Merrill's Marauders Page #2

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a general and a second lieutenant.

Started a long time ago

when Merrill was a major...

...and Stock was a sergeant.

Some day, that boy's gonna be

a general, if he can lick one problem.

- Stock, Stock.

- What?

Yeah?

When Merrill put those bars on you...

...he made you the big wheel

in this platoon.

So?

Don't be sticking your neck out for us

by taking the point.

Let one of those other knotheads do it.

You're right. Bullseye.

- Yo.

- Take the point.

Lucky boy.

Shut up.

Chowhound, keep him company.

- Hah!

- Ohh...

Stock?

This way, buddy.

You want me to stay behind?

Squeeze that joker off

while you start the fireworks?

Uh-uh. I got your work cut out

at the ammo dump.

Kolowicz.

Put a man here to take care of that OP

when we blow up the rear.

Taggy, grenade that ammo truck.

Bullseye, you get that OP.

We attack in 33 seconds.

Right guard, sir.

- Have you lost your watch?

- No, sir.

Then why haven't you told me

you're ready?

You are ready, aren't you?

Just about, sir.

Just about isn't good enough.

Get cracking.

Yes, sir.

- Left guard, sir.

- All set?

Getting my heavy stuff

into position, sir.

What's holding you up?

We don't kick this off in time,

we've lost the element of surprise.

Okay.

Here, use mine.

Stock's blown the ammo dump.

Okay, you're on your own.

- We're moving in, Frank.

- All right. Now hit them hard.

Put your weapon away, you won't

find any Japanese around here.

We've licked them, sir.

Are you sure?

Well, you better get out of here, sir.

- Nervous, Stock?

- Me?

Hell, no. Let's go.

You know...

...I like that boy.

He's relaxing.

- Hey, what's the matter with you?

- You stay away from my girl.

I recommend this guy for a Section 8.

Kolowicz.

When are we going home?

I don't know,

the general ain't checked yet.

- Level with us. When are we going?

- When we get replaced by the British.

- What's holding them up?

- The enemy, you meathead.

- Hey, Kolowicz.

- Yeah.

- When are we going home?

- Is that all you guys ever think about?

I've been thinking about it

ever since Guadalcanal.

Sarge, will you make him stop eating

that slop? Turning my stomach.

A little rice with some chocolate bars

chopped in. What's wrong with that?

Ugh.

Hey, Eleanor, want some chow?

- Taggy.

- Hmm?

How many times do I have to tell you?

Tuck in the shirt.

Why does my shirt

always bother you, sarge?

You look sloppy.

- Nobody said I was sloppy in Bataan.

- You ain't on Bataan.

Nobody said I was sloppy

when I escaped from the Philippines.

You ain't in the Philippines.

Nobody said I was sloppy

in that open boat to Australia.

You ain't in an open boat either.

Nobody minded how sloppy I looked

when I enlisted in the Army to fight.

- I'm a Filipino!

- Yeah, just tuck it.

And I will wear my shirt out

until all tyrants are dead.

- Death to the tyrant!

- All right.

- You got O'Brien's?

- Yeah.

- Addresses?

- Right here.

This letter's to his father.

I was with him once on furlough.

They were pretty close.

I can't write letters.

This one took me two hours.

The general, he's a great letter writer.

Wrote one for me once,

that time I was wounded.

He didn't have a home address for me

so he asked me for it.

I didn't have one, so I wasn't about

to tell him that. So I made up one.

He gave me the letter to read.

It was all about me and stuff like that.

I couldn't let a letter like that just go

any place, so I told him the truth.

I told him I didn't have anybody

for him to write to.

You can't guess what he did, Kolly.

He mailed that letter home to his wife

along with a picture of me.

You know what he said?

He said, "Sergeant...

...any time anybody wants to write home

about you, you give them my address. "

How can I write these letters?

- Stock, sergeant.

- General.

Any sign of anything coming

around that bend?

No, sir.

Alert your men

that General Stilwell's expected.

- Lf he shows up, let me know.

- Yes, sir.

How many?

Eight.

When are those ambulance planes

getting here to pick up our wounded?

Plane was shot down by zeros

from Myitkyina.

Stock, what'd he say?

- When are we going home?

- You mean lieutenant.

From now on, he's the lieutenant,

you remember that.

Now, get back to your gun.

Oh, boy.

Whew.

Why are you pulling rank for me?

I don't mind being called Stock.

- I like being close to my men.

- You're too close to them.

What's wrong with that?

You've gotta be able to write

those letters.

What'd the general say?

When are we going home?

- We're never going home.

- You talk like you got hit in the head.

Merrill got kicked out

of Burma, didn't he?

I got it from a guy

in the first battalion.

The general won't be happy...

...till every Japanese

is bounced out of Burma.

Come off it.

Merrill wants to get out of this place

just as bad as we do.

Somebody's coming.

Now, Eleanor, you just keep calm.

You ain't got a thing to worry about,

your Uncle Muley, he'll take care of you.

Ha-ha! Here they come, boys!

The British are here!

We've been relieved!

See? Just like I told you.

Just like I told you the other day,

the British are here. Come on!

The British are here!

Muley, Taggy, come look at this!

I told you, Doskis.

Boy, are we glad to see you guys.

Hey, what's your outfit?

The Queen's Own Royal

West Kent Regiment.

- Hey, that's a fancy name.

- How about that?

- What is your outfit?

- The 5307th Composite Unit.

Provisional.

Oh, quartermaster corps.

Quartermaster?

Do we look like supply clerks to you?

We're the United States Infantry

and death to the redcoats!

- Where you guys headed?

- Myitkyina.

Myitkyina?

Those poor guys.

Five hundred-mile hike from here.

Yeah, and the 18th Japanese

Imperial Division's there.

Man, am I glad

I'm not in that British army.

Amen.

General Stilwell, gentlemen.

- Merrill, Bannister.

- General.

- How are you, Frank?

- Fine, sir.

Well, you would say that anyway.

I'll come right to the point, Frank.

You've got to take Myitkyina.

I thought that was a British mission.

It still is.

But Myitkyina's going to need all of us.

Well, my men have earned

a breather, general.

After Myitkyina.

Sir, we've taken a beating.

My people have got malaria, dengue,

dysentery, psychological fatigue.

Being behind the enemy lines

for three months has sapped them.

You've got to beat the monsoon, Frank.

That means moving right away.

We're not the only outfit in Burma.

You're the only American infantry

between New Guinea and Italy.

The British have been fighting here alone

three years now.

We've got to pull our weight.

I suggest you grab their railhead first

at this spot here, Shaduzup.

That will knock out their transportation.

Then cross the mountains to Myitkyina.

Sir, what the general is describing

is a six months' campaign...

...over the worst terrain in the world.

My men have just come 125 miles

through all sorts of hell.

To ask them to go another 500

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