Last Flag Flying Page #2

---

Bless my soul.

- Praise God!

- Welcome, brothers, welcome.

Thank you for joining us

in our fellowship this morning.

Mmm.

Oh.

Oh, man, oh, man.

Southern ham. Thank you, ma'am.

All right, so listen up, Ruth,

I'm hoping that this old man

appreciates you.

Oh, I think he does.

'Cause if he ever don't,

you pack your bag

and you come live with Sal.

You don't have a wife?

No, ma'am.

Neither chick nor child.

I do have a lady friend, though.

But she don't cook worth a damn.

She does have other talents,

if you know what I mean.

Um, well, what about you,

Mr. Sheppard?

Are you single or married?

Oh, I married a wonderful

woman, Mrs. Mueller.

Light of my life, my Mary.

Heart as big as anything.

Real pretty girl.

Great big smile.

Mm. Nice.

She, um...

she had a little slowness

because of a thing

when she was born.

Wait, what's that mean?

She's retarded?

No. No.

She could do anything

that anybody else could.

She just was a little delayed.

Huh.

- Great mom, great wife.

- Mm.

Well, what does she do?

Oh, I'm sorry. She...

Um... I lost Mary in January

from, uh, breast cancer.

I'm so sorry.

I'm sorry, Doc.

You know me,

I-I don't mean nothin'.

We pay for what we say,

Salvatore.

Yeah? Well, put it on my tab.

It's okay. You didn't know.

Your tab's long overdue,

I suspect.

Um, do you, uh,

have any children, Doc?

Um, yes. Just one, a son.

- Larry Jr.

- Oh.

Well, uh, Richard and I,

we have a girl and a boy.

And we have four grandchildren.

Praise God.

Wait, is it... Richard?

Honey, do we have some coffee

or pie or something

for our guests before

we send them on their way?

Richard.

Oh, yes. Um...

I have a peach cobbler

for dessert.

Ooh! Peach cobbler!

Now we're livin'!

Huh? Ooh!

All right.

You married up, Richard.

I'm glad to see you prevailing

over your hardships, Doc.

Oh, I-I do my best.

You, at least, seem to have

turned out to be a decent man.

Well, try to be.

And so do I.

Me, too.

I, uh...

I regret any role I played

in all that... foolishness

that happened back in Vietnam.

Oh.

It's okay.

What the hell happened

to Mueller the Mauler?

Huh? I mean...

well, sh*t.

What, did you put him in

the Witness Protection Program?

You got him hiding

under the couch or something?

Jesus.

I grew up, Sal.

I found my life's purpose

on the way.

Good for you.

So, what about you?

I always figured you for

a lifer in the Marine Corps.

Is that the way things

shook out?

Yeah.

Yeah, I re-upped. Sure.

Expectin' all the dominoes

to fall,

just like they said they would.

I was ready to kill me

some commies in San Diego,

but they never showed up.

Hey, can you believe this?

People go to Vietnam

on f***in' vacation.

- Hmm.

- Huh? They pay

good money

to have their picture taken

where 52,000 young Americans

took their last dump.

F*** me.

So, you, uh, mustered out

on principle?

I mustered out

with a plate in my head

on 100% disability.

And that's the good news.

Boy, I wonder how that happened.

Oh. Now, that's a good story.

F*** all if I can remember it.

I believe drink was involved.

Yes, yes.

I'm sure of it.

Speakin' of drink,

this is the best water

I've ever had.

You see, Ruth,

I was on the shy side

of insubordination

most of the time,

but I could get away with it

on account of my dashing

good looks and boyish charm.

- I guess

we should all be just grateful

that we're still alive.

- Amen.

- Praise God.

I tell myself that.

Doc, you're not gonna eat that?

- Mmm, mmm, mmm.

- Ooh, God. I don't want it to go to waste.

You, uh, okay, Doc?

Mm-hmm.

Whatever it is

that's troubling you,

it's probably best

to talk about it.

My son...

Because of my son,

I c-came here,

found you guys.

Maybe I shouldn't have.

Your son?

Larry Jr.

A year ago, he joined the corps.

Oorah.

And then two days ago,

they came and told me

that he'd been killed.

It was in, uh, Baghdad.

His convoy got ambushed.

They told me that he unloaded

his weapon on them

and he died with his bayonet

in his hand.

Jesus.

He's coming home tonight.

He's gonna be buried

in Arlington.

Full honors. A hero.

And I was wondering

if you guys could come with me.

We ask, heavenly Father,

that you continue

to strengthen his spirit

and to soften the sadness

during this-this time

of bereavement.

I can promise you, Doc,

you will meet your wife

and son again,

in a better place.

Oh, come on.

And all of this will seem

like a momentary separation.

Oh, come on.

What better place

are they going to, huh?

Las Vegas? Miami Beach?

Uh, Doc knows the place

of which I speak, Sal.

Well, then show him.

He's got a map.

Or maybe he can look it up on

the World Wide Internet, huh?

Well, one only knows it

when one sees it.

And as far

as you are concerned, Sergeant,

it's odds-on that you shall

never, ever see it.

Well, then I guess

I'll never miss it.

Oh, you will miss it.

You will miss it dearly,

each and every sweet moment

of eternity.

Do you even know

how long eternity is?

Yeah.

It ain't gonna matter.

Let me ask you something,

with all the billions of people

floatin' around in your heaven,

how come none of them

ever got the word back

to the rest of us?

One of them did.

Oh, right.

That guy. Yeah.

A bit sketchy on the details,

if you ask me.

I'm not asking you.

Okay, Doc, listen up.

I'm really sorry for your loss,

but I ain't gonna blow

a bunch of smoke up your ass.

The worst thing

that can happen to anybody

has landed on you,

and now you just got to deal

with it.

Lord have mercy.

What?

You were a hazard

when you were a younger man.

Now you're just an old fool.

What the hell are you

talking... You know, I...

I got your hazard

dangling here, huh?

I'm going to ask you to watch

your language in my house, sir.

- What language is that? I'm not...

- Man, listen...

- Guys,

guys, I didn't want

to cause any trouble.

Okay.

Doc,

I'm gonna help you bury

your boy.

Now, I may not be able

to get you up into heaven,

but I can sure as hell get you

to Arlington.

Mueller?

I certainly would like

to help you, Doc,

- but I... -But he has to stay

here and pray for you,

which will be very helpful.

- Richard.

- Yes.

Could I see you for a moment?

Of course, dear.

Mueller, please.

I don't get around so well

anymore, as you can see, Doc.

We'll just be in the car.

I know, but...

I don't think so.

No, no, it's impossible.

He is comin' with.

That's affirmative.

No. He said he wasn't going to.

No, don't matter what he said.

I guarantee you

his old lady is shaming him.

Okay? She's in there

right now saying,

"Richard, you have to..."

...go with that poor man.

He needs you.

He will have qualified people

to counsel him at Arlington.

Well, yes, but who will protect

him from that Sal person?

Oh, Lord, that's right.

Sh*t always goes sideways

- when Sal's involved.

- Richard,

what in the world has happened

to your vocabulary?

Oh, I'm sorry, babe. I'm sorry.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes