02x02 - Bridgehead

[bunniefuu]

[yelling in German]

[giving orders in German]

They're holed up in that house by the bridge.

The tank will blast through all right.

They knocked out the tank.

They got themselves a panzerfaust, a new anti-tank weapon.

We can't take that house without a tank, Lieutenant.

We have to.

Why?

We were told to.

Those men in that tank?

Don't have a chance.

It's all a matter of direction.

You stick your neck into a lion's mouth and you come up shy a head.

Me?

I'm a southbound fella in a northbound world.

Taking that bridge was supposed to be a lead pipe cinch.

Battalion figured the Krauts would cross the river, hightail it south.

Well, somebody made a mistake.

They're not hightailing it.

Lieutenant, the only way we can take that house and control the bridge,

is going to be with an a*tillery piece. Can we get one from Battalion?

No time.

That bridge has to be secured by 1900 hours, that's 55 minutes from now.

Well since when do we have to start winning this w*r on schedule?

What's so important about that bridge anyway?

I don't know, Sergeant.

It was an order.

Now second and third squad are in a jam of their own north of town.

I'll try to get back as soon as I can.

And in the meantime?

We take the bridge.

We take the bridge.

[laughing]

I've been away from home for two years and my old man's asking me about real estate.

What do I know about property values?

Tell him to put his money in topsoil.

That's the thing.

You don't buy the land, you buy the topsoil.

Then you haul it into the city and you sell it for a $1 a yard.

That's a stupid way to do business.

What if one yard is bigger than the next one?

Well, you use more dirt.

But it's still a dollar a yard.

Dollar a yard.

Boy, would I love to do business with you.

Back home, we got a victory garden, see. I mean a big one!

You'd wear out that truck of yours trying to fill it.

I think you guys are talking about two different kinds of yards.

I think we are!

Kirby, a yard of dirt is a yard high, a yard long and a yard wide.

For that you charge a buck, huh?

That's if you sift out the worms.

We're taking the bridge.

I hear the melody but...

I don't believe the lyrics.

You gotta be kidding, maestro.

Yeah, I'm kidding.

We take the house first.

Sergeant, I've never been accused of being a brilliant military tactician

but even I can see there ain't no odds in this.

I don't care for your opinion, Hellar.

I ain't through!

You're asking for my skin.

I don't want your skin.

Krauts want it.

It's the house across from the church.

Let's go.

My old man always told me if I walked into a church, it'd fall down.

Sarge, this is crazy! We can't rush that house. There's too much open ground!

We'll flank them.

Left side of that small house.

Nelson.

You and Shrope double back up the alley.

We'll give you cover fire and you try to sprint across to that house.

Yeah, okay.

Once you get there and set up

You help draw their fire.

We'll hit them from the other side of the bridge.

Okay.

Well, how are you going to get there?

What are you going to do? Call a truce while you walk over?

Kirby, I'm going to say this once. I'm going to say it to all of you.

Keep your mouth shut, your heads down and your ears open.

You'll follow my orders and don't ask why. Is that clear?

Sarge?

You like jazz?

It's life in the times, y'know?

You get the beat but it bends a little with the melody.

Keeps things from getting dull.

Keeps you from taking things serious.

Life in the times.

Gotta learn to bend a little, Sarge.

Hellar, you get down to that window with your r*fle.

Nelson, Shrope.

Move out.

Don't fire until I do.

Door!

Krauts.

Krauts were in that house!

You almost made it, Nelson! Why did you turn back?

They were in there! They were waiting for us! Didn't you see what happened to Shrope?

Yeah, I saw, and for what?

He died for nothing! You panicked!

I almost got k*lled!

You were closer to that house than you were coming back here. I told you to take that house!

Sarge, did you know they were in there?

How do I know where the Krauts are? They could be anywhere, anyplace, anytime! They don't give me notice!

We were covering you. You could have pinned yourself to the wall and tossed in a grenade!

All right. Round one is over.

Shrope is dead and we're right back where we started.

All right. We go again.

Nelson and Johnson try this time.

Well, what teacher said.

Keep on trying until you get it right.

Experience counts.

And you're very experienced with that little house.

Okay, Johnson.

Guy like Johnson. What would happen if he cut out?

That's my worry.

Well, my neck's involved. That makes it mine too.

The only worry is that you don't cut out.

I'd make for the woods right now if I thought I could get away with it.

You wouldn't get away with it.

Good to see such courage in the ranks.

Courage is for soldiers.

I make it back to my drums, I'm going to need two legs, two arms, one head.

All stuck together.

Little John, Cole.

Cover the big house.

The rest of you cover the little one.

- Billy.
- Don't say anything!

- Don't say anything!

I don't want to hear anything out of you. Just keep your mouth shut and do what you're supposed to do.

Come on, let's go!

Come on! Move, come on!

Hold your fire!

What are you doing, Johnson?

Round two is ours.

Little John?

You, Hellar and I will cross the river. Move in from the other side by the bridge.

Okay.

The rest of you keep them busy.

Sarge, I better tell you. I can't swim.

That's funny. The Army taught me how to swim.

They tried to teach me but I guess the bad fairy stole my water wings.

Scott.

Can you swim?

I'd rather rollerskate but I guess I can get across that river.

Okay, let's go.

Hey, Scott.

Do you really take the worms out of that topsoil?

Sure. That way you don't get robins tearing up your lawn.

But wait a minute. How do you get them out?

You drive real fast down a rough road.

Pretty soon they get car sick and jump off the truck.

Each of you got three grenades, right?

Take them out.

We'll tape them down in a cluster like a b*mb.

Sarge? How do we approach the house?

You'll see.

What do we do when we get there?

You're not even sure yourself, are you?

Come on, Little John, take it easy.

Are you just going to sit there, Johnson?

Hey, they stopped firing.

Yeah, maybe we frightened them.

No, they'll probably hole up there until we rush them again.

Come on. Sarge told us to keep firing.

What's to fire at? It's a stand off.

They're not coming out, we're not going in.

We'll be sitting here the rest of the w*r.

You don't care much about this w*r one way or the other, do you?

No, or anybody in it.

Last six months, I've been sending all my pay home.

My kid brother just put a down payment on a $1,200 set of drums.

Traps, I had the works.

Applied for transfer to a band.

Going to sit out the rest of this w*r in one of them you know, service bands.

The rest of you mouth-breathers can follow your Sergeant until your legs drop off.

Look, Hallar, you use your r*fle on those Krauts or I'm going to turn mine on you! Now come on!

First we have to get to the base of that bridge without being spotted.

Crawl across the bridge?

That depends on the angle from above. We stay as close to the sidewall as we can.

If they spot us out that side window, they'll be on us like a rooster after a June bug.

They'll be watching the church.

We get across the bridge, we pull in as close to the house as we can.

Then what?

We might rush them.

And they fall back.

I'll make that decision when the time comes.

Well, let's get on with it.

I'll toss my grenades in the upper right window.

Little John, you take the upper left.

Scott, take the lower corner.

They're throwing cover. I'll go in first.

Scott!

Oh, my God.

What?

What's wrong?

Come on, Little John, forward. We gotta move forward.

We gotta get to that tank. We can't go back. Come on, forward!

Let's go!

Come, Little John!

Come on, come on!

Big hero! Big square!

I don't see you doing nothing!

You think I care if you get k*lled?

I just don't want the odds stacking up anymore than they already are!

You're lucky I'm not playing the odds too, Hellar. Otherwise I'd take care of you myself.

They're breaking!

All right, hold your fire!

He's through for the day, Sarge.

I better get him back to the hospital right now.

All right, take him back.

Then get me some TNT. I don't care what you do but get it for me.

Sarge...Scott.

Now you just forget about that.

Just forget it.

Let's go, come on.

What are you going to do with TNT?

I haven't decided yet. Is that all right with you, Hellar?

Oh, look Sarge. You can blow yourself to little pieces for all I care

only don't count on taking me with you.

Sarge, I know you don't like this mess anymore than we do but we've had it!

Shrope's dead! Scott's blown to bits!

Little John's had it and my arm's about to fall off!

Just tell them to go to devil, will you?

Who do you want me to tell, Kirby? Want me to tell the Krauts?

Want me to tell the president of the United States?

Nobody cares!

Nobody cares and you want to know why? Because they haven't got time! Because everybody's fighting his ...

his own little slice of the w*r.

And this is our little slice.

A stinkin' bridge in a lousy river in a place we've never heard of before?

I don't see any reason for it.

Then you'd better open your eyes and look around.

You may die here today, Hellar.

And if you don't know why,

if you can't come up with a reason?

Then your whole life has been one big nothing.

Doc, did you see?

Did you see what I did to him?

Did you see the way he was lying there at the bridge?

Well, you're pretty bad. There's no point in making it any worse. Now you just lie back and take it easy.

Come on.

You couldn't see his face when he looked up at me.

He was helpless, so scared.

Okay. Just take it easy. We'll talk about it later, okay?

How you doing, Little John?

Lieutenant...

Lieutenant, I gotta tell you.

Out there...

I bungled.

We'll talk about it later, Little John.

He gonna be all right?

Sure, Lieutenant.

We'll patch him up and maybe in a week or two he can go out and try it again.

Maybe this time, he'll take one clean and easy.

No pain. Just...

First he's here and then he isn't.

This halfway stuff kind of slows down the w*r effort.

All right now. Take it easy.

Shrope was lucky.

Poor devil ran out and got his real quick.

Well, at least he doesn't need anymore explanations.

Shrope?

Anybody else?

Scott.

I k*lled Scott, Lieutenant.

I k*lled him and then I crawled over him. I crawled over him!

Little John, Saunders and Scott tried to blast the Krauts out with their grenades.

They were working from the bridge.

Little John tripped.

He couldn't help it.

It was my fault.

Stupid. Clumsy.

A Kraut was sh**ting at you! You couldn't help what happened!

Scott.

He was one of the nicest guys I ever met.

And he wasn't mad at anybody.

All he ever wanted to do was tell those stories of his and make people laugh.

- Take it easy, you're bleeding!

- And I had to...
- Take it easy, you're bleeding!

- Take it easy, you're bleeding!

I don't care.

I k*lled him, Lieutenant. I k*lled him.

Now you listen to me, Little John.

You didn't k*ll Scott. The Krauts did.

The Krauts k*lled Scott!

Not you!

Now where do you think you're going?

I want a r*fle.

You what?

I want to get in this sh**ting w*r. I want a r*fle!

Now I have had it up to here with bandages and aspirin! I want a r*fle!

Now you know that's impossible.

Why? Because of the rules?

I don't sh**t at anybody, nobody shoots me?

We are so civilized we even got rules to k*ll each other by!

Boy, that's what I call organization!

Well, don't knock it!

Organization got us this far, all the way from Normandy!

Now he does his job, I do mine and you do yours!

That's fine, Lieutenant.

But I'm beginning to think I'm going to be all by myself when this things over!

Now the k*lling is getting way ahead of the fixing!

All right.

Maybe we'll all be dead before this is over.

But it won't be because we quit halfway through to hold a coffee klatch!

Now we forget our jobs. You, me, him.

The boys outside.

Then we'll be dead that much sooner.

You read me?

Yes, sir. I read you.

You sure?

Yes, sir. I'm sure.

Saunders wants you to bring back some TNT, sir.

You carry that.

I'll take the TNT.

Yes, sir.

You'll be okay, Little John.

Here's your TNT.

How's the platoon making out, Lieutenant?

It's tight. I can't spare you a man.

Can't Battalion send me anything?

No. Just supply trucks.

That's why we need the bridge.

Second Battalion crossed the river on foot about a mile down.

They're hanging on by the skin of their teeth.

No supply tucks, No Battalion.

That's about it.

You think setting a pole charge and blasting the door is going to help much?

It won't help at all.

If I have to blast a whole wall,

We're going to have to pack TNT right under that foundation.

Did I hear this little adventure referred to in the plural, Sergeant?

That's right, You and me, Hellar.

Well, you're pipe dreaming in waltz time, Sergeant.

I told you I can't swim.

There's some debris floating down the river, we'll hang onto it

and let the current carry us to the back of the house.

Don't you think there's less chance of detection if you go alone?

Yeah, maybe. But if one of us gets picked off, the other one can take over.

Oh, sure, sure. Anything you say, Sergeant.

Only, why don't you tell the Lieutenant the real reason why you want me along?

Why don't you tell me, Hellar?

All right. I'd be glad to, sir.

You see, it's a sucker's move, that's why.

Krauts have already been turned to hash and I get under the Sergeant's skin.

All right, get to the point!

I'm not a company man, Lieutenant. I don't sing Yankee Doodle and I don't love my brothers.

The way I see it is I got no chance but to get myself k*lled in this here w*r.

That's enough! Get back to your post!

You need him like you need a rock around your neck.

I'll go it alone.

Can I borrow your bayonet?

Sure.

We'll wait here about five minutes.

Get back to Nelson & Johnson.

Try to keep them buttoned up for you.

When the wall goes, we'll all rush.

When the wall goes.

What's going on over there?

Are they dead?

What's happening?

Open fire, keep them busy!

Keep firing!

Get out!

Where's Hellar?

Cole, get Doc.

I hate you guys.

This stinkin' w*r.

$1,200 bucks worth of drums.

They'll rust in the attic.

Doesn't matter.

Nobody's in step anymore anyway.

We took the bridge, Hellar.

Drop dead, Sergeant.

The whole thing was just a big, stupid interruption.

But you managed to do okay, didn't you?

Yeah.

I'll probably go to heaven.

I hate harps.