The Big Red One Page #2

What happened at the pass?

You with the 16th?

You one of them goons?

I Company, 3rd Battalion.

What are you doing wrapped

up in that Arab bed sheet?

- What happened at the pass?

- We counterattacked after you jokers ran.

We took Kasserine, Gafsa,

El Guettar, Tunis.

- We ran Rommel right out of Africa.

- You mean the Big Red One took Tunis.

We sure as hell did.

This is Tunis.

You're right.

We took Tunis.

The old bastard just couldn't

face being left behind.

He heard we were shipping

out to invade Sicily.

Where's the 1st Squad?

Where's the 1st Squad?

Out of the original

12-man rifle squad...

the four of us were

the only ones left.

This invasion wasn't gonna

be like North Africa.

The beach would be

heavily defended.

So now at least, we could all go

to Sicily and get killed together.

I gave the supply

officer a Luger for it.

By the way, what were you

doing in that Arab bed sheet?

They were shanghaiing

all the combats...

and noncoms and training

replacements for those rebel devils.

Where'd you steal it, stupe?

My name's Shep, not "stupe." I got it

from the St. George Hotel in Algiers.

I understand you're

an Italian, Vinci.

How come they let a wop

in this man's Army?

I don't think a wop's

gonna fight a wop.

I think all you'll do is drink dago

red and sing "O Sole Mio."

I like "O Sole Mio."

The creepy thing about battle

is that you always feel alone.

All you can see are the

guys right next to you...

and the bodies you

keep tripping over.

Why are we always sent out?

It's the only damn squad

in the whole U.S. Army?

- Where's the rest of the Army?

- There are eight patrols...

checking the villages

for diehard snipers.

Anybody wants to transfer,

just let me know.

I want to transfer.

Okay, Vinci. You're

transferred to the point.

You know how you

smoke out a sniper?

You send a guy out in the open

and you see if he gets shot.

They thought that one

up at West Point.

- Are you okay, sergeant?

- Why?

- You just let Vinci walk into a sniper.

- That's why he's here.

We got plenty of

wet-noses here too.

You really want to finish

that book, don't you?

That's why I'm here.

Vinci made it.

Come on, Carlos, your turn.

Let's go. Come on!

- Hey, Vinci?

- Ho!

You know where he lives!

Work to your right,

I'll go left. It's your ball.

Bravo! Bravo!

- You had him in the sights all the time.

- All the time.

You just wanted to see me sweat.

It's punishment for transferring me to the

point. May I rejoin the rear echelon now?

You are transferred

back to the point.

Oh, my aching butt.

By now, we'd come to look

at all replacements...

as dead men who temporarily had

the use of their arms and legs.

They came and went so

fast and so regular...

that sometimes we didn't even

get to know their names.

Truth is, after a while we sort

of avoided getting to know them.

I... I brought some water.

Do you know what they call you

four guys down at Battalion?

Sergeant's Four Horsemen.

I don't get it. You guys

lived through North Africa.

You didn't even get a scratch.

That's because replacements

keep getting hit instead of us.

You think...? You think

maybe I'll get it?

Why not? You something special?

I'll go get some, all right?

I'll... Excuse me.

Water.

You'll live, Smitty. You

did tripwire the mine.

They're not designed to kill

you, just to castrate you.

Castrate me?!

Hey, here it is. I found it.

- Oh, my God!

- It's just one of your balls, Smitty.

You can live without it.

That's why they gave you two.

They're supposed to

be coming this way.

Hold it up.

I said, hold it up!

I'm eating.

Okay, let's try this.

Come on.

- Keep an eye peeled for snakes.

- Yeah, and bats.

Bats? I love bats.

Sergeant, what's the

word from Headquarters?

Yeah, what did the lieutenant say?

The lieutenant said that Hermann Goring's

panzers overran the 2nd Battalion.

If they break through

the division...

we're in the sea.

- Where are they headed?

- Right for us.

Our big guns will clobber them.

- They're still on the water.

- None of them have unloaded yet?

Not yet.

Patton's got tanks.

Still on the water.

Jesus. We're sitting

in our own coffin.

We knew he wanted to run for it...

but we knew he wouldn't...

way before he did.

Anyway, the sergeant would've

shot him if he tried it.

He's taking a piss.

Those American guns? I thought

they were still on the water.

It beats the hell out of me.

- Relays! Relays!

- Come on, relays!

Radio!

Lieutenant. Yeah, 1st

Squad, 1st Battalion.

You're kidding.

Yes, sir!

You know who fired that artillery?

The United States Navy.

That was the crews of Savannah

miles offshore, all right?

Right. Can you believe that?

The U.S. Navy saved our ass.

Hey, where's our planes?

Why can't they spot that gun?

I don't know, but Battalion's got 20 patrols

out looking for it in this quadrant.

- They think it's an SP.

- So why send us?

That's right. We got

a break coming.

The Army's made of the 1st Division

and 10 million replacements.

- Where the hell are they?

- Being stuffed with mattress covers.

Five to 10, when we get off this island,

we'll get our feet wet invading Italy.

You don't know geography well

for a writer. We're in Italy.

No, this is Sicily. Here they say,

"I'm a Sicilian," not an Italian.

My old man was bo... Whoa!

I figure close to 2500 bucks!

I'm sending every lira home.

Mussolini money's

good for one thing.

It's Victor Emanuel loot.

It's kosher.

- Who told you that?

- The captain.

Enlisted man can't send

home more than his pay.

- That's to discourage black marketing.

- But the lieutenant can.

It's for my old man.

Always wanted his own bagel shop.

- I didn't know bagels were Italian.

- Sure they are.

The pope eats gefilte

fish on Friday, don't he?

It's his mother. He's

hauling her to the beach.

- Tell him We'll bury her.

- I did.

He'll put her next to his father.

She's decomposing already.

The sun's blowing her up.

We've gotta find that SP.

Ask if he knows where the gun is.

- Hell, he doesn't know what an SP is.

- You Knucklehead.

Tell him it's a self-propelled

gun with wheels.

He knows where it is.

The smart aleck wants to

make a business deal.

Shell out some bagel money.

He'll take us to the gun...

we get an ambulance to take

her to the cemetery in Gela.

He wants a casket for

his mother to sleep in.

And it's gotta have four handles.

All right, he'll get it.

Tell him we'll leave her in the wagon in

the shade if he leads us to that gun.

Either we take her with us or

we find that gun on our own.

Boy! I don't know how long I'm

gonna be able to take this stink.

Can it, Johnson, will you? Talking

about it only makes it worse.

Hey, sergeant.

Think this kid is leading

us into a bushwhack?

Well, we're getting closer

to some kind of gun.

Can you see what it is, sergeant?

Yeah, it's an 88 all right.

On a Tiger tank, in a house.

They got women working

in front of her...

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