Red Ball Express Page #5

This stuff was composed

of two parts glue and one part perversity.

Some of the Red Ballers claimed

that the army had seasoned it with meanness...

meanness squeezed from

the first sergeant's heart.

But as bad as the mud was,

there was always somethin' tougher ahead.

Accidents. Sure,

we had 'em, but their wheels would hardly stop turnin'...

before a repair crew hauled 'em

back on the road and gave 'em a little mechanical motherin'...

and sent 'em

back to the job.

For any of us who got cold,

there was an occasional bonfire.

We didn't stop for a rally.

It was our gas and our friends goin' up.

When we hit the towns again,

or what was left of them, Taffy kept askin' me:

"Where those mademoiselles that

were supposed to be waitin' to throw their arms around us?"

I was too tired to even

think about mademoiselles.

Friend, that's about

as tired as I ever get.

Then just when you thought

you couldn't drive another mile, you turned a curve,

and the army handed you

one of its many surprises.

Well, what is this,

Sergeant?

It's a relief camp for you Red Ball drivers.

Relief camp?

Now all we gotta do is get

a medal every time we drive ten miles... just like the air corps.

Have your men get the gear off the trucks.

What for?

While you rest,

somebody else drives your trucks.

When you get up, you

drive somebody else's.

Really keeps those

supplies movin'.

That's pretty good. Sergeant,

will you have the men take their stuff off the trucks?

All right, men, take your

personal stuff off the trucks!

9415! Outside

and mount up!

Take it easy, baby!

Come and get it!

Come and get it!

Oh, boy, hot coffee.

Here ya are, boys, all you can eat and drink.

Hey, hey. Can we look too? Huh?

Sure, long as you don't touch.

Boy, this is just like home!

What are you two dames doin' tomorrow night?

Same thing you're gonna be

doing, Sergeant:
drivin'.

What a romantic item

for my book!

Two dames chase me

halfway across France and back.

Hold it for rewrites.

Before we're through,

we'll chase you

all the way across France and back.

What happened to that lieutenant

who doesn't think women belong up here?

Oh, Campbell? Who cares about him?

Yeah, forget about him.

How about giving me

a couple of those doughnuts.

Black boy, you give orders to nobody. You take 'em.

I'm not taking any from you.

All right,

break it up. Let me through.

Break it up!

All right, all right.

Now get out of here, both of you!

He was the one...

I said get out of here. You tryin' to start a riot?

Lieutenant, what happened

was not that man's fault.

Lady, you run your clubmobile.

I'll run my company.

Now beat it.

Get into the tents.

And, everybody,

break it up!

All right!

Go on! Break it up!

Lieutenant Campbell, sir.

Robertson?

Come on in.

Corporal Robertson

reporting, sir, with a request.

Why all

the formality?

It's a formal

request, sir.

Okay, relax and

tell me what you want.

I would like

to request a transfer to another outfit.

Why?

I'd rather keep my reasons

to myself, sir.

'Cause of what just happened?

That might be a part of it.

'Cause I had

to bark at you?

Well, that's my job

whenever you or anyone else gets out of line.

Would you rather have

thrown a few more punches?

Punches I can handle, sir.

Look, Robertson,

I'm not educated to all the

subtleties of race relationship, but it was never my intention...

to treat you

any differently from anyone else in this company.

To the best of my knowledge,

I haven't. Transfer? No. There aren't any to be had.

I don't think any of us

wanted to be in this outfit.

That didn't make

a bit of difference to the army.

It makes even less

difference that any of us wants to get out.

Is that all, sir?

Yeah.

Okay, turn out.

Ah!

Thank you, my friend.

Oh, hi, Robbie.

I just asked for a transfer.

Why do you want to do a thing like that?

Because I don't like

the way I'm being treated, especially by him.

Campbell?

What can I do about it?

Nothin'!

He outranks us the way

we've been outranked all our lives.

Ever think you could be wrong?

Wrong?

Readin' things

into Campbell's mind that aren't there.

Look, you don't ride

with him all day. You don't know.

Robbie, I've been

all over the world, seen all kinds of people.

This is the greatest

bunch of fellas I've ever worked with,

even if half of them

are white.

All I ever heard 'em do

is argue and complain, feel sorry for themselves,

try to take their misery

out on somebody else.

Arguin' and complainin'

isn't bad. That shows they've got spirit.

All they've gotta do

is get that spirit movin' in the same direction.

When they do, you're

gonna see an outfit grow right up in front of you...

one you'll be

proud of.

Proud? With him commanding.

There's nothing wrong with that boy.

The day'll come, Robbie,

when you're gonna like that boy.

This is no easy job.

He's got a lot on his mind,

and the best thing we can do

is to try to help him work it out.

Hold it! Hold it!

How long ago did this happen?

About a half an hour ago, sir.

Why hasn't the road been cleared?

We don't have equipment, sir.

Our convoy will go around it.

We'll leave our wrecker here to clear the road.

I wouldn't advise that,

sir. This area is pretty heavily mined.

Why don't we send someone

back to the next patrol point for an engineer crew?

We'd be here all afternoon.

Red Ball would be piled up from here to Saint-Lo.

No, we can't wait.

I'll take the first truck

through myself. McCord, you get back in your vehicle.

Yes, sir.

I'll circle the craters,

sweep the ground with a machine gun.

If there are any mines,

the bullets should explode them.

All we need's a path ten feet

wide. Sergeant, will you get the men together?

Yes, sir.

All right, you men, assemble up here!

On the double!

Stay on the road!

Keep close to the trucks!

Here's the situation.

This area is undoubtedly heavily mined.

We can't wait...

Stop that truck!

I'm takin' it through,

Lieutenant. Here's a big locomotive for the team!

Okay, you heroes!

This way to the front!

Take your helmets off.

What's this convoy

stopped for?

Holding services for

one of our men, Captain.

The chaplain'll take care

of that, Lieutenant. Hop in your trucks and get moving.

Take your helmet off, sir?

Do you move or do I put you under arrest?

Court-martial

the whole outfit, if you'd like.

Dear God,

this is Private

Davey McCord.

A good man.

He always said he wanted

to win something someday.

He never did.

Maybe You could fix up

kind of a prize for him.

He earned it.

Amen.

Something you wanted,

Captain?

No. Just try

and make up for lost time.

Lieutenant, have your men put this stuff back

in their trucks. Why?

There's a tank outfit

bogged down on the road 15 miles up.

You'll have to move up

alongside and unload.

All right, hold it! Put

everything back in the trucks and prepare to move out.

Oh, no.

Oh!

Hey, do you suppose

we're gonna drop this stuff behind the German lines...

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