Men of Honor Page #7

Yes, and to return

to the chief's primary concern.

Working as a Navy diver

with one good leg and the other--

I'm sorry.

It's just not possible.

Cut it off.

"Pilots injured in flying accidents have

requested amputation of injured limbs.

Fitted with the right prosthesis,

several of them have returned

to active duty."

Cut off my leg and assemble

a full medical review board

12 weeks from today.

It is then that I will demonstrate that

I am fit to return to full diving duty.

I want to make Master Chief.

We admire your courage, Chief,

however misplaced it may be.

Please excuse us.

I am a doctor, Carl.

My opinion might mean something here.

I guess not. How are you

gonna come back with one leg?

I could barely read once.

I found a way.

Yeah.

I could put up with

the months at sea,

the dangerous assignments that

you never said no to, but this--

What do you want from me?

Do you want me to come home,

mow the lawn, put a wheelchair ramp in?

- How am I gonna look at my own son?

- Leave him out of this.

You're not doing this for him or for me.

This is about you.

It's always been about you.

Admit it, Carl.

At least give me that much.

Why are you doing this to me?

Answer me, goddamn it!

Or I'm walking out of here,

and I am not coming back.

I love you,Jo.

- Get away from me!

- Piece of sh*t!

- Cookie.

- Goddamn!

- Looks like I missed

one hell of a party.

- I've been all over. Trouble, mostly.

- Navy gave me this second-class

diving school in Little Creek.

Don't amount to sh*t.

I made some calls.

Come Friday,

that Captain Hanks--

he's gonna convene a medical review

board, and he's gonna retire you.

- He said I had four weeks.

- He lied, cookie.

He don't give a sh*t how many

one-legged push-ups you can do.

He'd trade you and me and every

other old sea dog in the Navy...

for one glass-eyed

electronics technician.

The man's gonna retire

your ass.

I got my leg back.

I ain't done yet.

You got a stump on a wooden stick and

no goddamn chance of beating Hanks, son.

All I ever wanted to do

was to make Master Diver.

All I ever wanted to do

was stay one.

You want to beat Hanks, you've got to

go around him, right to the top.

- Washington.

- Mm-hmm.

- Chief of Naval Personnel.

- That's right.

And they don't like cocky pencil-pushers

like Hanks any more than we do.

I might be able

to pull a few strings.

Why are you doing this,

Sunday?

Piss people off.

Chief Decker, you are the Chief Master

at Arms of this hospital, are you not?

Yes, sir.

Then why is it you don't know

where Chief Brashear is?

He shouldn't be

too hard to spot.

He is the only Negro

diver in the Navy,

and he's got one leg.

It seems that the chief

has transferred, sir.

To where?

- On whose orders?

- He signed his own orders, sir.

- Call the Shore Patrol.

- Relax, Cap. We just wanna talk.

Wait, wait, wait, wait. You know

where Chief Brashear is. Where?

I see. Fine.

Chief Brashear is AWOL.

I want him found

and arrested now.

- You ain't gonna find him.

- What doyou want from me, Chief?

Four weeks to train him, then

a full readiness evaluation...

and reinstatement hearing with

the Chief of Naval Personnel.

The chief of--

- Yes, sir.

- At the Navy yard in Washington?

- That's right.

- Forget it.

- Will the diver be allowed

to be reinstated?

Seems Chief Brashear

losing his leg for his country

sort of makes him a hero, sir.

Fine.

I will grant you your hearing

on one condition, hmm?

When he fails, you retire.

- He ain't gonna fail.

- Hmm.

Minute, five faster.

See you in court.

Captain Hanks has ordered you

to remain here, Chief.

Please be seated,

Senior Chief Brashear.

Um, only the Army

salutes indoors, Senior Chief.

Sir, in the Navy I grew up in,

a salute is warranted...

given the gravity

of this occasion, sir.

Well... we're in a new Navy now,

Senior Chief.

Shall we begin?

Senior Chief Brashear,

one day the life of another

diver may depend on you.

Do you honestly feel

that as a man--

You're almost 40.

You have one leg.

Can you really keep up with

healthy divers half your age?

The question is, sir,

can they keep up with me?

- Bring the suit.

- Yes, sir.

No smoking

out here, Chief.

Studies of

the Navy's experimental diving unit...

indicate that if the subject

were to become unconscious...

or deceased, the disparity

between the buoyancy characteristics...

of a prosthetic and a limb

would hinder him in a free dive mode.

You mean if he drowned,

he wouldn't float right, yes?

- Yes, sir.

- Sir, I promise,

if I am killed at sea, I will make

every effort to die like a Navy man.

I just thought you should see

the future of Navy deep sea diving.

This is the latest HEO-2

mixed gas rig.

It weighs 290 pounds,

and the men who want to use it,

before they can even begin

the diving qualifications,

will be required to walk

12 steps, unassisted.

Could you do that,

Senior Chief Brashear?

Yes, sir, I could.

Well... I see.

As much as I hate

to prolong this another day,

I will, in the interests

of thoroughness,

make arrangements for you

to demonstrate your contention.

Here, sir. Now.

Son, step aside, or I'll have to

crack you right in the jaw.

Senior Chief Brashear,

I hardly think this is the appropriate--

- I want them all to see, sir.

- Captain Hanks, sir,

I concur with your assessment.

These slippery floors alone prohibit

such a demonstration, sir.

Chief Sunday, haven't you had

enough trouble in your career?

Your advice is unwelcome.

- Who is this man?

- Chief Leslie W. Sunday, sir.

You swam out of the Saint Lo

at Leyte Gulf.

You held your breath

for four minutes.

Five, sir.

He can stay.

Fine. Irrelevant.

Gentlemen, sirs,

returning to the issue at hand.

This is not the time or place

for Senior Chief Brashear--

Excuse me, Senior Chief,

is there a problem?

Captain Hanks, I have spent most of my

life in the Navy trying only to succeed.

However, my questhas come at a great

personal loss to those who love me.

They, too,

have made sacrifices.

They, too, have endured

great pains to support me.

If I walk these 12 steps today,

reinstate me to active duty.

Give me my career back.

Let me finish it

and go home in peace.

Senior Chief Brashear,

the business of the modern Navy--

Forgive me, sir. But to me,

the Navy is not a business.

We have many traditions. In my career,

I have experienced most of them.

Some good, some bad.

However, I wouldn't be here today

if it weren't for

our greatest tradition of all.

And which one is that?

Honor, sir.

Get on with it,

Senior Chief.

Leslie?

What leg you got on?

My walkin' leg, Leslie.

It was my dad's name.

You got a problem with that?

Oh, no.

No problem at all.

That thing's light duty.

Gonna snap like a match stick.

Not if I keep my weight

on my good leg.

Two hundred and ninety pounds

on one leg? You'll be

passed out by the sixth step.

Tenders, hat the diver.

Navy Diver, stand up.

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