A Soldier's Story (1984) - full transcript

♪ 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!