A Soldier's Story

[BAND PLAYING "POURIN' WHISKEY BLUES"]

Look, boy, I don't want any trouble. Sit down. You better sit down.

Play it, Luther. Oh, honey, play it.

Play the song now, Luther.

Yes! Yes!

Show me, sweet thing.

See, well, that's what I was trying to tell you.

Hey, sarge.

He's so drunk.

Oh, what a shame, he's drunk.

He's drunk.

What does he think he's doing? That drunken old...

[TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING IN DISTANCE]

Have a good night.

They still hate you.

They still hate you.

You can put your arms down when the search team finishes with you.

We don't want anybody from this fort going into Tynin looking for rednecks.

May I speak, sir? Cobb?

Nivens must know nobody colored killed the sarge.

Well, this is precautionary, Cobb.

We can't have the Army engaged in revenge on civilians.

Sir. Are there any suspects, sir? None.

Oh, come on, now. Everybody knows it was the Klan.

Were you an eyewitness, soldier?

They lynched Jefferson the week I got here.

Two weeks after that, it was... Henson.

Unless you saw it, keep your opinions to yourself.

Yes, sir.

And that applies to everybody else.

Yes, sir.

Tynin has been placed off-limits to all enlisted personnel.

Oh, come on, captain. Any man found in the town

will be immediately subject to court-martial.

Sergeant Waters' replacement will be assigned in a couple of weeks.

Until then, Cobb, you're barracks NCO.

Any questions?

Carry on.

Now, what you think, huh? Huh?

Taylor and that goddamn colonel, they know who killed Waters.

Anybody feel like playing me in some pitty-pat?

I thought all you could play was flunky.

Yeah.

Wilkie, whose ass you gonna kiss now that your number one ass is dead?

You know what you can do for me, Henson. You too, Peterson.

Aw, take it easy. I'm the one who lost three stripes.

I'm the only man here with kids. When the man said jump, I jumped.

Come on, don't put your wife and kids between you and Waters' ass.

I don't kiss nobody's ass, Henson. I just wanted my stripes back.

Never been no place, never had nothing.

You can't understand a man like me. I was a top sergeant of this platoon.

Yeah? Well, now you ain't nothing. Nothing, Wilkie.

Recruits, over here. Let me see your passes.

Let's go. Let's go.

Hey, wake up. Wake up, boy.

You said Tynin, didn't you?

Yeah, yeah. Ahem. Yeah.

Come on, boy.

Let's go.

Hang on. Here we go again.

I'm from Mississippi.

Captain Davenport?

Corporal Ellis at your disposal, sir.

I'm to take you to Colonel Nivens, sir.

Well, let's get rolling, soldier. Yes, sir.

Yes, sir, Captain Davenport. Yes, sir.

We're rolling, captain.

[CHILDREN SHOUTING AND LAUGHING]

This is where they killed Sergeant Waters last month, sir.

Why did you say "they" killed him, corporal?

Who's "they"? The Klan, sir.

They ain't too crazy about us tan yanks down here.

I suppose whoever drove you in from the station

showed you the spot where the killing took place.

Told you I had all the troops' personal effects searched for weapons.

He tell you all that?

Is there a point the colonel is trying to make, sir?

There's a point.

This thing has been blown all the hell out of shape.

This is the Army's business.

Not the NAACP.

Not the Negro press.

Not those paper-shuffling desk jockeys in Washington.

I was brought up in the South, Davenport.

Ever hear of Threadgill County, Alabama?

No, sir.

No matter.

I've been commanding colored troops all my life, Davenport.

The worst thing you can do in this part of the country

is pay attention to death of a Negro under mysterious circumstances.

Especially a soldier.

People get itchy. Uneasy.

White folk in the town, colored at the fort.

Keep turning this thing over,

sooner or later, you're bound to have an explosion.

Now, I've lived here in Hunter Parish three years.

I'm fond of the place.

I like the duty.

You get my meaning?

What is it you want, colonel?

I want whatever you came here to do completed in three days.

Sir, I request permission to notify Washington.

Denied. I'm under direct orders...

I don't give a damn if Roosevelt sent you.

I'm trying to prevent my troops from going into town and killing somebody.

And I don't care what you think.

You can always return to Washington.

No, sir.

I was assigned this case and I intend to file a report, sir.

Here are your instructions and our reports.

Taylor's men will help you get settled.

Taylor was Waters' CO.

That'll be all, Davenport.

Oh, and, captain?

Remember,

you're the first colored officer most of these men have seen.

The Army expects you to set an example for the colored troops

and be a credit to your race.

Is that clear, captain?

Yes, colonel.

Sir.

Sir, you all right?

You like to go to your quarters? No, I'll see Captain Taylor.

You don't wanna unpack, sir? Freshen up? Didn't go too good?

You got a hearing problem? No, sir. I was born with big ears.

It runs in my family. My grandmother had big ears...

I used to drive a fire truck, captain.

Then the Army took and let me drive an ambulance.

I've been driving this jeep for six months, sir.

Only turned over twice.

Twice? Yes, sir.

Good.

Good afternoon, sir. Good afternoon, sir.

Sergeant Washington, sir. Can I help you, captain?

Captain Davenport to see Captain Taylor.

Um, just a moment, sir.

Yes?

There's a Captain Davenport to see you, sir.

Well, send him in. Yes, sir.

Every member of the lodge is rooting for you, sir.

Uh, have a seat. Thank you.

I like your flowers, captain.

Hey, where's he from?

He's from Washington, D.C.

He's here on special assignment.

Washington?

Yes, sir.

You gotta be shitting me.

So they assigned a lawyer to the military police, eh?

Well, where did you graduate law school?

Howard University.

Your parents rich or something?

No, my father's a mailman.

I graduated at the Point.

I didn't see any Negroes at the Point.

In fact, I never saw a Negro until I was, I think, 12 or 13.

Have you seen my orders, captain?

Yes, as soon as Colonel Nivens received them.

Look, I think it only fair to tell you that had I known you'd be a Negro

I would've requested the immediate suspension of the investigation.

Now, look, may I speak freely? You haven't stopped yet.

Look, these local people aren't gonna charge a white man

in this parish on your say-so.

And Nivens knows that.

He doesn't give a damn about this killing. Your being here proves it.

Making a fool out of you. Can't you...? Will you take off those sunglasses?

I like these. They're like MacArthur's.

All right. Now, look. Let me explain something to you.

You go near Tynin in uniform,