Pearl Harbor Page #9

DORIE:

No doctor would'a give me that good.

She walks him to the door.

DORIE:

Thank you, 'Mam.

EVELYN:

Tell me something, Dorie. A man as big

as you -- and smart too, you knew where

to come when your ship couldn't help --

do you still have to fight with your

fists to get respect?

DORIE:

I left my Mama and joined the Navy to be

a man. They made me a cook -- and not

even that, really -- I clean up after the

other sailors eat. I shine the officer's

shoes. In two years, they've never even

let me fire a gun.

Now Evelyn understands.

EVELYN:

You take care, Dorie.

DORIE:

You too, 'Mam.

EXT. MILITARY BASE HOSPITAL - SUNSET

Dorie walks away, down the path between the palm trees. She

watches him go, and then is transfixed by someone else

coming, silhouetted by the light of the setting sun. She

can't make out his face, but he's wearing a pilot's dress

uniform, and coming to her right out of the warm orange

sunset that she has stared at so many times. Her heart slams

against her ribs; she takes a few steps forward.

EVELYN:

...Rafe...

She moves toward him, and he draws near her, walking slowly.

And then she sees his face...

It's Danny. His face as sad as death itself.

And even before he tells her, she knows.

DANNY:

Lieutenant... I'm Danny Walker. I'm Rafe

McCawley's best friend.

EVELYN:

Were. Isn't that what you mean? Were.

Because he's dead, isn't he? And that's

why you've come.

EXT. A BENCH - OVERLOOKING PEARL HARBOR - SUNSET

Evelyn and Danny sit on the bench, with a sweeping view of

the harbor and the lights winking on all around it as the sun

settles beyond the horizon. Evelyn is stoic, numb; Danny is

the one who is struggling.

DANNY:

Before Rafe left, he asked me to be the

one to tell you, if it happened.

EVELYN:

He told me about you. That he had no

other friend like you.

DANNY:

Rafe's folks had a crop dusting business,

owned their own planes. Real straight,

frugal. My father was the town drunk.

Went to sleep one night on the railroad

tracks and was still there when the Dawn

Express came along. Rafe and I were the

only ones at the funeral. He took me

back to his house, and I never left.

EVELYN:

You were more like brothers.

DANNY:

I taught him to drink beer. He taught me

how to fly.

EVELYN:

He said you're the only one he ever saw

who was better in the air than him.

DANNY:

...He said that?

Evelyn nods, still staring away from Danny. This pierces

Danny; he looks away, struggling not to let the emotions pull

him completely under.

DANNY:

Look, uh...Rafe's dad...he wrote me with

the news, and it took me a couple of days

to work up the guts to come here and tell

you. I'm not as brave as Rafe, or as

noble. But if there's anything I can

ever do to help -- you let me know, okay?

She stares into the distance. He stands and puts his hand on

top of hers, as much for his comfort as for hers.

DANNY:

I understand why Rafe loved you. You're

as strong as he was.

Since she's still not looking at him, he starts to move away.

When he reaches the turn in the path, he looks back, and sees

her figure in the gathering darkness. She's begun to break

down; and as he watches, her whole body starts convulsing,

and she doubles up in shattering grief.

Danny can't just stand there; he moves back to her, and puts

a hand on her shoulder. He sits beside her again, and

suddenly she turns to him and sobs upon him. Danny wraps her

gently in his arms, and then he breaks down, having found the

first place he can truly grieve.

EXT. JAPANESE BOMBING PRACTICE - JAPANESE ISLAND - DAY

The Japanese have constructed a replica of Pearl Harbor on

their practice island; erecting new target barriers and

silhouettes of the various ships anchored at Pearl. Streams

of Japanese planes skim overhead in practice bombing runs,

dropping dummy torpedoes and bombs. From a control platform

erected on the beach, Yamamoto and Genda oversee it all.

YAMAMOTO:

Everything real except the fact that no

one is shooting back at us.

GENDA:

If we achieve surprise, they will offer

little resistance.

YAMAMOTO:

Set up teams of radio operators to send

out messages the Americans will

intercept, concerning every potential

American target in the Pacific. Include

Hawaii -- the clutter will be more

confusing that way.

GENDA:

Brilliant, Admiral.

YAMAMOTO:

A brilliant man would find a way not to

fight a war.

He looks out at the planes roaring into his practice harbor

at top speed...

INT. PRESIDENTIAL BEDROOM - NIGHT

Roosevelt's valet leans over him.

Roosevelt wakes; beside the valet is a Presidential AIDE.

AIDE:

Mr. President, we've received a message

from the Argentinian ambassador to Japan.

His sources tell him the Japanese are

assembling their fleet to attack us.

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT

We're picking up warnings for every

American base in the Pacific. Does this

ambassador know the target?

AIDE:

Not for sure. But he thinks it's Pearl

Harbor.

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT

Tell the Pentagon.

The Aide leaves quickly and Roosevelt starts to get out of

bed; his valet comes to help him.

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT

No, George, I need the practice, in case

there's a fire.

Roosevelt drags himself out of bed, crawling toward the

bathroom, his powerful arms dragging his lifeless legs.

INT. PENTAGON - DAY

ADMIRALS and other OFFICERS are gathered around a giant map

of the Pacific.

ADMIRAL:

The attack seems inevitable. The

question is where? The way to answer

that question is to ask: if we were the

Japanese, how would we do it?

He nods to a VICE ADMIRAL, who stands over the map.

VICE ADMIRAL:

Between America and the Far East are the

sea lanes where the winds and the

currents make the best route for

shipping. Far above is the northern

route, between Canada and Russia.

Between these two is something they call

the Vacant Sea. If I were the Japs, I'd

send a task force there. You could hide

the entire land mass of Asia in the

Vacant Sea, and nobody would know.

ADMIRAL:

So they pop out and attack where?

VICE ADMIRAL:

That's the problem, Admiral. They could

hit anywhere they want.

Nobody has any solution.

EXT. PACIFIC OCEAN - DAY

A huge Japanese fleet steams toward Hawaii. It is an awesome

sight. Carriers, battleships, destroyers, and entire battle

group, traveling under complete radio silence, their hulls

power through the waves. On the lower decks of the carriers

are hundreds of planes -- fighters and bombers.

EXT. PEARL HARBOR - DAY

The American ships are lined up at anchor, calm, placid.

EXT. BEACH - DAY

The sailors and soldiers bask in the sun, play volleyball.

The aircraft carrier Lexington steams past toward the harbor

entrance.

VOLLEYBALL PLAYER 1

Where's the Lexington going?

VOLLEYBALL PLAYER 2

Out on maneuvers, like the Enterprise.

EXT. GOLF COURSES - OAHU - DAY

Men in military haircuts -- officers -- stroll the golf

courses, enjoying themselves.

INT. DENTIST'S OFFICE - DAY

The DENTIST, an ethnic Japanese, is working on a patient with

his mouth agape. The DENTIST ASSISTANT intrudes.

DENTAL ASSISTANT

Dr. Takanawa, you have a call from Tokyo.

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