Pearl Harbor Page #24

RAFE:

It must of been a convincing letter.

EVELYN:

It was. I couldn't have you go away,

wherever it is...to war...without knowing

something. You think I made a choice, of

Danny over you. I didn't. I didn't have

a choice. I'm pregnant.

The blood drains from Rafe's heart. Yet he finds the

strength to move to her. She turns away, so she won't throw

her arms around him.

RAFE:

Does Danny know?

She shakes her head, refuses to cry.

EVELYN:

I wasn't sure, until the day you turned

up alive. I never had a chance to tell

him. Now I can't have him thinking about

this when he needs to be thinking about

his mission, and how to come back from

it.

She turns and faces him again.

EVELYN:

I want you thinking about that too. Just

come back.

(beat)

Rafe, I see it in your face. You're

thinking you don't have anything to live

for. Don't you dare think that way.

I'll never write a letter, or look at a

sunset, without thinking of you. I'll

love you my whole life. And I want you

to live.

She looks at him, her eyes bright with tears, but still she

refuses to cry. They both know they can't touch, or they'll

never let go. She walks past him, out of the room, closing

the door softly behind her.

EXT. SAN FRANCISCO HARBOR - DAY

The USS HORNET clears the Golden Gate Bridge, with cruisers

and destroyers rounding out its battle group.

Rafe and Danny stand on the flight deck, watching the city

recede behind them.

Evelyn is on a hilltop watching them go. Danny can't see

her, doesn't know she's there. Rafe can't see her either --

but he knows.

SHIP'S INTERCOM

Army pilots to the briefing room.

INT. THE CARRIER HORNET - BRIEFING ROOM - DAY

The pilots are gathered expectantly in the carrier's

conference room. Doolittle strides in.

DOOLITTLE:

Gentlemen, I can now tell you that the

target of this mission is Tokyo.

The pilots love it. The ones who have not seen battle are

grinning and vocal. Rafe, Danny, Anthony, and Red are

quieter, savoring the prospect of revenge.

RED:

And where's the secret base, Sir? The

one we t-takeoff from.

DOOLITTLE:

The navy will get us to within 400 miles

of the Japanese coast. We'll launch off

the carriers from there.

Suddenly the pilots don't like the sound of this.

ANTHONY:

Sir, has this ever been done, launching

an army bomber off a navy carrier?

DOOLITTLE:

No. Any other questions?

RED:

C-Colonel, we been p-practicing

takeoff's, but I ain't sure we can land

on these carriers d-decks.

DOOLITTLE:

We won't have the fuel to get back to the

carriers; they'll turn and run back to

Hawaii the minute we're airborne.

RED:

Then wh-where do we land?

DOOLITTLE:

I have a phrase I want you all to

memorize:
"Lushu hoo megwa fugi." It

means "I am an American." In Chinese.

Absolute silence among the pilots.

EXT. FLIGHT DECK OF THE HORNET - DAY

The sailors who man the flight deck look at each other with

bafflement as the worried pilots pace from one end of the

deck to the other. They're in a line like ducks, Rafe in the

lead and the others following, counting steps, each man

measuring the distance. Shaking their heads, worrying.

They stop at the end and look down at the sea far below them;

it's dizzying. Anthony shoves Red for fun before grabbing

his shoulder to stop him from falling.

RED:

A-a-a**hole!... Maybe it's l-longer

going this way.

He starts pacing back the other way, as if the ship's longer

in that direction. The other pilots watch him for a moment,

then follow him, counting again.

Rafe and Danny are left standing alone at the end of the

flight deck. Far over the surging sea.

DANNY:

It's shorter than our practice runway.

RAFE:

They'll turn the ship into the wind

before we launch. That'll help.

DANNY:

We'll be loaded with 2,000 pounds of

bombs and 1,500 pounds of fuel. I got

another Chinese phrase for Doolittle.

"Mug wump rickshaw mushu pork." It

means "Who the f*** thought up this

sh*t?"

Doolittle appears right beside them.

DOOLITTLE:

He was a navy man.

Doolittle walks away.

RAFE:

Maybe we'll be lucky with the weather.

SMASH TO:

EXT. PACIFIC - A FEROCIOUS STORM - NIGHT

The Hornet tosses, bashed by a vicious storm.

INT. CARRIER HORNET - BRIEFING ROOM - DAY

The ships is rolling; most of the fliers are green.

Doolittle stands at the podium.

DOOLITTLE:

Since we'll be on our own once we're in

the air, I thought I had a good idea

letting each crew select it's own target.

He looks at a pile of paper slips in front of him.

DOOLITTLE:

Now we have fifteen requests for the

Emperor's Palace...and one for Tokyo

baseball stadium.

RED:

I d-don't think Japs ought'a be allowed

to p-play baseball.

DOOLITTLE:

I'd like to bomb their Emperor too. But

I think that'd just piss 'em off. The

idea here, Gentlemen, is not revenge.

We're here to prove to them that they're

neither invincible nor superior. So

let's try this again. Military targets

only.

RED:

Colonel, to f-fight you need strategy.

To have strategy, ya gotta practice. And

to practice it, ya gotta play --

DOOLITTLE:

No baseball diamonds, Red.

RED:

Y-Yes Sir.

EXT. PACIFIC - DAY

The storm is subsiding, but it's still raining. From the

bridge of the Hornet, they spot the ENTERPRISE.

ADMIRAL:

The Enterprise will ride shotgun when we

launch the bombers. They wanted our

carriers at Pearl, and now we've come to

them. If the Japanese get us, they'll be

having dinner in San Francisco next

month.

EXT. FLIGHT DECK - THE HORNET - DAY

The preparations begin. Deck crews move the B-25's to the

rear of the flight deck. Fueling teams top off the bomber's

gas tanks. Ordnance men hoist four bombs into each aircraft,

and the army gunners load ammunition for the machine guns.

Greening checks the planes' mechanical and hydraulic systems.

And once again the pilots are out pacing the deck distance.

It's turned into a game for them, walking off nerves. As

Rafe and Danny pass.

RAFE:

It's not getting any longer.

DANNY:

Longer? It's getting shorter.

INT. HORNET - BRIEFING ROOM - DAY

Doolittle is laying out the plan for all the pilots.

DOOLITTLE:

We'll take off late this afternoon. I'll

hit Tokyo at dusk, and drop incendiary

bombs. You'll come after me at night,

guided by the fires. Then it's on to

China, where you'll arrive at dawn,

guided to their airfields by the homing

beacons the Chinese are going to switch

on for us. That's if everything is

perfect -- like every other military

mission I've ever been involved with.

Doolittle looks around the room. No one's smiling.

DOOLITTLE:

Listen you guys. I'm the first plane --

then McCawley, Walker, the rest of you.

I'll have the shortest run. If I don't

make it, you don't go.

RAFE:

Colonel...we're all going. Whether you

make it or not.

DOOLITTLE:

I know.

EXT. BRIDGE OF THE CRUISER NASHVILLE - DAY

The cruiser Nashville is at the perimeter of the task force.

It's lookouts spot Japanese patrol boats ahead.

INT. BRIDGE OF THE ENTERPRISE - DAY

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