since I'm not into violence...

...I'll refrain from kicking your ass

at this particular time.

I'll give you a rebate on your life.

Besides, who the hell is Aponte?

He ain't heavy

and he sure the hell ain't my brother.

Gunney Highway.

That's right. Gunney Highway.

Come in.

I'm sorry, but I had to tell him.

This is my wife, Sara.

Clean that up a little, honey.

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