A Soldier's Story (1984) - full transcript
A black soldier is killed while returning to his base in the deep south. The white people of the area are suspected at first. A tough black army attorney is brought in to find out the truth. We find out a bit more about the dead soldier in flashbacks - and that he was unpopular. Will the attorney find the killer ?
♪ I pour so much whiskey ♪
♪ I'll make you stagger
home In your sleep ♪
♪ Yes, I said ♪
♪ I pour so much whiskey ♪
♪ I'll make you stagger
home in your sleep ♪
♪ Come early in the morning ♪
♪ You'll be staggering
Up and down the street ♪
♪ If you don't want no whiskey ♪
♪ How about some dinner? Good wine ♪
♪ I'm gonna keep on
pouring Till it's quittin' time ♪
♪ I pour so much whiskey ♪
- Look, boy, I don't want any trouble.
- Sit down. You better sit down.
♪ Come early in the morning ♪
♪ You'll be staggering
Up and down the street ♪
♪ When I ain't pouring whiskey ♪
♪ Seems like everything Goes wrong ♪
♪ I get so mean and evil ♪
♪ Me and the devil We can't get along ♪
♪ I pour so much whiskey ♪
♪ I'll make you stagger
home in your sleep ♪
♪ Come early in the morning ♪
♪ You'll be staggering
Up and down the street ♪
♪ Oh, yeah ♪
Play it, Luther. Oh, honey, play it.
Play the song now, Luther.
Yes! Yes!
♪ Whoo-hoo ♪
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...
♪ It was about pouring That whiskey ♪
♪ Made that soldier Lose his stripes ♪
♪ So keep on drinking, soldiers ♪
♪ Big Mary She ain't got all night ♪
♪ I pour so much whiskey ♪
♪ I'll make you stagger
I'll make you stagger ♪
♪ I'll make you stagger
home In your sleep ♪
♪ Come early in the morning ♪
♪ You'll stagger Up
and down the street ♪♪
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.
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,
sounding white and charging local people,
you're gonna wind up
just as dead as Waters.
This isn't Washington,
Davenport. I know where I am.
Do you know how many times I've
asked Nivens to look into this killing?
Every day since it happened.
Do you suspect someone?
Don't play lawyer with me, soldier.
With you on this case, we
are not gonna get anywhere.
Like it or not, captain.
I am all you've got.
Your orders instruct you to cooperate.
Now, is there anything else?
Yes, sir.
Captain Davenport will need
some assistance with the men.
You'll excuse me, captain?
Oh, I'm glad I met you.
Captain.
I sure hope we get to fight soon, sir.
Next, they'll have us
picking this year's cotton crop.
Heh, heh. Don't worry, they don't
grow a lot of cotton in Germany.
Yes, sir.
How long was Captain
Taylor's investigation?
Two days, sir.
Two days? Who did he question?
Well, mostly guys who had
contact with sarge that day.
Guys in his platoon, then anybody
who could've seen him on the road.
Wasn't but a handful.
Did you see him that day? Nope.
No, sir.
Did your sergeant drink a lot? I
didn't know him well enough, sir.
All right, soldiers, let's
get back to those exercises.
Haven't you ever seen
a colored officer before?
No, sir. Have you, sir?
Ten-hut.
This is it, sir.
The captain instructed everyone
in the sergeant's platoon to be here.
As you were.
Sergeant Waters'
room is right there, sir.
Sir, I think I ought to tell you, sir.
Captain Taylor questioned two
white officers from this fort that night.
How do you know?
I delivered his report
to Colonel Nivens, sir.
And on the way over,
the jeep hit a hole, bam!
And the papers flew all over the road
and I happened to notice
it, sir. Who are they?
No names, sir.
Just the mentioning of the questioning.
Seems they were on the road that night.
Well, don't let any more reports
fly away from you, corporal.
No, sir.
Sir, may I say something, though?
It sure is good seeing one of
us wearing captain's bars, sir.
Call in the first man, corporal.
Yes, sir.
Private Wilkie, captain wants to see you.
Yes, indeedy. On my way.
Private Wilkie reports as ordered, sir.
Close the door.
Have a seat. Yes, sir.
I'm Captain Davenport. I'm
conduc... We all know that, sir.
Word went out on the grapevine you
were here the minute you hit the fort.
I'm conducting an inquiry into the
events surrounding the death of Waters.
The report I file will be confidential.
How long did you know the sergeant?
About a year, sir.
You see, this company, sir,
was basically a baseball team.
Most of the guys had
played in the Negro league.
Naturally, the Army put us all together.
The Army sent Sergeant Waters here
to manage the team, summer of '42,
right after the invasion of North Africa.
He'd been in field artillery,
a gunnery sergeant.
He had a FEF and an ETO.
A Croix de Guerre
from the First World War.
What kind of man was he?
He was all spit and polish, sir.
He took my stripes, sir,
but I was in the wrong.
Sergeant Wilkie.
You're a noncommissioned officer
in the army of a country at war.
Penalty for being drunk on
duty is severe in peace time.
So don't bring me, "Us colored folks
can't do nothing unless they're drunk."
You're supposed to be an example.
I'm gonna put you in the stockade
for 10 days and take those stripes.
Wait, sergeant... To teach you a lesson.
You're in the Army.
Colored folks running off at the mouth.
What will they do if the white man
give them a chance? What do you do?
You wind up drunk on guard
duty. I don't blame the white man.
Why the hell should he put
colored and white together?
You can't guard your
own quarters. Sergeant...
Where's your pride, soldier?
Where's your respect for this uniform?
Get out of my sight, private.
And how was he with the other men?
Sometimes the
Southern guys caught hell.
Sergeant wasn't too big
on guys from the South.
Me, I'm from Detroit.
Did you know that Joe
Louis got his start in Detroit?
What about the Southern men?
The sarge didn't like
them. Except for C.J.
It could've been because C.J.
was the best ballplayer on the team.
He could sing too.
Boy, could he sing.
♪ Well, it's a lowdown ♪
♪ Lowdown dirty shame ♪
♪ Yes, it's a lowdown ♪
♪ Lowdown dirty shame ♪
♪ They say we're fighting Hitler
But they won't let us in the game ♪
♪ Lord ♪
♪ Yes, it's a lowdown dirty shame ♪
♪ Yes, it's a lowdown
Dirty, stinking shame ♪
Oh, sing it for Big
Mary, you little sweet thing.
♪ Left home to join this Army ♪
♪ Won't somebody tell
me Who's to blame? ♪
I'll tell you
something, C.J., right now.
♪ I'm gonna kill my man ♪
♪ Oh, and then I'm gonna
turn around And kill myself ♪
♪ I'm gonna kill him
with a razor Yes, I am ♪
♪ And them I'm gonna use it On myself ♪
♪ I'd rather see us
Both dead and buried ♪
♪ Then see him With someone else ♪
♪ Well ♪
♪ Well, it's a lowdown dirty shame
♪ ♪ It's a lowdown dirty shame ♪
♪ Oh, yes ♪
♪ Yes, it's a lowdown dirty shame
♪ ♪ It's a lowdown dirty shame ♪
Whoo!
♪ You ain't nothing In this man's Army ♪
♪ Till Big Mary knows your
name ♪ ♪ Knows your name ♪♪
All right.
Drink up. Drink up, y'all.
Drink up. Mary can't make no money
when the U.S. Army stops sipping.
So drink up now because I need a new car.
Yeah.
I'm gonna ask that boy
something. Come on, Wilkie.
Hey, boy.
You ever heard of Blind Willie Reynolds?
From Son House?
I knew it.
I bet you're from
Mississippi too, ain't you?
Yes, sir.
I used to hear him at the Bandana
Club outside Camp J.J. Reilly.
Folks used to come
from everywhere, Wilkie.
Folks would be dancing, sweating.
Reminded me of a place
I used to go in France.
Ah, the whiskey, the women.
Place called the Café Napoléon.
Where did you learn to play,
son? My daddy taught me, sarge.
You play pretty good, boy.
Wilkie, wasn't that good?
Yeah, that was good, sarge.
Take it easy, son.
I mostly agreed with the
sergeant, sir. He was a good man.
Good to his men.
Talked about his wife
and his kid all the time.
As a matter of fact, he wrote
home to his wife every day.
I just don't see why anybody
would wanna kill the sarge.
♪... the apple
tree With anyone else but me ♪
♪ Anyone else but me ♪
See this?
My wife let a neighbor take
this just a couple of weeks ago.
Army's not for my son.
See, when this war is over,
things are gonna change.
I want him to be ready for it.
I'll send him to some big white college.
Let him rub elbows with the whites.
Learn white man's
language, how he does things.
White don't rub off.
Well, what are we gonna
do? Stay behind in everything?
Hell, you can see it in the Army.
White man's running rings around us.
Lot of us ain't had the chance
them white boys had, sarge.
Oh, that ain't no excuse.
My daddy shoveled coal
from a wagon all his life.
Couldn't read or write,
but he saw that we did.
Now, not having is no
excuse for not getting.
You can't get pee from a tree, sarge.
You're just like the
rest of them, Wilkie.
Ignorant, scared.
- Stop thinking like a nigger.
- Take it easy.
All I said... ls the equipment ready?
No. Then see that it gets ready.
♪ Not till you see me ♪
♪ Not until you see me
Marchin' home, home, home ♪
♪ Home sweet home ♪
♪ Don't go walkin' down Lovers' Lane ♪
♪ With anyone else but me ♪
Here's to the war, gents. To the war.
To the war. To the war.
♪ No, no, no, don't you go
Walkin' down Lovers' Lane ♪♪
Two people, sir.
Mr. Warm and Mr. Cold. But
deep down, a real nice guy.
You could borrow a 10
from him if you needed it.
Did you see him the night he was killed?
I saw him in town at the club
earlier. -00.
He was juicing pretty heavy.
Is it true that when they found him
his stripes and insignia
were still on the uniform?
Yes. Something's wrong, ain't it, sir?
Those Klan boys,
they can't stand to see
us in these uniforms.
They usually take the stripes
and stuff off before they lynch us.
That'll be all, private. Yes, sir.
Can you do anything
about allotment checks?
My wife didn't get hers last month.
Did you see the finance officer?
Yes, I did, sir.
Well, I'll speak to
Captain Taylor about it.
Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Yes, indeed.
Would you like me to
send the next man in?
Yes.
Private First Class Melvin
Peterson, reporting as ordered, sir.
Sit down, private.
Where are you from, Peterson?
Hollywood, California.
By way of Alabama, sir.
You see, I enlisted in '42. I thought
we'd get a chance to fight, sir.
Did you know the sergeant well?
No. He was with the
company when I got assigned,
and PFCs and sergeants,
we don't mix too well, sir.
You played ball for him. Oh,
yes, sir. I played shortstop.
And did you like the sergeant? No, sir.
Well, it goes back to the
team. Stoneass felt that...
Stoneass?
I'm the only one who called
him that. Sergeant Waters.
Didn't mean no offense, sir.
By the time I got here,
the team had won nine
or 10 games in a row.
There was even a rumor we'd get
to play the Yankees in exhibition.
Anyway, we were...
We were playing the 35th
Ordinance this particular day.
It was a real big game too.
The YWCA sent a whole
busload of women to see us.
Yes, a real big day, sir.
Whoo!
I can't believe that.
Yeah.
Let it fly again. Let's go, Pete.
Come on, batter. Hit the ball.
That's a hell of a ballplayer.
Come on, hit it. Throw
another one up here.
Come on, C.J., next county.
Hell of a ballplayer. Did you see...?
All right, C.J. Right on, C.J.
Come on, boy.
Did you see that ball?
Did you see it? Did you see it go?
We played fairly well. I had two
hits. Smalls had a couple and C.J...
C.J. was incredible.
And we beat them something
like nine-, 10-nothing.
Like we always did after, we went
over to the mess hall to celebrate.
Fellas.
It's a big ball, give it back.
C.J. Who was that fine river hip thing
you was talking to before the game?
The woman had tits like two helmets.
You see the size of them
knockers? No, he didn't.
Smalls couldn't even
see a ball go in his glove.
How the hell he gonna
see C.J.? I saw C.J., man.
Will you all let C.J. tell
me about this woman?
She looked mighty good to me, C.J.
All she asked me for was my autograph.
She looked like she was
asking for more than that.
Moved in close.
Breathing heavy.
Waving them tits all in your face.
He's right on that, C.J.
If I'd given that gal
what she asked me for,
she'd give me something I didn't want.
Around home,
there's a fella folks used
to call Little Jimmy One-Leg
on account of his thing was so big.
A couple of years ago,
a young, pretty thing
laid clap on Jimmy so bad
he lost the one good leg he had.
Now folks just call him Little.
You know, that pretty young thing
talking to me ain't look too clean.
Yeah, them dirty ones will give you
the clap every time, right, Henson?
I hear tell they're on the verge
of getting all of us together.
The colored, the white,
say they want one army.
You can forget that, C.J.
White folks ain't never
gonna integrate no army.
I don't know. If they do,
I'm gonna be ready for them.
♪ Get me a bright-red zoot suit ♪
Yeah. Yeah.
♪ And a pile Of patent-leather shoes ♪
♪ At home, sitting at home
Waiting for the day we get the news ♪
♪ Lord, Lord ♪
Go on, boy.
♪ Lord, Lord, Lord Lordy-Lord, yeah ♪
♪ Look out, Adolf Hitler ♪
♪ You and Tojo Gonna
be singin' the blues ♪
All right.
♪ Got a little problem ♪
♪ It's about 5 foot 2 ♪
♪ And they call him sarge ♪
♪ And he's after you ♪
♪ Gotta watch what you're saying ♪
♪ Gotta watch what you do ♪
♪ Because that lowdown Dirty Waters ♪
♪ He's gonna roll all over you ♪
♪ Lord, Lord ♪
♪ Lord, Lord, Lord Lordy-Lord, yeah ♪♪
Knock it off. We don't need
no more of that guitar-picking,
sitting-around-the-shack
music today, C.J.
I want all you out of those baseball
uniforms and into work clothes.
You'll report to me at 1600.
We got a work detail, painting
the lobby of the Officers' Club.
Why can't those officers
paint their own club?
Hell, no, Smalls.
Let the Great Colored
Cleanup Company do it.
Our motto is, "Anything
you don't wanna do,
the colored troops will do for you."
♪ Anything you don't wanna do
The colored troops will do for you ♪
♪ Anything you don't wanna
do The colored troops will do for you ♪
♪ Anything you don't wanna do
The colored troops will do for you ♪♪
That's enough.
Let me tell all you fancy-assed,
ball-playing Negroes something.
The reasons for any orders
given by a superior officer
is none of y'all's business.
You obey them.
This country is at war.
And you niggers are
soldiers, nothing else.
And something else.
From now on, when I tell you
to do something, I want it done.
Is that clear? Yes, sir.
Now get out of those baseball uniforms.
I could smell you suckers
before I hit the door.
Hey, what kind of colored man are you?
I'm a soldier, Peterson.
And the kind of colored man that
don't like lazy, shiftless Negroes.
Well, sir, you ain't got to
come in here calling us names.
The Nazis call you schwarze.
You gonna complain to
Hitler he hurt your feelings?
Don't look like to me we could
do too much to them Nazis
with paintbrushes, sarge.
You trying to mock me, C.J.?
No, sir, sarge. Good.
Because whatever an ignorant
Geechee like you has to say
ain't worth paying attention to, is it?
Is it?
I reckon not, sarge.
You're a creep, Waters.
Sarge's just joking, Pete.
He don't mean no harm.
No, he does. I mean, we take
enough from them white boys.
Yes, you do. If it wasn't
for Southern niggers
white folks wouldn't
think we was all fools.
Well, where are you from, England?
Wilkie.
Looks like we got us a
wiseass Alabama boy here.
Yes, sir.
Now, don't you get smart, nigger.
Get your fucking hands off me.
You wanna hit old Sergeant Waters, boy?
Come on.
Please.
Come on, nigger.
Ten-hut.
At ease.
What's going on here,
sergeant? - Nothing, sir.
I was going over some
batting techniques, sir.
Is there something you
wanted? Something I can do?
No, no, nothing.
I just wanted to congratulate you
men on the game you won today.
Now, the way I figure it, only seven more
and we'll be the first colored team
in Army history to play the Yankees.
The entire regiment is counting on you.
Sergeant? Sir.
As far as I'm concerned, these
men can have the rest of the day off.
I beg your pardon, sir.
Excuse me, sir. These
men don't need time off.
They need work. Our fellas
in Africa aren't getting time off.
Besides, we have orders to
report for a paint detail at 1600.
Who issued that order? Major Harris.
I'll speak to the major. Sir?
I don't think it's a good idea to have a
colored NCO mixed up with your officers, sir.
I said I'd speak to him, sergeant.
Yes, sir.
Memphis, about that catch
you made in center field today...
How in the hell did you get up that high?
They say I got bird in my blood,
sir. I hope it's American eagle.
No, sir. Crow.
See, a man told my
daddy the day I was born.
He said, "The boy got the
shadow of crow in his chest..."
That's fine, Memphis.
Men, you played a great game today.
Sergeant? WATERS: A-ten-hut.
Carry on.
Shadow of a crow.
What do you
say? Yeah, that's the...
How long a story were you
gonna tell the man there, C.J.?
Peterson. I ain't forgot you, boy.
It's time to teach you a lesson.
Sir?
Go outside and
make sure everything is set up.
You want all the NCOs?
I'm going outside and
wait for you, Geechee.
And when you come out,
I'm gonna whup your black Southern ass.
Let the whole company watch too.
You need to learn
respect for these stripes.
The rest of you,
get those goddamn
uniforms off like I said.
You ain't gonna fight him, are you?
Don't do it. He'll fight dirty.
You can't whup the sarge.
Well, you wanna fight in my place, Cobb?
Shoot.
Pete. Pete, I got some farmer's dust.
Just a pinch will make
you strong as a bull.
Would you get the hell
out of here with that crap?
You can't speak up. You
let him treat you like a dog.
Calling names ain't nothing, Pete.
I know who I is. Sarge ain't
so bad. He's been good to me.
C.J., the man despises
you. You're wrong, Pete.
Plus, I feel sorry for him myself.
Any man ain't sure where he
belong gotta be in a whole lot of pain.
Look, don't you all
even care about nothing?
Don't none of us like it, Pete.
But this is the Army and
sarge got all the stripes.
I'll go get the captain. You ain't got
to go out and get your head beaten in.
Well, somebody's got to fight him.
Waters, what's going on?
I had a problem
with one of the guys.
Yeah? Ha-ha-ha. Don't worry about it.
Come on now, boy.
Let's take your whupping like a man.
Kick his ass,
Pete. Watch him, Pete.
Yeah, come on out here
and kick old sarge's ass.
Come on, Geechee.
You don't want the sarge to
grow old waiting for you now.
Fight.
Fight him. Fight him. Grab him.
Get him. Come on.
Come on. Come on.
Watch him, Pete.
He got him. That got him.
Come on. Get up. Get up, sarge.
You throw a pretty mean punch, boy.
But old sarge is here to kick your ass.
Come on. C.J. Come on, Pete.
Move over there.
There you go. Come on.
Who the hell
is fighting over there?
Come on. There you go.
- Get up, Pete.
- Get up, get up.
- Get him, sarge.
- Vernon. Vernon.
That's enough.
Yeah, he beat
me pretty bad that day, sir.
Did anybody
report the fight to an officer?
No, sir, I never reported
it. I know I should have,
but he left me alone after
that so I just played ball.
I appreciate your honesty, Peterson.
Thank you, sir.
Did you see Sergeant
Waters the night he was killed?
No, sir. Smalls and I had guard duty.
Thank you. That'll
be all for now. Yes, sir.
Did the team ever get
to play the Yankees?
No, sir. We lost the last
game to a sanitation company.
What brings you out to
my neighborhood, captain?
Slumming?
I wanted you to see the request
I've sent to Colonel Nivens to
have your investigation terminated.
Now, my reasons have
nothing to do with you personally.
My request won't hurt
your career in any way.
It's just that there are other
things to consider in this case.
Only the color of my skin.
Now, hold it, Davenport.
I want the people that
killed Waters prosecuted.
So do I. Then give this up.
White people down here, they
won't see their duty or justice.
They'll see you. And you
can't possibly get at the truth.
Why? Because two white
officers are involved in this?
And you can't get them charged,
court-martialed or anything else.
Why wasn't there any
mention of them in my report?
You think I'm gonna let
you get away with this?
I was ordered not to include it.
By who? Colonel Nivens.
Now, look,
they took two .45-caliber
slugs out of Waters, Army issue.
Now, if my men thought a
white officer had killed him,
there would have been a slaughter.
Who are the officers?
Lieutenant Byrd in Ordnance
and a Captain Wilcox,
uh, 12th Hospital Group.
Private Seymour saw them on the road.
When I checked the officers'
billet, I found them both asleep.
They admitted they'd had an
argument with the sergeant, heh,
but said they'd left him on the road.
So you never believed
the Klan was involved.
No. No.
Now can you see why this
thing needs somebody else?
Tell me what they told you.
Look, hotshot,
they're not gonna let you
charge those two men.
Tell me what they told you.
Left, hup, three, four.
Left, hup, three, four.
Left, two, three, four.
You wanna move your ass off
the goddamn road, sergeant?
Well, I'll be damned.
If it ain't the white boys.
Did you hear what he said?
Shit. Let it go.
Let it go my ass. Come here, sergeant.
White boys, all starched and stiff.
Want everybody to
learn that symphony shit.
That's what you said in France,
and, you know, I listened to it.
Am I right, now, hm? Am I?
You'd better straighten
up and salute an officer
or I'll take your fucking stripes, boy.
That's better.
Heh-heh-heh. Well, look at the nigger.
You come to attention right
now, and that is an order.
I ain't doing nothing white
folks say do. No more.
No, leave him alone, the man is drunk.
I want the nigger to
do like I tell him. Do it.
No. I'll teach him, goddamn it.
I always mind y'all.
Look what it's done to me.
I hate myself.
Don't blame me. God's the
one who made you black, not me.
My daddy said,
"Don't talk like this,
talk like that.
Don't say,
"Say..."
I even killed for you.
Stop!
You wanna kill him? The man is
sick. Let him go. You're gonna kill him.
Come on.
White men are killing for you, nigger.
Good men dying for you.
So anyway, they said they
left Waters about 2310.
And everyone in the barracks
confirms that they were in by 2330
and that neither man left
till the following morning.
That's nothing but white officers
lying to protect two of their own.
You know that.
I'm arresting both of them, captain.
Consider yourself under arrest,
pending my charges
against you. What charges?
It was your duty to go over
Nivens' head if you had to.
Oh, you're gonna arrest
the colonel too, Davenport?
Because he's part of their alibi.
He was there in the officers'
billet when they came in.
Played poker till 3:30
in the morning, yeah.
Yeah, the colonel, Major Hines
and four other white officers.
They're all lying.
You just go out and prove it.
Sir, I intend to arrest
Lieutenant Byrd and Captain Wilcox.
You will do nothing of the kind. Colonel.
I believe these men had something
to do with Sergeant Waters' death.
No, I can't allow that.
You have no authority
to arrest white officers.
Then give me the authority, sir.
Colonel.
Your breakfast is ready.
Thank you, honey.
Can I have someone
fetch you coffee, captain?
No, thank you, ma'am.
I hope they're making your stay at
Fort Neal real comfortable, captain.
They're taking good care of me.
It's very thoughtful of you to ask.
Good morning.
No, I can't
give you that authority.
I told you. They were in by 11:30.
I was there.
Now, you've read our
affidavits on this thing.
Colonel, what will the Army say
when they find out white officers
beat up the victim not long
before he was shot to death?
Their CO refuses to report
they had anything to do with it
and he signs an affidavit
supporting their alibi.
These two are our best suspects.
How can you not have them arrested
or at least questioned by
the investigating officer?
Something like this is bound to get out.
I didn't say you couldn't question them.
But I want a white officer present.
And I want everything
that's said reported to me.
Is that clear? Of course, sir.
You're dismissed, captain. Yes, sir.
♪ What a privilege to carry ♪
♪ Everything to God in prayer ♪
♪ Oh, what peace we often forfeit ♪
♪ Oh, what needless pains We bear ♪
♪ All because we do not carry ♪
♪ Everything to God in prayer ♪
♪ Amen ♪♪
Go with God.
Hey, Virge, same old sermon, huh?
I didn't know you were
a religious man, Henson.
I'm not.
I just play this organ.
If I play on Sundays, I get out of a
few work details during the week.
That's all.
I wanna talk about Sergeant Waters. Yeah?
There ain't much to talk about,
except for I didn't like the man myself
on account of what he did to C.J.
What did he do?
I don't mean you no offense,
but I ain't exactly crazy
about talking to no officer.
Colored or white.
Oh, you're gonna talk, Henson.
You'll talk or I'll put your
ass in the stockade so long
you'll forget how to.
He was always on...
Always on C.J.'s back about something.
Every little thing. Least ways,
that's how it seemed to me.
Then the shooting went
down. What shooting?
Well, the shooting over
at Williams' Golden Palace.
Happened just last year right at
the end of the baseball season.
A whole lot of shots had
gone off right near the barracks.
I had gone over and gotten a little
juiced at the Enlisted Men's Club.
Somebody's shooting.
They're shooting over there.
Everybody up. Wake
them up, Wilkie. Move it.
Come on, Un-ass them
bunks. Come on, you Geechees.
Off your asses, on
your feet. Everybody up.
What's going on, man?
Company, a-ten-hut.
There's been a shooting.
One of ours bucked the
line at Williams' pay phone
and three soldiers are dead.
Two colored, one white MP.
The man who bucked
the line, he killed the MP
and the white boys
started shooting everybody.
That's how our two got shot.
And this lowdown nigger we're
looking for got chased down here.
Was almost caught till
somebody in these barracks
started shooting at the men chasing him.
So we got us a vicious, lowdown
murdering piece of black trash
in here somewhere.
And a few people who helped him.
If any of you are in this,
I want you to step forward.
All you baseball niggers
are innocent, huh?
Wilkie. Sir.
Make the search. Open
those footlockers. Come on.
All right, Peterson, what are
you waiting for, an invitation?
Open them up. Spread them out. I
wanna see what's happening inside.
Memphis, you in this?
No, sir, sarge.
You heard what the sergeant said.
How many of you were out tonight?
I was over at Williams' around about
7. I got me a pack of Lucky Strikes.
But I didn't try to call home,
though. - Got something.
Still warm.
C.J., is this yours?
You know it ain't mine, sarge.
Probably not.
Probably just crawled
in through a window,
passed everybody's bunk, Peterson, Cobb,
and just snuggled up under yours, huh?
Must be voodoo, right, boy?
Or some of that farmer's dust.
That ain't mine, sarge. I hate guns.
Makes me feel bad just to see a gun.
Liar. Place this man under arrest.
Look, sir, C.J. couldn't hurt
a fly, sarge. You know that.
I found a gun, soldier.
You know it ain't him.
Who is it then? You? I saw
somebody sneak in here.
You were drunk when you left the
club. Throw his ass in the shower.
Well, I was here all night.
C.J. ain't go nowhere.
He was asleep before I got to bed.
Oh, you think he's innocent, huh?
C.J. Memphis,
playing cotton picker, singing the blues,
bowing and scraping,
smiling in white folks' faces.
This man undermined us.
You and me. Everybody.
That "yes, sir, boss"
is hiding something.
Are we like that today, in 1
944? He shot that white boy.
What are you going to do now, boy?
Hit a noncommissioned officer.
Well, C.J. just lost his head... Shut up.
Get him out of here.
Sarge, I know I saw somebody.
Smalls, I saw somebody, I did.
Oh, C.J. was sleeping when I came in.
Well, it's Waters. Can't y'all see that?
You know, I seen them before.
Yeah, we had them in Alabama.
White man give him a
little-ass job as a servant,
and when the boss ain't looking,
that old copycat nigger
act like he the new boss.
Shouting, ordering people around.
You see, arresting C.J.,
that'll get Waters another stripe.
Yeah. Next, it'll be you or you.
You see, he can't look good
unless he's standing on you.
Cobb told him C.J. was here all evening.
Waters didn't even listen, did he?
Turning somebody in.
"Yeah, look what I done, captain, boss."
Only reason they let him in is they
know he'll do what they tell him to.
See, I've seen this
kind of fool before, boy.
Yeah, somebody's gonna
kill him one of these days.
I heard they killed a
sergeant at Fort Robinson.
- A recruit did it.
- Forget it, Pete.
Our luck, sarge will come through
the war, won't even get a scratch.
Yeah, maybe,
but I'm going over to them stockades.
Tell them MPs what I know.
C.J. was in here all evening.
I'm gonna go with you.
Y'all wait up. I'm coming too.
Was Wilkie the only
person out of his bunk?
I guess. Wilkie came in with the sarge.
But it's hard to say.
It's been a while and like I said,
I was a little juiced that night.
Ellis. Yes? Yes, sir?
Find out what's holding up my
investigation of Wilcox and Byrd.
Yes, sir.
The night Sergeant Waters
was killed, where were you?
I was in the barracks.
I played checkers with Cobb
till 9:30 and then I went to bed.
Is there gonna be anything else, sir?
Dismissed, private.
Let her go.
Let me know when it's full
board. Here we go. Let's go, baby.
Pick it up. MAN
2: Keep your rifles up.
That's it.
That's it, move out!
Move out! Move your ass!
That's it, move out! Move out!
Goddamn it, get going!
That's it, that's it, move it out!
Shake it out! Hit
that wall! Get your feet up!
Hurry it up! Hurry it up!
Move out! Move out! That's it!
Watch it!
Shake your ass! That's it!
Move it out!
Move it! Let's go!
Ellis!
Ellis!
Hold it!
Stop shooting! Stop shooting!
Which one of you idiots is Cobb?
That's me, sir.
You all right, captain?
I wanna talk to you.
What'd he want old Cobb for?
I don't know.
What'd he ask you, Pete?
He just asked a couple of
questions about the baseball game,
some about the sarge.
Didn't amount to too much.
Yeah, we was homeys, me
and C.J., both from Mississippi.
C.J., from Carmella.
Me, I'm from up around Jutlerville,
what they call Snake County.
How did you feel when
your best friend was arrested?
I hated Waters for it, sir. Hated?
C.J. ain't killed nobody.
He hit Waters, didn't he? Yeah,
but the sergeant made him, sir.
He called that boy things
he ain't never heard before.
C.J. was from the farm, a country boy.
That jail cell started doing
crazy things to C.J., sir.
It started closing in on him.
Are you all right?
It's hard to breathe in
these little spaces, Cobb.
What they doing to you in here, C.J.?
Man wasn't made for this here.
Nothing was.
Don't think I'll ever see
an animal in a cage again
and not feel sorry for it.
Rather be on a chain gang.
Oh, come on, homey.
Don't think I'm getting
out of here, Cobb.
Feel like I'm going crazy.
Can't walk in here.
Can't see the sun.
I tried to sing, but
nothing won't come out.
Yesterday, I broke a guitar string.
And I lost my dust.
Got no protection, Cobb.
Nothing to
keep the dogs from tearing at my bones.
C.J., stop talking crazy.
You know who come up here last night?
Sergeant Waters.
They talking about giving you five years.
They call what you did mutiny, boy.
That gun ain't mine.
We know that, C.J.
We changed the charge
on you this morning.
You're in here for striking
a superior officer, boy.
And everybody seen it too.
Why are you doing this to me, sarge?
Oh, don't feel too bad, C.J.
It has to be this way.
You see,
the first war didn't change
nothing for the Negro.
But this one, gonna change everything.
Them Nazis ain't all crazy.
Whole lot of people just can't seem to
fit in to where things seem to be going.
Like you, C.J.
See, the black race
can't afford you no more.
Oh, there used to be a time
we'd see somebody like you
singing, clowning, "yes, sir, boss'ing",
and we wouldn't do anything.
Folks liked that.
You were good.
Homey kind of nigger.
When they needed somebody
to mistreat, call a name or two,
they paraded you.
Reminded them of the good old days.
Not no more.
The day of the Geechee is gone, boy.
And you're going with it.
We can't let nobody go on
believing we're all fools like you.
I waited a long time for you, boy.
But I got you.
I put two Geechees in jail in
Camp Campbell, Kentucky.
Three in Fort Huachuca.
Now I've got you.
One less fool for the
race to be ashamed of.
What happened to him?
C.J. killed himself, sir.
The day after I saw him, the MPs
found him hanging from the bars.
We lost our last game.
We just threw it.
We did it for C.J.
Captain Taylor was mad because
we ain't get to play the Yankees.
Peterson was right on that one.
We needed to protest that man.
And the sergeant, what did he do?
Well, they broke up the team
and they assigned us to this
here smoke-generating company.
And the sarge, he just
started acting funny.
He stayed drunk all the time.
What time did you get
in the night he was killed?
Between 2120 and 9:30.
Me and Henson listened
to The Jack Benny show,
played checkers. Who was
the last man in that night?
Peterson and Smalls.
They had guard duty, sir.
Is that it, captain? Thank you, corporal.
Yes, sir.
Eight ball, corner pocket.
Whose idea was this, Charlie? Nivens.
And you have to clear the area,
Jim. We're here to question these two.
He's got no business in here.
Take it up with the colonel.
Now, this is Captain Davenport.
You both understand, you're to
give the captain your full cooperation.
You're a lawyer, huh?
I'm not here to answer
your questions, lieutenant.
Sit down.
Yes, sir.
When did you last see Waters?
Same night somebody killed him.
Course, I should've done it myself
by the way he spoke to Wilcox and me.
How did he speak to you, captain?
Well, he was drunk. He said
a few things he shouldn't have.
I told the lieutenant not to make
the situation any worse than it was.
So we just left him there, on
the side of the road, on his knees.
Alive.
Exactly what did he say?
He said he wasn't gonna obey
the white man's orders anymore.
And he starts blaming Wilcox
and me for him being black.
I mean, imagine that, huh?
Hell, I didn't even know the man.
Yeah and he
said he killed somebody too.
And some pretty
insulting things about us.
I mean, uh, white officers.
Did he say who? Mention a name?
Look, the goddamn
nigger was disrespectful.
No way a colored soldier
speak to a white officer like that.
What are we doing,
wasting time on this, huh?
You answer him like
he wants you to, Byrd,
or I'll stick it to your
ass every chance I get.
You got that?
Yes, sir.
Captain, let me handle this.
Then handle it.
You said he was disrespectful.
Is that why you killed him?
I killed no one. Sit down.
You hit him? Knocked him down.
Shot him. He was alive.
You beat him up, shot him.
Get out of my face before
I kill you. Like Waters?
No! TAYLOR: Soldier.
He's trying to put it on me. Sit down.
Answer his questions, lieutenant.
You were both coming
off bivouac? Speak up.
You had weapons. But we didn't fire.
When did you turn them in? Right away.
Nivens took our .45s to the MPs.
He wanted it quiet.
Didn't want colored boys to
know anybody white was involved.
But those weapons cleared ballistics.
Besides, we've been short on
.45 caliber ammo for, what, six months?
It's for MPs and
special-duty people only.
Look, nobody on that
exercise was issued any.
What?
I said, sir, nobody on the
bivouac was issued any .45 ammo.
I don't believe you.
Why wasn't I told?
The weapons had cleared,
the colonel felt if he involved you,
you'd go to Washington,
which you did anyway.
Sir, I just wanna say we were not
involved with the sergeant's death.
Now, I'm a doctor.
We left that man on the
side of the road. Alive.
You're under
arrest. The charge is murder.
Captain...
You think I believe that crap?
Let them go.
What?
Are we being
charged? - Not by me.
What are you doing? You've
got a motive, you've got a witness.
I mean, what more do you want?
This is still my investigation, Charlie.
We've both been had, captain.
Colonel knew this all along.
Been marching around in circles.
They are guilty and you know it.
Now, I'll back you up. Charge them.
I do what the facts tell me, not
you. You don't know what a fact is.
I'm the lawyer. They
teach law at West Point?
You don't have to be a lawyer
to deal with those two assholes.
And if they didn't kill Waters, who did?
I don't know yet.
What do you know about C.J. Memphis?
A great ballplayer.
Committed suicide.
It was a tragedy.
I think Waters tricked
the kid into attacking him.
No, I can't believe that, Davenport.
This man managed the finest baseball team
in the entire United States Army.
Besides, colored people
aren't that devious.
Hell, we hadn't lost
a game for two years.
And the finest...
I mean, the finest player that
Waters ever had was C.J. Memphis.
If you'd have seen him,
you'd know what I mean.
Captain. Captain Davenport.
We found Wilkie, but we haven't
located Peterson and Smalls yet.
Where's
Wilkie? Waiting for you, sir.
Good. Wait.
Didn't you question Wilkie
and Peterson already?
I asked you a question.
This is my investigation.
Ellis, let's go. Well,
that's the problem.
You arrogant son of a bitch.
You nervous, Wilkie?
No, I just couldn't figure out why
you called me back, sir. Heh, heh.
You said the sarge busted you, right?
Uh, yeah, he got me busted,
sir. He reported me to the captain.
How'd you feel? Well, I...
You and
the sarge were good friends.
Uh, yeah... He was a nice guy.
Didn't you tell me that? Yeah, I...
Would a nice guy get a friend busted?
Well... No, speak up.
You lied when you said he was a nice guy?
No. What I said was he was...
Was Waters a nice guy or not?
No. No, he wasn't a nice guy.
You don't turn somebody
in. Give him extra duty.
But three stripes, it took me 1
0 years to get them stripes, sir.
That's right.
That made you mad, didn't it?
Yes, mad. Things I did for him.
That's right. You were
his boy, weren't you?
You took care of the team.
You ran his errands. Well...
You policed his quarters.
You listened to his stories.
Put the gun under C.J.'s bunk. Yes. No...
Sit down!
It was you Henson saw. You
lied about Waters, you're lying now.
The only person out of barracks.
Who else could've found C.J.'s bunk?
It was you, Wilkie. You.
It was the sarge. He ordered me to do it.
He said I'd get my stripes back.
He wanted to teach C.J. a lesson.
Put him in jail, scare him.
The boy hit him, he had
C.J. where he wanted him.
And then C.J., he hung himself.
He died like he was spiting the sarge.
He didn't figure on that. What
did he have against Memphis?
He despised him, but he would
hide it, everybody liked that boy.
Underneath, it was a crazy hate, captain.
Crazy hate. You won't believe
it. Sometimes you could...
You could just feel it.
♪ Well, now my daddy's Gone to glory ♪
♪ I work real hard, I drink
corn liquor That's the truth ♪
♪ Whoo ♪
He's the kind of boy that
seems innocent, Wilkie.
Got everybody on the post
thinking he's a strong, black buck.
White boys envy his strength.
His speed.
Power in his swing.
♪ Mm-hm ♪
Then this colored champion lets those
same white boys call him Shine or Sambo
♪ Whoa, Lord ♪
and he just smiles.
♪ I dream about the time
When I was a little boy ♪
Can't talk.
Can barely read or write his own name
and don't care.
He'll tell you they like him
or that colored folks ain't
supposed to have but so much sense.
♪ Yes, he would ♪♪
You know the damage
one ignorant Negro can do?
We were in France in the first war,
we'd won decorations,
but the white boys had told all
them French gals that we had tails.
And they found this
ignorant colored soldier.
Paid him to tie a tail to his ass
and run around half-naked
making monkey sounds.
They put him on a big round
table in the Café Napoléon.
Put a reed in his hand,
a crown on his head,
blanket on his shoulders, and made him
eat bananas in front of them Frenchies.
Oh, how the white boys danced that night,
passed out leaflets with
that boy's picture on it.
Called him Moonshine,
king of the monkeys.
When we slit his throat,
you know that fool asked
us what he had done wrong?
My daddy told me, we got to
turn our backs on his kind, Wilkie.
Close our ranks to the
chitlins, collard greens,
corn-bread style.
We are men, soldiers. And
I don't intend for our race
to be cheated out of its place
of honor and respect in this war
because of fools like C.J.
You watch everything he does.
Everything.
Give me a drink.
And I watched him.
But Waters couldn't wait.
He wouldn't talk about nothing
else. C.J. this, C.J. all the time.
Why didn't he pick on
Peterson? They had the fight.
He liked Peterson.
Pete fought back. Sarge admired that.
He was planning to promote
Pete. You imagine that?
He thought Peterson
would make a fine soldier.
What did Peterson do when C.J. died?
Everybody blamed sarge.
Pete put together that
protest that lost our last game.
Afterwards, he kept to
himself or with Smalls.
I didn't mean to do what I did.
Ellis! It wasn't my fault.
Ellis! ELLIS: Yes, sir.
I did what he told me. What is going on?
We're shipping out.
They're gonna give us
Negroes a chance to fight.
Hitler ain't got a chance. After what
Joe Louis did to Max Schmeling...
Twenty-four-hour standby alert.
It's the invasion of Europe, boys.
Look out, Hitler, the niggers
is coming to get your ass
through the fog.
We gonna goose the goose step there.
Heil Hitler!
We gonna turn them Nazis around. Yeah!
We're gonna teach them a
thing or two about them schwarze.
Ellis. Yes, sir.
Private Wilkie is under arrest.
Take him to the stockade.
Sir?
You heard me.
Private Smalls, as you requested, sir.
- Leave us alone, sergeant.
- Yes, sir.
Why'd you go AWOL, soldier?
Private Anthony Smalls, sir.
Answer my question.
I didn't go A-W-O-I, sir.
See, I got drunk in
Tynin and I was just...
Weren't you and Peterson
supposed to be on detail?
Where was Peterson?
Speak up.
I don't know, sir. You
just walked off your detail
and Peterson did nothing? No, sir.
See, he warned me, sir. Said,
"Listen, Smalls. Listen up, you..."
Are you trying to make a
fool out of me, Smalls, huh?
No, sir.
You two went over the
hill together, didn't you?
Answer me!
Yes. Yes. You went over the hill
because Peterson knew I'd find
out the two of you killed Waters.
Didn't you?
What? I can't hear you.
You killed Waters, didn't you?
I want an answer.
Did you kill Waters?
It was Peterson, sir.
It wasn't me.
Smalls, look who's drunk on his ass, boy.
Oh, leave him be, Pete.
No, no.
No, I'm gonna enjoy this.
Big, bad Sergeant
Waters down on his knee.
No, sir, Smalls.
No, I'm gonna love this.
Hey, sarge.
Need some help?
Hi, Pete.
Oh, yeah.
Here, come on now, here we go.
That's the help I'll give you.
Shut up! SMALLS: Peter...
Smalls, some people...
If this was a German, would you kill it?
Huh?
If it was Hitler or that fucking
Tojo, would you kill him?
There's a trick to it, Peterson.
It's the only way you can win.
See, C.J.,
he could never make it.
He was a clown. Ha-ha-ha.
A clown in blackface. A nigger.
See, you got to be like them.
But the rules are fixed and...
Shh.
Listen.
Hear it?
It's C.J.
♪ Lowdown Lowdown dirty shame ♪♪
I made him do it.
But it doesn't make any difference.
They still hate you.
It's justice, Smalls.
It's for C.J.
Everybody. They still hate you.
And you call that justice?
No, sir.
Then why the fuck
didn't you do something?
I was just...
Just scared of him, sir.
He said everybody would think
white people did it.
Oh, God, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, I was just so scared about it.
Caught this one on old bridge road, sir.
That'll be all, thank you.
You told it, didn't you?
I didn't kill much.
Some things need getting rid of.
A man like Waters never did
nobody no good anyway, captain.
Who gave you the right to judge?
To decide who is fit to be a Negro
and who is not? Who?
Sergeant.
Sir?
Get these goddamn men out of here.
Yes, sir.
I hear they caught Peterson.
I guess that's it.
Got your man.
Yeah, I got him.
I was wrong.
So was I.
Say, Charlie, look,
I could do with a lift.
Hop in.
I guess I'll have to get used to
Negroes with bars on their shoulders.
You know, being in charge.
Oh, you'll get used to it, captain.
You can bet your ass on that.
You'll get used to it.
Hut!
♪ I'll make you stagger
home In your sleep ♪
♪ Yes, I said ♪
♪ I pour so much whiskey ♪
♪ I'll make you stagger
home in your sleep ♪
♪ Come early in the morning ♪
♪ You'll be staggering
Up and down the street ♪
♪ If you don't want no whiskey ♪
♪ How about some dinner? Good wine ♪
♪ I'm gonna keep on
pouring Till it's quittin' time ♪
♪ I pour so much whiskey ♪
- Look, boy, I don't want any trouble.
- Sit down. You better sit down.
♪ Come early in the morning ♪
♪ You'll be staggering
Up and down the street ♪
♪ When I ain't pouring whiskey ♪
♪ Seems like everything Goes wrong ♪
♪ I get so mean and evil ♪
♪ Me and the devil We can't get along ♪
♪ I pour so much whiskey ♪
♪ I'll make you stagger
home in your sleep ♪
♪ Come early in the morning ♪
♪ You'll be staggering
Up and down the street ♪
♪ Oh, yeah ♪
Play it, Luther. Oh, honey, play it.
Play the song now, Luther.
Yes! Yes!
♪ Whoo-hoo ♪
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...
♪ It was about pouring That whiskey ♪
♪ Made that soldier Lose his stripes ♪
♪ So keep on drinking, soldiers ♪
♪ Big Mary She ain't got all night ♪
♪ I pour so much whiskey ♪
♪ I'll make you stagger
I'll make you stagger ♪
♪ I'll make you stagger
home In your sleep ♪
♪ Come early in the morning ♪
♪ You'll stagger Up
and down the street ♪♪
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.
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,
sounding white and charging local people,
you're gonna wind up
just as dead as Waters.
This isn't Washington,
Davenport. I know where I am.
Do you know how many times I've
asked Nivens to look into this killing?
Every day since it happened.
Do you suspect someone?
Don't play lawyer with me, soldier.
With you on this case, we
are not gonna get anywhere.
Like it or not, captain.
I am all you've got.
Your orders instruct you to cooperate.
Now, is there anything else?
Yes, sir.
Captain Davenport will need
some assistance with the men.
You'll excuse me, captain?
Oh, I'm glad I met you.
Captain.
I sure hope we get to fight soon, sir.
Next, they'll have us
picking this year's cotton crop.
Heh, heh. Don't worry, they don't
grow a lot of cotton in Germany.
Yes, sir.
How long was Captain
Taylor's investigation?
Two days, sir.
Two days? Who did he question?
Well, mostly guys who had
contact with sarge that day.
Guys in his platoon, then anybody
who could've seen him on the road.
Wasn't but a handful.
Did you see him that day? Nope.
No, sir.
Did your sergeant drink a lot? I
didn't know him well enough, sir.
All right, soldiers, let's
get back to those exercises.
Haven't you ever seen
a colored officer before?
No, sir. Have you, sir?
Ten-hut.
This is it, sir.
The captain instructed everyone
in the sergeant's platoon to be here.
As you were.
Sergeant Waters'
room is right there, sir.
Sir, I think I ought to tell you, sir.
Captain Taylor questioned two
white officers from this fort that night.
How do you know?
I delivered his report
to Colonel Nivens, sir.
And on the way over,
the jeep hit a hole, bam!
And the papers flew all over the road
and I happened to notice
it, sir. Who are they?
No names, sir.
Just the mentioning of the questioning.
Seems they were on the road that night.
Well, don't let any more reports
fly away from you, corporal.
No, sir.
Sir, may I say something, though?
It sure is good seeing one of
us wearing captain's bars, sir.
Call in the first man, corporal.
Yes, sir.
Private Wilkie, captain wants to see you.
Yes, indeedy. On my way.
Private Wilkie reports as ordered, sir.
Close the door.
Have a seat. Yes, sir.
I'm Captain Davenport. I'm
conduc... We all know that, sir.
Word went out on the grapevine you
were here the minute you hit the fort.
I'm conducting an inquiry into the
events surrounding the death of Waters.
The report I file will be confidential.
How long did you know the sergeant?
About a year, sir.
You see, this company, sir,
was basically a baseball team.
Most of the guys had
played in the Negro league.
Naturally, the Army put us all together.
The Army sent Sergeant Waters here
to manage the team, summer of '42,
right after the invasion of North Africa.
He'd been in field artillery,
a gunnery sergeant.
He had a FEF and an ETO.
A Croix de Guerre
from the First World War.
What kind of man was he?
He was all spit and polish, sir.
He took my stripes, sir,
but I was in the wrong.
Sergeant Wilkie.
You're a noncommissioned officer
in the army of a country at war.
Penalty for being drunk on
duty is severe in peace time.
So don't bring me, "Us colored folks
can't do nothing unless they're drunk."
You're supposed to be an example.
I'm gonna put you in the stockade
for 10 days and take those stripes.
Wait, sergeant... To teach you a lesson.
You're in the Army.
Colored folks running off at the mouth.
What will they do if the white man
give them a chance? What do you do?
You wind up drunk on guard
duty. I don't blame the white man.
Why the hell should he put
colored and white together?
You can't guard your
own quarters. Sergeant...
Where's your pride, soldier?
Where's your respect for this uniform?
Get out of my sight, private.
And how was he with the other men?
Sometimes the
Southern guys caught hell.
Sergeant wasn't too big
on guys from the South.
Me, I'm from Detroit.
Did you know that Joe
Louis got his start in Detroit?
What about the Southern men?
The sarge didn't like
them. Except for C.J.
It could've been because C.J.
was the best ballplayer on the team.
He could sing too.
Boy, could he sing.
♪ Well, it's a lowdown ♪
♪ Lowdown dirty shame ♪
♪ Yes, it's a lowdown ♪
♪ Lowdown dirty shame ♪
♪ They say we're fighting Hitler
But they won't let us in the game ♪
♪ Lord ♪
♪ Yes, it's a lowdown dirty shame ♪
♪ Yes, it's a lowdown
Dirty, stinking shame ♪
Oh, sing it for Big
Mary, you little sweet thing.
♪ Left home to join this Army ♪
♪ Won't somebody tell
me Who's to blame? ♪
I'll tell you
something, C.J., right now.
♪ I'm gonna kill my man ♪
♪ Oh, and then I'm gonna
turn around And kill myself ♪
♪ I'm gonna kill him
with a razor Yes, I am ♪
♪ And them I'm gonna use it On myself ♪
♪ I'd rather see us
Both dead and buried ♪
♪ Then see him With someone else ♪
♪ Well ♪
♪ Well, it's a lowdown dirty shame
♪ ♪ It's a lowdown dirty shame ♪
♪ Oh, yes ♪
♪ Yes, it's a lowdown dirty shame
♪ ♪ It's a lowdown dirty shame ♪
Whoo!
♪ You ain't nothing In this man's Army ♪
♪ Till Big Mary knows your
name ♪ ♪ Knows your name ♪♪
All right.
Drink up. Drink up, y'all.
Drink up. Mary can't make no money
when the U.S. Army stops sipping.
So drink up now because I need a new car.
Yeah.
I'm gonna ask that boy
something. Come on, Wilkie.
Hey, boy.
You ever heard of Blind Willie Reynolds?
From Son House?
I knew it.
I bet you're from
Mississippi too, ain't you?
Yes, sir.
I used to hear him at the Bandana
Club outside Camp J.J. Reilly.
Folks used to come
from everywhere, Wilkie.
Folks would be dancing, sweating.
Reminded me of a place
I used to go in France.
Ah, the whiskey, the women.
Place called the Café Napoléon.
Where did you learn to play,
son? My daddy taught me, sarge.
You play pretty good, boy.
Wilkie, wasn't that good?
Yeah, that was good, sarge.
Take it easy, son.
I mostly agreed with the
sergeant, sir. He was a good man.
Good to his men.
Talked about his wife
and his kid all the time.
As a matter of fact, he wrote
home to his wife every day.
I just don't see why anybody
would wanna kill the sarge.
♪... the apple
tree With anyone else but me ♪
♪ Anyone else but me ♪
See this?
My wife let a neighbor take
this just a couple of weeks ago.
Army's not for my son.
See, when this war is over,
things are gonna change.
I want him to be ready for it.
I'll send him to some big white college.
Let him rub elbows with the whites.
Learn white man's
language, how he does things.
White don't rub off.
Well, what are we gonna
do? Stay behind in everything?
Hell, you can see it in the Army.
White man's running rings around us.
Lot of us ain't had the chance
them white boys had, sarge.
Oh, that ain't no excuse.
My daddy shoveled coal
from a wagon all his life.
Couldn't read or write,
but he saw that we did.
Now, not having is no
excuse for not getting.
You can't get pee from a tree, sarge.
You're just like the
rest of them, Wilkie.
Ignorant, scared.
- Stop thinking like a nigger.
- Take it easy.
All I said... ls the equipment ready?
No. Then see that it gets ready.
♪ Not till you see me ♪
♪ Not until you see me
Marchin' home, home, home ♪
♪ Home sweet home ♪
♪ Don't go walkin' down Lovers' Lane ♪
♪ With anyone else but me ♪
Here's to the war, gents. To the war.
To the war. To the war.
♪ No, no, no, don't you go
Walkin' down Lovers' Lane ♪♪
Two people, sir.
Mr. Warm and Mr. Cold. But
deep down, a real nice guy.
You could borrow a 10
from him if you needed it.
Did you see him the night he was killed?
I saw him in town at the club
earlier. -00.
He was juicing pretty heavy.
Is it true that when they found him
his stripes and insignia
were still on the uniform?
Yes. Something's wrong, ain't it, sir?
Those Klan boys,
they can't stand to see
us in these uniforms.
They usually take the stripes
and stuff off before they lynch us.
That'll be all, private. Yes, sir.
Can you do anything
about allotment checks?
My wife didn't get hers last month.
Did you see the finance officer?
Yes, I did, sir.
Well, I'll speak to
Captain Taylor about it.
Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Yes, indeed.
Would you like me to
send the next man in?
Yes.
Private First Class Melvin
Peterson, reporting as ordered, sir.
Sit down, private.
Where are you from, Peterson?
Hollywood, California.
By way of Alabama, sir.
You see, I enlisted in '42. I thought
we'd get a chance to fight, sir.
Did you know the sergeant well?
No. He was with the
company when I got assigned,
and PFCs and sergeants,
we don't mix too well, sir.
You played ball for him. Oh,
yes, sir. I played shortstop.
And did you like the sergeant? No, sir.
Well, it goes back to the
team. Stoneass felt that...
Stoneass?
I'm the only one who called
him that. Sergeant Waters.
Didn't mean no offense, sir.
By the time I got here,
the team had won nine
or 10 games in a row.
There was even a rumor we'd get
to play the Yankees in exhibition.
Anyway, we were...
We were playing the 35th
Ordinance this particular day.
It was a real big game too.
The YWCA sent a whole
busload of women to see us.
Yes, a real big day, sir.
Whoo!
I can't believe that.
Yeah.
Let it fly again. Let's go, Pete.
Come on, batter. Hit the ball.
That's a hell of a ballplayer.
Come on, hit it. Throw
another one up here.
Come on, C.J., next county.
Hell of a ballplayer. Did you see...?
All right, C.J. Right on, C.J.
Come on, boy.
Did you see that ball?
Did you see it? Did you see it go?
We played fairly well. I had two
hits. Smalls had a couple and C.J...
C.J. was incredible.
And we beat them something
like nine-, 10-nothing.
Like we always did after, we went
over to the mess hall to celebrate.
Fellas.
It's a big ball, give it back.
C.J. Who was that fine river hip thing
you was talking to before the game?
The woman had tits like two helmets.
You see the size of them
knockers? No, he didn't.
Smalls couldn't even
see a ball go in his glove.
How the hell he gonna
see C.J.? I saw C.J., man.
Will you all let C.J. tell
me about this woman?
She looked mighty good to me, C.J.
All she asked me for was my autograph.
She looked like she was
asking for more than that.
Moved in close.
Breathing heavy.
Waving them tits all in your face.
He's right on that, C.J.
If I'd given that gal
what she asked me for,
she'd give me something I didn't want.
Around home,
there's a fella folks used
to call Little Jimmy One-Leg
on account of his thing was so big.
A couple of years ago,
a young, pretty thing
laid clap on Jimmy so bad
he lost the one good leg he had.
Now folks just call him Little.
You know, that pretty young thing
talking to me ain't look too clean.
Yeah, them dirty ones will give you
the clap every time, right, Henson?
I hear tell they're on the verge
of getting all of us together.
The colored, the white,
say they want one army.
You can forget that, C.J.
White folks ain't never
gonna integrate no army.
I don't know. If they do,
I'm gonna be ready for them.
♪ Get me a bright-red zoot suit ♪
Yeah. Yeah.
♪ And a pile Of patent-leather shoes ♪
♪ At home, sitting at home
Waiting for the day we get the news ♪
♪ Lord, Lord ♪
Go on, boy.
♪ Lord, Lord, Lord Lordy-Lord, yeah ♪
♪ Look out, Adolf Hitler ♪
♪ You and Tojo Gonna
be singin' the blues ♪
All right.
♪ Got a little problem ♪
♪ It's about 5 foot 2 ♪
♪ And they call him sarge ♪
♪ And he's after you ♪
♪ Gotta watch what you're saying ♪
♪ Gotta watch what you do ♪
♪ Because that lowdown Dirty Waters ♪
♪ He's gonna roll all over you ♪
♪ Lord, Lord ♪
♪ Lord, Lord, Lord Lordy-Lord, yeah ♪♪
Knock it off. We don't need
no more of that guitar-picking,
sitting-around-the-shack
music today, C.J.
I want all you out of those baseball
uniforms and into work clothes.
You'll report to me at 1600.
We got a work detail, painting
the lobby of the Officers' Club.
Why can't those officers
paint their own club?
Hell, no, Smalls.
Let the Great Colored
Cleanup Company do it.
Our motto is, "Anything
you don't wanna do,
the colored troops will do for you."
♪ Anything you don't wanna do
The colored troops will do for you ♪
♪ Anything you don't wanna
do The colored troops will do for you ♪
♪ Anything you don't wanna do
The colored troops will do for you ♪♪
That's enough.
Let me tell all you fancy-assed,
ball-playing Negroes something.
The reasons for any orders
given by a superior officer
is none of y'all's business.
You obey them.
This country is at war.
And you niggers are
soldiers, nothing else.
And something else.
From now on, when I tell you
to do something, I want it done.
Is that clear? Yes, sir.
Now get out of those baseball uniforms.
I could smell you suckers
before I hit the door.
Hey, what kind of colored man are you?
I'm a soldier, Peterson.
And the kind of colored man that
don't like lazy, shiftless Negroes.
Well, sir, you ain't got to
come in here calling us names.
The Nazis call you schwarze.
You gonna complain to
Hitler he hurt your feelings?
Don't look like to me we could
do too much to them Nazis
with paintbrushes, sarge.
You trying to mock me, C.J.?
No, sir, sarge. Good.
Because whatever an ignorant
Geechee like you has to say
ain't worth paying attention to, is it?
Is it?
I reckon not, sarge.
You're a creep, Waters.
Sarge's just joking, Pete.
He don't mean no harm.
No, he does. I mean, we take
enough from them white boys.
Yes, you do. If it wasn't
for Southern niggers
white folks wouldn't
think we was all fools.
Well, where are you from, England?
Wilkie.
Looks like we got us a
wiseass Alabama boy here.
Yes, sir.
Now, don't you get smart, nigger.
Get your fucking hands off me.
You wanna hit old Sergeant Waters, boy?
Come on.
Please.
Come on, nigger.
Ten-hut.
At ease.
What's going on here,
sergeant? - Nothing, sir.
I was going over some
batting techniques, sir.
Is there something you
wanted? Something I can do?
No, no, nothing.
I just wanted to congratulate you
men on the game you won today.
Now, the way I figure it, only seven more
and we'll be the first colored team
in Army history to play the Yankees.
The entire regiment is counting on you.
Sergeant? Sir.
As far as I'm concerned, these
men can have the rest of the day off.
I beg your pardon, sir.
Excuse me, sir. These
men don't need time off.
They need work. Our fellas
in Africa aren't getting time off.
Besides, we have orders to
report for a paint detail at 1600.
Who issued that order? Major Harris.
I'll speak to the major. Sir?
I don't think it's a good idea to have a
colored NCO mixed up with your officers, sir.
I said I'd speak to him, sergeant.
Yes, sir.
Memphis, about that catch
you made in center field today...
How in the hell did you get up that high?
They say I got bird in my blood,
sir. I hope it's American eagle.
No, sir. Crow.
See, a man told my
daddy the day I was born.
He said, "The boy got the
shadow of crow in his chest..."
That's fine, Memphis.
Men, you played a great game today.
Sergeant? WATERS: A-ten-hut.
Carry on.
Shadow of a crow.
What do you
say? Yeah, that's the...
How long a story were you
gonna tell the man there, C.J.?
Peterson. I ain't forgot you, boy.
It's time to teach you a lesson.
Sir?
Go outside and
make sure everything is set up.
You want all the NCOs?
I'm going outside and
wait for you, Geechee.
And when you come out,
I'm gonna whup your black Southern ass.
Let the whole company watch too.
You need to learn
respect for these stripes.
The rest of you,
get those goddamn
uniforms off like I said.
You ain't gonna fight him, are you?
Don't do it. He'll fight dirty.
You can't whup the sarge.
Well, you wanna fight in my place, Cobb?
Shoot.
Pete. Pete, I got some farmer's dust.
Just a pinch will make
you strong as a bull.
Would you get the hell
out of here with that crap?
You can't speak up. You
let him treat you like a dog.
Calling names ain't nothing, Pete.
I know who I is. Sarge ain't
so bad. He's been good to me.
C.J., the man despises
you. You're wrong, Pete.
Plus, I feel sorry for him myself.
Any man ain't sure where he
belong gotta be in a whole lot of pain.
Look, don't you all
even care about nothing?
Don't none of us like it, Pete.
But this is the Army and
sarge got all the stripes.
I'll go get the captain. You ain't got
to go out and get your head beaten in.
Well, somebody's got to fight him.
Waters, what's going on?
I had a problem
with one of the guys.
Yeah? Ha-ha-ha. Don't worry about it.
Come on now, boy.
Let's take your whupping like a man.
Kick his ass,
Pete. Watch him, Pete.
Yeah, come on out here
and kick old sarge's ass.
Come on, Geechee.
You don't want the sarge to
grow old waiting for you now.
Fight.
Fight him. Fight him. Grab him.
Get him. Come on.
Come on. Come on.
Watch him, Pete.
He got him. That got him.
Come on. Get up. Get up, sarge.
You throw a pretty mean punch, boy.
But old sarge is here to kick your ass.
Come on. C.J. Come on, Pete.
Move over there.
There you go. Come on.
Who the hell
is fighting over there?
Come on. There you go.
- Get up, Pete.
- Get up, get up.
- Get him, sarge.
- Vernon. Vernon.
That's enough.
Yeah, he beat
me pretty bad that day, sir.
Did anybody
report the fight to an officer?
No, sir, I never reported
it. I know I should have,
but he left me alone after
that so I just played ball.
I appreciate your honesty, Peterson.
Thank you, sir.
Did you see Sergeant
Waters the night he was killed?
No, sir. Smalls and I had guard duty.
Thank you. That'll
be all for now. Yes, sir.
Did the team ever get
to play the Yankees?
No, sir. We lost the last
game to a sanitation company.
What brings you out to
my neighborhood, captain?
Slumming?
I wanted you to see the request
I've sent to Colonel Nivens to
have your investigation terminated.
Now, my reasons have
nothing to do with you personally.
My request won't hurt
your career in any way.
It's just that there are other
things to consider in this case.
Only the color of my skin.
Now, hold it, Davenport.
I want the people that
killed Waters prosecuted.
So do I. Then give this up.
White people down here, they
won't see their duty or justice.
They'll see you. And you
can't possibly get at the truth.
Why? Because two white
officers are involved in this?
And you can't get them charged,
court-martialed or anything else.
Why wasn't there any
mention of them in my report?
You think I'm gonna let
you get away with this?
I was ordered not to include it.
By who? Colonel Nivens.
Now, look,
they took two .45-caliber
slugs out of Waters, Army issue.
Now, if my men thought a
white officer had killed him,
there would have been a slaughter.
Who are the officers?
Lieutenant Byrd in Ordnance
and a Captain Wilcox,
uh, 12th Hospital Group.
Private Seymour saw them on the road.
When I checked the officers'
billet, I found them both asleep.
They admitted they'd had an
argument with the sergeant, heh,
but said they'd left him on the road.
So you never believed
the Klan was involved.
No. No.
Now can you see why this
thing needs somebody else?
Tell me what they told you.
Look, hotshot,
they're not gonna let you
charge those two men.
Tell me what they told you.
Left, hup, three, four.
Left, hup, three, four.
Left, two, three, four.
You wanna move your ass off
the goddamn road, sergeant?
Well, I'll be damned.
If it ain't the white boys.
Did you hear what he said?
Shit. Let it go.
Let it go my ass. Come here, sergeant.
White boys, all starched and stiff.
Want everybody to
learn that symphony shit.
That's what you said in France,
and, you know, I listened to it.
Am I right, now, hm? Am I?
You'd better straighten
up and salute an officer
or I'll take your fucking stripes, boy.
That's better.
Heh-heh-heh. Well, look at the nigger.
You come to attention right
now, and that is an order.
I ain't doing nothing white
folks say do. No more.
No, leave him alone, the man is drunk.
I want the nigger to
do like I tell him. Do it.
No. I'll teach him, goddamn it.
I always mind y'all.
Look what it's done to me.
I hate myself.
Don't blame me. God's the
one who made you black, not me.
My daddy said,
"Don't talk like this,
talk like that.
Don't say,
"Say..."
I even killed for you.
Stop!
You wanna kill him? The man is
sick. Let him go. You're gonna kill him.
Come on.
White men are killing for you, nigger.
Good men dying for you.
So anyway, they said they
left Waters about 2310.
And everyone in the barracks
confirms that they were in by 2330
and that neither man left
till the following morning.
That's nothing but white officers
lying to protect two of their own.
You know that.
I'm arresting both of them, captain.
Consider yourself under arrest,
pending my charges
against you. What charges?
It was your duty to go over
Nivens' head if you had to.
Oh, you're gonna arrest
the colonel too, Davenport?
Because he's part of their alibi.
He was there in the officers'
billet when they came in.
Played poker till 3:30
in the morning, yeah.
Yeah, the colonel, Major Hines
and four other white officers.
They're all lying.
You just go out and prove it.
Sir, I intend to arrest
Lieutenant Byrd and Captain Wilcox.
You will do nothing of the kind. Colonel.
I believe these men had something
to do with Sergeant Waters' death.
No, I can't allow that.
You have no authority
to arrest white officers.
Then give me the authority, sir.
Colonel.
Your breakfast is ready.
Thank you, honey.
Can I have someone
fetch you coffee, captain?
No, thank you, ma'am.
I hope they're making your stay at
Fort Neal real comfortable, captain.
They're taking good care of me.
It's very thoughtful of you to ask.
Good morning.
No, I can't
give you that authority.
I told you. They were in by 11:30.
I was there.
Now, you've read our
affidavits on this thing.
Colonel, what will the Army say
when they find out white officers
beat up the victim not long
before he was shot to death?
Their CO refuses to report
they had anything to do with it
and he signs an affidavit
supporting their alibi.
These two are our best suspects.
How can you not have them arrested
or at least questioned by
the investigating officer?
Something like this is bound to get out.
I didn't say you couldn't question them.
But I want a white officer present.
And I want everything
that's said reported to me.
Is that clear? Of course, sir.
You're dismissed, captain. Yes, sir.
♪ What a privilege to carry ♪
♪ Everything to God in prayer ♪
♪ Oh, what peace we often forfeit ♪
♪ Oh, what needless pains We bear ♪
♪ All because we do not carry ♪
♪ Everything to God in prayer ♪
♪ Amen ♪♪
Go with God.
Hey, Virge, same old sermon, huh?
I didn't know you were
a religious man, Henson.
I'm not.
I just play this organ.
If I play on Sundays, I get out of a
few work details during the week.
That's all.
I wanna talk about Sergeant Waters. Yeah?
There ain't much to talk about,
except for I didn't like the man myself
on account of what he did to C.J.
What did he do?
I don't mean you no offense,
but I ain't exactly crazy
about talking to no officer.
Colored or white.
Oh, you're gonna talk, Henson.
You'll talk or I'll put your
ass in the stockade so long
you'll forget how to.
He was always on...
Always on C.J.'s back about something.
Every little thing. Least ways,
that's how it seemed to me.
Then the shooting went
down. What shooting?
Well, the shooting over
at Williams' Golden Palace.
Happened just last year right at
the end of the baseball season.
A whole lot of shots had
gone off right near the barracks.
I had gone over and gotten a little
juiced at the Enlisted Men's Club.
Somebody's shooting.
They're shooting over there.
Everybody up. Wake
them up, Wilkie. Move it.
Come on, Un-ass them
bunks. Come on, you Geechees.
Off your asses, on
your feet. Everybody up.
What's going on, man?
Company, a-ten-hut.
There's been a shooting.
One of ours bucked the
line at Williams' pay phone
and three soldiers are dead.
Two colored, one white MP.
The man who bucked
the line, he killed the MP
and the white boys
started shooting everybody.
That's how our two got shot.
And this lowdown nigger we're
looking for got chased down here.
Was almost caught till
somebody in these barracks
started shooting at the men chasing him.
So we got us a vicious, lowdown
murdering piece of black trash
in here somewhere.
And a few people who helped him.
If any of you are in this,
I want you to step forward.
All you baseball niggers
are innocent, huh?
Wilkie. Sir.
Make the search. Open
those footlockers. Come on.
All right, Peterson, what are
you waiting for, an invitation?
Open them up. Spread them out. I
wanna see what's happening inside.
Memphis, you in this?
No, sir, sarge.
You heard what the sergeant said.
How many of you were out tonight?
I was over at Williams' around about
7. I got me a pack of Lucky Strikes.
But I didn't try to call home,
though. - Got something.
Still warm.
C.J., is this yours?
You know it ain't mine, sarge.
Probably not.
Probably just crawled
in through a window,
passed everybody's bunk, Peterson, Cobb,
and just snuggled up under yours, huh?
Must be voodoo, right, boy?
Or some of that farmer's dust.
That ain't mine, sarge. I hate guns.
Makes me feel bad just to see a gun.
Liar. Place this man under arrest.
Look, sir, C.J. couldn't hurt
a fly, sarge. You know that.
I found a gun, soldier.
You know it ain't him.
Who is it then? You? I saw
somebody sneak in here.
You were drunk when you left the
club. Throw his ass in the shower.
Well, I was here all night.
C.J. ain't go nowhere.
He was asleep before I got to bed.
Oh, you think he's innocent, huh?
C.J. Memphis,
playing cotton picker, singing the blues,
bowing and scraping,
smiling in white folks' faces.
This man undermined us.
You and me. Everybody.
That "yes, sir, boss"
is hiding something.
Are we like that today, in 1
944? He shot that white boy.
What are you going to do now, boy?
Hit a noncommissioned officer.
Well, C.J. just lost his head... Shut up.
Get him out of here.
Sarge, I know I saw somebody.
Smalls, I saw somebody, I did.
Oh, C.J. was sleeping when I came in.
Well, it's Waters. Can't y'all see that?
You know, I seen them before.
Yeah, we had them in Alabama.
White man give him a
little-ass job as a servant,
and when the boss ain't looking,
that old copycat nigger
act like he the new boss.
Shouting, ordering people around.
You see, arresting C.J.,
that'll get Waters another stripe.
Yeah. Next, it'll be you or you.
You see, he can't look good
unless he's standing on you.
Cobb told him C.J. was here all evening.
Waters didn't even listen, did he?
Turning somebody in.
"Yeah, look what I done, captain, boss."
Only reason they let him in is they
know he'll do what they tell him to.
See, I've seen this
kind of fool before, boy.
Yeah, somebody's gonna
kill him one of these days.
I heard they killed a
sergeant at Fort Robinson.
- A recruit did it.
- Forget it, Pete.
Our luck, sarge will come through
the war, won't even get a scratch.
Yeah, maybe,
but I'm going over to them stockades.
Tell them MPs what I know.
C.J. was in here all evening.
I'm gonna go with you.
Y'all wait up. I'm coming too.
Was Wilkie the only
person out of his bunk?
I guess. Wilkie came in with the sarge.
But it's hard to say.
It's been a while and like I said,
I was a little juiced that night.
Ellis. Yes? Yes, sir?
Find out what's holding up my
investigation of Wilcox and Byrd.
Yes, sir.
The night Sergeant Waters
was killed, where were you?
I was in the barracks.
I played checkers with Cobb
till 9:30 and then I went to bed.
Is there gonna be anything else, sir?
Dismissed, private.
Let her go.
Let me know when it's full
board. Here we go. Let's go, baby.
Pick it up. MAN
2: Keep your rifles up.
That's it.
That's it, move out!
Move out! Move your ass!
That's it, move out! Move out!
Goddamn it, get going!
That's it, that's it, move it out!
Shake it out! Hit
that wall! Get your feet up!
Hurry it up! Hurry it up!
Move out! Move out! That's it!
Watch it!
Shake your ass! That's it!
Move it out!
Move it! Let's go!
Ellis!
Ellis!
Hold it!
Stop shooting! Stop shooting!
Which one of you idiots is Cobb?
That's me, sir.
You all right, captain?
I wanna talk to you.
What'd he want old Cobb for?
I don't know.
What'd he ask you, Pete?
He just asked a couple of
questions about the baseball game,
some about the sarge.
Didn't amount to too much.
Yeah, we was homeys, me
and C.J., both from Mississippi.
C.J., from Carmella.
Me, I'm from up around Jutlerville,
what they call Snake County.
How did you feel when
your best friend was arrested?
I hated Waters for it, sir. Hated?
C.J. ain't killed nobody.
He hit Waters, didn't he? Yeah,
but the sergeant made him, sir.
He called that boy things
he ain't never heard before.
C.J. was from the farm, a country boy.
That jail cell started doing
crazy things to C.J., sir.
It started closing in on him.
Are you all right?
It's hard to breathe in
these little spaces, Cobb.
What they doing to you in here, C.J.?
Man wasn't made for this here.
Nothing was.
Don't think I'll ever see
an animal in a cage again
and not feel sorry for it.
Rather be on a chain gang.
Oh, come on, homey.
Don't think I'm getting
out of here, Cobb.
Feel like I'm going crazy.
Can't walk in here.
Can't see the sun.
I tried to sing, but
nothing won't come out.
Yesterday, I broke a guitar string.
And I lost my dust.
Got no protection, Cobb.
Nothing to
keep the dogs from tearing at my bones.
C.J., stop talking crazy.
You know who come up here last night?
Sergeant Waters.
They talking about giving you five years.
They call what you did mutiny, boy.
That gun ain't mine.
We know that, C.J.
We changed the charge
on you this morning.
You're in here for striking
a superior officer, boy.
And everybody seen it too.
Why are you doing this to me, sarge?
Oh, don't feel too bad, C.J.
It has to be this way.
You see,
the first war didn't change
nothing for the Negro.
But this one, gonna change everything.
Them Nazis ain't all crazy.
Whole lot of people just can't seem to
fit in to where things seem to be going.
Like you, C.J.
See, the black race
can't afford you no more.
Oh, there used to be a time
we'd see somebody like you
singing, clowning, "yes, sir, boss'ing",
and we wouldn't do anything.
Folks liked that.
You were good.
Homey kind of nigger.
When they needed somebody
to mistreat, call a name or two,
they paraded you.
Reminded them of the good old days.
Not no more.
The day of the Geechee is gone, boy.
And you're going with it.
We can't let nobody go on
believing we're all fools like you.
I waited a long time for you, boy.
But I got you.
I put two Geechees in jail in
Camp Campbell, Kentucky.
Three in Fort Huachuca.
Now I've got you.
One less fool for the
race to be ashamed of.
What happened to him?
C.J. killed himself, sir.
The day after I saw him, the MPs
found him hanging from the bars.
We lost our last game.
We just threw it.
We did it for C.J.
Captain Taylor was mad because
we ain't get to play the Yankees.
Peterson was right on that one.
We needed to protest that man.
And the sergeant, what did he do?
Well, they broke up the team
and they assigned us to this
here smoke-generating company.
And the sarge, he just
started acting funny.
He stayed drunk all the time.
What time did you get
in the night he was killed?
Between 2120 and 9:30.
Me and Henson listened
to The Jack Benny show,
played checkers. Who was
the last man in that night?
Peterson and Smalls.
They had guard duty, sir.
Is that it, captain? Thank you, corporal.
Yes, sir.
Eight ball, corner pocket.
Whose idea was this, Charlie? Nivens.
And you have to clear the area,
Jim. We're here to question these two.
He's got no business in here.
Take it up with the colonel.
Now, this is Captain Davenport.
You both understand, you're to
give the captain your full cooperation.
You're a lawyer, huh?
I'm not here to answer
your questions, lieutenant.
Sit down.
Yes, sir.
When did you last see Waters?
Same night somebody killed him.
Course, I should've done it myself
by the way he spoke to Wilcox and me.
How did he speak to you, captain?
Well, he was drunk. He said
a few things he shouldn't have.
I told the lieutenant not to make
the situation any worse than it was.
So we just left him there, on
the side of the road, on his knees.
Alive.
Exactly what did he say?
He said he wasn't gonna obey
the white man's orders anymore.
And he starts blaming Wilcox
and me for him being black.
I mean, imagine that, huh?
Hell, I didn't even know the man.
Yeah and he
said he killed somebody too.
And some pretty
insulting things about us.
I mean, uh, white officers.
Did he say who? Mention a name?
Look, the goddamn
nigger was disrespectful.
No way a colored soldier
speak to a white officer like that.
What are we doing,
wasting time on this, huh?
You answer him like
he wants you to, Byrd,
or I'll stick it to your
ass every chance I get.
You got that?
Yes, sir.
Captain, let me handle this.
Then handle it.
You said he was disrespectful.
Is that why you killed him?
I killed no one. Sit down.
You hit him? Knocked him down.
Shot him. He was alive.
You beat him up, shot him.
Get out of my face before
I kill you. Like Waters?
No! TAYLOR: Soldier.
He's trying to put it on me. Sit down.
Answer his questions, lieutenant.
You were both coming
off bivouac? Speak up.
You had weapons. But we didn't fire.
When did you turn them in? Right away.
Nivens took our .45s to the MPs.
He wanted it quiet.
Didn't want colored boys to
know anybody white was involved.
But those weapons cleared ballistics.
Besides, we've been short on
.45 caliber ammo for, what, six months?
It's for MPs and
special-duty people only.
Look, nobody on that
exercise was issued any.
What?
I said, sir, nobody on the
bivouac was issued any .45 ammo.
I don't believe you.
Why wasn't I told?
The weapons had cleared,
the colonel felt if he involved you,
you'd go to Washington,
which you did anyway.
Sir, I just wanna say we were not
involved with the sergeant's death.
Now, I'm a doctor.
We left that man on the
side of the road. Alive.
You're under
arrest. The charge is murder.
Captain...
You think I believe that crap?
Let them go.
What?
Are we being
charged? - Not by me.
What are you doing? You've
got a motive, you've got a witness.
I mean, what more do you want?
This is still my investigation, Charlie.
We've both been had, captain.
Colonel knew this all along.
Been marching around in circles.
They are guilty and you know it.
Now, I'll back you up. Charge them.
I do what the facts tell me, not
you. You don't know what a fact is.
I'm the lawyer. They
teach law at West Point?
You don't have to be a lawyer
to deal with those two assholes.
And if they didn't kill Waters, who did?
I don't know yet.
What do you know about C.J. Memphis?
A great ballplayer.
Committed suicide.
It was a tragedy.
I think Waters tricked
the kid into attacking him.
No, I can't believe that, Davenport.
This man managed the finest baseball team
in the entire United States Army.
Besides, colored people
aren't that devious.
Hell, we hadn't lost
a game for two years.
And the finest...
I mean, the finest player that
Waters ever had was C.J. Memphis.
If you'd have seen him,
you'd know what I mean.
Captain. Captain Davenport.
We found Wilkie, but we haven't
located Peterson and Smalls yet.
Where's
Wilkie? Waiting for you, sir.
Good. Wait.
Didn't you question Wilkie
and Peterson already?
I asked you a question.
This is my investigation.
Ellis, let's go. Well,
that's the problem.
You arrogant son of a bitch.
You nervous, Wilkie?
No, I just couldn't figure out why
you called me back, sir. Heh, heh.
You said the sarge busted you, right?
Uh, yeah, he got me busted,
sir. He reported me to the captain.
How'd you feel? Well, I...
You and
the sarge were good friends.
Uh, yeah... He was a nice guy.
Didn't you tell me that? Yeah, I...
Would a nice guy get a friend busted?
Well... No, speak up.
You lied when you said he was a nice guy?
No. What I said was he was...
Was Waters a nice guy or not?
No. No, he wasn't a nice guy.
You don't turn somebody
in. Give him extra duty.
But three stripes, it took me 1
0 years to get them stripes, sir.
That's right.
That made you mad, didn't it?
Yes, mad. Things I did for him.
That's right. You were
his boy, weren't you?
You took care of the team.
You ran his errands. Well...
You policed his quarters.
You listened to his stories.
Put the gun under C.J.'s bunk. Yes. No...
Sit down!
It was you Henson saw. You
lied about Waters, you're lying now.
The only person out of barracks.
Who else could've found C.J.'s bunk?
It was you, Wilkie. You.
It was the sarge. He ordered me to do it.
He said I'd get my stripes back.
He wanted to teach C.J. a lesson.
Put him in jail, scare him.
The boy hit him, he had
C.J. where he wanted him.
And then C.J., he hung himself.
He died like he was spiting the sarge.
He didn't figure on that. What
did he have against Memphis?
He despised him, but he would
hide it, everybody liked that boy.
Underneath, it was a crazy hate, captain.
Crazy hate. You won't believe
it. Sometimes you could...
You could just feel it.
♪ Well, now my daddy's Gone to glory ♪
♪ I work real hard, I drink
corn liquor That's the truth ♪
♪ Whoo ♪
He's the kind of boy that
seems innocent, Wilkie.
Got everybody on the post
thinking he's a strong, black buck.
White boys envy his strength.
His speed.
Power in his swing.
♪ Mm-hm ♪
Then this colored champion lets those
same white boys call him Shine or Sambo
♪ Whoa, Lord ♪
and he just smiles.
♪ I dream about the time
When I was a little boy ♪
Can't talk.
Can barely read or write his own name
and don't care.
He'll tell you they like him
or that colored folks ain't
supposed to have but so much sense.
♪ Yes, he would ♪♪
You know the damage
one ignorant Negro can do?
We were in France in the first war,
we'd won decorations,
but the white boys had told all
them French gals that we had tails.
And they found this
ignorant colored soldier.
Paid him to tie a tail to his ass
and run around half-naked
making monkey sounds.
They put him on a big round
table in the Café Napoléon.
Put a reed in his hand,
a crown on his head,
blanket on his shoulders, and made him
eat bananas in front of them Frenchies.
Oh, how the white boys danced that night,
passed out leaflets with
that boy's picture on it.
Called him Moonshine,
king of the monkeys.
When we slit his throat,
you know that fool asked
us what he had done wrong?
My daddy told me, we got to
turn our backs on his kind, Wilkie.
Close our ranks to the
chitlins, collard greens,
corn-bread style.
We are men, soldiers. And
I don't intend for our race
to be cheated out of its place
of honor and respect in this war
because of fools like C.J.
You watch everything he does.
Everything.
Give me a drink.
And I watched him.
But Waters couldn't wait.
He wouldn't talk about nothing
else. C.J. this, C.J. all the time.
Why didn't he pick on
Peterson? They had the fight.
He liked Peterson.
Pete fought back. Sarge admired that.
He was planning to promote
Pete. You imagine that?
He thought Peterson
would make a fine soldier.
What did Peterson do when C.J. died?
Everybody blamed sarge.
Pete put together that
protest that lost our last game.
Afterwards, he kept to
himself or with Smalls.
I didn't mean to do what I did.
Ellis! It wasn't my fault.
Ellis! ELLIS: Yes, sir.
I did what he told me. What is going on?
We're shipping out.
They're gonna give us
Negroes a chance to fight.
Hitler ain't got a chance. After what
Joe Louis did to Max Schmeling...
Twenty-four-hour standby alert.
It's the invasion of Europe, boys.
Look out, Hitler, the niggers
is coming to get your ass
through the fog.
We gonna goose the goose step there.
Heil Hitler!
We gonna turn them Nazis around. Yeah!
We're gonna teach them a
thing or two about them schwarze.
Ellis. Yes, sir.
Private Wilkie is under arrest.
Take him to the stockade.
Sir?
You heard me.
Private Smalls, as you requested, sir.
- Leave us alone, sergeant.
- Yes, sir.
Why'd you go AWOL, soldier?
Private Anthony Smalls, sir.
Answer my question.
I didn't go A-W-O-I, sir.
See, I got drunk in
Tynin and I was just...
Weren't you and Peterson
supposed to be on detail?
Where was Peterson?
Speak up.
I don't know, sir. You
just walked off your detail
and Peterson did nothing? No, sir.
See, he warned me, sir. Said,
"Listen, Smalls. Listen up, you..."
Are you trying to make a
fool out of me, Smalls, huh?
No, sir.
You two went over the
hill together, didn't you?
Answer me!
Yes. Yes. You went over the hill
because Peterson knew I'd find
out the two of you killed Waters.
Didn't you?
What? I can't hear you.
You killed Waters, didn't you?
I want an answer.
Did you kill Waters?
It was Peterson, sir.
It wasn't me.
Smalls, look who's drunk on his ass, boy.
Oh, leave him be, Pete.
No, no.
No, I'm gonna enjoy this.
Big, bad Sergeant
Waters down on his knee.
No, sir, Smalls.
No, I'm gonna love this.
Hey, sarge.
Need some help?
Hi, Pete.
Oh, yeah.
Here, come on now, here we go.
That's the help I'll give you.
Shut up! SMALLS: Peter...
Smalls, some people...
If this was a German, would you kill it?
Huh?
If it was Hitler or that fucking
Tojo, would you kill him?
There's a trick to it, Peterson.
It's the only way you can win.
See, C.J.,
he could never make it.
He was a clown. Ha-ha-ha.
A clown in blackface. A nigger.
See, you got to be like them.
But the rules are fixed and...
Shh.
Listen.
Hear it?
It's C.J.
♪ Lowdown Lowdown dirty shame ♪♪
I made him do it.
But it doesn't make any difference.
They still hate you.
It's justice, Smalls.
It's for C.J.
Everybody. They still hate you.
And you call that justice?
No, sir.
Then why the fuck
didn't you do something?
I was just...
Just scared of him, sir.
He said everybody would think
white people did it.
Oh, God, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, I was just so scared about it.
Caught this one on old bridge road, sir.
That'll be all, thank you.
You told it, didn't you?
I didn't kill much.
Some things need getting rid of.
A man like Waters never did
nobody no good anyway, captain.
Who gave you the right to judge?
To decide who is fit to be a Negro
and who is not? Who?
Sergeant.
Sir?
Get these goddamn men out of here.
Yes, sir.
I hear they caught Peterson.
I guess that's it.
Got your man.
Yeah, I got him.
I was wrong.
So was I.
Say, Charlie, look,
I could do with a lift.
Hop in.
I guess I'll have to get used to
Negroes with bars on their shoulders.
You know, being in charge.
Oh, you'll get used to it, captain.
You can bet your ass on that.
You'll get used to it.
Hut!