War Hunt

Once you get out of training,

you're funneled into what's called the pipeline,

and you become a number while you're traveling it,

until you get spewed out somewhere at the other end.

After you land, you look for signs of war.

A bullet scar in a wall, a bombed out building.

You don't have to look very hard.

You see a lot of poverty,

kids starving.

When you get on the trucks, after the ship and the train,

you know the pipeline is carrying you further towards the front.

You're going to be a combat infantryman,

the tip of the spear.

You don't know what it will be like or what will happen,

and you wonder whether you're going to get killed.

We got a funny kind of a war here,

a war that we can't really win

because it's gotta be settled around a conference table.

In the meantime, we have to keep fighting and we have to keep dying.

And I think you men have a right to know why.

It's as simple as this.

The enemy has got to keep getting hurt.

Every day he stalls at Panmunjom

has gotta be a day that costs him good.

The more pain, the more casualties he suffers,

the easier the job our negotiators are gonna have

and the sooner this thing will end.

Now, tomorrow we'll be moving up

to the MLR, the Main Line of Resistance.

Good luck, men.

That's all I have, Corporal.

All right, you guys, fall in outside.

You and you, right here, and the rest of you guys,

line up on these two.

Follow me.

How far are we from the MLR?

Oh, about five miles.

Hold it. You're in here, Loomis.

Raymond is sleeping.

I got a new man for Van Horn.

I take. He have job work.

Okay.

Charlie will take care of you.

Okay, let's go.

I show you picture,

beautiful girl. You keep. Get away from the fence!

What? Are you crazy?

All right, Mama-san, just take it easy.

She is no mother.

Smells bad here.

GI,

welcome to Korea.

I hope you don't die.

Here.

First squad, third platoon?

Yeah.

Are you Sergeant Van Horn?

Yeah. Are you a replacement? That's right. The name is Loomis.

Hey, hold the racket. I'm sorry. What?

Name's Loomis, Roy Loomis.

Okay, Loomis. Glad to have you with us.

Thank you. Who's the kid?

Oh, Charlie, he's...

One of the guys in the squad looks out for him. His people are dead.

Oh. So you're in the first squad?

Yeah.Showalter's your squad leader.

He's over by the jeep. Go report.

Right.

Hey, I didn't tell you guys to quit.

Come on! Let's go.

We haven't lost a war yet,

but we sure are pussyfooting our way through this one.

How long have you been in the army, Crotty?

1937, but I'm thinking about quitting.

What would you do?

Well, I'd...

You better stick with it. You'll stay out of jail.

Yeah, that's what my mother says.

You are still here because of the dishonest tactics

employed by imperialist negotiators.

The People's Army of China desires peace.

You desire peace.

Yet, because Wall Street does not desire peace,

each morning's sun shines upon the bodies of young...

What a station.

One lousy beat-up record,

and for a commercial, the Communist Manifesto.

Yeah, you know, I like that old Dragon Lady.

She's sexy.

Who?

She's on their loudspeakers up at the MLR.

Loudspeakers?

Yeah.

This is a crazy war. She plays music for us.

It's very romantic.

This baby's ready.

Baby?

Yeah, what's saying?

What was that?

Endore.

Where's he going?

To work. You want some?

No, no. Where?

Out behind their lines.

Alone?

Every night.

I'll see you around?

Yeah.

Hello.

Hi.

I love you.

You got trouble, GI? Come on, I fix.

Come on. I show you place you can get through fence.

No worry. No MP.

Sweetheart, you know what my trouble is?

I good. I fix.

I can't even believe I'm here.

Hey, how about some quiet?

What do you think is happening up there?

Nothing much.

Not as long as the politicians are still jabbering away there.

Now, any time things go sour at Panmunjom,

that's when we really get slammed.

Peiping Radio always tells Crotty what's going on.

Hey, still got that sandpaper?

Is there coffee in the weapons carrier? Yes, sir.

All right, you guys, mount up! Let's go!

Yeah.

You all set?

Yes, sir.

Looks like we ain't gonna get there before dawn.

How's AT&T doing?

What's that?

And they say we're capitalists!

Was that a mine?

No, they just sent season's greetings.

That's all.

I guess they know we're coming.

Yeah, they dropped that one to remind us

we're not out for a Sunday drive.

If they thought we were worth it,

they might give us three, four, maybe a dozen more.

Their artillery's zeroed in on this stretch.

There's not a thing we can do about it

except keep moving, which I wish we'd do.

I'll tell you something. I first got over here, my wife sent me a letter,

a little clipping from our hometown newspaper.

I don't know what she had in mind, but, anyway, this writer said

that the Chinese army had to get hopped up

on opium before they could stage an attack,

that they had lousy clothes, worse equipment and no discipline at all.

God, oh!

All right, Showalter, get your squad together, follow me.

All right, let's dance.

Keep the guys here. I'm gonna check with the Captain.

I'll be right back.

Other side of these sandbags is no man's land.

See that ridge?

The first one?

No, the big, dark one.

That's the Chinese.

We got an outpost about 200 yards straight out.

You'll be able to see it during the day.

Hey, what's that light?

They got a beacon over there at Panmunjom.

Wanna make sure nobody lobs a shell over there by mistake.

When you're out on patrol, you learn how to get your bearings by it.

Welcome back, Captain Pratt,

and all of you who have returned.

To those who are replacing dead or wounded...

That's the old Dragon Lady. ...or men now in the embrace

of their sweethearts in America...

She'll tell you whether we got scrambled eggs...

welcome to the Main Line of Resistance... or sunny-side up tomorrow.

I wonder how many of you in the coming weeks will die

for somebody's dividend.

Well, we'll try to make your journey on as pleasant as we can.

But now we have a delightful selection for your listening pleasure.

Hope she's got some Charlie Parker tonight.

Drop dead! We want to hear her voice!

They got the Dragon Lady. We got bigmouth!

We're on the wrong side!

Yeah, well, as long as them loudspeakers

are chewing at each other, we ain't.

We got the same bunkers as last time.

I need you and three members of your squad for patrol tonight.

You pick them and meet me at the CP in about 15 minutes.

Keep two men on the line all night.

Rest of you guys can flake out.

Crotty, you and Loomis have from-00 to-00.

Hey, Loomis, you and me are on guard

from-00 to-00. There ain't nothing to it.

What's patrol like? It's real easy.

You work slow, stay on the path,

keep your eyes and ears open.

If you get caught in a flare, freeze,

and just hope they don't see you.

What about their patrol?

Oh, no sweat.

You run into one, it's real simple.