Taps

...believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Charity never faileth.

But whether there be prophecies,

they shall fail,

whether there be tongues, they shall cease,

whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

but when that which is perfect is come,

then that which is in part shall be done away.

When I was a child, I spake as a child,

I understood as a child, I thought as a child.

But when I became a man, I put away childish things.

For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face.

Now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known.

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three,

but the greatest of these is charity.

No call to arms has ever gone unheeded

by a graduate of Bunker Hill Academy.

In defense of our country and her principles, many of our brothers

have nobly and selflessly made the ultimate sacrifice.

To honor them, we will close this baccalaureate service

as we close all services here,

by reading from the book of remembrance.

This will be the last reading of the book for this year.

Williams, Robert S. Class of '60.

Pleiku. Taps, November 19, 1967.

Yancey, Scott A. Class of '45.

Pork Chop Hill. Taps, April 26, 1953.

Young, Henry R. Class of '38.

Omaha Beach. Taps, June 6, 1944.

Youngman, Clarence M. Class of '64.

Plei Me. Taps, November 22, 1967.

Zimmerman, James J. Class of '12.

The Argonne. Taps, September 27, 1918.

Hey, yo, Jackie! Wait up! Wait up, man!

McGonigle, Harry the Horse, class of '22. Sing Sing Prison.

Give it a rest.

Ferrilli, Rocky, class of '42.

Give it a rest.

Lefty's Bar and Grill...

Hey, Brian, Dungeons and Dragons game tonight?

Not tonight, Shawn. Nice of you to ask.

Have a good day.

Hey, Billy, who are you rooming with next summer?

Attention!

Carry on. Thank you, sir.

Hey, Larry, what troop are you in next year, D or F?

Keep it down!

I'm in F.

All right! I got into Company A!

Attention!

Boy, I'm not gonna miss your socks...

How's the T-shirt, Pigpen?

Turn it out, Pigpen.

Outstanding.

As you were, gentlemen.

Oh, God, thank you!

Hey, Brian, you seen Shovel?

Not since morning.

He got this summer care package from his mother.

One-way douche bag hid it.

Goddamn thing's the size of a Volkswagen.

Homemade fudge, carrot cake, date nut bread.

I'm hot on the trail of that sucker.

When I see him, I'll pick up...

Hey, Shovel!

Come here with that food!

Sorry, Hulk.

Want me to touch up your shoes, sir?

You won't want to go to the General's with your shoes all grungy.

You know what I'm gonna hate next year, Charlie?

Breaking in a new plebe. Yeah.

Yes, sir.

Zen is no laughing matter.

Yes, sir. Carry on.

Thank you, sir.

Four, five, six.

I can never hear that sequence of numbers

without feeling a rush in my blood.

The siege itself was almost as bad as the assaults,

and the assaults were out of this world.

They kept coming at us, wave after wave.

Totally indifferent to casualties.

Of course, the Chinese always had plenty of bodies to spare.

They seemed to be fascinated with our Springfield 1903.

The rifle our snipers used.

They called it "the weapon of the silent death".

I wish I could remember that phrase in Chinese.

Actually, it was rather beautiful.

In battle, sir, how do you keep from being scared?

You don't. My God, was I scared!

I must have lost about 20 pounds, all of it brown!

But fear has a way of providing you with a little bonus.

It gives you

"the wolf".

"The wolf"?

It's a quotation from Theodore Roosevelt. Let me see.

"All men who have felt the power of the joy of battle

"know what it's like when the wolf rises in the heart."

He knew and I know that man was meant to be a warrior.

We're all sons of our Viking fathers.

Try to eat a little something, Mr. Moreland,

just to keep up the appearances.

Otherwise I'll get an earache from Mrs. Malloy.

It's delicious, sir.

I don't imagine I had much appetite

when I was appointed cadet major.

My God. Can't be 45 years ago.

Nobody's that old.

Wasn't General Black the commander then, sir?

General Black? Yes. Yes, General Black.

We cadets used to say that his name described his heart.

But we respected the hell out of him, I can tell you that.

He went the whole nine yards.

It didn't matter whether it was war

or growing roses or making men.

You know that picture of him that hangs in the admin building?

When I was a plebe, that used to scare me,

just walking under that picture.

That's why they hung it there.

The truth is, I think, you would have loved him like a father.

I know I did.

And speaking of fathers, Mr. Moreland,

is your dad still at Fort Benning?

No, sir, he's at Fort Polk now.

Well, a good top sergeant is worth his weight in gold.

I know many a colonel who's had his ass saved by a clever sergeant.

Excuse me, Mrs. Malloy.

I'm sure he's very proud of you, son.

I hope he is, sir. Thank you.

My doctor allows me one of these a day. This is my third.

I wish I could tell you

that there are more old generals than old doctors, but I'm afraid it's not true.

Mrs. Malloy, my officers and I will have coffee and brandy in the study.

Gentlemen?

I'm afraid I can't vouch for the vintage,

but ultimately it is the company that counts, isn't it?

So, what shall we drink to?

I tell you what. Let's drink to the one thing that never changes.

To the one permanent part of a man's life.

What's that, sir?

Honor.

Honor, indeed.

Burglarproof, foolproof, weatherproof. 100 proof. Honor.

Everything else is subject to the powers that be,

dependent upon the caprices of often inferior men.

But your honor is your own, inviolate.

So, then. To honor.

To honor. To honor.

Drink up. We have things to do.

Bunker Hill is rich in ceremony,

but this is an occasion I always like to keep rather private,

when I say goodbye to one major and appoint another in his place.

The cadet major is outranked militarily only by me,

so that makes it a position of some responsibility.

You'll attest to that, won't you, Cooper?

Yes, sir. I'm afraid I can.

Captain Moreland, like your predecessor

you've distinguished yourself for a number of years here as an underclassman.

And in recognition of your scholarship and leadership,

your exemplary character,

I take pleasure in conferring upon you the rank of cadet major

with all the responsibilities and privileges of that rank.

Now, they'll respect the rank.

But God knows, they won't respect the man

unless he earns it.

And the loyalty of men

is always hard-earned.

I'll do my best, sir.

I have every confidence in you.

Thank you, sir.

Congratulations, Brian.

Don't make me look too bad in comparison.

Don't worry.

John, if you do half as well at West Point as you've done here,

you're going to make a splendid officer.

Thank you, sir. The credit would go to you.

If you gentlemen wouldn't mind accompanying me

as far as the administration building,

I have my annual battle of the paperclips with the board of trustees.

Entirely adequate.

Listen, don't even ask me what we had for dinner. Can't remember.

We had this stuff... We had brandy.

...that poured in some green liquid. Drank brandy with the general.

Incredible. Do you even like brandy?

That's beside the point. Can't stand it.

They're beautiful, roomie. You earned them.

Yeah. You deserve them as much as I do.

No way, José. I'm half-civilian on my mother's side.

Even if I did get you through math, science,

military science... True. True. Very true.

Did you get 'em?

Whatever happened to good manners?

The simple custom of knocking...

The gold. I'd give my right nut for those oak leaves.

Does a major live at this address? Can I touch 'em? Please?

Man, I can't believe it!

Don't cream on 'em. They'll tarnish.

Listen, West, you should've been there.

We talked about battles that he'd been in.