Chris Taylor[voiceover]I think now, looking back, we did not fight the enemy; we fought ourselves. And the enemy was in us. The war is over for me now, but it will always be there, the rest of my days as I'm sure Elias will be, fighting with Barnes for what Rhah called possession of my soul. There are times since, I've felt like the child born of those two fathers. But, be that as it may, those of us who did make it have an obligation to build again, to teach to others what we know, and to try with what's left of our lives to find a goodness and a meaning to this life.
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[Refering to Vietnam]
Chris TaylorSomebody once wrote, "Hell is the impossibility of reason." That's what this place feels like. Hell. I hate it already, and it's only been a week. Some goddamn week.
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Sgt. EliasWhat happened today was just the beginning. We're gonna lose this war.
Sgt. EliasWe been kicking other peoples asses for so long, I figured it's time we got ours kicked.
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Sgt. O'NeillExcuses are like assholes, Taylor, everybody got one.
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Sgt. EliasI love this place at night, the stars. There's no right or wrong in them. They're just there.
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Sgt. BarnesTalking about killing? Y'all experts? Y'all know about killing? I'd like to hear about it, potheads.
[takes pipe and inhales drag]
Sgt. BarnesWhy do you smoke this shit? So as to escape from reality? Me, I don't need this shit. I am reality. There's the way it ought to be. And there's the way it is. Elias was full of shit. Elias was a crusader. Now, I got no fight with any man who does what he's told, but when he don't, the machine breaks down. And when the machine breaks down, we break down. And I ain't gonna allow that in any of you. Not one.
[hands pipe back and spits]
Sgt. BarnesY'all love Elias. Oh, you wanna kick ass. Yeah. Well, here I am, all by my lonesome, and ain't nobody gonna know. Six of you boys against me. Kill me. Huh. I shit on all of you.
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RhahElias didn't ask you to fight his battles for him. And if there's a heaven, and, God, I hope there is, I know he's sitting up there drunk as a fucking monkey and smoking shit, 'cause he done left his pains down here.
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[King is writing a letter to his girlfriend]
FrancisIt ain't D-E-R-E, it's D-E-A-R. And "Sarah" ain't got no two R's, King. Damn, you dumb!
KingIt don't make no difference. She know what I mean. She don't read too good nohow.
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Sgt. O'NeillBob, I got a bad feeling on this one, all right? I mean, I got a bad feeling. I don't think I'm gonna make it out of here. You understand what I'm saying to you?
Chris TaylorDay by day, I struggle to maintain not only my strength but my sanity. It's all a blur. I have no energy to write. I don't know what's right and what's wrong anymore. The morale of the men is low. A civil war in the platoon. Half the men with Elias, half with Barnes. There's a lot of suspicion and hate. I can't believe we're fighting each other when we should be fighting them.
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Capt. HarrisBe advised. We've got zips in the wire down here.
Phantom PilotRoger your last, Bravo Six. Can't run it any closer. We're hot to trot and packing snake and nape, but we're bingo on fuel.
Capt. HarrisFor the record, it's my call. Dump everything you've got left on my pos. I say again, expend all remaining in my perimeter. It's a lovely fucking war. Bravo Six out.
Phantom PilotRoger your last, Bravo Six. We copy. It's your call. Get them all in their holes down there. Hang tough, Bravo Six. We're coming cocked for treetops.
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[Chris has just gotten to Vietnam. Some passing veterans shout at him]
Soldier 1New meat! You dudes gonna love the Nam.
Soldier 2For fucking ever.
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Sgt. BarnesShut up! Shut up and take the pain! Take the pain!
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Chris Taylor[narrating]Maybe I finally found it, way down here in the mud. Maybe from down here I can start up again. Be something I can be proud of without having to fake it, be a fake human being.
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Big HaroldI don't know brothers, but I'm hurting real bad inside.
King[while cleaning the latrines]I'm too short for this shit, man. 39 and a wake-up, a pause for the cause and I'm a gone motherfucker. Back to the world!
CrawfordHey, I broke a hundred the other day, 92 left to go. April 17th, home to California, checkin' out the babes on the beach... the surfin's gonna be good.
KingMarch, man, in Tennessee... sniff the pines... sniff that cross-mounted pussy down by the river, hot damn! Hey Taylor, how many days you got left? Three hundred and what?
CrawfordShit, I can't even remember when I was 332, man. You gotta like, count backwards or something, you know like you got 40 days in? Think positive, dude.
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Chris Taylor[narrating]I've always been sheltered and special. I just want to be anonymous, like everybody else. Do my share for my country. Live up to what Grandpa did in the first war, and Dad did in the second. Well, here I am, anonymous, all right. With guys nobody really cares about. They come from the end of the line, most of them, small towns you never heard of: Pulaski, Tennessee; Brandon, Mississippi; Pork Bend, Utah; Wampum, Pennsylvania. Two years' high school's about it. Maybe if they're lucky, a job waiting for them back in a factory. But most of 'em got nothing. They're poor. They're the unwanted. Yet they're fighting for our society and our freedom. It's weird, isn't it? They're the bottom of the barrel, and they know it. Maybe that's why they call themselves grunts, 'cause a grunt can take it, can take anything. They're the best I've ever seen, Grandma. The heart and soul.
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Sgt. BarnesY'all take a good look at this lump of shit. Remember what it looks like. You fuck up in a firefight and I goddamn guarantee you a trip out of the bush in a body bag! Out here, assholes, you keep your shit wired tight at all times!
[to Taylor]
Sgt. BarnesAnd that goes for you, shit-for-brains. You don't sleep on no fucking ambush!
[to Junior]
Sgt. BarnesAnd the next son of a bitch I catch copping "Z"s in the bush, I'm personally gonna take an interest in seeing him suffer. I shit you not. Doc, tag him and bag him.
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BunnyYou know, Junior, some of the things we done, man... I don't feel like we done something wrong. But sometimes, man, I get this bad feeling. I told the Padre the truth, man. I like it here. You get to do what you want. Nobody fucks with you. The only worry you got is dying. And if that happens, you won't know about it anyway. So what the fuck, man.
JuniorShit, I got to be in this hole with you, man? I just know I shouldn't have come.
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[first title card]
Title card"Rejoice O young man in thy youth..." - Ecclesiastes
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Sgt. BarnesDeath? What do you all know about death?
JuniorThat's right, dude. See, y'all been trying to keep the black man down, and string him out on that shit. But the time be's comin, my man, when the black man? Throw that yoke off. Simple - free your mind, your ass will follow.
BunnyYeah, I can dig it, man. You smoke that shit, everything kind of gets weird, you know what I mean? You hear that story about the gooks putting chemicals in the grass, so we don't fight? So we become pacifists?
JuniorHey, but don't you worry, Bunny, 'cause you's a killer anyway, man.
BunnyYeah, but I still like a piece of pussy once in a while. Ain't nothing like a piece of pussy, except maybe the Indy 500.
JuniorOnly way you get some pussy, man, is if a bitch dies and wills it to you, and then, maybe.
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KingHey, Taylor. How in the fuck you get here anyway? Why, you look educated.
Chris TaylorIt didn't make much sense. I wasn't learning anything. I figured why should just the poor kids go off to war and the rich kids always get away with it?
KingShit. You gotta be rich in the first place to think like that. Everybody know the poor are always being fucked over by the rich. Always have, always will.
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[Manny has been killed and the platoon is looking for revenge]
Chris TaylorThe village, which had stood for maybe 1,000 years, didn't know we were coming that day. If they had, they would have run. Barnes was at the eye of our rage. And through him, our Captain Ahab. He would set things right again. That day, we loved him.
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Chris Taylor[Taylor breaks up the gang rape of a village girl]Don't do it! Don't do it! You fucker! What is this, huh?
Tony HoytWhat are you, a homosexual, Taylor?
BunnyWhat the fuck is your problem, Taylor? She's a fucking dink.
Chris TaylorShe's a fucking human being, man! Fuck you!
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Bunny[to Private Taylor]Fucking pussy, man. He's laughing at you. That's the way the gook laughs.
[to Vietnamese villager]
BunnyYeah, sure you are. You're real sorry, ain't you? You're just crying your little hearts out about Sandy and Sal and Manny.
Sgt. O'NeillForget about it, Bunny, huh? Let's go. What do you say?
[Bunny hits the Vietnamese villager over the head with the butt of his shotgun]
BunnyHoly shit! You see that fucking head come apart, man? I never seen brains like that before, man. I bet you the old bitch runs the whole fucking show, man. She probably cut Manny's throat. She would probably cut my balls off if she had the chance.
Sgt. O'NeillBunny, we leave now. Nobody saw a fucking thing! You understand me, Taylor? Not a fucking thing.
BunnyFucking woman, man. Come on, man, let's fucking do her, man. Let's do this whole fucking village!
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Chris TaylorIt's the way the whole thing works. People like Elias get wasted. People like Barnes just go on making up the rules any way they want. So what do we do? Sit in the middle and suck on it. We just don't add up to dry shit, King.
KingWhoever said we did, man? All you got to do is make it out of here, and it's all gravy. Every day, the rest of your life, gravy.
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Sgt. BarnesElias was full of shit. Elias was a crusader. Now, I got no fight with any man who does what he's told, but when he don't, the machine breaks down. And when the machine breaks down, we break down. And I ain't gonna allow that in any of you. Not one.
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Chris TaylorAny way you cut it, Barnes is a fucking murderer.
RhahWrong? You ain't never been right about nothing! And dig this, you assholes, and dig it good... Barnes been shot seven times and he ain't dead. Does that mean anything to you, huh? Barnes ain't meant to die. The only thing that can kill Barnes is Barnes.
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Sgt. BarnesYou don't tell me how to run my war, Elias! Now you go cryin' and rat-fuckin' the brigade on your own time, but out here, you belong to me! Now move!
Sgt. BarnesMartin, get your boots on. And the next time I catch you spraying skeeter repellent on your fucking feet, I'm gonna court-martial your nigger ass.
JuniorWell, then court-martial me, motherfucker! Bust my ass. Send me to fucking Long Binh! You do your fucking worst! You white folks have got your last klick out of Junior!
Bunny[Merle Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee" is playing on the radio]That's a bad jam, man.
JuniorRedneck noise, dude, that's all it is. Make about as much sense as you do. All them chumps be talkin' about how they losin' they ho, and ain't got no bread for beer. Fuck that honky shit.
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Sgt. Barnes[to Lt. Wolfe after giving wrong target grid for mortar-fire]You ignorant asshole! What the fuck coordinates you giving? You wasted a lot of people up there with your fucked-up fire mission! You know that? You know that? Ah, shit!
BunnyMan, where the hell is everybody, man? They're getting high, that's what. Bunch of hopheads. They think they're something special, man.
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Sgt. BarnesYou're dead, Elias! I swear to fuckin' God, you're dead!
Sgt. EliasYou're gonna do time in LBJ! This shit won't wash, you fucking puke!
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[first lines]
Pvt. Gardner[seeing body bags] Oh, man. Is that what I think it is?
SergeantAll right, you cheese-dicks, welcome to the Nam. Follow me!
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Bunny[Coaxing a villager's pig to come to him]Hey, piggy, piggy. Hey, pig!
[shoots pig at point blank range and laughs]
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Crawford[after getting shot]Kiss my ass. I never thought I'd get hit.
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[Elias, Barnes and O'Neill argue about what to do with the "cherries."]
Sgt. EliasThey don't know shit, Barnes, and chances are we're gonna run into something. Think about it.
Sgt. O'NeillThat's just great, Bob, and what do you want me to do? Send one of my guys out to get zapped so some lame-ass just in from the world can get his beauty sleep? No.
Sgt. EliasHey, O'Neill, take a break. You don't have to be a prick every day of you life, you know.
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[During the interrogation of a village chief after the platoon finds hidden weapons]
Pvt. Gator LernerSays they had no choice. Says the NVA killed the old honcho when he said no. Now he says all the rice is theirs.
King[Watching the ambush party leave into the jungle]I'm glad I ain't going with them. Somewhere out there is the beast and he hungry tonight.
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DocThis is bad, man. I got bad vibes here.
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Chris TaylorHe killed him. I know that he killed him. I saw his eyes when he came back in.
RhahHow do you know the dinks didn't get him? You've got no proof, man.
Chris TaylorProof's in the eyes, man. When you know, you know. You were there, Rhah, and I know what you were thinking. I say we frag that fucker tonight.
CrawfordNinety-two left to go. April 17, heroes, man. Home to California. I'll be sitting outside, checking out the babes on the beach. The surfing's gonna be good.
KingMarch, man, in Tennessee. Sniff the pines, sniff that cross-mounted pussy down by the river. Whoo, hot damn! Hey, Taylor, how long you got left? Three hundred and what?
Chris TaylorThirty-two. Three hundred and thirty-two days.
CrawfordI can't even remember when I was 332, man. You gotta, like, count backwards or something. You know, like, you got 40 days in. I mean, think positive, dude.
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TexMan, it's gonna piss on us all night. Gonna put a serious case of crotch rot on that ugly face of yours, Junior.
JuniorGoddamn, man. You break your ass for the white man. No justice, right?
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Chris TaylorI don't even know what I'm doing. A gook could be standing three feet in front of me, and I wouldn't know it.
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SalMan, this is gook stuff! Let's get out of here!
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Sgt. BarnesThat cocksucker knows what I'm saying! He understands. Don't you, pop?
AceGoddamn right he does.
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MorehouseFucking lame fuck!
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King[singing]Oh, Susanna, Don't you cry for me, For I come from Alabama, With my banjo on my knee...
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Sgt. O'NeillCharlie had claymores strung up in the trees. Blew a whole fucking platoon to pieces. Bad shit.
FrancisFine, man. Just fine. Hey, dig it. We two timers, man. We're gonna get out of here, boy. I'm gonna see you in the hospital. We gonna get high, high. Yes, sir.
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Sgt. Barnes[In the foxhole Barnes checks the soles of Junior's bare feet. Bunny and O'Neill looking on. Junior is moaning as if he's dying, overdoing it by a mile]So what's the problem?
Sgt. BarnesShit. Get your boots on Martin, next time I catch you putting mosquito repellant on your fuckin feet I'm gonna courtmartial your nigger ass.
Junior[cracks]DEN COURTMARTIAL ME MOTHERFUCKAH, bust my ass, send me to Long Binh, do your worst but I ain't walking no more. De white man done got his last klik outta me. Get some chuck dude to hump this shit.
Sgt. Barnes[suddenly soft]Get me that centipede, O'Neill.
Pvt. Gator LernerI don't know. She's going on about, why do we have to kill their farmers and their pigs. They gotta make a living. All that kind of shit.
Chris Taylor[narrating]It's scary, 'cause nobody tells me how to do anything 'cause I'm new. Nobody cares about the new guys. They don't even want to know your name. The unwritten rule is a new guy's life isn't worth as much 'cause he hasn't put his time in yet. And they say if you're gonna get killed in the Nam, it's better to get it in the first few weeks. The logic being you don't suffer that much.
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Chris Taylor[narrating]I don't think I can keep this up for a year, Grandma. I think I made a big mistake coming here.
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JuniorYour ass need to hump, hump, and hump.
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JuniorCome on, boy. Get your dick skin on that thing! Dig! We ain't got all day. Dig! Dig!
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TexDon't catch any "z"s on me, buddy, or I'll sling your sorry ass. You hear me?
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Big HaroldDon't give me that morbid bullshit. We're about to get out of here. They gonna give you three hot meals a day, white sheets. Them pretty white nurses, they gonna give you blow jobs if you pay them enough. I heard all about them white bitches.
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Chris Taylor[narrating]Of course, Mom and Dad didn't want me to come here. They wanted me to be just like them, respectable, hard-working, a little house, a family. They drove me crazy with their goddamn world,
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Sgt. EliasLieutenant, why the fuck didn't you do something?
Sgt. EliasYou know what the fuck I'm talking about!
Lt. WolfNo, I don't. I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, Elias.
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Sgt. O'NeillWell, that is one sorry-ass motherfucker. What do you say there, Bob? A guy like that make it? Yes or no? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I have to tell you, that's precisely what I saw. I mean, sometimes I just look at a guy, and I know. This fella's not gonna make it. Just no fucking way.
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Chris Taylor[narrating]A lot of little firefights, ambushes. We drop a lot of bombs, then we walk through the jungle like ghosts in a landscape.
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Sgt. BarnesYou get Crawford in now, before I Article 15 both your asses. Move! Move it.
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RhahShit. You're trying to cure the headache by cutting off the head.
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Chris TaylorCome on. Fuck the Military Justice! Are you joking me? Whose story you think they're gonna believe? O'Neill's? Bunny's? Wolf's? Bullshit!
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Sgt. EliasPolice up your extra ammo and frags. Don't leave nothing for the dinks.
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Sgt. BarnesBoy, what you waiting for? Ain't gonna bite you. That's a good gook. Good and dead.
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CrawfordThat O'Neill's got his nose so far up Top's ass he's gotta be Pinocchio. Why do WE always get fuckin' ambush?
Francis'Cause it's politics, man, politics.
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Sgt. Barnes[after the platoon discovers a horribly murdered colleague]The motherfuckers.
RhahShit, man, you try that and Barnes will shove it right back up your ass with a candle on it.
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Sgt. BarnesElias is a water-walker, like them politicians in Washington trying to fight this war with one hand tied around their balls. Ain't no need or time for a courtroom out here.
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KingDid you ever get caught in a mistake that you just can't get out of, King?
Chris TaylorThere's a way out of anything, man. Just keep your pecker hard and your powder dry, and the world will turn.
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Alpha Company Major in BunkerGet two squads from Alpha down there right away. Go! Go! Where's that goddamn air strike?
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KingRemember now, take it easy. Don't think too much. Don't you be no fool. Remember, ain't no such thing as a coward out here. Don't mean nothing.
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Sgt. BarnesWe need every swinging dick in the field, and you know that.