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A REGULAR JOE
By Dale Reynolds
What do combat veterans keep to themselves?
SYNOPSIS:
JOE, a War 2 American veteran, is informed he has terminal cancer. He has a little time to repair relationships with his family, including his wife, STELLA, his son, BILL, and grandsons TONY and SANDY. Joe is regarded as a hero, and was awarded the Silver Star. Joe regards himself as something other than a hero. Audiences can determine for themselves exactly, or inexactly, what Joe is. The very personal horror of war is shown, along with the effects of failing to deal with war experiences have on family and others close to the combat veteran. This family's conflicts include a clash between Bill, who evaded the draft in the Vietnam War, and his son Tony, who has just enlisted in the Army to fight in the Gulf War, as he's always admired his heroic grandfather, Joe. Joe himself must also come to terms with trying to detour his younger grandson, Sandy, just a boy, from fascination with war. This movie is a drama about the war culture of the United States, and how this culture affects families and individuals.
A REGULAR JOE
A REGULAR JOE
(a family war movie)
a screenplay by Dale Reynolds
WGA Reg. No. 749024
(C) 2000
41 St. George's Road
Temple Fortune
London NW11 0LU
England
Tel. +44 (0)20 8209 9590
Email: WritDale@gmail.com
A REGULAR JOE
FADE IN:
EXT. AERIAL VIEW OF AN AMERICAN CITY - SUMMER - DAY
INSERT:‘’August 1, 1990’’
RUN CREDITS
We hearA SONG, perhapsAmerican Patrolby Benny Goodman. It is played from a distance, perhaps somewhat slowly, as if insomeone’s memory ... THE SONG CONTINUES ...
EXT. A SUBURBAN BACK LAWN - DAY
VARIOUS ANGLES ON SANDY - HE isa 7-year old boy playing war withhis toy rifle. He shoots it, makes PECHEWsounds at an invisible enemy on the back lawn next door.
SANDY’S FANTASY: EST. SHOT - SX
He shoots out the neighbor’s windows -the shirtsdrying on theclothesline ... He swings his rifle down in a fury and shoots - HIS DOG, FETCH ... Fetch looks up, vaguely guilty, as dogs look when they are completely innocent.
SANDY
Sorry, Fetch.
(shoots up into the air)
Pechew, pechew, pechew.
Greater mischief in Sandy’s face, and as theSONG ENDS, we see - JOE, 70. He sits in shade on the patio, worried ... He resembles BILL ... And so does Sandy, who now aims at Joe, fires silently; - but he pulls his rifle away at the last instant.
SANDY (Cont.)
Missed you, Grandpa. On purpose.
CLOSE ON JOE - for a fraction of a second he actually looks frightened ... Sandy runs to Joe, points his rifle down, stops.
SANDY (Cont.)
Sorry I scared you. How many people
did you kill in World War Two, Grandpa?
Bill said you got The Silver Star.
JOE
(reluctantly - it’s his way)
Your father told you that?
END CREDITS
INT. PAT'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - EST. SHOT - DAY
PAT, early 4O's, Sandy’s mother, Joe’s ex-daughter-in-law, comes in from the street across the living room quickly to the PHONE, RINGING, - also looks out the window to the back yard.
THROUGH THE WINDOW we see SANDY, then JOE, as they were.
PAT
Hello? (listens) A scan? What for?
Joe rises and Sandy throws him a softball to play catch.
INTERCUT THEIR GAME OF CATCH, AND PAT, INT., WITH:
EXT. / THEN INT. JOE'S HOME - STELLA - EST. SHOT - DAY
It is a comfortable, modest suburban home. Joe's wife, STELLA, late sixties, is on the phone.
STELLA
Dr. Milo won’t really say.
I just found the bill for it.
EXT. PAT’S BACK LAWN - JOE missesSANDY’S badly thrown ball ...
SANDY notices Joe looks again suddenly worried about something ... This worries Sandy ... Joe picks up the ball, tosses it - Sandy misses ... FETCH runs after the ball ... Sandy wrestles with the dog, gets the ball after a tug, rather cruelly shoves the dog away. He throws the ball as -
PAT - IN THE WINDOW, holds up the phone, opens window.
PAT
Joe? Stella’s on the phone.
JOE
I’ll be home later.
PAT
Stella, -
STELLA
I know. - Later.
OUTSIDE, Sandy grabs the ball away from Fetch again, shuts Fetch behind the back yard gate and heads for the streetas -
SANDY
(calls to inside)
We’re going for ice-cream, Mom.
JOE
Sorry, Sandy. I’ve got an appointment.
(lies)
I forgot.
Sandy looks dubiously at Joe as Joe walks off into:
EXT. FRONT YARD OF PAT AND SANDY’S HOUSE - DAY
JOE comes from the back yard and crosses to his CAR ... PAT comes out of the front of the house with a pitcher of lemonade and glasses. But Joe gets into his car.
PAT
Have something cool before you go.
Joe shakes his head, waves ‘’Bye-bye.’’
Thanks for looking after Sandy.
(confidentially)
I wish his father showed more interest.
Joe smiles - to take his mind off a family guilt, and his own. He starts to drive away, a worried look on his face again.
THIS MOMENT INTERCUT WITH:
INT. BILL’S HOUSE - DAY
We see BILL, just as he looked before, with a whisky.
EXT. PAT’S HOUSE JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
SANDY
Grandpa’s just like Dad.
PAT
Be fair. Grandpa’s - old.
INT. A DOCTOR'S OFFICE - DAY
JOE sits, worried, looks up at someone: DR. MILO.
JOE
No chemotherapy, radiation?
DR. MILO
They’d only make you more miserable,
Mr. Bukowski. You have a few months,
maybe longer. I've heard of some
remarkable cases.
JOE
Don’t believe everything you hear.
(studies prescription )
DR. MILO
It’s a mild pain killer. You’ll
get Morphine later. At least you
won’t have to suffer. - Here’s
some pills for the nausea.
Joe goes gravely quiet.
Anybody can get terminal, inoperable
cancer of the liver, Mr. Bukowski.
But your prolonged, excessive drinking
gave you Sclerosis,
JOE
I know. It complicated everything.
DR. MILO
You’ve still got Sclerosis, too. No
drinking. Not even a beer. If you
do, you’ll feel a lot more pain.
JOE
(sarcastically, bitterly)
Well then I’ll just take the morphine.
DR. MILO
You can’t drive, either, Mr. Bukowski.
(JOE goes especially downcast.)
I’m sorry.
JOE
Yeah. Me too.
DR. MILO
I know an excellent counseling service.
JOE
What for? My generation takes it as it
comes. Right on the chin.
INT. A CORRIDOR - OUTSIDE DR. MILO’S OFFICE - DAY
JOE comes into the CORRIDOR, puts his face to the wall, SOBS. But just for a moment.
EXT. THE VFW POST - DAY
JOE stops before the doorbell, intercom, at last pushes the bell. It RINGS from a distance. There is a CLICK. - THROUGH THE SPEAKER:
FAKE JOE (OS)
... A good used Italian war rifle...
Never been fired, only dropped once.
VOICES O.S. LAUGH - at an old joke.
PHIL (OS)
House of Heroes. Who are you?
JOE
(into intercom) Joe.
A BUZZER buzzes. The door unlocks. Joe enters.
INT. VFW - DAY
JOE comes in ... The NEWS BROADCAST ON KUWAIT, UNDER as before, absorbs PAUL, HARVEY, LEONARD and FAKE JOE. All wave, say hi to Joe, who sits alone at his end of the bar ... This surprises Leonard, though Joe is moody sometimes ... PHIL comes over toJoe.
PHIL
Hey, Joe. Whatta ya know?
JOE
Hey, Phil Kaye, whatta ya say?
Phil begins Joe’s usual, a highball.
I’ll have a beer, Phil.
Phil, all The Comrades look - Joe is in an odd mood.
JOE (Cont.)
What’s wrong with a beer?
PHIL
(to OTHERS) All I said was, ‘’Hey, Joe,
‘Whatta ya know?’’’
JOE
Yeah, like you always do.
Joe goes quiet. The other scrutinize him, but can’t, really.
PHIL
I thought you might say something
some day.
The Others laugh -- except for Leonard.
HARVEY
Like how he won that Silver Star?
PAUL
That's a military secret.
PHIL
‘’Hey, Joe, How the fuck are ya?’’
JOE
I’m dying. I’ve got cancer of the liver.
The Others look at one another, and decide it was not a joke. All stay quiet, draw near Joe, who does not look up from his beer. The Others murmur ‘’Shit’’, ‘’God damn’’, etc.
PHIL
Stella called, before.
LEONARD
You haven’t told the family?
CLOSE ON JOE - he says nothing.
EXT. / THEN INT. JOE AND STELLA’S HOUSE - DAY
STELLA is on the phone.
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
EXT. / THEN INT. PAT’S HOUSE - DAY
PAT is on the phone.
THROUGH KITCHEN WINDOW we see in PAT’S BACK YARD: SANDY ends play with his TOY RIFLE, as FETCH bids for attention ... Sandy comes in - Pat covers the phone.
PAT
Grandpa’s very sick.
SANDY
He’s dying?
STELLA
I finally got it out of Dr. Milo!
SANDY
You mean Grandpa Joe, right?
Pat nods - and looks away from Sandy’s expression of relief.
STELLA
Just wait till he gets home
this time.
(‘’laughs’’; cries)
PAT, ear to the phone, comforts SANDY, who is now moved by this news, but not as he could be, he knows himself.
EXT. / THEN INT. BILL’S HOME - DAY
INT. THE KITCHEN. - BILL stands guardedly with a whisky.
BILL
Talk with your grandfather
about the Army.
TONY, Bills’ son, about 18, suggestively athletic, looks up, blankly as he can. He looks like Bill, or maybe Joe.
BILL (Cont.)
What would your mother say?
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
INT. BILL’S LIVING ROOM - JOE sits in a huge chair, holds without much real interest, now, a LARGE WHISKY ... To one side of the large room we occasionally see, and from it HEAR UNDER, A TV BROADCAST OF THE INVASION OF KUWAIT.
TONY
She’s not back from Arnold’s yet.
-- Your father never wants to talk
to anybody.
BILL
I’m not gonna let you do it, Tony!
TONY
I’m eighteen.
BILL
Uniform bait!
TONY
It’s not the uniform.
INT. BILL’S LIVING ROOM
TONY, then BILL, come in to JOE.
TONY
Hi, Grandpa.
Joe begins to speak, but falls quiet.
BILL
Are you all right, Dad?
Joe takes Bill’s inquiry, at last, as impertinence of a sort. Bill does not usually ask him how he is ... Joe’s SILENCE prompts Tony to go on, but he’s unsure of doing so.
TONY
I’m thinking about signing up for
The Gulf, joining the Army. Like you.
BILL
He didn’t join.
TONY
Neither did you.
BILL
Vietnam wasn’t anything you should
have joined. (to JOE) Maybe you can
talk to him - about the Army.
TONY
I’ve thought about it -- a lot.
BILL
Since yesterday. Since Iraq invaded
Kuwait. (to JOE) I told him he’d be
better off in college. But I can’t afford
it, now. They’re laying me off. - A
computer programmer’s not even safe.
They’re downsizing again.
JOE
Do you need some money, Bill?
Bill is surprised, and the answer is Yes.
TONY
The Dependent Generation.
BILL
I worked my way through college, Tony.
TONY
You avoided the draft, too, Bill.
JOE
I was only a mailman, for Christ’s sake.
Bill and Tony are shocked.
(to BILL)I couldn’t afford college for you.
(pause)
Give me a few months.
BILL
Yeah?
JOE
I can work something out with my life
insurance company.
BILL
You’re a life-saver, Dad.
TONY
(toward the TV)
Tanks ... Look at them. Look at that.
Thanks, Grandpa. But no thanks. I’m not
ready for any rut yet. No way. I’ll go
to college later, on the GI Bill. You
could have done that, Grandpa.
BILL
(to TONY) You think you’re going to be
all right?
TONY
Yeah. -- I could even go to Europe instead.
BILL
They have wars in Europe, too.
TONY
Not anymore.
Joe suddenly gets up, starts for the door.
BILL
Dad?
TONY
Bill can’t tell me about the Army,
Grandpa.
(to JOE’S numbed look)
It’d be better than hanging out at
the mall. And we have to take out
Saddam, right?
BILL
(to JOE) You hear that?
TONY
We have to free those people.
(to BILL, his incredulous look)
Just because you’d never do anything
dangerous doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.
I’ve talked all about it already --
with the Army recruiter.
BILL
You just talked, right?
Tony turns away -- the answer is Yes.
Never ask the salesmanabout what
he’s selling.
Joe is at the door. To the amazement of Tony and Bill, he walks out of the house as - BILL’S PHONE rings.
BILL
(into phone) Hello? Mom? What’s wrong?
EXT. / THEN INT. JOE'S HOME - DAY
LIVING ROOM: JOE sits in his favorite chair, uncomfortably ... BILL sits off by himself, drinks a whisky ... PAT sits on the sofa, cries ... In the back of the roomSANDY plays on the floor with his toy rifle ... FETCH isby his side, looks concerned about Sandy ...STELLA comes in with a cup of tea for Pat, sits by her.
PAT
Thanks, Stel.
STELLA
Thanks for being here, Pat.
Bill avoids a look of some contempt that Pat can’t help but give him. Bill looks for comfort from Sandy, who evades much of a look with his father and turns to Fetch, as - TONY walks in, rather aimless, downcast.
JOE
I’m going out for awhile.
No one says anything, though no one is comfortable with this.
TONY
Want some company?
JOE, decidedly, simply leaves.
EXT. JOE’S HOUSE - DAY
JOE comes out, gets into his car, starts it and drives off.
PAT, then STELLA, come into the open doorway.
PAT
Is he supposed to be driving?
STELLA
He’s supposed to be taking his medicine.
TONY comes out, looks sheepishly at the spot where Joe’s car was ... Stella doesn’t know what to say to Tony ... For Pat, he is not
herson ... SANDY, with toy rifle, comes out, then FETCH, then ... BILL, a whisky bottle at his side. Bill goes to his car.
SANDY
You going, bro?
Tony shrugs - to Pat, as it turns out.
PAT
(to TONY) Take care of your father.
Stella, Pat, Sandy and even Fetch look on as Bill climbs into his car, knows he looks foolish as he’s had just too much to drink ...
TONY
You're drunk, Dad.
BILL
Whatever you say.
( hands keys to TONY )
STELLA
(to PAT only) You’re the best daughter-
in-law I ever had, Pat. Ex- or no ex-.
PAT
Come on, Stel. You’ve only had two of us.
STELLA
Please help us.
PAT
I’ll call you, Stella.
Pat and Sandy get into Pat’s car, drive off ... Stella closes her door - to be by herself, at last.
TONY
(to BILL) Let’s go to the VFW.
INT. BILL’S CAR
TONY
You can’t face your old man even now?
- It was your idea to talk to him.
BILL
Maybe a guy who’s dying wants to
be alone for awhile.
TONY
Maybe he doesn’t.
BILL
I don’t want you wasted. Over there.
This Gulf thing is not World War Two.
Tony you’re young, and naive.
TONY
I’m nothing special.
After a PAUSE, which, for his own less than clearly understood reason Tony is glad is pregnant - and from THAT Tony feels a weird advantage - and because, too, Bill is struck dumb for the moment - Tony starts the car smiling, drives them off.
EXT. A HIGHWAY - CARS MOVING - DAY
ANGLE ON PAT’S CAR - MOVING - PAT, SANDY, FETCH
INT. PAT’S CAR
PAT
Maybe Grandpa doesn’t want to
talk about the war, or things
like that right now. Who put you
up to this war thing, your teacher?
Sandy touches his rifle ... Pat pokes on a tape - a SONG, some-
thing moody, of Pat’s generation, not anything Sandy relates to.
SANDY
(slowly) No. I’m just interested.
When can he talk about it?
PAT
I don’t know, Sandy.
SANDY
If Grandpa had died in the war, I’d
have a different father, wouldn’t I.
THE SONG CONTINUES UNDER AWHILE, THEN FADES OUT AS -
INT. A PIZZA PARLOR - TWILIGHT
BILL AND TONY eat pizza at a table. They are not that hungry and use the food to distract themselves, to keep from talking.
EXT. VFW - TWILIGHT
INT. VFW - AS BEFORE - TWILIGHT
PHIL takes away a WHISKY, slides JOE a MUG of beer.
The OTHER COMRADES view the TV GULF WAR BROADCAST, but each looks now and then at Joe ... PAUL looks ‘’jokey,’’ as if in his usual mode, but doesn’t know what to fool about ... LEONARD looks like what he really is - Joe’s closest friend here. As quiet as Leonard is, Other Comrades look at him occasionally in anticipation of what foolish thing he might say, even now; which would be more in character ... HARVEY, as usual, looks a yes man for FAKE JOE, whom they all know has something to hide.
Phil feels less close to Joe than The Others do. But he’d do anything, now, for Joe, and be glad to be seen doing it, too.
PHIL
Any pain yet, Joe?
(as JOE says nothing)
Anything you want, Joe. Okay? All right?
JOE
My grandson’s gonna join up,
maybe go. (indicates TV)
FAKE JOE
We all took our turn.
THIS INTERCUT BRIEFLY WITH:
INT. PIZZA PARLOR AS BEFORE - EVENING
BILL sits ostensibly preoccupied by his PIZZA, his mind in the past ... TONY, with a colorful pie, feels reckless excitement ...
A TEENAGE WAITRESS gives Tony a twice-over, then -
INT. VFW.
FAKE JOE
How did you get the Silver Star, Joe?
JOE
All you guys got medals.
HARVEY
Not the Silver Star.
JOE
‘’The Battle of the Bulge.’’ Ardennes.
HARVEY
We knew that, Joe. Christmas, right?
FAKE JOE
Yeah, lots of snow and ice. Freezing.
LEONARD
Glad I wasn’t there.
Joe gives The Third Comrade an ironic look - of both appreciation, and of some disdain.
The BUZZER BUZZES ... Phil picks up the ENTRY PHONE, speaks, listens, presses the buzzer ... The DOOR UNLOCKS and in come
DANNY and JIM.
FAKE JOE
Hey, Danny and Jim.
For the first time, Joe drinks from his beer.
HARVEY
You guys are gonna hear the war
story, maybe.
Phil pours Danny and Jim mugs of beer, but they go to Joe.
JOE
It was just - a lot of men dying
AN ANGLEsuggests the room is suddenly lower than it is, that they are all bunkered in against the world ...We see MORE COMRADES.
DANNY
Joe, we’re sorry.
JIM
We just heard, Joe. Sorry.
Joe pauses, but tries to continue -- to Every One’s surprise.
DANNY
You don’t have to say anything about
it, Joe.
JOE
I didn’t appreciate the monotony enough.
LEONARD
Hanging around, waiting. Like civilian life.
FAKE JOE
Some guys will never be happy.
LEONARD
Turning your collar up against the
wind at sea.
(to THEIR look)
I could use more monotony, too. [SIC]
PHIL
(serves JOE another beer)
On Paul.
Joe nods thanks to Paul, but grudgingly, he finds ... Joe cannot understand his own emotions ... The Others wait ...We hear A SONG, The Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy.
JOE
I was in charge of some buck privates.
THIS INTERCUT WITH FLASHBACK:
EXT. A WINTRY BATTLE PLACE - STAGING AREA - EST. SHOT - DAY
INSERT: ‘’France, The Ardennes, Christmas, 1944’’
YOUNG PFC JOE, FOUR PRIVATES are within aSQUAD of 12 MEN, at attention. A LIEUTENANT confers mutely with his SERGEANT.
JOE (OS - partly)
I was: PFC Joe Bukowski. The 101st
Airborne Division was surrounded.
ANOTHER COMRADE
General McAuliffe said ‘’Nuts!’’when
the Germans asked him to surrender.
DANNY
I never could figure out what
‘’nuts’’ meant.
FAKE JOE
We were polite, in those days.
JIM
The hell you say.
YET ANOTHER COMRADE (OS - partly)
You had to find a hole in the line,
Joe, rescue those guys.
FAKE JOE
Counter-attack, too.
The Four Privates and Young PFC Joe, mill about, mutter banalities, ‘’jokes’’, take in last smokes, etc. We see the First Private is named PRIVATE BONY; the Second is PRIVATE MORSE; the Third, PRIVATE STEFANOVIC; and the Fourth Private is PRIVATE GORDON ... The Lieutenant, whom we see is LIEUTENANT ANDERSON, and the Sergeant, SERGEANT FLECK, square off to the Squad, who square off to them without even the command spoken.
LIEUTENANT ANDERSON
We're gonna determine the location,
size, and disposition of the enemy.
PRIVATE BONY
The enemy's gonna determine the location, size, and disposition
of my asshole.
(YOUNG JOE laughs)
In that order.
LIEUTENANT ANDERSON
Something funny, soldier?
YOUNG JOE
No Sir.
SERGEANT FLECK
De-tail - fall out.
Private Stefanovic looks worriedly, unhappily at Young Joe, because - Stefanovic is taken off with Lt. Anderson.
Young Joe and Privates Bony, Morse, and Gordon trudge to a TENT, put on packs there, etc.
PRIVATE MORSE
Glad you’re in charge, Joe.
PRIVATE BONY
(with sarcastic worry)
Hey, Joe, whatta ya know.
INT. VFW AS BEFORE - NIGHT
PHIL looks a certain way at JOE - Phil has been saying that same thing to Joe for years.
JOE
What did I know?
Phil serves Joe, on his third or fourth beer, another beer ...
LEONARD sits next to Joe ... ALL OTHERS listen for Joe’s next words, instead of to the TV, because Joe has said something that makes them doubt him now, and they are uncomfortable with this, except for Leonard, who seems to understand.
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
EXT. THE BATTLEFIELD AREA - FRANCE - DAY
YOUNG JOE and PRIVATES BONY, MORSE, and GORDON make last preparations, then when ready, approach SERGEANT FLECK, who takes a quiet moment, lights up ... Sgt. Fleck looks at Young Joe and his team as they trudge up to him - with something on their minds.
JOE (OS - partly)
I tried to hang out with guys
who knew what they were doing.
ANGLE ON SERGEANT FLECK
JOE (Cont. - OS - partly)
I hung out with jokers, too.
ANGLE ON PRIVATE BONY, behind YOUNG JOE.
JOE (CONT. - OS - partly)
And there was always this guy who
didn’t know beans from submarines.
ON PRIVATE MORSE, behind YOUNG JOE.
VFW. OTHER COMRADES, too, take their eyes off PAUL, and look at HARVEY.
LEONARD
There was always a pal, too.
EXT. BATTLEFIELD AREA
JOE (OS - partly)
He wasn’t there then.
LEONARD (OS - partly)
And there was always this guy who was
always griping, and he always did less
than everybody else.
ANGLE ON PRIVATE GORDON, behind YOUNG JOE.
VFW: THE COMRADES AND OTHERS (OS - partly) LAUGH, ECHO AGREEMENTS.
And there is more than one look at (the) FAKE JOE. Then -
SERGEANT FLECK
What is it, Bukowski?
PRIVATE MORSE
It’s whatever you say, Sarge.
INT. THE VFW AS BEFORE -- NIGHT
FAKE JOE
What was wrong, Joe?
Joe does not look at him for that.
LEONARD
Whatever it was, Joe obeyed orders.
He’s lucky he’s not dead, too.
Joe spins toward Leonard - was he a small mind reader?
FAKE JOE
Hey, sometimes that can't be helped.
DANNY
Especially when casualties happen
to be the strategy.
FAKE JOE
What the hell are you talking about?
DANNY
We were put into the field like
shooting ducks - so artillery and
air could find the enemy ...
FAKE JOE
(somewhat reluctantly) You guys
couldn’t find the enemy.
EXT. THE BATTLEFIELD AREA AS BEFORE - DAY
PRIVATE GORDON
The right flank always goes first,
Sarge.
SERGEANT FLECK
Sell it to the left flank.
With a look from SERGEANT FLECK, YOUNG JOE ‘’leads’’ the Others off.
PRIVATE GORDON
Everybody's got it in for me.
PRIVATE BONY
Eisenhower's got it in for you. FDR.
He hates my guts, too.
PRIVATE GORDON
That I can believe. My feet are sore.
YOUNG JOE
Everybody's got sore feet.
PRIVATE GORDON
That’s supposed to make mine better?
PRIVATE BONY
Your mother told you there'd be days
like this ... But she didn’t say
they’d come in bunches, did she.
PRIVATE MORSE
Do you believe in God, Joe?
( YOUNG JOE nods uncertainly )
I believe in General Patton, too.
PRIVATE BONY
Same guy. You'd believe in General
Custer.
They join their SQUAD by an AMMO DUMP ... SGT. FLECK arrives, alone, behind them, salutes - LIEUTENANT ANDERSON.
EXT. WINTRY BATTLE AREA - FRANCE - HILLY FOREST - EST. SHOT - DAY
YOUNG JOE and PRIVATES BONY, MORSE, and GORDON head into the hilly forest. The terrain is steep, rocky ... SNOW falls quietly.
ON A FOREST HILLTOP - A GERMAN SNIPER, 18, squats behind a rock.
THROUGH HIS TELESCOPE we see the THREE PRIVATES, YOUNG JOE ... TheSniper concentrates on Young Joe, fires.
THE BARK of the tree near Young Joe explodes into his face and onto Private Bony. As all duck for cover, Private Bony dashes away, but stops, reluctantly, and hugs the ground.
EXT. ANOTHER PART OF THE FOREST - DAY
LT. ANDERSON,SGT. FLECK, the FIELD RADIOPFC, and PRIVATES 5 and 6, and PRIVATE STEFANOVIC, hug the ground, listen.
LIEUTENANT
Sniper. No return fire.
PRIVATE STEFANOVIC
Hey Sarge. I'm glad I'm with you.
EXT. YOUNG JOE, THE THREE PRIVATES AS BEFORE - DAY
PRIVATE MORSE, to get an ache out, lifts his head.
HE is in the SCOPE ... The SNIPER fires.
Private Morse's forehead bursts open in red. He flies back, lands dead-eyed up on the ground.
THE OTHERS hug the Earth.
PRIVATE BONY
You think he's a believer now?
PRIVATE GORDON
Get me out of here, Joe!
From their left:RIFLE SHOTS ...Private Gordon fires ahead, stops only after other firing stops ... A look of rebuke from Young Joe arouses his resentment.
The Sniper is nervous but, still safely concealed, he feels.
PRIVATE BONY
Let's take the back door.
EXT. LIEUTENANT ANDERSON'S PART OF THE FOREST - DAY
PRIVATES 7, 8, 9, CORPORAL BELLOWS - the left flank - return to LT. ANDERSON, SGT. FLECK, and PRIVATES5 and 6, PRIVATE STEFANOVIC, and the FIELD RADIO PFC ... Lt. Anderson takes them off to their right.
SERGEANT FLECK
(to PRIVATE 5) Shoot when you see
something.
EXT. YOUNG JOE, PRIVATES BONY AND GORDON, DEAD MORSE, SNIPER - DAY
PRIVATE BONY
Fuck this.
Private Bony bolts left, dashes between trees.
Sgt. Fleck, Lt. Anderson also see him. TheLt. signals the REST OF THE SQUAD behind to take cover.
Private Bony dashes - aSHOT - falls, rolls, stops, dies.
Lt. Anderson arrives with his men ... Private Gordon moves.
YOUNG JOE
Stay put!
LIEUTENANT ANDERSON
Two dead, eh? Why didn’t you order your
men to take proper cover, PFC?
Lt. Anderson regards his reprimand as sufficient, or enough wasted on Young Joe, and steps carefully forward to lead as the Others stand still ... A SHOT ... The Lieutenant falls, hands to head.
SERGEANT FLECK
Everybody stay put!
Sgt. Fleck sees Lt. Anderson is dead.
The SNIPER, behind his rock,sees more GIs - he’s nervous.
PRIVATE GORDON
He's gonna kill all of us!
PRIVATE 5
How are you gonna know? Mortars, Sarge.
FIELD RADIO PFC
(into RADIO) Spider to Web, over.
H.Q. CAPTAIN (OS)
Web.
SERGEANT FLECK
(takes RADIO) Three dead, Captain.
Including the lieutenant. - Sniper.
H.Q. CAPTAIN (OS)
Find that hole in the line, over.
PRIVATE 5
‘’What the fuck - over’’.
To their left the hill is rugged, too sparse for cover ... To their right there is thick tree cover, easier ground.
SERGEANT FLECK
(into radio) Spider out. - Bukowski.
Take your man to the right.
PRIVATE GORDON
Me? Just us?
Sgt. Fleck gestures for Private Stefanovic to go too ... Young Joe does not like this either - Stefanovic is his pal.
PRIVATE STEFANOVIC
(to PVT. GORDON) You're in my fucking will.
YOUNG JOE
(to his men) We don’t have to be heroes.
PRIVATE GORDON
You're a regular guy, Joe.
The Others cover them. They crawl off, meet a fallen tree. When they at last dare to start traversing this -
THROUGH THE SNIPER'S SCOPE we see - YOUNG JOE.
The Sniper moves his weapon slightly, fires and -
Sgt. Fleck falls, blood on his heart, awe in his face.
A SERIES OF QUICK REVERSE ANGLES ON THE SNIPER - fearful of another barrage, he quick-fires to keep the GIs down.
ON THE GIs as they dig for better cover - SOME, then ALL OF THEM, return fire - sporadically - anywhere out there.
The Sniper makes himself smaller - bullets strike, ricochet near.
CORPORAL BELLOWS
Hold your fire! Hold your fire!
The gunfire stops - not quickly.
We’ll get this sonofabitch.
YOUNG JOE
We can't get through here. We have to
turn back.
CORPORAL
You want to tell that to the general?
YOUNG JOE
Fuck the general.
INT. VFW - JUST AS BEFORE - NIGHT
THE OTHERS seem surprised - but maybe now not that surprised at -
JOE, now also with a couple of new beers in front of him.
DANNY
Joe Bukowski said that?
FAKE JOE
To an NCO?
HARVEY
Before he was one himself.
PHIL
I knew he must have said something
sometime.
JOE
A younger Joe Bukowski said that.
DANNY
What were they gonna do to you, send
him to World War Two, Joe?
JIM
They didn’t give you the Silver Star
for cursing about a general, Joe.
CLOSE ON JOE - he is reluctant, but also compelled.
EXT. THE FOREST AS BEFORE - DAY
CORPORAL BELLOWS
What about our dead here, Bukowski?
PRIVATE 5
They’re not gonna buy your beer, Mike.
CORPORAL BELLOWS
(to YOUNG JOE) You and - Bo-Bo head out.
ALLsee Corporal Bellows and the Private 5 are friends.
Though Young Joe hasn't moved yet,Private Gordon moves forward, impulsively, as an experiment.
THE SNIPER fires.
Private Gordon flies back, abruptly, as if pulled by a rope tied to his feet.
Young Joe crawls to him, sees he’s dead.
YOUNG JOE
‘’Bo-bo's’’ dead, ‘’Corporal’’.
CORPORAL BELLOWS
Follow me.
PRIVATE 7
John Fucking Wayne.
PRIVATE 8
John Wayne’s not even in this war.
The Other GIs - except Young Joe - begin to follow the Corporal, but not wholeheartedly ... But Corporal Bellows halts ... The Others halt as Corporal Bellows kneels ahead of them, thinks.
YOUNG JOE
He could have reinforcements coming.
PRIVATE 7
He doesn't need them. Let’s wait
till peace time, when the foil-li-
ol-i-age is out, maybe.
CORPORAL
Let’s make it Peace Time, soldier.
The Corporal dashes between trees ahead ...Others fire ...
The Sniper is nervous at the Corporal's initiative.
FIELD RADIO PFC
You're next in line, Bukowski.
Corporal Bellows reaches a vantage point. - THROUGH BINOCULARShesurveysFIR TREES, then ROCKS - THE SNIPER'S HELMET disappears ...
Corporal Bellows points to the Sniper.
The others advance, singly.
We see The Sniper; the GIs do not.
Corporal Bellows signals ...The GIs fire onto the Sniper’s rock and those around it ... Young Joe, with an automatic weapon, fires fewer rounds ... At The Corporal’s signal, they all cease fire.
RADIOPFC
Day off, Bukowski?
They move up ... Young Joe takes up the rear ... The Others peer behind the rock ... The Sniper is dead, a body with many wounds.
THE PRIVATE
Sour Kraut.
From OFFwe hear TANK MOTORS.
YOUNG JOE
Tanks!
TWO GERMAN SOLDIERS, running, halt behind aBUSH, throw grenades.
... THE GRENADES explode - all the GIs fall over ... The German Soldiers run off.
EXT. ANOTHER PART OF THE FOREST - DAY
A FEW GERMAN TANKS AND SOLDIERS navigate through trees.
EXT. THE US ARMY BASE CAMP - DAY
MORTAR AND ARTILLERY AND TANK SHELLS EXPLODE among tents, huts ...
GIs scatter into foxholes.
EXT. / THEN INT. THE COMMANDING OFFICER'S HUT - DAY
The FIRST LT. COLONEL is frantic on the radio.The H.Q. CAPTAIN is frantic right next to him.
EXT. YOUNG JOE'S BATTLE SITE / FOREST / H.Q. - DAY
EXPLOSIONS and SOUNDS OF TANKS UNDER, we see, with YOUNG JOE, the BODIES of his fellow GIs ... Young Joe gets up, picks up
his weapon, finds the direction of H.Q., heads out.
SWOOP TO: HIS DIRECTION.
Between Young Joe and his H.Q.: GERMAN INFANTRY overrun American positions ... GIs flee their base camp.
The FIRST LT. COLONEL and The H.Q. CAPTAIN are driven off in a JEEP by The DRIVER CORPORAL.
BACK ON YOUNG JOE -in the FOREST he seeks cover.
INT. VFW AS BEFORE - NIGHT
JOE
It seemed like The Bulge all over again.
They all got killed. Except me.
DANNY
For looking for a hole in the line.
FAKE JOE
You didn't get The Silver Star for
that, either, Joe.
LEONARD
All those guys getting killed wasn’t
your fault, Joe.
JOE
No?
The Others nod in agreement, but realize Joe’s question must be in regard to something else, that Joe has not told them about.
FAKE JOE
Well, we weren’t there. I mean,
exactly where Joe was.
Joe turns gray, blinks, clutches his abdomen, falls, doubles up in voiceless pain on the floor ... Leonard gets to him first. The Others rush in at the sametime as -PHIL runs around the bar for the phone. Leonard lifts Joe's head off the floor, loosens his clothing, checks his pulse ... Joe is breathing.
PHIL
I'll call an ambulance.
JOE
Pills.
EXT. / THEN INT. JOE'S HOUSE - NIGHT
LEONARD’S CAR - MOVING - LEONARD DRIVING, behind it JOE'S CAR - MOVING - PAUL DRIVING, pull upoutside the house ... Paul gets out to help Leonard get JOE out of the passenger side.
ANOTHER CARparks behind them ... FAKE JOE gets out with a bottle of pills, highly visible as HARVEY gets out of this car too, behind Fake Joe, looking useless, unlike Fake Joe, as - STELLA runs out to Joe.
PAUL
He had some kind of attack, Stella.
STELLA
It's his own fault.
HARVEY
Yeah, Joe was telling his war
story. For the first time, like.
And, - wham. All of a sudden.
INT. JOE'S HOME - DAY
JOE sleeps. His room is dark from closed shades. Joe does not look ill, but tired ... He wakes, slowly, sees:
IN THE LIVING ROOM, STELLAputs down the PHONE. Her footfall, her entry, disturb him.
STELLA
(conditional cheer, at first)
You’ve come to! Can you talk to
Sandy? - Your grandson.
JOE
I know who he is. Isn't he in school?
STELLA
It's Saturday. Eleven A.M.
JOE
I've been asleep all week? That medicine ...
STELLA
Medicine, or booze?
JOE
I only had beer.
Stella lifts the shades. - SUNLIGHTirritatesJoe, but in a moment he’s glad of it, picks up the phone in his bedroom.
STELLA
You have to take your medicine.
And no beer. Or anything.
Joe looks for privacy ... Stella goes, reluctantly - leaves the door open - ostensibly tidies the living room.
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
INT. PAT'S LIVING ROOM - DAY
SANDY is on the phone ... PAT ‘’happens’’ to be just behind Sandy.
SANDY
Hi, Grandpa. I'm sorry about your
attack.
JOE
Just indigestion.
SANDY
Mom's going to get her hair repaired
again. She can drive me to the park.
You and Grandma want to spend some
quality time?
JOE
- Grandma? Want to spend some quality
time? With Sandy? Me?
STELLA
Well I promised Pat I’d go with her.
JOE
(to SANDY) I’ll come, Sandy. I’ll
drive right over.
STELLA
No you won’t. And you probably shouldn’t
go anywhere yet.
JOE
What should I wait for, till after I’m
dead? I feel fine. - Sandy, I have to
negotiate with this woman who’s holding
me hostage here.
Stella, in a moment, smiles, laughs at this rare moment.
Sandy, too, smiles - laughs - arouses Pat’s curiosity. Sandy has never heard Joe in a funny mood such as this.
STELLA
I’ll drive you over, if it’s okay
with Pat. And keep out of the sun.
JOE
Maybe some skin cancer would beat
the crap out of what I’ve got.
- Okay, Sandy. (hangs up)
STELLA
You used to have a really good sense
of humor. Right after the war.
Joe is surprised.
Stella turns away from Joe, looks at a WEDDING PHOTO, 1946: YOUNG STELLA, YOUNG JOE ... We heara SONG, a brassy drum-led World War Two piece.
INTERCUT PHOTO WITH:
INT. A VFW OR AMERICAN LEGION HALL - NIGHT
A BANNER reads: ‘’VE DAY - 1ST ANNIVERSARY - 1946’’.
VETERANS congregate about the hall as the BAND plays the SONGfullswing. Most of The Vets are not in uniform but have a collective look - Hope after Hell - of having been through the recent war. They ask YOUNG WOMEN to dance, try to talk with them, etc... The Young Women are generally happy to be approached.
ONE of them - YOUNG STELLA - detaches herself from the others as she looks at -
YOUNG JOE, in a CORPORAL'S UNIFORM, RIBBONSworn. Young Joe sees Young Stella, too. They are both shy in manner, may seem suited for each other ... Young Joe hesitates, but approaches Young Stella. He has to raise his voice.
YOUNG JOE
Hi. - Hi, my name's Joe.
YOUNG STELLA
GI Joe?
YOUNG JOE
Joe Bukowski.
( in a moment, THEY laugh )
Polack. What are you?
YOUNG STELLA
I’m a Brazino. My name’s Stella, I
mean. Stella Brazino.
YOUNG JOE
I-tali-a-no. Glad the war’s over.
YOUNG STELLA
How come you're still in uniform?
YOUNG JOE
I thought it might help me pick up
a girl.
(that does not go over)
I just got back.
The look in Young Joe’s face tells Young Stella she’ll have to askWHYanothertime, - if Young Stella decides to.
THE BAND plays a WALTZ.
STELLA
That's The Silver Star, isn't it?
YOUNG JOE
That's a slow dance, isn't it?
INT. JOE’S BEDROOM / LIVING ROOM AS BEFORE - DAY
IN HER LIVING ROOM, Stella puts the WEDDING PHOTO away ... The WALTZ MUSIC FADES OUT ... Stella walks into the BEDROOM. Joe gets out of bed, gets dressed, etc.
JOE
It’s surprising what goes on you ...
Sense of humor, I mean. -- How’s Tony?
STELLA
He went to his mother’s.
JOE
Did he phone? What’s he going to do?
STELLA
I don’t know.
Joe looks disdainfully at her.
This is not a good time for me, either,
Joe Bukowski. Don’t take any more out
on me.
JOE
I never took anything out on -
STELLA
- You took everything out on me!
(reluctantly, then:)
I never knew what it was that bothered
you so much.
JOE
Nothing.
STELLA
I’ll drive you to the park.
JOE
Now you’re talking like Bill, or somebody.
STELLA
Think what you're doing to Bill, too.
Still. And to Sandy, even.
JOE
What? What am I doing - even to Sandy?
I’m the one who’s dying of cancer!
EXT. A PARK - DAY
INT. PAT’S CAR - PARKED. - PAT, SANDYwait asPARK VISITORS pass.
STELLA drives HER CAR up, beeps, parks behind Pat's ... JOE getsout just as Pat gets out to speak to Joe. But Sandy bounds past her, heads into the park with his baseball gear. And Joe follows, for a moment as if he could almost be a boy too.
SANDY
Bye, Mom, - Grandma.
Joe runs, to start with, into the park. He doesn’t get far.
Pat waves, rather timidly ... Joe doesn’t see her.
Sandy looks back - Joe is way behind and has stopped.
Stella comes over to Pat.
STELLA
They’ll be okay. Joe’s arguing with
me, so I know he feels better.
PAT
I’m sorry, Stel. It’s always been
that way for you, hasn’t it.
STELLA
You got rid of your Bukowski, eh?
EXT. THE PARK - SOME TIME LATER - DAY
SANDY tosses the ball. It's a yard to one side ...JOE ‘’hustles’’. But he has to sit ... Sandy sits alongside.
JOE
What’s new, Sandy?
SANDY
The war. My teacher, all the kids are
talking about it in school.
JOE
There’s always a war.
SANDY
I hope Tony doesn’t go.
(JOE nods)
What was war like, Grandpa? Mom said
I should ask you. -- Sorry. I just
lied, Grandpa.
JOE
Don’t lie. And don’t smoke or drink.
SANDY
You shot some people. You killed them.
You had to, right?
EXT. A HIGHWAY - SPEEDING TRAFFIC - DAY
EXT. / THEN INT. TONY'S CAR - MOVING - TONY ... His face is full of important thoughts, the determining kind. He listens to A SONG - something contemporary, pounding, voiceless, fast lane.
EXT. THE PARK AS BEFORE - DAY
SANDY
At least you got to tell stories,
be one of the guys.
JOE
(amused) Where’d you get that?
SANDY
Bill. He’s not one of the guys.
JOE
(surprised at that)
Your father hangs out with his own crowd.
SANDY
No. Mom said he was always a loner.
He always went out to some bar, though.
JOE
At least he doesn’t smoke anymore.
I don’t think your father swears, either.
SANDY
Probably not around you. Or me.
I know all the swear words already.
I don’t have to join the Army.
EXTREME CLOSE ON JOE - he phases out a moment, into a memory.
But in a moment Joe retrieves himself - finds himself in the PARK - on the bench with SANDY, as STRANGERS pass, some of them looking at him.
SANDY
Are you all right?
JOE
Yeah. I’m all right now.
SANDY
Bill said you were a hero, Grandpa.
JOE
Your father said that? I was just
thinking about something that happened
after the war, Sandy.
SANDY
A war story after the war?
JOE
In England.
EXT. / AND INT. AN ENGLISH COUNTRY PUB - 1945 - DAY
INSERT: COUNTY OF DEVON, ENGLAND SUMMER 1945
YOUNG JOE, in the UNIFORM OF A CORPORAL, carries a CIVILIAN SUITCASE, arrives OUTSIDE THE PUB ... He looks uncertain.
INSIDE THE PUB, THE BARMAN, young, wipes the bar.
FOUR MENplay darts as they drink pints of bitter ale. They are: TREVOR, a tall thin Englishman in his early twenties; NIGEL, a stout Englishman, and IAIN, a short Scot, both of that age too; THE MAJOR, an English gentleman, IN UNIFORM, 40 to 50.
OUTSIDE, Young Joe puts on a GI smile, enters.
INSIDE: The Others are curious only about Young Joe’s suitcase.
Young Joe, suddenly decidedly, walks the rest of the way in flamboyantly. This adopted manner annoys the Others - it is an arrogant, American idiosyncrasy they have never warmed to.
YOUNG JOE
Hi. I'm Joe.
NIGEL
(to IAIN) The Yank we've all been
waiting for.
BARMAN
What can I do you for, mate?
JUNE COMES INTO FRAME,a young, pretty barmaid.
YOUNG JOE
Hello Dolly.
June walks away from him, behind the bar.
IAIN
(to NIGEL) What a ‘’line’’, huh?
NIGEL
He's got a million of them.
BARMAN
Pint of bitter?
YOUNG JOE
Long as it’s beer.
June pours the pint... The Others look on.
YOUNG JOE
(to JUNE) Where have you been all my life?
JUNE
Right here, I expect.
The Five Other Men laugh.
YOUNG JOE
That's why I'm here. - What’s your name?
JUNE
June.
June takes his money, slides his pint mug to him, sets about some task behind the bar ... Young Joe moves his suitcase out of sight.
NIGEL
Overpaid, oversexed, and still over here.
IAIN
That’s no regulation going home kit.
YOUNG JOE
How's tricks, fellas?
( NO ONE says anything; to JUNE )
I’d like to buy a round. Is that okay?
SILENCE.
TREVOR
Well, thanks, Yank.
YOUNG JOE
The name's Joe. Joe Bukowski.
NIGEL
The war’s over, Yank. Over here.
IAIN
You can go home now, Yank.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. THE PUB AS BEFORE - SOME TIME LATER - DAY
YOUNG JOE sits alone with his pint, and with disturbing thoughts.
THE BARMANserves the OTHERS, who shoot darts at the dart board still, and a fourth or fifth pint to YOUNG JOE, who pays for everything this time, too ... Young Joe looks forJUNE ... SHE appears in the doorway behind the bar, pays no attention to him.
THE MAJOR
Thank you again, Corporal.
Iain nods a rather begrudging ‘’Cheers’’. But Nigel will keep an eye on Young Joe ... Trevor comes over.
TREVOR
You play?
YOUNG JOE
I don't want to shoot anything anymore.
NIGEL
We held out against the Nazis when you
were safe at home. We were still doing
our duty when you Johnnies come lately
started taking your liberties over here.
Young Joe won’t reply - to Trevor’s surprise, and relief.
IAIN
‘’Shy’’ GI, he is.
June sees cause to think about that... But Others smile, snicker.
EXT. THE PARK - JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
SANDY
Were you shy, Grandpa?
JOE
I guess I was.
SANDY
You’ve always been shy. -- Why were
the British so mean to you?
INT. THE PUB - JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
The MAJOR deters NIGEL from going to YOUNG JOE.
TREVOR
Sorry for that, Joe. Some of us had
some - unforeseen losses during the
war. Though Nigel normally keeps a
lid on it.
YOUNG JOE
‘’Stiff upper lip’’. That must hurt
after awhile.
June, hearing that, regards him with a certain compassion, Young Joe sees... But June shrugs this off. She disappears in back.
YOUNG JOE
Was it something I said?
TREVOR
That's The Silver Star, isn’t it?
Blimey.
YOUNG JOE
This and five cents will get you a
cup of coffee stateside. If coffee’s
still five cents.
THE MAJOR
Are you on a furlough, Corporal?
Or have you been demobbed?
YOUNG JOE
I'm out of the mob all right. (to anyone)
Why the questions all of a sudden?
I ain't broke yet.
BARMAN
You’re welcome here, GI.
IAIN
Is that so?
EXT. THE PARK - JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
SANDY
Two of those guys were just kind of
mean, weren’t they, Grandpa.
JOE
I think they thought I expected too
much from them.
SANDY
(doesn’t quite get that)
I almost had an English grandmother,
didn’t I, Grandpa Joe.
INT. THE PUB - JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
TREVOR
My shout. - We're all allies, gentlemen.
The BARMAN pours, delivers another round ... TREVOR pays ... JUNE re-appears to help ... She serves Young Joe.
JUNE
Are you going back to America soon, then?
YOUNG JOE
Would that make you happy?
June ignores that ... Young Joe regrets it.
NIGEL, clearly under the influence, gets to JOE'S SUITCASE, opens, dumps it. Out tumbleCIVILIAN CLOTHES, PERSONAL ITEMS, A BOOK ON ENGLISH ROSES.
Young Joe moves, a bit unsteadily, to clobber him, and Trevor holds him back, gently.
Nigel looks up, embarrassed, stuffs the contents back, snaps the suitcase shut.
JOE
What do you want? Cigarettes?
NIGEL
You’re planning to stay in England,
by the looks of this. You’re deserting
the American Army.
Young Joe cannot, or maybe he will not, answer that.
BARMAN
He’s had a skinful, Mate.
JUNE
He apologizes, (Sir).
YOUNG JOE
Right. Bottoms up.
(drinks - by himself)
TREVOR
You’ll be all right, back there,
Joe. The Yanks are always glad to
have another hero home.
YOUNG JOE
‘’War is hell.’’ But ‘’Peace time’s
a son of a bitch’’.
EXT. THE PARK - JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
But JOE is asleep on the bench next to SANDY. Sandy pokes him.
SANDY
(rather irritated)
Are you all right, Grandpa?
JOE
Yeah ... I want to tell you something,
Sandy. I was no hero.
SANDY
You said ‘’son of a bitch.’’
Joe looks embarrassed.
Was that the story? They wanted you
to go, but you wanted to stay? Why?
JOE
Well, -- June. But that’s not the whole
story. This was before I met your grand-
mother, you know.
Joe looks up ... Then so does Sandy.
SANDY
‘’Son of a bitch.’’
TONY approaches them, walks - saunters, along the grass ... Joe sees there is something Tony has to say.
TONY
I did it! - The Army! Basic training
in September. What the hell!
Sandy is awed ... Tony looks to Joe, but Joe can’t find his words.
TONY
When I told my mother, I heard the
brick fall, over the phone.
SANDY
Dad’s gonna shit a brick too. And
Grandma. - Are you going to Iraq?
TONY
Probably. You had an attack, Grandpa?
Joe is about to talk, but he, then Sandy and Tony, look ACROSS THE PARK: BILL comes. His stride is slow, even uncertain, as if he, too, has something to say; but he isn’t eager as Tony had been.
SANDY
Hi, Dad. Guess what?
TONY
(to BILL) What are you doing here?
BILL
(to SANDY, at first, he decides)
Grandma and your Mom are on an ex-
tended shopping expedition. I’m
supposed to take all of you to your
house, Dad. For supper later. - How
are you feeling? You had an attack.
JOE
I'm gonna walk home. Just - slow
and easy.
They all look oddly, rather worriedly at Joe.
JOE (Cont.)
I’m used to it. I was a mailman
for 39 years.
TONY
I'll walk with you, Grandpa.
JOE
You’re going to be doing a lot
of walking.
Bill knows he’s being left out of something - and he suspects it is what he does not want to hear. He also knows nobody is going to tell him anything ... Sandy wants to say something, but looks to Tony. Tony puts his finger up to his lips ... Bill looks at Joe, and Joe looks at Tony.
BILL
(to JOE) I’ll give you a ride.
JOE
I don't want a ride home!
There is an awkward SILENCE and everyone is startled, Joe too.
JOE
I don’t want to go home.
BILL
All right.
JOE
I didn’t.
Bill walks off with Sandy.
SANDY
See you later, Tony, Grandpa.
JOE
Good-bye, Sandy.
Tony get Sandy’s eye, puts his finger to his lips again ... Sandy nods... Bill asks Sandy something... Sandy shrugs, theatrically.
Joe begins to walk off, in another direction, but stops.
JOE
Let's get your car. We’ll go
some place where we can talk.
TONY
I hear you.
INT. VFW - DAY
JOE sits pensively behind a small beer.
WIDEN to reveal PHIL, ALL OTHERS we have seen here, as TONY speaks (OS at first).
ON THE TV BROADCAST, PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH announces the necessity of freeing Kuwait and Kuwaitis.
TONY (OS - partly)
Free Kuwait, - and kick Saddam's ass!
FAKE JOE
You don’t negotiate with Saddam, Joe.
PHIL
Remember Poland, Czechoslovakia.
JIM
Remember the Maine. The Alamo.
DANNY
We couldn’t take Saddam out before,
Joe. The West was selling him weapons.
JOE
If we had taken out Hitler in 1933,
I never would have been in that pub.
TONY
What pub, Grandpa?
PHIL
(brings a drink)
Good luck, Tony. You've just signed a
contract more binding than marriage.
TONY
Some pub in England?
PHIL
(to TONY) You won’t get Joe to talk
about anything.
JOE
We’ve been talking about the same things
in here for years.
PHIL
That’s why my wife divorced me.
The Others laugh, but Tony and Leonard see a gravity that is unknown in Joe’s face.
JOE
I was supposed to catch a C-130 home.
Tony thinks he may understand Joe’s outburst at the park, now.
JOE (Cont.)
But I had a few things to do.
HARVEY
We all had a good time after the war,
Joe. Back home. London was nothing
but rubble. But you know what I got
there for a pair of nylons?
LEONARD
The clap?
All laugh except Joe ... Tony laughs less than The Others.
INT. THE PUB - DAY
YOUNG JOE sits, smokes ... The OTHERS are at the darts ... JUNE is behind the bar, but the BARMAN serves Young Joe another ... There are NEW FACES, all British veterans ... YOUNG JOE chugs his pint, belches, fingers money out of his pocket, tosses it onto the bar.
YOUNG JOE
Do it.
But The MAJOR takes a crisp BANK NOTE out of a HANDSOME LEATHER WALLET ... The Barman pours, etc. There are THANK-YOUS, ETC. from everywhere for The Major.
YOUNG JOE
First time an officer ever bought me
a drink. - Report me AWOL, Major. That
surprise you? We’re all somebody else
now, right?Now we’re all heroes.
NIGEL
You speak for yourself in that tone, Yank.
TREVOR
He's drunk, ‘’gentlemen’’.
YOUNG JOE
And I can hear every word I’m saying.
I’m the unknown soldier.
INT. VFW AS BEFORE - DAY
TONY
What did you mean by that?
FAKE JOE
Battle fatigue, eh, Joe?
JOE
Yeah. I was tired of it.
All laugh - except Tony.
HARVEY
You always had a good sense of humor.
JOE
I’m not done with it yet, Harvey.
INT. THE PUB - NIGHT
YOUNG JOE, drunk, is the BARMAN'S last customer, after hours.
BARMAN
I don't suppose you’d better go
back to your camp tonight, Joe.
YOUNG JOE
I wasn’t planning to. I’llstay
with June.
BARMAN
Don’t push your luck, GI.
YOUNG JOE
Why does she ignore me like that?
Is that part of the game over here?
BARMAN
British reserve.
YOUNG JOE
What the hell are you saving it for?
INT. / AND EXT. VFW - JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
ALL look awkwardly at JOE - TONY most of all.
EXT. - BILL stands outside the door, then presses the buzzer.
IN THE VFW - PHIL picks up the entry phone.
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
BILL
My name is Bill, Bukowski. I'm -
Phil presses the buzzer button ... BILL enters the VFW, sees Joe, and that All have been listening to him - including Tony ... The Others see an awkwardness Bill has with Joe, and Tony.
BILL
Hi.
JOE
Hi.
Bill sees the Others, especially Fake Joe, regard him as a man who’s never been here andcould never belong. But Leonard, and Danny and Jim, welcome Bill with waves. Bill waves back.
BILL
(to TONY) You’re a veteran now?
TONY
Working on it. - I joined the Army.
PHIL
What can I get you, Bill?
BILL
A fucking whisky.
JOE
This is Bill, everyone. My son.
FAKE JOE
What happened before, Joe? After
your patrol got wiped out, not your
screwing around. How’d you get the
Silver Star?
INTERCUT INT. VFW WITH:
EXT. THE ARDENNES FOREST. -- TWILIGHT
YOUNG JOE IS SEEN AS DESCRIBED AHEAD. -- From OS comes ARTILLERY, MORTAR, TANK, RIFLE and MACHINE-GUN FIRE, across the darkening snow.
JOE (OS)
I was in a daze, wandering. Night
was coming on. It was snowing,
(cont.)
JOE (OS- cont.)
freezing. I couldn't light a fire
because they’d see it. I stayed
in one spot all night.
TONY
Were you scared?
JOE
All the time I was the Army, Tony.
TONY (OS -- partly)
I can see it’s not easy to talk about.
YOUNG JOE walks a circle to get warm, stamps his feet. He hides behind a tree, but the WIND gets him. He stares at some deadwood but will not build a fire. He stares at the darkening sky, at his feet, straight ahead; listens to the SOUNDS OF THE ENEMY die down for the night, the enemy settling in. He’s colder. He shoves his gloved hands into his pockets, allows his weapon to dangle at his side. It drops into the snow. Young Joe is the last man on Earth.
JOE (OS -- partly)
I stayed awake. To stay alive. You
got used to things like that. The
same lousy food every day; same pair
of underpants; wet socks. Everybody
was in the same boat. Everybody even
looked alike, pretty much thought
alike, too. Most of the time.
LEONARD
Smelled alike, too. Even at sea.
PHIL
Conformity's in the contract, Tony.
TONY
So?
FAKE JOE
Soldiers need conformity. Personal
initiative, though, too.
LEONARD
Whether you lost your self and
belonged, or just lost yourself,
you ended up talking to yourself.
Being with yourself.
PAUL
He's still talking to himself.
FAKE JOE
You can talk to God.
DANNY
God never showed up in my foxhole.
A lot of shit happens, Tony. You
come home and you forget about it.
LEONARD
But you don’t.
FAKE JOE
I remember the good times. The jokes...
JIM
Like what?
EXT. THE FOREST - TWILIGHT
YOUNG JOE is a dark figure huddled against the elements. He grits his teeth, hopes for a distracting daydream.
THIS INTERCUT TOO WITH:
EXT. A CLEARING IN THE FOREST - TWILIGHT
TWO GERMAN ARMY TRUCKS, GERMAN SOLDIERS in the back of each as well as TWO SOLDIERS in each CAB, pull up off a barely visible ROAD. They are also cut off from their comrades in arms ... The Soldiers - THIRTY of them - in LOW AND TIRED VOICES express in German almost joy, then just relief at having stopped.
THIS INTERCUT TOO WITH:
INT. THE VFW - JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
As the VFW scene and Young Joe-in-his-isolation scene progress, we see a striking thing about each German Soldier - he is very young. Of them, a youngster with the name WOLFGANG, printed in black on his helmet, appears to be the leader of those from The First Truck. He shares a look with a COUNTERPART from The Second Truck.
JOE (OS - partly)
A lot of times you'll be thinking
of a nice warm house, Tony. Hot food.
A nice girl.You'll do your business
in a hole in the ground. Or in your
pants. - You’ll be sub-human, like
all your comrades.
The Germans try to fix places to sleep but find the ground too frozen, rocky ... They would suffer as Young Joe is now suffering.
FIRST GERMAN PRIVATE
If the officer were here ...
WOLFGANG
What would the officer do? Melt the
ice for you with his breath?
The Other Germans laugh, at first with reluctance ...
WOLFGANG
(to his COUNTERPART) We will see the
officer, everybody, in the morning.
INT. THE VFW.
HARVEY
But your comrades are your family.
IN THE CLEARING, with a reluctant relief, with SIGHS and LAUGHS and MOANS and EXPRESSIONS IN GERMAN, all The German Soldiers climb back into their trucks, crouch and huddle to try to stay warm, if not to sleep, as -
PAUL (OS - partly)
What a bunch of killers you come from.
DANNY (OS - partly)
Yeah, talk about joking around,
laughing it off, like. Ha ha ha.
JOE (OS - partly)
We pretended we weren't that miserable.
IN THE FOREST CLEARING, Wolfgang decides he will play The Sentry at the tailgate of his truck. Following, his Counterpart does the same at the tailgate of The Second Truck.
WOLFGANG
Merry Christmas, everyone.
The young German soldiers laugh ... Wolfgang smiles.
INT. THE VFW - JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
DANNY
Tony, the more unfeeling you can
get, the more vulgar you get, the
better off you think you are,
JIM
Danny knows. And that’s when you’re
still in the States.
TONY
That's all part of it right? It’s
a little late to be telling me all
this. (laughs)
FAKE JOE
You guys are full of shit. Not full
of shit, but - . - War is the biggest
thing we ever did. Probably the best
thing we ever did.
LEONARD
It wasn't the best thing I ever did.
FAKE JOE
You're still waiting to do that.
LEONARD
(to TONY) I supplied Americans to the
Japs. I sailed my LSI to the beach,
dropped the door, watched them get out
and die. Then I got another load.
JOE
You’ve got friends here, Leonard.
DANNY
Hear, hear.
Others echo this sentiment.
TONY
These guys are great, Dad. Comrades.
INTERCUT INT. VFW WITH:
EXT. WINTRY ARDENNES FOREST - YOUNG JOE - DAWN
SNOW covers all ... YOUNG JOE leaves the forest for a MEADOW - a surprise of the new day. He makes footprints as he follows the edge, finds other clearings, other woods. We hear the SOUNDS OF, see WHAT, JOE (OS - partly) describes.
JOE (OS - partly)
The next morning it was really quiet.
LEONARD (OS - partly)
The day shift hadn't come in yet.
EXT. THE CLEARING - DAWN
The THIRTY GERMANS sleep, crouched and - crunched more than huddled together in the backs of the trucks.
CLOSE ON WOLFGANG - He struggles to open his eyes, does, and is reassured that nothing to worry about has trespassed onto the clean white cover of snow ahead as he took his illegal snooze - which he know guiltily returns to.
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
INT. VFW - ALL, JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
JOE (OS - partly)
I went South, hoping to meet GIs.
EXT. JOE’S PART OF THE ARDENNES - DAWN
YOUNG JOE comes uncertainly onto a DIRT ROAD into SUNLIGHT. Around a BEND he sees: a few hundred yards away in a FIELD - GERMANS encamped, tents, vehicles ... On A GATE we see a SIGN: ‘’HALT’’.
Young Joe turns around. We hear, see, a German ‘’88’’ TANK bearing down the road at him, OTHER TANKS behind ... Young Joe jumps into a ditch, runs off limping into the woods as the tanks clank past him down the road.
No one on the tanks has seen Young Joe.
JOE
We expected anything, but not luck.
LEONARD
It was bad luck to wish for luck.
YOUNG JOE, exhausted, sits in the snow. He is going nowhere.
TONY
What happened then?
LEONARD
He got killed.
There is no reaction, except Tony’s dropped jaw, and Bill’s awe.
LEONARD (Cont.)
Old joke. Used to play it on girls.
FAKE JOE
He's still single.
The BUZZER BUZZES and Phil speaks into the ENTRY PHONE, opens the door. In walk STELLA, PAT, SANDY. There is an EXCHANGE OF HELLOS, ETC., - and Phil takes particular notice of Pat.
LEONARD
Hail, hail, the gang's all here...
TONY
‘’What the hell do we care?’’
Stella pretends she has not heard that ... Sandy looks hurt ... Pat has not heard that and - despite the rather surprising presence of Bill here - she has noticed Phil.
FAKE JOE
(to himself) Civilians ruin everything.
Stella regards Joe, and his beers ... Joe tries to look innocent.
STELLA
Everyone named Bukowski - time for supper.
TONY
That's me.
BILL
We were right in the middle of something
important here, Mom.
JOE
Yeah.
All look surprised at Joe.
PHIL
(to PAT, STELLA) What can I get you?
EXT. JOE’S PART OF THE FOREST - JUST AS BEFORE - DAWN
YOUNG JOE skirts the road that leads to the GERMAN CAMP. He navigates his way through a THICKET ... We see what JOE (OS - partly) speaks of.
JOE (OS - PARTLY)
I just popped into this clearing.
Or it popped out at me. Right between
two trucks full of Germans, asleep.
BILL
Asleep?
Young Joe stands alone a moment with the 3O GERMANS.
JOE
Yeah. And the sun was coming up -
right in their faces.
INT. THE PUB - ALL WHO HAVE BEEN THERE - NIGHT
THE MAJOR
Your good fortune, that sunlight.
YOUNG JOE
Not really, Major. It was going to
wake them up.
JUNE keeps her back turned to YOUNG JOE.
INT. VFW - JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
STELLA
You don't have to talk about this.
JOE’S look to ALL says that he does.
SANDY
What happened next, Grandpa?
JOE
I thought I'd get the hell out of there.
The Veterans laugh.
SANDY
Good move. - I want to hear this, Mom.
BILL
(to PAT) I think it’ll be okay.
EXT. THE CLEARING AS BEFORE - DAWN
YOUNG JOE, to get away from here, steps backwards - onto a DRY BRANCH. It makes a loud CRACK.
A FLOCK OF BIRDS flies up out of the woods.
IN BOTH TRUCKS A FEW OF THE SOLDIERS stir, but do not fully wake: the SUNLIGHT in their faces makes them squint, drowsy.
Young Joe has his weapon ready but doesn’t want to use it. He scans the FACES quickly to see if any soldier could wake in time to shoot him when he again tries to run for it.
YOUNG JOE decides a way back; but turns to The Second Truck, sees he might get away from those Germans, then back to the First, as -
YOUNG JOE’S POV: at the tailgate A YOUNG MAN, asleep just a second in the sun, looks suddenly terrified ... This look freezes Young Joe ... The BOY SOLDIER has ‘’WOLFGANG’’ printed on his helmet. He looks guilty: HE is a sentry, had fallen asleep, and now has heard something, and seen something.
IN YOUNG JOE’S FACE: HE knows he has an advantage over the enemy.
INT. VFW JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
FAKE JOE
Joe, if you saw a guy named Wolfgang, you had to shoot him.
HARVEY
The Germans never felt guilty, Joe.
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
EXT. CLEARING AS BEFORE - DAWN
WOLFGANG tries to get up; cramps have paralyzed his legs.
HARVEY (OS - partly)
He had a shot at you.
YOUNG JOE clicks off the safety on his weapon. He still doesn’t want to shoot. He’d still have to run with his back to Wolfgang. If he shoots, he’ll have to kill them all, before any one could kill him. Young Joe looks behind himself, then at Wolfgang.
IN HIS TRUCK - Wolfgang's sudden arousal has woken a FEW; or the crack of the branch or the flush of the birds has ... Also waking are a FEW SOLDIERS in the 2nd Truck, and WOLFGANG’S COUNTERPART, a sentry at the tailgate, looks guilty.
In both trucks, All find simultaneous movement impossible with the cramps in their legs and bodies.
Young Joe stands fast, then steps backwards. His foot CRUNCHES through crust on the snow.
ON WOLFGANG’S FACE - a significant SNEER builds.
Others wake.
INT. VFW
PAUL
What about the cramp they wanted
to make you feel? All over.
JOE (OS - partly)
Wolfgang had this sneer on his face.
The others did too. I had this crazy
thought -- that their fathers put it
on their faces. You know?
LEONARD
That makes sense.
FAKE JOE
They called it The Fatherland, Joe.
BILL
You couldn’t surrender?
FAKE JOE
They were shooting POW’s, kid.
EXT. THE CLEARING. - WOLFGANG, the OTHER SENTRY, look at YOUNG JOE with military contempt - a conditioned reflex. Wolfgang brings his weapon up ... Behind each Sentry a FEW SOLDIERS, with even less room, and no time to jump out, squirm to find a position to shoot.
INT. VFW.
BILL
(to JOE) Were they? Did you know
that, then?
PAT
Bill, ...
BILL
Take Sandy home if you want.
TONY
Were they shooting POW’s?
INT. THE PUB - JUST AS BEFORE - NIGHT
JUNE
You couldn’t surrender?
YOUNG JOE
We all had a crack at killing
prisoners.
Young Joe becomes aware of the glares of THE MAJOR, IAIN, NIGEL, even TREVOR and THE BARMAN ... Some of the challenges don’t look well founded.
YOUNG JOE
I saw it happen, anyway.
INT. VFW - JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
EXT. THE CLEARING AS A MOMENT AGO - DAWN
WOLFGANG
Erwachen! ( Wake up! )
YOUNG JOE plants his feet into the snow, takes a position for rapid firing, raises his weapon at -
WOLFGANG. On HIS face there is some hesitancy, even doubt: Young Joe has not yet fired and has had the chance to.
OTHERS in BOTH TRUCKS wait for Wolfgang. He studies Young Joe ... Young Joe knows he could surrender. He is not sure that is safe.
HARVEY (OS - partly)
He didn't think one GI would
take all of them on.
THE OTHERS BEHIND WOLFGANG still wait for Wolfgang, their better positioned sentry, to fire, and anyway Wolfgang had volunteered for this opportunity.
THE OTHER SOLDIERS BEHIND WOLFGANG’S COUNTERPART SENTRY in the second truck get ready to shoot THIS AMERICAN (YOUNG JOE), but plainly see their Sentry is just about to do that ... He in this split second looks at Wolfgang, who is more ready than he.
Young Joe in a look PLEAS to Wolfgang to prevent this.
Wolfgang’s sneer re-asserts itself in greater contempt for this ‘’GI’’ ... Young Joe stares at his hands, his weapon.
Wolfgang, the Others clearly see YOUNG JOE is about to fire.
YOUNG JOE
Halt!
LEONARD
They didn't believe your accent, Joe.
SANDY
How many Germans were there, Grandpa?
CLOSE ON WOLFGANG - his finger is on the trigger.
YOUNG JOE opens fire.
Wolfgang flinches with the SOUND OF YOUNG JOE'S FIRST SHOT.
Young Joe fires unrelentingly.
Behind Wolfgang, A SOLDIER’S CHEEKBONE blows off. - CHIPS OF BONE, BLOOD, FLESH go airborne over his truck, over all the OTHER SOLDIERS, then -
ON A HOLE IN THE SOLDIER'S FACE as he looks at - YOUNG JOE - his terrified face as he shoots.
CLOSE ON THE MUZZLE OF YOUNG JOE'S RAPID-FIRING MACHINE GUN.
YOUNG JOE'S SHOTS are heard, but the FEW SOLDIERS behind Wolfgang who have risen, aimed, and Wolfgang himself, stunned, are not hit.
A HOLE RIPS THROUGH THE TRUCK'S CANOPY ... A TIRE EXPLODES.
Wolfgang is struck three times in the chest. He looks directly at - Young Joe, who keeps firing.
CLOSE ON WOLFGANG - bubbly blood froths out of his mouth.
FAKE JOE (OS - partly)
Did he sneer then, Joe?
WOLFGANG falls to the ground ...OTHERS in HIS Truck fall - backwards, sideways, tangle up with OTHERS, as THEY get serious ... BLOOD, FLESH, BONE BITS fly, some suspended.
IN THE 2ND TRUCK, the OTHER SENTRY fires - in panic ... The ZING of his shot flies past - YOUNG JOE'S FACE, crashes into the woods beyond ... Young Joe swings his FIRING WEAPON onto the 2nd Truck.
The 2nd SENTRY is hit in the HEART. ON HIS FACE IS a look meant for his mother.
UNDER CONTINUOUS FIRE, A FEW OTHER SOLDIERS behind the 2nd Sentry fall backwards, sideways. Under a MIST OF BLOOD they too entangle with OTHERS preparing to shoot.
FAKE JOE (OS - partly)
You couldn't let up on the
Germans, Joe.
HARVEY (OS - partly)
Two things you can't stop: a busted
dam, and a military reflex.
EXT. THE CLEARING AS BEFORE - YOUNG JOE swings back, fires on the First Truck again. He takes MORE CASUALTIES ... ON HIS FACE we see the monstrous guilt he feels - for saving himself; - for now it's easier to kill and - the ENTANGLEMENT OF DEAD AND ALIVE is more obvious.
A FEW GERMANS try to get out of the First Truck - either to safety or a position where they could return fire - YOUNG JOE doesn't know which.
JOE (OS - partly)
I had to get them all.
FAKE JOE (OS - partly)
(to BILL, AND to TONY) One of them
could have shot your father in the
back! If he’d made a break for it.
YOUNG JOE, OUT OF FRAME, cuts off short of finishing his work on the FIRST TRUCK. His fire swings onto the SOLDIERS in the SECOND TRUCK who have taken aim at - YOUNG JOE’S BACK, as well as they could in their entanglement ... THEY are struck, to their aston-
ishment ... THEIR COMRADES who have not yet been hit scramble to get out of the truck - to maximum safety as such might seem, as -
JOE (OS)
I thought I could let some of
them go, but -
YOUNG JOE turns, firing, back onto the First Truck, sees - ONE OR TWO SOLDIERS on the ground, just about to shoot, get struck.
LIVE SOLDIERS in the FIRST TRUCK - SECOND TRUCK - are so entangled amongst themselves and their dead and dying comrades that they pray, weep, shout, beg ... ONE OR TWO IN EACH TRUCK begin to go over the sides but are hit, dangle there. - OTHERS change their minds about doing that - and don't know what to do except try to shoot - or get onto their knees and cover their heads.
CLOSE ON YOUNG JOE - he does not dare to stop firing, killing. There’s no look of triumph or success on his face - he has managed so far to survive and must not let up out of the remorse he also obviously feels ... He races to the First Truck, rakes fire from front to back ... Most of the retiring soldiers are shot in the head or in the back, as they curl up against Young Joe's gunfire.
We hear, FROM A DISTANCE, SHOUTS, ALARMS IN GERMAN.
Young Joe rushes to the Second Truck - just in time to catch ONE SOLDIER who has drawn a BEAD on him - eliminates HIM and fires front to back to start with but - in the EYES OF ANOTHER SOLDIER we see the look of resignation to death but not to surrender ... With uncanny reluctance, Young Joe shoots this man - in the neck as it happens - not an instantly fatal wound ... Young Joe steps back, sweeps fire back and forth into this truck, too as - we hear from all directions the whimpering of ALL the dying men. Pathetic CRIES for help FADE UNDER THE MOUNTING SOUNDS, OFF, of TANK AND TRUCK MOTORS, OFFICERS' ORDERS, IN GERMAN, and of DOGS BARKING.
Young Joe stands quietly a moment. He can't bear any of these sounds, or any of what he has done. He shoots out the tires that remain un-shot that are in his view on both trucks, shoots out the windows in the cab of the First Truck and - halts.
He races, crouched, to the cab, leaps onto the running board, fires into the cab ... We see in the cab: PACKS, stacked on the floor and the seat. He crosses to the cab of the Second Truck, sees packs in there as well.
Young Joe backs down to the ground, trembles, drops his weapon to his side. As from OFF we hear the SOUNDS OF THE ADVANCING ENEMY, he looks down at WOLFGANG ... Wolfgang looks at him.
A TANK'S CLANKING comes significantly into his ear. Through the trees he sees a FEW TANKS, TRUCKS WITH SOLDIERS MOVING.
THE LEAD TANK breaks into the open, fires it's machine-gun - at YOUNG JOE ... Young Joe runs off into the woods.
FAKE JOE
Jesus, Joe, - the whole German
Army was coming down on you.
INT. VFW.
A QUIET CORNER OF THE CLUB - PAT, STELLA, weep softly ... SANDY, upset mostly for them, tries to comfort them. But in Sandy’s face, too, we see a doubt there is about resurrecting the image we have had of someone after we’ve just learned his darkest secret.
AT THE VFW BAR - ALL stand in SILENCE.
CLOSE ON TONY - he has, nearly as Sandy had, the same set of emotions. His are mixed with anxiety about what’s ahead of him.
BILL
How many of them did you kill - Dad?
INT. THE PUB AS BEFORE - NIGHT
JUNE
How many of them did you kill?
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
EXT. THE CLEARING - FX - DAY
From the FACES of LIEUTENANT PAGE, AND PRIVATES 10, 11, AND 12, we see the massacre ... Then we see it for ourselves, as they speak.
LIEUTENANT PAGE
Thirty. I count thirty.
PRIVATE 10
This GI can fucking shoot, Sir.
LIEUTENANT PAGE
He found an important enemy position.
He’ll get a medal for this, though.
PRIVATE 11
Where the hell is he?
PRIVATE 10
He’s supposed to stick around?
EXT. THE CLEARING - FX - DAY
We first see the TWO PILES OF BODIES, then - YOUNG JOE. He stands blankly as we hear the SOUNDS OF THE ENEMY ADVANCING.
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
INT. VFW BAR - JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
JOE (OS - partly)
Most of them were all tangled up.
(cont.)
JOE (OS - partly; cont.)
Different guys all mixed up, like -
two beasts - that weren't crawling.
Sixty arms and legs; - thirty heads -
faces; - sixty eyes coming out at
all kinds of crazy angles, looking
in all kinds of - bad directions.
A soldier can do the worst thing
he'd ever thought he could do.
FAKE JOE
Yeah - if he wants to live to do
anything else.
JOE (OS - partly)
If they had jumped out of the trucks
in time, run away... But I couldn't
tell who the ‘’cowards’’ were. For sure.
INT. PUB - JUST AS BEFORE - NIGHT
JUNE looks disdainfully onto YOUNG JOE, whom we can think has just said that here, too.
INT. VFW BAR - JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
JOE
Later, when they were lying still,
with nothing in their hands ...
BILL
Sure.
INT. PUB - JUST AS BEFORE - NIGHT
JUNE
Sure.
YOUNG JOE
Or they were facing away from me.
INT. VFW - JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
TONY
Sure. So you killed some innocents.
(to the OTHER VETS)
There was some collateral damage.
VFW QUIET CORNER - SANDY has heard Tony say this.
INTERCUT INT. VFW WITH:
EXT. THE CLEARING - AFTER THE KILLING - DAWN
YOUNG JOE looks over his dead - behind him GERMAN TANKS AND SOLDIERS appear clearly in a distance through the trees as -
FAKE JOE (OS - partly)
They all look the same in uniform.
BILL
I guess it’s always the innocent
who get the worst of it in war.
JOE (OS - partly)
They were all kids. Fresh-faced kids.
HARVEY (OS - partly)
If you'd let any of them go, they’d
have tracked you down, Joe. Like a
rabbit. Or reported the way you went.
PHIL
It's okay, Joe.
(excludes FAKE JOE)
We've all lived with this.
BILL
It was your worst experience, Dad.
JOE
Tony, I - .
TONY
It was your worst scenario, like.
PAUL
Those flyboys killed more people
than that every day - innocent ones.
LEONARD
(to TONY) You had to be there.
PAUL
Joe had to be there.
CLOSE ON JOE - He will have to figure out how to say what he wanted to say to Tony. But for now -
EXT. THE CLEARING, THE KILLING.
YOUNG JOE fires his weapon in broad sweeps across all the dying.
JOE (OS - partly)
I raked left, right - back and forth
from truck to truck. I was systematic
- like cutting wheat with a scythe.
Joe, The Grim Reaper. Right to left,
left to right - keeping the tempo.
BILL
All right, Dad!
TONY
Yeah, it’s all right.
JOE
Wolfgang looked right into my eyes.
Nobody's ever gonna hate me like that.
PHIL
It's 1990, Joe, not '44.
BILL
Nobody hates you, now.
JOE (OS - partly )
It’s too late to apologize. Their
families are mostly dead, or never got
born. You know what I felt, right after?
Relief,Yeah. But pride, too; for a
minute or so. If I only knew what was
up in front of me.
TONY
What was up in front of you?
HARVEY
You were saved for something, Joe.
JOE
I can still see them realizing what
I was gonna do to them.
STELLA, PAT, AND SANDY come in as Joe continues.
JOE (Cont.)
They died a lonely, painful death.
The whole bunch. I cheated them out of
everything. I saw what each one of them
saw last: the truck canopy; the sky;
blood and flesh coming at them; or a
place in the meadow; home; or a girl he
maybe never met; his mother; his wife;
his father; or me. They all saw me.
STELLA
You can forget about it now, Joe.
(to ALL) We have to go.
EXT. VFW - DAY
STELLA, PAT, SANDY, then JOE, BILL and TONY come out.
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
INT. VFW - DAY
TONY
(to ALL INSIDE) Great to meet
all you guys.
THE VETS INSIDE wish Tony well.
JOE
(to TONY) That guy who’s gung ho all
the time ... Joe? He doesn’t know what
he’s talking about.
TONY
His name's Joe, too?
INT. FAKE JOE waits as PHIL pours him another beer, as
EXT. VARIOUS ANGLES
JOE
He spent the war in a warehouse
in New Jersey. We don't know it.
TONY
Why do you carry him?
JOE
I guess we all have a certain under-
standing about one another, Tony.
TONY
Yeah. That’s what I like about the Army .
PAT
(to STELLA) They’ve all been drinking.
Pat exchanges a look with Bill: his drinking is one reason they are not together now ... She looks at Joe, and Tony ... All the men are drunk ... But she looks up to see - PHIL, smiling at her.
Pat smiles back as -
SANDY
That was some story, Grandpa.
BILL
It was a little shocking, wasn’t it,
Sandy.
STELLA
Pat and I will drive all of us.
This, the grown males acknowledge, has to be the way.
Bill can’t decide which car to go to - his mother’s or his second ex-wife’s ... Joe cannot crouch to get into Stella’s car.
STELLA
Tony? Come with us.
SANDY
What’s the matter, Grandpa?
TONY
What’s the matter?
Stella and Bill help Joe into the car. Bill straps him into the safety harness, closes and locks the door.
Joe taps - rather frantically - on the closed window.
Tony tries to open the door ... Bill goes round to the other side, where Stella deftly opens the door with her key as - Joe clutches his abdomen.
SANDY
What's the matter?
STELLA
It’s another attack! Oh, Joe ...
EXT. / THEN INT. JOE'S HOME - VARIOUS ROOMS - DAY
A BASEBALL GAME plays on T-V ... It goes off.
A REMOTE CONTROL is dropped by - STELLA. She looks more worn, worried. She’s on the bed next to - JOE, who is asleep.
CLOSE ON JOE - he has lost weight, looks more fatigued and worried. He turns on his side, gives up the idea of waking fully, and falls fully asleep.
THE PHONE rings and Stella goes for it into the KITCHEN, where we hear a T-V NEWS BROADCAST about preparations for the LIBERATION OF KUWAIT.
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
INT. / THEN EXT. PAT'S HOME - KITCHEN - DAY
PAT is on the PHONE.
THROUGH THE WINDOW: BACK YARD - SANDY, and friend, BENNY, play catch. Sandy does not play well, is preoccupied ... FETCH runs after the ball.
PAT
He didn’t wake up yet?
STELLA
No ... No, Bill hasn't called much,
either, for the last few weeks.
There is dead SILENCE.
PAT
How is Tony? ... He volunteered to go?
THIS INTERCUT TOO WITH:
EXT. A US ARMY TRAINING BASE - DAY
INSERT: FORT RILEY, KANSAS
ANGLE ON A NUMBER OF YOUNG PRIVATES, later to be with Tony, AND A DRILL SERGEANT ... In a FIELD the PRIVATES do push-ups in unison.
STELLA
Maybe this Gulf thing will be over
before he gets out of basic training.
TONY is one of the Privates and HE is unable to do the push-ups ... The Drill Sergeant towers over him.
STELLA
Stay in touch, Pat.
(hangs up; dials a number)
Come and visit your father, Bill.
INT. JOE'S BEDROOM - DAY
JOE blinks and stirs, breathes uneasily as -
INTERCUT JOE, IN BED, WITH:
EXT. THE WINTRY ARDENNES FOREST - DAY
YOUNG JOE, as before. We hear off SOUNDS of occasional TROOP, VEHICLE MOVEMENTS as Young Joe unsuccessfully brushes frozen snow off a STUMP, sits on it anyway.
JOE (VO)
I’d’a’ been glad to worry about piles.
JOE stirs, opens his eyes, slowly lifts his head to collect where he is. He sees -
STELLA in the LIVING ROOM. She dusts furniture in a silence ... Joe puts his head down.
IN THE FOREST, YOUNG JOE waits for the enemy to capture him - we hear OS THE SOUNDS OF THE ENEMY coming closer.
EXT. THE US ARMY TRAINING BASE - DAY
TONY runs the perimeter of the FIELD with a rifle above his head, for a moment, then down in front of his chest.
WIDEN to reveal The DRILL SERGEANT watching him, idly at first, then - with a practiced elan -
DRILL SERGEANT
Bukowski? You gonna make it?
TONY
Yes, Drill Sergeant.
INT. JOE’S HOME AS BEFORE - DAY
IN THE BEDROOM - JOE gets out of his bed. He goes to the door, hears RECOGNIZABLE VOICES IN CONVERSATION.
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
INT. THE LIVING ROOM STELLA, BILL sit.
THROUGH THE WINDOW OUTSIDE: SANDY plays half-heartedly with his rifle, as if he may be saying good-bye to his favorite toy.
BILL
Yeah, I know he did the best he
could.He worked all the time.
CLOSE ON JOE, then -
EXT. A CITY NEIGHBORHOOD - LATE 194O'S - DAY
YOUNG JOE in his MAILMAN'S UNIFORM delivers Christmas parcels to a door. He seems untroubled, but remote in his mind.
INT. JOE’S HOME AS BEFORE - LIVING ROOM / BEDROOM - DAY
BILL (Cont.)
I guess he had a lot to forget.
STELLA
Since you’re so understanding,
you can give him his pill, Bill.
BILL
Me? Give Joe Bukowski his pill?
Stella laughs.
IN THE BEDROOM, Joe turns away from the door.
JOE (VO)
Am I that distant?
Joe hears Sandy's ‘’PSCHEWS’’, puts his ear to the door again.
BILL
He always tried to give me good advice,
anyway. - He’s aware of his mortality,
that’s what it is. Or his guilt. That’s
why he wants to talk.
STELLA
I didn’t say he wanted to talk. I
thought it’d be a good idea if you
talked to him. For you, too.
(BILL knows that’s true)
Haven’t you had enough to drink, Bill?
JOE
You've always stuck up for me,
Stella. No matter how.
BILL
Okay. I’ll go talk to him. I never
knew him very well, though. So ...
JOE comes into the LIVING ROOM ... Bill cannot look Joe in the eyes ... Stella turns away for a different reason: what Bill just clumsily said is too true.
SANDY comes in from outside.
SANDY
(reluctantly) Hi, Grandpa.
JOE
Hey, ... Look who’s here.
STELLA
Lunch is ready, everyone.
JOE
Seems like I missed some meals.
BILL
How are you feeling?
JOE
Better.
Joe, Stella, Bill, Sandy sit without a word ... Joe stretches for the BUTTER, but can't hold his knife against the pat. Stella pulls the butter away. Joe, with an obvious effort to stretch, pulls it back. He spreads a great gob of butter onto his MASHED POTATOES.
BILL
Let him have some butter, Mom.
Looks of - thanks and compassion pass between Joe and Bill.
But then, as the meal goes on, (and seemingly on), Bill looks at no one ... Stella looks only at Joe, once or twice ... Sandy looks at everyone but, bored with that, exchanges looks with FETCH ... Joe sits, eats slowly, with his own thoughts.
INTERCUT THIS SILENT MEAL WITH:
INT. VFW - DAY
On the T-V NEWSCAST GENERAL NORMAN SCHWARTZKOPF announces the readiness of American, Allied forces to embark to Saudi Arabia.
PHIL
Joe’s okay. I’m going out with
his ex-daughter-in-law tonight.
One of them. Pat.
LEONARD
Bill’s ex-wife? Wait till Joe hears
about that. She’s a nice young lady.
FAKE JOE
You think Joe’s okay? The way he’s
talking?
DANNY
Maybe we'll all try to tell the truth
someday. That’ll be some conversation.
JIM
(to FAKE JOE) Joe? You ever been in
New Jersey?
INT. JOE’S KITCHEN / DINING ROOM
JOE gets up from the table, goes to the PHONE. - STELLA, BILL, SANDY, and FETCH, too, look at him, don’t know what to expect.
INT. VFW - JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
As the OTHERS watch the T-V NEWSCAST, PHIL is on the phone, as one or two of them notice. Phil hangs up.
PHIL
- Joe.
(FAKE JOE looks up )
No. Joe. On the phone. He wants
us all to come over.
HARVEY
He must be feeling better.
Phil shrugs unhappily.
DANNY
You guys go, Phil. Jim and I will
stay here, hold down the fort.
(cont.)
DANNY (cont.)
(JIM’S been committed, looks like)
Nobody wants too many soldiers in his house.
FAKE JOE
You’re welcome, you know.
JIM
We’ll go next time.
PHIL
Okay. Thanks.
EXT. / THEN INT. JOE'S HOME - TWILIGHT
IN THE BEDROOM, JOE lies in bed. Around him: STELLA, BILL, SANDY; and, now, PAT; then PAUL, HARVEY, LEONARD, and FAKE JOE; and - PHIL, looking rather awkward with Pat, and Bill, in the same room.
LEONARD
We're here, Joe. All the other guys
will come next time.
BILL
There’s something I have to tell you,
Dad. Tony's gone into the Army already.
FAKE JOE
There's been a big build-up going on, Joe.
BILL
That’s the other thing: he’s volunteered
for Iraq.
SANDY
Hi, Grandpa.
JOE
Hi, Sandy. Can I talk to Tony?
BILL
I’ll try to get him to phone you.
He’s at Fort Riley, Kansas.
JOE
Will you write him a letter for me?
- Paper’s over in your mother’s desk.
Write: ‘’Tony, I ...’’
PHIL
Maybe we should all go, Stella.
JOE
Don’t go yet. What I can tell you guys
is -- . Pat?
PAT
(looks to BILL)
It’s okay, I guess.
Bill nods, looks at Sandy.
EXT. THE SNOWY FOREST PATH - LATER - FX - DAY
As we hear OFF SOUNDS OF THE ENEMY’S ADVANCE, THROUGH BUSH YOUNG JOE sees a squad of BRITISH SOLDIERS: A LIEUTENANT, A SERGEANT, A DOZEN PRIVATES.
The British take cover, aim as they only hear Young Joe’s panting, footfall, coming at them, can’t see him yet.
Young Joe sees RIFLE BARRELS aimed at him, comes fully out of the bushes, exhausted, arms up.
FIRST BRITISH PRIVATE
A bleeding Yank.
BRITISH SQUAD LIEUTENANT
What’s up ahead, PFC?
YOUNG JOE
Hell.
BRITISH SQUAD SERGEANT
Where’s your outfit, soldier?
YOUNG JOE
Dead.
The First British Private opens his canteen and crosses to Young Joe. The SECOND BRITISH PRIVATE approaches him with a cigarette ... Young Joe nods thanks.
The LT. cannot see Young Joe’s name on his embattled uniform.
BRITISH SQUAD LIEUTENANT
What’s your name?
YOUNG JOE
GI Joe.
INT. JOE’S BEDROOM - JUST AS BEFORE - TWILIGHT
SANDY laughs at that ... STELLA has an expression that tells Joe he does not have to carry on with this ... SANDY glances at a book he has in his hand - a large PICTURE BOOK OF WORLD WAR TWO. Sandy closes it and tosses it to the floor ... BILL stands next to JOE, puts his hand on Sandy’s shoulder.
WIDEN to include PHIL and PAUL, HARVEY, LEONARD, AND FAKE JOE.
EXT. A US ARMY CAMP - FRANCE, 1944 - DAY
YOUNG JOE, stunned, fatigued, is led by PRIVATE COBBS, US ARMY, to the door of - the COMMANDING OFFICER'S HUT ... Young Joe sits on a step.
PRIVATE COBBS
You all right now, GI Joe?
INT. THE C.O.'S OFFICE - DAY
As JOE speaks, YOUNG JOE, for COLONEL BLAKE and COL. BLAKE’S AIDE, sticks a red pin on a MAP, smiles - as if he were a general for a moment ... FROM OUTSIDE WE HEAR ARTILLERY ROUNDS EXPLODE, near.
JOE (OS - partly)
I showed this Colonel where the
scene of my crime was.
COLONEL BLAKE
Thank you, PFC.
YOUNG JOE
‘’Proud Fucking Civilian’’, (Sir).
Young Joe hides a smile that would not make him happy anyway.
INT. JOE'S BEDROOM - JUST AS BEFORE - NIGHT
PAT, STELLA are shocked, and BILL is surprised, but SANDY is not.
JOE
I'll tell Tony what it stands for, too.
One good thing, I guess. The Germans
chased me into a pocket. We hit their
flanks. I guess we had some part in
stopping The Bulge. They gave me the
Silver Star, made me a corporal. For
killing. Colonel Blake left the Army
and became a Congressman. From Ohio.
INT. THE PUB - ALL WHO HAVE BEEN HERE - NIGHT
At the end of the bar, THE MAJOR glares at YOUNG JOE, but avoids Young Joe’s look, and leaves ... The BARMAN turns away.
INT. JOE’S BEDROOM - JUST AS BEFORE - NIGHT
BILL
What the regular Joe does gets diminished.
FAKE JOE
The more the war becomes history, the
less they think of us.
JOE
The war changed me. Made me moody.
STELLA
Moody, and secretive.
BILL
Yeah. I guess so.
JOE
We were supposed to forget all about
us, too.
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
INT. THE C.O.'S HUT - DAY
YOUNG JOE sits opposite COLONEL BLAKE, his AIDE, BLAKE’S LT., and CAPTAIN, and a STARS AND STRIPES REPORTER in uniform ... The Reporter nods to the Colonel, salutes him, leaves.
JOE (OS - partly)
The brass didn't want me talking to
anybody else. Not with my unpredictable
altitude.
COLONEL BLAKE
You don't even want The Silver Star.
But you’re not going home, not yet.
YOUNG JOE
No Sir. Thank you, Sir.
INT. JOE'S BEDROOM.
JOE
They didn’t want me back with the
men who were still fighting.
FAKE JOE
But - why?
STELLA
Why didn’t you want to come home?
JOE
Okay, - I saw one of those psychia-
trists. I stayed in that pub so long
I missed my plane. On purpose. I didn’t
want to face the music. The band music.
STELLA
I met you where there was band music.
JOE
The psychiatrist asked me if I had
some babe. I told him, ‘’Okay, I’ll
go home, get married, for Christsakes.’’
They told me I had the right to
‘’life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness’’.
Stella leaves the room.
JOE (Cont.)
Guess I can’t do anything right.
INT. PUB - ALL WHO HAVE BEEN HERE - NIGHT
THIS INTERCUT TOO WITH:
EXT. / THEN INT. - SITES IN THE ENGLISH VILLAGE - DAY / NIGHT
YOUNG JOE, alone, strolls by and looks at the various places, sights, PEOPLE, which he describes ... JUNE listens.
YOUNG JOE
I can see everything I want to
see here. A Lady Bird on a rose
petal. The way the sunlight shafts
through those colored windows in
the church. That calm feeling you
get right after it rains. I think
about frogs, turtles, crickets;
blades of grass; trees - how they
shine in the rain. Then in the sun.
I think about butterflies. I think
about - anything I want, June.
I see a pretty girl’s smile here.
Her voice means the whole rest of
the world to me.
JUNE goes back to work. She is moved, but won’t react on this.
TREVOR
He’s not some murderer, June.
JUNE
Joe, you can’t solve here what you
won’t face back there.
INT. JOE’S BEDROOM - JUST AS BEFORE - NIGHT
JOE
She was right. She could have made
everything all right, but -.
STELLA is in the doorway.
SANDY
Her name is June.
Stella walks away - Joe notices her now.
INT. / THEN EXT. THE PUB - ALL WHO HAVE BEEN HERE - DAY
THE MAJOR enters from outside, is less than deferentially given a place among the OTHERS around YOUNG JOE.
THE MAJOR
A few of your compatriots want a word.
OVER YOUNG JOE’S SHOULDER we see, THROUGH THE OPEN DOOR, a US ARMY JEEP, AND MPs - SERGEANT HOWARD, CORPORAL DUGAN, PFC WINTERGREEN.
JOE (OS)
So in came four MPS. But I’m not
talking about Members of Parliament.
JUNE
You didn't have to do that, Major.
INT. JOE’S BEDROOM - JUST AS BEFORE - NIGHT
JOE
This - June stood up for me once.
EXT. / AND INT. THE PUB - JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
YOUNG JOE comes out of the pub to meet the MPs ... JUNE comes out, then TREVOR, IAIN, NIGEL, and OTHERS.
JOE (OS)
All of them did. The whole village.
INT. THE PUB. - THE MAJOR waits for the BARMAN to serve him a pint. The Barman leaves the pub.
OUTSIDE -
SERGEANT HOWARD
You been causing disturbances here,
Joe? Somebody said. And you’re AWOL.
JUNE
That's not true, Sergeant.
PFC WINTERGREEN
They said you was disturbed.
CORPORAL DUGAN
You black marketeering here, or is
there something else you’re hiding?
JUNE
See here. This man is a war hero.
VILLAGE CITIZEN
He’s no ordinary Yank.
TREVOR
We can vouch for him, Sergeant.
NIGEL
He's no crook, Sergeant.
IAIN
He's honest.
PFC WINTERGREEN
Yeah, right.
BARMAN
He's got his own opinions, maybe.
But that’s no crime.
SERGEANT HOWARD
We've got to take him in, folks.
YOUNG JOE
No problem, Sarge.
YOUNG JOE climbs into the back of the jeep. PFC WINTERGREEN gets to drive. SGT. HOWARD rides shotgun. CORPORAL DUGAN sits by Young Joe ... TREVOR hands Young Joe his SUITCASE ... THE MAJOR comes to the door, is ignored.
INSIDE THE PUB, The MAJOR puts his beer mug under the tap as -
OUTSIDE.
JUNE
Watch what you say. Take care, GI.
June kisses Young Joe, briefly, on the cheek.
INT. JOE’S BEDROOM - JUST AS BEFORE - NIGHT
JOE
(calls) That's all she did, Stella.
- Just a little one. Right here.
EXT. THE JEEP - MOVING - YOUNG JOE, MPs - DAY
In the VILLAGE THEY pass CITIZENS who see a GI in custody, without handcuffs ... After, they cruise through ROLLING COUNTRY.
JOE (OS)
Even civilians thought you could kill a
lot of people and that was all right.
SERGEANT HOWARD
Some babe back there, Joe.
PFC WINTERGREEN
I can’t say much for these English
broads.
SERGEANT HOWARD
They say a lot about you.
CORPORAL DUGAN
What are you not supposed to talk
about, ‘’GI’’?
Joe looks back hard at the VILLAGE.
INT. JOE’S BEDROOM - JUST AS BEFORE - NIGHT
JOE looks for Stella, but she has not come back.
JOE
They took me straight to the shrink.
BILL
Sometimes the Army does know what
to do.
INT. A US ARMY PSYCHIATRIST’S OFFICE - ENGLAND - DAY
SERGEANT HOWARD brings YOUNG JOE to a PSYCHIATRIST MAJOR. The Sergeant salutes, leaves. DISSOLVE TO: LATER - DAY
YOUNG JOE
I wanted to stay in that little town.
PSYCHIATRIST MAJOR
You wanted to hide out. Because you’re
a murderer. I thought you were a soldier.
YOUNG JOE
They’re the same thing.
PSYCHIATRIST MAJOR
You’re not a danger to yourself,
are you, Corporal?
INT. JOE’S BEDROOM / LIVING ROOM - JUST AS BEFORE - NIGHT
STELLA comes in, sits by JOE.
JOE
A danger to myself. ‘’No,’’
I told him.
Stella runs out, crying. PAT follows, crying.
SANDY
What the fuck are they crying about?
IN THE LIVING ROOM.
STELLA
(to PAT) After all these years,
Joe still confuses me.
IN JOE’S BEDROOM.
JOE
That doctor knew the Army manual
about head cases.
INT. THE PSYCHIATRIST MAJOR’S OFFICE - DAY
YOUNG JOE
Can I tell you the truth, Major?
PSYCHIATRIST MAJOR
Do you want to tell the truth?
YOUNG JOE
No. I don’t want to tell the truth
to anyone anymore.
PSYCHIATRIST MAJOR
You’ve felt too much remorse, Joe.
You’ve taken too much on your
shoulders. Accept what happened,
and yourself. Find a place to put
it. Live with it, by living without
it: don’t let IT be your every day,
every moment. Nobody else does.
EXT. A US ARMY PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL - ENGLAND - DAY
ON THE LAWN - AN ARMY ORDERLY says good-bye to YOUNG JOE.
ORDERLY
You can’t beat the USA, Joe.
It’s bigger than you.
INT. JOE HOME - VARIOUS ROOMS - JUST AS BEFORE - NIGHT
IN THE BEDROOM.
JOE
After the war, I hit the booze,
right away. It helped me to
‘’forget.’’ Helped me to relax.
BILL
Be fair on yourself, Dad.
IN THE LIVING ROOM, SANDY comes up to STELLA, PAT ... Stella hangs up the phone.
SANDY
What’s wrong now?
STELLA
Nothing’s wrong, Dear. The doctor
thinks your grandfather needs more
sleep. If he gets excited it’s not
good for him.
SANDY
Why don't we just be nicer to him?
After what he had to do.
IN THE BEDROOM, Stella comes in, then Pat - she closes the door on Sandy, who is left with his war book.
PHIL
We'd better go, Joe.
LEONARD
There's no amends you can make, Joe.
You’re not allowed to feel so bad.
PHIL
Guys like you, and Leonard, won the war,
Joe; kept the world safe for democracy.
Phil smiles at Pat ... Pat smiles faintly back.
CLOSE ON JOE - he wears a certain enigmatic smile.
Joe falls asleep - so quickly that it startles everyone. They Others go out quietly, but Leonard lingers to be last. Bill nods respectfully to Leonard. Leonard leaves the room.
JOE
Do I have to talk some more?
(closes his eyes)
BILL
Okay, ‘’Unknown Soldier’’.
Bill leaves, closes the bedroom door.
EXT. FORT RILEY, KANSAS - A US ARMY RIFLE RANGE - DAY
INSERT: FORT RILEY, KANSAS
FOUR PRIVATES, who will become Tony’s comrades, fire at TARGETS.
TONY fires at HIS TARGET - gets:
A CLOSE BULLET GROUPING.
THE DRILL SERGEANT is happy.
DRILL SERGEANT
Bukowski. You can’t fight. You can’t
drink. I heard you can’t fuck. But
you can shoot.
TONY
Thank you, Drill Sergeant.
DRILL SERGEANT
You’re pretty good behind a plow, too.
The Drill Sergeant takes a long, gathering in look at Tony.
- DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. FORT RILEY, KANSAS - A TRAINING FIELD - DAY
TONY climbs into a BIOLOGICAL-CHEMICAL WARFARE SUIT and MASK, takes his WEAPON, starts his BULLDOZER. He looks more self-
confident, but not quite like a soldier.
- DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. FLAT COUNTRYSIDE - DAY
INSERT: FORT RILEY, KANSAS
TONY confidently operates a BULLDOZER - plows up sand.
WIDEN ON LIEUTENANT FRIAR, THE SECOND LT. COLONEL at the EDGE OF THIS AREA.
LIEUTENANT FRIAR
All they need is the enemy, Colonel.
TONY looks out vacuously on the broad brown semi-desert plain.
- DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. ANOTHER AREA OF THE FLAT COUNTRYSIDE - DAY
TONY - at an NCO'S SHOUT - drops the blade of his DOZER, plows sandy soil into a pile ... The OTHER PRIVATES on OTHER DOZERS take apart such piles with their plows.
INT. FORT RILEY BARRACKS - EST. SHOT - NIGHT
In B.G.. A FEW OF TONY’S BARRACKS MATES - those we have seen - we now see CLOSE ON: PRIVATE JACK DOYLE, PRIVATE STEVE HARRIS, PRIVATE BOB STUPINSKI, PRIVATE RUSS WARNKE - horse around in an after-a-hard-day's-training sort of way ... TONY finds ‘’privacy’’, opens an ENVELOP sent from - BILL BUKOWSKI, reads.
JACK
Fuck the Republican Guard.
STEVE
How come they're the ‘’Republican’’
Guard? I'm a Republican.
BILL (VO; writes)
‘’Dear Son,... We are all thinking of
you, and we’re worried, naturally...
Tony hesitates, but reads on ... We see he begins to get moved by Bill’s words ... But he has to look up ... Bob is over him, lets an envelop flutter down next to him.
BOB
It was stuck to one of mine.
We see that Tony has - A LETTER FROM JOE ... Tony opens it, begins to read it, with some reluctance, but - Jack, The Others come over to Tony.
JACK
Let’s go.
STEVE
We could have been in KC. already.
TONY
Maybe I’m crazy, but - .
JACK
Denise will think so. So will I.
BOB
You're getting crazier every day,
Bukowski. But no more than anybody
else.
JACK
(to TONY) You see Denise and you'll
forget all about that other broad.
BOB
We’re all coming back, Tony. This
won’t be the last time you can go
home. But if you do go home now,
your Momma’s gonna cry anyway.
TONY
I told her I would see her, too. I
should see my grandfather. He was
in World War Two.
JACK
Everybody's grandfather was in
World War Two.
TONY
He's dying.
RUSS
Tell him not to die yet.
TONY
My father wants to see me, too.
RUSS
You have too many relatives ...
JACK
These girls are waiting for us.
BOB
You just want to get treated like
a hero already.
THIS INTERCUT WITH FLASHFORWARD:
INT. JOE'S LIVING ROOM - FX - DAY
TONY imagines being here, in uniform, with JOE, STELLA, BILL, SANDY. Sandy comes up to Tony in awe that his half-brother is a SOLDIER.
Joe sits in his chair - he's aroused himself to be well enough to smile proudly onto Tony in this moment which they both glory in.
BOB
You couldn’t take that scenario.
TONY'S POV: BILL stands, a whisky in hand but he is not drinking. Bill looks at him with a grave, worried look.
BOB (Cont.)
They'll say something that's gonna embarrass you.
Joe suddenly sizes him up, seems to ask: ‘’Are you really ready?’’
BOB (Cont.)
Or they'll gawk at you -
Stella looks at Tony with compassion and pity and a bit of horror, is speechless.
BOB (Cont.)
- not know what to say.
Bill looks at him as if trying to say something profoundly helpful, and fails at it.
Tony turns to Joe, who has something he would tell him, and is even about to do so ... But Tony turns away.
INT. THE BARRACKS AS BEFORE - NIGHT
STEVE
Make a video. Email them. Use
the phone.
INT. JOE’S KITCHEN, LIVING ROOM, BEDROOM - NIGHT
IN THE KITCHEN - STELLA washes dishes - to distract herself.
IN JOE'S BEDROOM - JOE sleeps, but stirs, tenses his body to return to sleep. His eyes open. He tosses, may remember something.
IN THE KITCHEN - Stella has nothing else to distract her ...
IN THE BEDROOM - Joe wakes - because STELLA is here, with pill.
JOE
You'd think if a guy was dying they'd
come up with something better than
putting him to sleep all the time.
STELLA
Doctor Milo said ‘’Snow him’’ for
awhile. So I’m snowing you.
JOE
Then what?
STELLA
How's the pain?
JOE
That’s no option either.
STELLA
Did you really like England?
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
EXT. THE ENGLISH VILLAGE - NIGHT
YOUNG JOE walks about alone, taking in the various things JOE talks of. - Frogs croak, crickets chirp, etc.
JOE (OS - partly)
It was cool. I like it cool. You don’t
get all hot and bothered. It was a
quaint little town with cobblestone
streets. All the gardens (the lawns)and
fields, the trees were this special
green. Made you feel born again.
STELLA
You were talking about June in your
sleep. Just a minute ago. That’s where
your mind was.
JOE
That was then. And even then ... She
wasn’t anything to me. Really, Stel.
You’re kidding me.
STELLA
She was then. Did she jilt you, Joe?
When we met you were nice, and kind of
quiet, even with the joking around.
And you wanted to get married.
JOE
Everybody wanted to get married, in
1946. And when you saw me, you saw
that Silver Star ribbon.
STELLA
I saw you. But if you'd told me every-
thing then, or before now. About the -- psychiatrist. All that.
JOE
Then you wouldn't have married me.
Would you.
STELLA
I think I would have.
JOE
I wanted to tell everybody. Even
after that psychiatrist made me
think I shouldn’t.
EXT. / THEN INT. A BUS - MOVING - DAY
INSERT: Chicago (OR OTHER CITY), 1946
YOUNG JOE, in uniform, rides with OTHER PASSENGERS.
YOUNG JOE (VO)
There’s nothing like a house, a
lawn, a wife and kids, relatives,
friends; a nice, quiet life.
INT. JOE’S BEDROOM - JUST AS BEFORE - NIGHT
STELLA
You mean it, Joe, right?
(JOE smiles)
You meant it?
EXT. / THEN INT. 1946 BUS IN CHICAGO - MOVING - AS BEFORE - DAY
YOUNG JOE (VO)
The doc said I needed ‘’therapy.’’
‘’Therapy’’ is: The things you have to
remember to do - to forget what you
know you’re gonna remember.
The bus stops at a STATION. YOUNG JOE gets out with OTHERS. He
sees an ICE-CREAM VENDOR, smiles, goes for an ice-cream. STILL MORE OTHERS smile at Young Joe, at a GI in uniform these days.
YOUNG JOE (Cont. - VO)
Therapy changes the way people
look at you, anyway.
A YOUNG WOMAN, pretty, smiles at Young Joe. He smiles back, meekly. She walks away, disappointed.
INT. JOE’S BEDROOM - JUST AS BEFORE - NIGHT
STELLA
You didn’t tell me about her, either.
JOE
I overlooked her, Stel.
CLOSE ON STELLA as -
EXT. A MODEST POST-WAR SUBURBAN HOME - DAY
A SONG: perhaps ‘’Happy Days Are Here Again’’... YOUNG JOE and YOUNG STELLA drive into the driveway in a PRE-WAR ERA CAR. They take down a FOR SALE SIGN on the newly seeded and sprinkled lawn.
DISSOLVE TO: A SERIES OF QUICK CUTS ON YOUNG JOE as - JOE (OS) describes his activities around the house after the war ... The oak tree is a young plant ... THE SONG THEN FADES OUT.
JOE (OS)
Someday, I thought, I'd be happy.
I'd be shucking peas, maybe, from my
own garden. Or standing under a big
oak tree in a thunder storm - and I
wouldn't be afraid of the lightening,
either. Or maybe I'd be doing some-
thing ordinary, dull, like changing a
flat tire or mowing the lawn; or
looking at a rose... And, wham...
Someday, somewhere, when I least
expected it, - I'd be happy.
INT. JOE’S BEDROOM - JUST AS BEFORE - NIGHT
STELLA
It happened, right?
JOE
Yeah.
STELLA
When?
JOE
When I met you.
STELLA
You did become happy, Joe?
JOE
I have to look ahead, Stel.
I have to do so much with
what time I’ve got left.
Stella covers her eyes, turns from Joe and - THE PHONE RINGS.
JOE
I thought we were finished with
late-night calls.
STELLA
With our son?
JOE
(picks up phone) Hello?
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
EXT. A PHONE BOOTH. - TONY - NIGHT
TONY is rather drunk, and looks embarrassed and ashamed.
TONY
Grandpa... I'm sorry. But I
I can't make it home.
JOE
Do you need some money? Do you - .
TONY
- No. I've only got a few days
and some of the guys and I --.
STELLA picks up on an extension phone.
JOE
They're shipping you out already?
TONY
Yeah. Yes sir.
JOE
I’ll write you that letter, Tony.
There’s a few things I wanted to
tell you, I mean.
TONY
(wants to believe it)
Hey, - you sound good.
STELLA
We love you, Tony.
TONY
I love you, Grandma.
STELLA
You'd better phone your mother, Tony.
TONY
Yeah. - They say we won't be over
there long, though. When we put on
our show of strength, they'll just
back right off.
Joe, Stella, say nothing.
Take care of yourself, Grandpa.
I'll see you.
JOE
Tony, don’t take chances you don't
have to.
TONY
I won't, Grandpa. Good-bye.
STELLA
Tony, take care of yourself!
TONY
I will. Good-bye. (hangs up)
INT. JOE'S BEDROOM
JOE
Tony's gone.
STELLA
You did what you could, Joe.
JOE
Did I ever do that?
STELLA
Yes.
JOE
You’re a good woman, Stel. I love
you. But it’s time to look after
the kids.
INT. THE PHONE BOOTH - TONY
TONY hesitates, then dials another number, waits.
TONY
Hello. Chris?...Oh. Tell her I
phoned, okay?... Tony.
We hear a CAR HORN and see, yards away, A CAR, with JACK, behind the wheel, and STEVE, BOB, RUSS inside.
JACK
We’ll be late, Tone.
EXT. THE ARABIAN DESERT - A US ARMY CAMP - DAY
INSERT: Saudi Arabia, November, 199O
TENTS are being erected by SOLDIERS ... A RUNWAY stretches away from the tents ... At the other end of it: PARKED AIRCRAFT, A CONTROL TOWER AND AN ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, OFFICERS' STAFF CARS; On the other side of the runway - TANKS, APCs, DOZERS.
MEN, WOMEN in uniform march, walk briskly.
ANGLE ON AN AIR FORCE TRANSPORT PLANE LANDING
A TAXIMAN AIRMAN guides the plane into a parked position. OTHER AIRMEN block the wheels of the plane as its ENGINES FADE ... The back, ramp door of the transport descends.
INT. THE PLANE. We see a developing rectangle of Arabian daylight as the ramp door opens as -
JACK
Gonna be something to phone
home about.
ALL the PLATOON - but not TONY - react with VERBAL AFFIRMATIONS of that - of the glory, rightness of their mission. Their adolescence is thinly veiled - or exaggerated - by the sunglasses they all apply, as if each of them, except Tony, are about to be featured in the biggest ‘’movie’’ they’d ever be in.
Tony and his platoon - firstly Jack, STEVE, BOB, RUSS, then Tony - file out of the plane into formation on the runway ... The Platoon Sergeant, SERGEANT WRIGHT, appears, behind him the Platoon Lieutenant, LIEUTENANT LITZ.
SERGEANT WRIGHT
First Platoon, - ten-hut!
LT. LITZ
At ease, people. Welcome to Saudi
Arabia -- armpit of the world.
His laughter comes.
You won't be here long.
More laughter - Tony smiles.
The enemy's dug trenches all across the
desert out there. They think they’re
gonna stop our armored elements.
The Platoon laughs.
LT. LITZ (cont.)
Trenches. W-W One.
The Platoon laughs.
We engineers have a surprise for them.
Waits for response - gets it.
But people? It’s youwho have
something you can BELIEVE in.
Life after death. Your life -
after their death.
Sgt. Wright salutes Lt. Litz, who marches off.
SERGEANT WRIGHT
De-tail - fall out!
The Platoon - and Tony - breaks ranks, each man picks up his BAG behind, hoists it to his shoulder and heads off.
INT. VFW - DAY
CLOSE ON TV NEWS REPORT - News update on developments in The Gulf Crisis. We see AMERICANS IN UNIFORM and AMERICAN EQUIPMENT MOVING.
A SERIES OF CLOSE UPS ON
JOE
I never did enough for you
either, Bill.
BILL - he is drinking, but he isn't drunk.
WIDEN to reveal that Joe sits in a WHEELCHAIR ... Bill sits opposite him ... PAUL, HARVEY, LEONARD, FAKE JOE, DANNY, JIM, OTHER COMRADES at the bar, and PHIL behind it, try to stay with the TV.
BILL
You want another drink?
Joe looks at his COFFEE.
BILL (cont.)
I'll probably get that job.
JOE
Good.
BILL
Thanks to you. - It's amazing what
a new suit will do. I hope Tony
likes his.
Bill looks around the VFW; seesALL at the bar.
BILL (Cont.)
I don't blame you, Dad. And I
saved the house with the money
you gave me.
JOE
Tony will be like me, you know.
THIS INTERCUT WITH FLASHBACK:
INT. JOE'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
JOE, younger, healthy, sits in his chair, reads a newspaper and watches T-V ... From the KITCHEN we hear the VOICES OVER OF STELLA, BILL, - also younger - engaged in light, not quite joyful conversation on some topic ... Joe shuts them out of his mind.
JOE (OS - PARTLY)
I was afraid to show you what I
felt for you, Bill. Getting
‘’emotional’’ would be like going
into combat again. I’d had enough
‘’emotional’’. I wasafraid to
show, or feel, my love for you,
Bill. For your mother.
BILL
Dad, ...
JOE
When you got divorced ... Twice.
Is it twice now?
BILL
My marital problems weren’t your
fault. You were super straight,
Dad. That’s what was so good about
you. That was your generation. And
you were always worried about --
doing the right thing, too. And
you were quiet about it. You were
somebody I could look up to, Dad.
Somebody I could respect. I do
respect you. You need to appreciate
yourself more.
JOE
Well, I never cheated on your mother.
And I never delivered the mail late.
THE OTHERS - ALL BUT PHIL - COME INTO THEIR FRAME.
FAKE JOE
Hi, Joe. How's your grandson?
BILL
You mean my son? Tony's okay, so far.
FAKE JOE
Main thing's that bio-chemo stuff.
HARVEY
If they use chemicals, we'll
nuke 'em. Give them a fire-
cracker for Christmas.
BILL
We won’t nuke them. We aren’t
over there to get Saddam out,
either. They’ll leave everything
just the way it was. Dad?
FAKE JOE
You'll be the first to complain if
gas goes sky-high.
BILL
I'll be the first to complain
if my son gets killed.
(that penny drops)
And who would I complain to?
JOE
(to FAKE JOE ) Joe? Shut the fuck up.
The Others laugh.
JOE (Cont.)
We’d like a moment here. (to BILL)
Is that how you say it? I wrote
my own letter to Tony.
BILL
You wrote it? Good.
EXT. ARABIAN DESERT - US ARMY CAMP - DAY
TONY, JACK, STEVE, BOB, RUSS finish unloading a TRUCK. They have placed in a PILE BAGS clearly labeled INSECTICIDE. They dust themselves off, head out or their TENT.
JACK
That shit will kill anything, I bet.
BOB
I bet it’ll kill us.
BOB
No, - it's ORGANO phosphates.
RUSS
It’s safe, then. I guess.
CLOSE ON TONY - He is pensive; in fact, remorseful, apprehensive.
RUSS (Cont.)
Man, if this stuff doesn’t kill
these bugs I’m gonna get the fuck
out of here.
STEVE
Where you gonna go?
RUSS
Kill A-rabs.
INT. TONY'S TENT.
LETTERS are on the cots. - TONY, JACK, STEVE, BOB, RUSS come in.
BOB
Hey, - The World.
Tony looks on his cot. - There is no letter. He looks to BOB - he doesn’t have one for him this time ... Tony gets out JOE’S OLD LETTER, begins to read it.
JOE (VO)
‘’Dear Tony,...’’
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
INT. A HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
JOE, in bed, semi-conscious, is hooked up to an IV DRIP.
There is a small artificial CHRISTMAS TREE next to his bed.
JOE (VO)
‘’I guess my Silver Star story didn’t
go over too well with you...’’
INT. FLASHBACK: JOE’S BEDROOM - DAY
JOE makes a tremendous effort to sit, think, write.
INT. JOE’S HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
WIDEN - next to JOE is BILL, thenSTELLA, PAT, SANDY.
INT. TONY’S TENT - JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
TONY reads intently as The OTHERS horse around in the bg.
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
EXT. VFW - DAY
BILL wheels JOE to his CAR ... LEONARD holds the post door, then the car door open ... Bill alone picks his father up, gently places him into the car, straps him in.
JOE (VO)
‘’I wanted to shock you with that
story, so you might have a better
chance to survive. Develop some
radar for any kind of situation
nobody really expects you to get
into, Tony; or out of, either ...’’
IN JOE’S HOSPITAL ROOM - in the doorway stand RELATIVES AND FRIENDS. NOT ONE looks as if he or she had been close to JOE, not in recent years, at least.
CLOSE ON JOE - he smiles at all of them.
IN TONY’S TENT - TONY goes to his FOOTLOCKER, takes out a pad and pen.
ON HIS PAD Tony writes: ‘’Dear Dad,...’’
IN JOE'S HOSPITAL ROOM - JOE is fast asleep ... THE RELATIVES, FRIENDS, then PAT, SANDY, then BILL and STELLA leave.
IN TONY’S TENT - TONY puts down his LETTER to Bill - he
has written only a few words. He picks up JOE'S LETTER.
THIS INTERCUT WITH ARCHIVE FILM:
EXT. OMAHA BEACH LANDING - D-DAY - DAY
INSERT: June 6, 1944 D-Day Omaha Beach
JOE (VO)
‘’The invasion I was in on was
Normandy, The Mother of All Invasions.
You should prepare yourself for some-
thing like it...’’
EXT. US ARMY BASE - ARABIAN DESERT - NIGHT
INSERT: Christmas Eve, 199O
RUSS, BOB, STEVE - and JACK, are round a fire in an oil drum ... TONY is with his own thoughts in the dark and the flickering light of the fire.
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
EXT. OMAHA BEACH - D-DAY - DAY
ARCHIVE FILM - INTERCUT WITH:
YOUNG JOE’S AND OTHER LANDING CRAFT, filled with GI’S flounder on the high, tossing waves as they approach the BEACH, UNDER FIRE.
YOUNG JOE, OTHERS IN HIS LANDING CRAFT, duck for cover ... ONE GI is sick but can't, or won't, lean over the side. He vomits inadvertently into his helmet ... A SHELL EXPLODES near the landing craft. He puts his helmet back on.
JOE (VO)
‘’Omaha Beach was a narrow strip
of sand, with big cliffs to the
left. They called it ‘’Omaha’’, but
we didn't hear any country-western ...’’
ARABIAN DESERT - BY THE DRUM FIRE - TONY laughs, puts JOE'S LETTER back into his pocket.
JACK COMES INTO FRAME ... Tony picks up his weapon.
INT. JOE'S HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT
We see no one, then - JOE, nearly comatose, and the I.V. DRIP.
WIDEN: LEONARD stands in the doorway.
JOE (VO)
‘’We were in the first wave...’’
EXT. / THEN INT. LSI - MOVING - AS BEFORE - DAY
FIRST NORMANDY GI
‘’Wave’’? Wave good-bye, you mean.
SECOND NORMANDY GI
Ten thousand comedians out of work
and we get you. In a bobbing boat.
EXT. SAUDI ARABIA - US ARMY BASE FIRING RANGE - FX - NIGHT
THROUGH AN INFRA-RED TELESCOPE TARGETS MOVE - facsimiles of the enemy - being sighted, then shot, by TRACER ROUNDS.
TONY shoots the eerie surreal rounds.
EXT. THE ARABIAN DESERT - DAWN
INSERT: January, 1991
TONY, OTHERS, in BIO-CHEM SUITS, scramble onto their BULLDOZERS.
WIDEN to reveal what looks like - DOZENS OF DOZERS, GI DRIVERS. They roll their machines out into the desert in a broad column ... We see on the LEAD MACHINE - TONY.
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
EXT. / THEN INT. LSIS - MOVING - AS BEFORE - FX - DAY
ALL THE GIs are seasick. Some look to go over the side ... But in ONE LSI, as the ramp opens, the FIRST GI goes out first ...
A bullet strikes him. He falls head first, disappears in water deeper than EVERYONE thought it to be.
UNDERWATER: GIs wounded, landed prematurely, or trying to escape the fight, struggle with their packs and weapons. Most drown.
YOUNG JOE’S LSI moves on to shallow water. But no one's seasick-
ness has ended. Faces show us it also isn't smart to stay any longer in this small boat under fire, as bad as this fire is, too, at the edge of the water and on the beach ... Half the men - all of them ahead of Young Joe - run into the water. The water is perhaps knee-deep - enough to slow down all of them ... MOST OF THEM are struck down, die before they reach the sand.
WIDE ANGLE ON THE BREADTH OF THE D-DAY INVASION FORCE
WIDE ANGLE ON THE BREADTH OF THE DESERT STORM INVASION FORCE
ON TONY - he leads still with the FIRST DOZER - MOVING - and without apparent emotion - eyes straight ahead.
ANGLE ON OMAHA BEACH - the first dead are at the water's edge but already BULLETS and EXPLOSIONS rip up the sand even many yards from the yawning mouths of the LSIS and LSTS.
BARRICADES will slow the VEHICLES already being unloaded.
YOUNG JOE - his turn out of the LSI inevitable - runs off the ramp, pretends to sprain an ankle, falls into the water ... OTHERS - some notice his act, but can't deal with him just now - pass him by, go on as - OTHER LSIS land, unload more GIS, who begin to fall as corpses and wounded.
Young Joe is agonizingly ashamed, but terrified, and with an effort of will gets up, reaches the edge of the CRASH OF WAVES UNDER GUNFIRE, EXPLOSIONS, and the CRIES OF MEN being murdered and - they hope for the sake of their own futures - killing in return as they shoot ahead at nothing they, or we, can see for certain.
Young Joe falls at the edge of the water, works his elbow to aim - at his own dubious something ...
YOUNG JOE’S POV: ENEMY INSTALLATIONS: vague sources of GUNFIRE and MORTARS and ROCKETS against them from the hills ahead ...
BULLETS pelt the sand by YOUNG JOE'S FACE. Without aiming, he fires - high enough not to hit any of the GIS ahead. - Ahead of him - BODIES - ARMS AND LEGS ... Ahead and to the sides of him OTHER GIs are under intense fire.
A STREAM OF BLOOD flows by Young Joe’s face on the wave-hardened sand ... He turns the other way to - MORE BLOOD. Young Joe looks back at - the water - stares at it. It is pelted with explosions and bullets and bobs up more LSIS and LSTS.
VARIOUS ANGLES ON TONY ON BULLDOZER - MOVING
JOE (OS)
‘’Even if I swam the English
Channel, they'd have brought
me right back...’’
OVER TONY'S SHOULDER - the vast hot desert stretches out.
REVERSE ANGLE - OTHER DOZERS - MOVING - kick up dust.
JOE (OS)
‘’Don’t ever freeze ...’’
YOUNG JOE looks at - THOUSANDS OF GIs landing ... He looks re-
assured ... A MORTAR explodes near him. More BULLETS STRIKE which seem focused on him alone ... Young Joe scrambles on elbows and knees to evade the aim of some personal enemy, finds - A SHELL HOLE, crawls into it. His eyes tell us he has macabre company.
JOE (OS)
‘’I kept crawling from one
dead GI to another...’’
THIS INTERCUT TOO, ALONG WITH TONY, WITH:
INT. JOE'S HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT
We first see JOE, as he was before.
WIDEN to reveal STELLA, BILL, SANDY, PAT, and next to Pat, holding her hand - PHIL; then PAUL, HARVEY, LEONARD, FAKE JOE, DANNY, JIM.
JOE
‘’Nobody knew what was happening.
Or what was gonna happen’’.
BILL
How are you feeling, Dad?
JOE
‘’The Rangers were already scaling
those cliffs - and getting shot off
them’’
PAT
Joe?
JOE
I’m okay. Now.
ANGLE ON YOUNG JOE - BULLETS rip up the sand all around him. He buries his face in the sand, looks - resigned.
ANGLE ON TONY ON HIS BULLDOZER - MOVING
JOE (OS)
‘’We left it to 'fate', Tony. You
could have a 'lucky number'. Or
your number could come up...’’
IN JOE'S HOSPITAL ROOM - JOE looks from one COMRADE, and PHIL, to ANOTHER ... SANDY sees that Joe has not looked long onto him ... Joe senses this.
JOE
Sandy, you’re too young. Too young
for the Army.
EXT. THE ARABIAN DESERT - DAY
VARIOUS ANGLES ON TONY, DOZER - MOVING - AND ON JACK, DOZER - MOVING - beside, behind Tony ... Jack smiles at Tony, ‘’flips’’ an imaginary scarf over his shoulder as if he were a War One flying ace ... Tony looks back at - foolish Jack ... Tony looks - ahead.
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
EXT. OMAHA BEACH - YOUNG JOE, OTHERS AS BEFORE - DAY
YOUNG JOE is pinned down but secluded rather out of harm's way in his SHELL HOLE - in the company of SEVERAL BODIES, an ARM, a LEG ... He keeps his head down to avoid the attention of - AN NCO and AN OFFICER: THEIR VOICES, OS, are rattled, confused, furious as they look for GIs to form a real advance against the enemy.
JOE (OS)
‘’You can't take it personally.
If you tried to figure it out
you'd go crazy. You just had
to think: ‘Hopeis the greatest
thing there is. It's got to be’ ...’’
YOUNG JOE tries to gather his courage, move on, make a contri-
bution to the fight ... But as he lifts his head a BULLET sprays sand into his face and he gets back down.
JOE (OS - Cont.)
‘’We also thought we might not get
the chanceto kill somebody...’’
IN THE ARABIAN DESERT - TONY looks back onto - JACK - ON DOZERS - MOVING.
JOE (OS - Cont.)
‘’We wanted to cancel out our own
deaths by taking at least one
enemy with us...’’
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - AS BEFORE - NIGHT
STELLA
We're all here, Joe. Your
sister's coming from Chicago.
JOE
She better hurry up.
Joe hears - and we hear - HIS HEART BANGING. THIS continue as -
JOE (Cont.)
I’ve heard that before.
No one knows what Joe is talking about, but Bill’s not perplexed.
PAT
The doctor called that ‘’word salad’’.
BILL
It’s not a ‘’salad’’. Everything he
says makes sense.
EXT. OMAHA BEACH AS BEFORE - DAY
YOUNG JOE is pinned down in the hole, now by EXPLOSIONS and SHOTS but he NOW looks around for a leader to go forward with.
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM JUST AS BEFORE - NIGHT
JOE'S HEARTBEAT subsides to normal. He looks at PAT and PHIL together. Phil lets go of Pat’s hand.
PHIL
Hi, Joe. I brought Patti over.
JOE
Pat's a nice girl. Phil - .
I did a terrible thing.
BILL
You couldn't help it, Dad.
ON THE BEACH. A BULLET explodes sand before YOUNG JOE as he
moves forward. He settles back into his safer routine as -
JOE
The son never got to know the
father. Or the other way around.
Stella’s a good kid.
STELLA
I had to be, to put up with you.
SANDY
What about me, Grandpa?
JOE
Sandy. -- Tony’s not even old enough.
OMAHA BEACH. YOUNG JOE sees more LSIS unloading more GIs, LSTS unloading JEEPS, TRUCKS, TANKS ... AN MP blows his whistle...
EXT. THE ARABIAN DESERT - DAY
TONY and OTHERS on DOZERS - MOVING - halt.
A JEEP with GENERAL MILES stops.
TANKS with PLOWS halt in a long column going back into the desert.
ON THE HORIZON NORTH - the desert erupts in EXPLOSIONS, BALLS OF FIRE, BLACK SMOKE.
The GIs, General Miles, look on, awed ... General Miles goes behind a tank, takes a leak.
ON TONY'S FACE and on some OTHER FACES, including JACK’S and the rest of TONY’S COMRADES, we see the same look - these young men don’t want to be here.
JACK
B-52 strike.
RUSS
No shit?
STEVE
Artillery, too. I think.
They and Other GIs, as it occurs to them, take a leak.
JACK
This is the general idea. Piss on them.
General Miles zips up, looks triumphantly at the bursting horizon.
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - JUST AS BEFORE - NIGHT
HARVEY
Saddam lit the oil fields, Joe.
BILL
Tony's in the west of Saudi Arabia.
FAKE JOE
He's going after that Republican
Guard, then.
JOE
He won’t want to talk about it.
STELLA
Let’s hope he will, in time.
BILL
He won't have to talk about it,
Dad, if he doesn’t want to.
EXT. AN IRAQI ARMY TRENCH - DAY
IRAQI SOLDIERS huddle in the trench ... BOMBS EXPLODE around, in the trench. We see the horrific body wounding described at Omaha.
EXT. ARABIAN DESERT AS BEFORE - EXPLODING HORIZON - DAY
JACK
You know what happens when they die?
They go straight to A-rab Heaven.
Something like -- fifty virgins waiting
for them. And a bottle of scotch.
BOB
Better than this place.
TONY
There’s five miles of mines, after
the barrier, before the trench.
(VO)
‘’Dear Grandpa,... We’ve bombed them
non-stop for weeks. We'll find a lot
of dead. And shell-shocked guys, who
won’t want to fight ...’’
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
EXT. OMAHA BEACH AS BEFORE - FX - DAY
JOE (OS)
‘’Tony, I even thought I'd
play dead - practice for it...’’
YOUNG JOE is still pinned down in his shell hole. He fires a shot - for the hell of it. No one would see it anyway ... He plays dead as the battle around him rages.
JOE (OS)
‘’Don’t go goofy and get shot, or
blown up, if you see these things.
They don't always put the right
(cont.)
JOE (OS - cont.)
body parts with the right bodies
in those bags... Suddenly there
were guts - intestines, bowels -
next to me. It’s eerie if you
know who they belong to. Also, if
you don’t know who they belong to.
There’s something else that's
there, too. You don't always see
it. But you smell it.
Young Joe, face down, lies still. He feels the sharp point of a knife blade pressed into his back.
WIDEN: The OMAHA NCO points his bayonet into Young Joe's back. But Young Joe looks stunned with sheer terror, not from the bayonet.
OMAHA NCO
Bukowski!
Young Joe does not move. The Omaha NCO begins to turn him over, but changes his mind: he has seen enough bloody messes for one day. And maybe he’ll do something different - save one GI. And this GI is useless anyway ... He looks ahead - sees something OUT OF FRAME.
OMAHA NCO (Cont.)
Who the hell is that?
Young Joe stays down, still. The NCO moves off, low to the ground. ... With A SHOT, he dies.
CLOSE ON YOUNG JOE - he’s ashamed, guilty, still very terrified. Whatever had caught The Omaha NCO’S attention makes him look up.
We see - A HEAD. It lies on it's side, face out, several feet away from YOUNG JOE'S FACE.
JOE (OS)
‘’I was in the wrong neighborhood,,,’’
EXT. THE ARABIAN DESERT. - TONY looks, a strange, dark thought in his mind, at - JACK -
CLOSE ON JACK - his head, as he looks rather unintelligently awed by the BOMBING OUT OF FRAME.
BACK ON YOUNG JOE - he rises, terrified, but pretends to be completely determined to join the fight, moves off.
INTERCUT YOUNG JOE ON OMAHA BEACH WITH:
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - JUST AS BEFORE - NIGHT
CLOSE ON JOE as he thinks about his own words.
JOE (VO)
‘’I didn't feel like a coward, back
in that hole. But now I was running -
scared - in the wrong direction’’.
YOUNG JOE runs as fast as he can, tries to appear as small as he can as he meets DUNES further onto the beach. He comes upon -- ANOTHER GI, his face in the sand.
YOUNG JOE
You dead?
THE SOLDIER
(turns to JOE)
You got the wrong fucking guy!
DESERT NCO (OS)
Bukowski!
EXT. ARABIAN DESERT AS BEFORE - DAY
TONY has been absent-minded. With him we re-discover his DOZER, OTHERS, TANKS, GIs the BOMBING, - The DESERT NCO.
DESERT NCO
Move it out!
Tony mounts, starts his dozer. He looks out at JACK, who smiles at him ... Tony resumes the lead of the armada.
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - JOE, OTHERS AS BEFORE - NIGHT
SANDY
Tony might not come back.
JOE
Tony’s coming back. I feel it.
FAKE JOE
Ninety - 95% of us do.
INTERCUT ARABIAN DESERT - TONY ON DOZER - MOVING - DAY - WITH:
EXT. OMAHA BEACH AS BEFORE - DAY
YOUNG JOE is behind the DUNE, next to the OTHER SOLDIER who buries his face in the sand. As the fighting rages -
JOE (OS)
‘’War is insanity. We do it anyway.
When I didn't see anybody moving,
I thought everybody was dead,
except me. Or maybe we were all
faking, trying to make it look as
if we had to go so slow, go nowhere.
There was fighting - all around us.
But nobody wanted it. Or maybe it
wasn’t real. Or maybe the world was
ending. And I wondered if everybody
was out to kill me. Even my own
leaders. They can kill you with one
stupid order. I didn’t know what I
could do, but I started to move
out. We were all moving out.
We see a GENERAL ADVANCE OF GIs on Omaha Beach - except for the Other Soldier.
JOE (OS - Cont.)
There's a lot of company in hell,
and we all knew we belonged there.
But as wrong as war is - you have
to do the right thing, I guess.
I hope you don't have to learn how
how important that advice is - and
to your sanity, later ...’’
EXT. ARABIAN DESERT - TONY still drives in the lead. - He looks particularly apprehensively at - the HORIZON.
INT. JOE'S HOSPITAL ROOM / THE CORRIDOR - NIGHT
STELLA
I think we'd all better go.
FAKE JOE is first to take JOE'S hand.
FAKE JOE
I forgive you, Joe.
He hugs Joe ... All The OTHER COMRADES say their own good-byes and, except for PHIL, leave, to gather IN THE CORRIDOR.
IN THE ROOM, PHIL says a good-bye to JOE, STELLA, SANDY, BILL.
But he stands next to PAT, takes her hand.
JOE
I’m not going anywhere until
Tony gets back.
Phil kisses PAT briefly on the cheek, leaves.
BILL
Are you and he an item?
Seems like a nice guy.
IN THE CORRIDOR PHIL runs into the OTHERS.
FAKE JOE
(as if it’s an original idea)
Back to the club.
They follow his ‘’lead’’.
I’m not coming back, anyway; not to
listen to that.
IN JOE’S HOSPITAL ROOM JOE sustains his protest.
JOE
I’ve got a lot to remember, a lot
to think about.
BILL
It’s time to rest, Dad.
Joe frowns at Bill for that, but resents him only a moment, as -
JOE
When I was a kid there was a
Commandment: ‘’I shall not kill’’.
I never had to think about it.
Being a kid was special. Every-
body looked after you. - The
grocer down the street, who was
a Romanian guy; Mr. Murphy, the
cop ... Priests and nuns...
Teachers... Strangers... They all
worried about how you were, and
how you'd turn out, too, I thought.
Then you become a man. All of a
sudden you're not supposed to be
good anymore, ordinary. You have
to do things you always knew, all
by yourself, were wrong. And you
do them. How do they do that? How
do they get a guy to do that?
STELLA comes to Joe, holds his hands ... BILL has taken Joe's points quite seriously ... PAT, SANDY, cry.
SANDY
You’re the best Grandpa I ever had!
CLOSE ON JOE, then -
EXT. ARABIAN DESERT - DAY
ON TONY - he rolls along the desert in his DOZER - MOVING
TONY’S POV: JACK - ON DOZER - MOVING JUST BEHIND
JACK (VO)
Sarge thinks they'll run when
they see our blades coming at
them 3O - 40 miles an hour.
EXT. FLASHBACK: THE US ARMY DESERT CAMP - DAY
TONY, JACK, STEVE, BOB, RUSS service their DOZERS.
TONY
You think they will run away?
JACK
You won't get shot if you bury
them quick, Tony.
EXT. THE ARABIAN DESERT - SAND BARRIER - DAY
TONY, JACK, OTHER SOLDIERS on BULLDOZERS - MOVING - with an escort of TANKS come to the SAND BARRIER, a wall of sand suddenly in the desert. They all come to a stop.
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
INT. VFW - NIGHT
PHIL, AND ALL WHO HAVE BEEN HERE AND CAN BE HERE, are silent as they watch the T-V GULF WAR BROADCAST.
INT. JOE’S HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT
CLOSE ON JOE - he is deeply asleep ... In the corner we see on the TV the SAME BROADCAST ON THE GULF, MUTED.
BILL
I think he’ll want to see this. If - .
PAT hugs STELLA, hugs Bill, slightly ... SANDY hugs Stella, then Bill ... Pat and Sandy leave, followed by Stella, then Bill lastly, as HE looks back at JOE - and comes back to Joe, holds his hand ... Behind him, Stella stands in the doorway, for a moment.
EXT. DESERT SAND BARRIER. - TONY, cautiously, on his DOZER PLOWS the first sandy soil of the barrier forward.
We see behind the barrier - no one.
Tony picks up speed. He begins to level the sand as A MINE-
SWEEPER AND CREW, OTHER DOZERS, DRIVERS, TANKS AND CREWS wait behind him to go through the passage Tony cuts.
IN THE HOSPITAL ROOM - BILL still holds JOE'S hand.
CLOSE ON JOE: he is still deeply asleep.
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
EXT. THE ARDENNES - CLEARING AND WOODS NEAR - DAY
IN THE CLEARING, THE GERMANS sleep in their TWO TRUCKS.
IN THE WOODS, YOUNG JOE walks slowly on the snowy ground. He sees a patch of greater light coming through the trees. He hesitates, senses danger; but also the chance of easier navigation ... We see on Young Joe’s face the look of one who knows he may have to deal with a distinct danger. He knows if he doesn’t meet it now he will always think himself a coward.
EXT. ARABIAN DESERT - SAND BARRIER AS BEFORE - DAY
ANGLE ON TONY'S DOZER - MOVING - plowing the passage
CLOSE ON TONY - on his face we see the same expression.
WIDER to reveal that Tony's BREACH IN THE BARRIER is now level and the MINESWEEPER and its CREW advance through it.
BACK ON TONY - he looks ahead, senses someone to his side. Below him on the side of his dozer is - GENERAL MILES.
GENERAL MILES
Congratulations, Soldier. You just
might be the first man into Iraq.
(TONY salutes)
EXT. ARABIAN DESERT, IRAQ - A TRENCH - DAY
IN THE TRENCH SEVERAL IRAQI SOLDIERS TALK quickly, nervously.
VARIOUS ANGLES ON TONY, OTHERS, DOZERS - MOVING, - THE MINE SWEEPER - MOVING AHEAD - TANKS - MOVING: to the TRENCH ahead.
IN THE TRENCH, The IRAQIS are exhausted, shocked by the bombing. No face indicates a strong will to fight ... They see -
AMERICAN VEHICLES APPROACH, - the PLOWS ... But the men pick up their weapons. They all see -
TONY in the lead dozer - he comes at them.
JOE (OS)
‘’Anything you have to do will be
forced on you, Tony. But you have
a duty to your comrades, and to
yourself to see it through. If
you have a cause, good. But don’t be
ashamed or afraid of being afraid...’’
Tony nears the level front side of the trench.
THREE IRAQI SOLDIERS are determined to fight. They hide.
OTHER IRAQI SOLDIERS flee in both directions down the trench or scramble over the mound of earth behind the trench on their way further back into Iraq.
TONY sees THEM - he is relieved.
Tony also sees the most recent IRAQI DEAD - killed by bombs and artillery - left in the bottom of the trench.
CLOSE ON THE THREE HIDING IRAQI SOLDIERS, still determined, then -
ANGLE ON TONY ON HIS DOZER - he recalls:
EXT. A US ARMY TRAINING FIELD - DAY
TONY points a rifle with bayonet at us, puts on a grotesque face, howls or shrieks in a psychopathological way and runs at us.
TONY bayonets a suspended SANDBAG.
THE DRILL SERGEANT COMES INTO FRAME ... Tony comes to attention. His bayonet is stuck in the sandbag ... The Drill Sergeant pulls out Tony's rifle with one arm.
DRILL SERGEANT
If you do get it stuck in the ribs,
what do you do, soldier?
TONY
Fire one, Sir. Shoot your way out.
OTHER YOUNG GIs round, including JACK, STEVE, RUSS, smile, laugh ... BOB does not smile.
EXT. IRAQI TRENCH AS BEFORE - DAY
TONY ON HIS DOZER is about to lower his plow for plowing sand into the trench when he looks to one side of the trench - the side opposite the THREE HIDING IRAQI SOLDIERS - and sees - GROTESQUELY
MARRED CORPSES.
THE THREE IRAQI SOLDIERS scoot to one side of TONY’S DOZER as TONY is posed to begin filling in the trench.
CLOSE ON TONY - he moves ahead, recalls THIS FROM JOE’S LETTER:
THIS INTERCUT WITH:
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT
CLOSE ON JOE - he is asleep, but in his mind fixed - as Tony senses this - on:
EXT. THE ARDENNES - JUST AS BEFORE - DAWN
IN THE CLEARING - THE GERMANSsleep.
IN THE WOODS NEAR - YOUNG JOE, determined as he was before to move on, can’t see anything over that THICK BUSH, except the BETTER LIGHT. He finds an animal's trail, follows it, emerges into THE CLEARING, sees the GERMANS, halts, but by instinct - and something more - readies his weapon.
JOE (OS)
‘’I wondered if I was as good a
soldier as my father had been.
I wondered if he'd been a good
soldier, in World War One ...’’.
INT. JOE'S HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT
BILL holds JOE'S hand as before and STELLA is at his side. Sud-
denly Joe breathes deeply, erratically - snorts - then, in a steady, raspy rhythm. The DEATH RATTLE has begun.
DR. MILO and a NURSE take over by the patient, but only to confirm officially what they know, and to try to ensure that the patient may have a comfortable passing.
BILL
(to STELLA) Mom, I didn't get a
chance to --. I have to remember
everything.
Dr. Milo and the Nurse leave the room.
CLOSE ON JOE - he imagines:
INTERCUT THIS AND THE CLEARING WITH:
INT. VFW - NIGHT
ALL THE REGULARS have a rather more usual night at their club.
- JOE is well and is younger, as they are.
JOE (OS)
‘’I was all alone against those
guys. I mean - I set it up like
that ...’’
THE OTHERS do not look at him. - Joe actually speaks.
JOE
When you're in an army, with a
government behind you, you think
you have a right to kill, not
just the duty. But when you’re
all alone, you think about it!
HARVEY AND FAKE JOE look away.
PHIL decides he can’t judge Joe.
PAUL relates to what Joe has said, but - DANNY, JIM and LEONARD look with empathy onto Joe.
EXT. THE CLEARING - DAWN
YOUNG JOE steps back - to retreat - to save himself and also
THE THIRTY GERMANY SOLDIERS - steps on the branch. We hear the LOUD CRACK. - The FLOCK OF BIRDS FLIES UP ...
WOLFGANG, the OTHER SENTRY, wake, raise their weapons.
Young Joe’s foot crunches through the snow’s crust. He sees the alarmed Germans, is terrified. He starts shooting.
EXT. IRAQI TRENCH JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
WIDE ANGLEON BULLDOZERS, TANKS - MOVING
IN THE TRENCH, THE THREE IRAQI SOLDIERS shout epithets in Iraqi.
CLOSE ON A BULLDOZER, ITS BLADE - MOVING INTO CAMERA
PULL BACK - TONY is behind the blade, crouched low in his seat.
In the trench the three Iraqi Soldiers fire.
Tony takes on the gunfire. He crouches lower in his seat, hesitates to lower his plow, which would expose him further, but he does and, his hand on the THROTTLE, increases his speed - but then reduces it - then increases it again with new resolve - realizing too that to go slower into fire makes less sense.
...Inside the cab - A FEW BULLETS HIT, PUNCH HOLES in the canopy.
... Tony moves ahead: pushes a huge pile of sand into the trench.
TONY gets to the edge of the trench, far above the THREE IRAQI SOLDIERS ... They cannot see him now. - A MOUND OF SAND BUILDS in front of Tony's plow ... One Iraqi Soldier flees down the trench. - His Comrades shout at him ... One of the other two runs after him - but turns back as -
A HUGE PILE OF SANDY EARTH falls into the trench - buries the Third Iraqi Soldier - up to his waist. He lies on his side. He cannot free himself, tries to free his weapon and cannot.
TONY backs his dozer, comes forward again, sand heaping ahead of his blade.
In the trench the OTHER IRAQI SOLDIER, who has returned, takes his COMRADE’S arms, pulls as - ANOTHER PILE OF SANDY EARTH falls onto, buries both of them.
Tony idles his machine. He looks into the trench from the bridge he has begun to build across it - to the side where the shots were coming from.
THE HAND OF AN IRAQI SOLDIER sticks out of the pile. It reaches - for life - then vibrates in tremors, goes still, goes limp.
Tony looks sick a moment. He looks again at the hand - begins to get off his dozer to go to the enemy - but turns around.
TONY began to get off his DOZER, go to the enemy he’d buried, but something tells him to turn around. He turns, sees -
Behind him JACK has halted on his dozer, as have the Other Drivers and vehicles behind him. - Tony moves his dozer forward, plow down. The earth piles up ahead and he buries his one known victim, and his unknown one. - In no time Tony finishes a bridge across the trench. He now has to cut a path through the huge MOUND behind the trench.
BEHIND THE MOUND we see another THREE IRAQI SOLDIERS, reluctant to now make a run for it - but unwilling to surrender.
Tony cuts a lane through the mound, a complete access.
The Three Iraqi Soldiers hide behind part of the earth Tony has just shifted ... Tony pulls ahead of the access - ahead of THEM - and comes to a stop.
One Iraqi Soldier aims at -
CLOSE ON THE BACK OF TONY’S HEAD.
CLOSE ON: TONY’S HEAD IS IN THE SIGHTS OF A WEAPON
ANGLE ON THE IRAQI SOLDIER trained on Tony. - ANOTHER IRAQI SOLDIER pulls him back. They hide further back.
JACK in his dozer scoops earth into the trench, but then drives across the access, gets as far as Tony has, stops, gets off his dozer, runs over to Tony.
JACK
Hey, man!
Tony realizes that he - as Jack does - should carry on - fill in the trench ... But Tony cannot carry on just now.
WIDEN to reveal OTHER ACCESSES made by OTHER DOZERS AND TANKS with plows, some now beginning to fill in the trench. But - with no more shots fired or Iraqis seen - except DOZENS OF IRAQI SOLDIERS surrendering - there is an unauthorized uniform throttling down of all machinery along the trench - a great lessening of noise as -
we see the Three Iraqi Soldiers still well concealed, but growing more alarmed by the sudden quiet as -
TONY listens, unmoved, to VOICES OVER: vulgar notes of triumph, relief, and adolescent exclamations of awe ... Tony hops off his dozer. - Jack is waiting for him. They shake hands - at the insistence in Jack's grin and eyes.
TONY
I just buried somebody. Alive.
I just killed somebody!
JACK
He had a choice, man.
THE THREE HIDING IRAQI SOLDIERS run into the desert.
JACK lights a cigarette. He hears, as TONY does - the footfall. They turn, see them ... Jack runs to his dozer, pulls out his weapon ... Tony, reluctantly, goes to his weapon too ... But Jack
already hunts DOWN THE BARREL OF HIS WEAPON for the best target.
TONY
Halt! Halt!
The GIs behind them - and LIEUTENANT CHALKER - turn their heads.
The Iraqis continue and - Jack fires ... An Iraqi falls ... His Two Comrades go to him, but - as Jack gets set to shoot again - as OTHER GIs ready their weapons - The Two Iraqis see their comrade is dead, flee into a depression in the desert - out of Jack's sight as Jack fires, misses.
Jack looks disappointed - an assumed emotion - but briefly; he allows himself to feel the glory of his act, the pride.
CLOSER ON JACK: he’s nauseous, regretful; but also guilty for not hitting another target.
The Two Iraqi Soldiers are far off into the desert, run, drop their weapons, carry on.
JACK
(to TONY) Why didn't you shoot, man?
The Lieutenant reaches them. He looks firstly and most directly at Tony - but acknowledges Jack - perfunctorily.
LIEUTENANT CHALKER
Good shooting, Soldier.
JACK
Thank you, Sir.
LIEUTENANT CHALKER
Good work, Bukowski. You’re in line
for The Silver Star.
TONY
You and me, Sir?
After a look by The Lieutenant, Others gather round them, stand to admire Tony in particular ... Tony spits out something nasty.
LIEUTENANT CHALKER
The job isn't done, gentlemen.
AERIAL VIEW - EST. SHOT - OPEN TRENCH, DOZERS, TANKS, GIs, BODIES
TONY takes a moment away from JACK, OTHERS, looks intentionally over the dead, into the sky, recalls, as well:
INT. AN ARMY LATRINE - MIRRORS, SINKS, ETC. - NIGHT
TONY, in uniform, straightens out his tie in the mirror, puts finishing touches to his hair, which is really too short now to attract some young woman he hopes to meet.
EXT. IRAQI TRENCH - FX - JUST AS BEFORE - DAY
TONY finishes his break ... OTHER GIs stand by their DOZERS, TANKS, as -
JET PLANES fly over them into Iraq - OVER THE CORPSES IN THE TRENCH.
UNDER THE UPROAR OF RE-STARTING MACHINERY, Tony climbs back onto his DOZER ... He is not enthusiastic about the rest of the chore.
... But Tony plows sand into an open area of the trench but is absent-minded at the controls. - He nearly loses the dozer - and himself - to the trench.
JACK, STEVE, BOB, RUSS have seen this from their respective DOZERS ... Jack gestures that Tony has lost it - his common sense; this is all too much for Tony; but it’s funny ... Steve nods, laughs ... Russ shrugs it - Tony - off with contempt ... Bob looks worriedly onto Tony.
INT. PAT'S HOME - NIGHT
O.S. a PHONE rings.
PAT (OS)
Hello?
IN HIS ROOM, SANDY looks in a waning way at his TOY SOLDIERS and WAR TOYS, well to the back of a table, behind other toys.
PAT (OS)
Sandy?
Sandy knows what this means.
INT. JOE’S HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT
JOE comes to.
JOE (VO)
I still don't know how to do it!
How to live with other people.
Joe dies.
STELLA, PAT, BILL cling to him, weep.
DR. MILO, NURSE appears. - JOE'S SISTER rushes in to Joe.
JOE'S SISTER
Joe!
INT. A LIVING ROOM. - NIGHT
BENNY, BENNY’S MOTHER, and SANDY watch the T-V GULF WAR NEWSCAST.
SANDY
He just died.
BENNY
Who?
INT. A HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - NIGHT
STELLA, BILL, PAT, JOE’S SISTER walk along on their way out.
... TWO ORDERLIES wheel Joe’s covered body out of his room.
BILL
I wanted to tell him he won’t
be forgotten.
JOE'S SISTER
I hadn't seen him for years!
STELLA
He knew that, Bill.
JOE'S SISTER
Or talked to him. Well he never wrote!
BILL
Well, he won’t be.
INT. VFW - NIGHT
PHIL, ALL WHO HAVE BEEN HERE AND CAN BE HERE, sit glued to the TV’S NEWS BROADCAST:
NEWS FOOTAGE illustrates that the trenches in Iraq have been filled, that Allied infantry, with tanks, has moved into Iraq ...
FAKE JOE
Joe’s kid - what’s his name ...
... but that the Republican Guard appears to have been routed, in full retreat, after having taken (an undisclosed or unavailable number of) casualties.
PHIL and all the Others cheer, except for DANNY, JIM, and LEONARD.
LEONARD
Maybe it was right. But I’ll drink
to the end of the VFW. No more kids
coming back from no more wars. Comrades.
DANNY AND JIM
Comrades.
EXT. SAUDI ARABIAN DESERT - US CAMP - DAY
ANGLE ON TONY - ON DOZER - MOVING WITH OTHER DOZERS, TANKS, DRIVERS - into a MOTOR POOL with OTHER EQUIPMENT AND OTHER GIs who have already returned, parked, etc. ... Young GIS open beer, shout for joy and out of relief, or relax, particularly if they have been disturbed by what they’ve just done.
CLOSE ON TONY - he is in the same complex state of mind as before.
INT. A US ARMY TENT - SAUDI ARABIA - DAY
TONY takes his hygiene kit and a towel, crosses past JACK, who quite intentionally pays him little notice for the mood he’s in.
INT. LATRINE, US ARMY CAMP, SAUDI ARABIA - DAY
TONY dresses after a shower, looks sad, disillusioned. - But he looks in the MIRROR - slowly smiles at - HIMSELF. But rather under-confidently ... Tony puts on his FULL DRESS UNIFORM, SHOES, and marches -
EXT. US BASE, SAUDI ARABIA - DAY
TONY marches to the EDGE OF A RUNWAY, halts before, and SALUTES:
GENERAL MILES, TWO OTHER OFFICERS ... General Miles pins a medal - THE SILVER STAR - over Tony’s heart.
EXT. A RUNWAY - US BASE, SAUDI ARABIA - DAY
TONY, OTHER GIs, board a USAF JET TRANSPORT.
ON THE RUNWAY, JACK, STEVE, BOB, AND RUSS wave good-bye to Tony. Except for Bob, none of them feel all that happy to know Tony.
INT. THE USAF JET TRANSPORT - GROUNDED - DAY
TONY takes a seat by a window, belts up, looks out at - THE RUNWAY under the hot sun.
EXT. THE USAF JET TRANSPORT - FLYING - DAY
INT. JET TRANSPORT - DAY
TONY sits, in further reflection, the VIEW OUTSIDE streaming past his head without him noticing ... But in a moment, still seeming aloof to OTHERS, Tony looks out the window at PASSING CLOUDS.
EXT. A CEMETERY - DAY
A CASKET rests at the top of a freshly dug grave.
WIDEN to include STELLA, BILL, PAT, SANDY, PHIL, JOE'S SISTER, PAUL, HARVEY, LEONARD, FAKE JOE, DANNY, JIM, OTHER VETERANS, FRIENDS, OTHER FAMILY around the grave.
A CLERGYMAN
... Ashes to ashes, dust to dust ...
The Clergyman turns away, finished.
FLOWERS drop onto the casket. It begins to descend as - Stella and Pat cross off, crying, with Joe's Sister, behind them. Phil takes Sandy’s hand. Sandy smiles up at Phil.
Others are near him, but Bill walks off alone.
At the EDGE OF THE CEMETERY A BLACK LIMO, IT’S DRIVER, and a FUNERAL DIRECTOR, wait for the family ... Behind the limo we see a RATHER SHORT ROW OF PARKED CARS, where - PAUL, HARVEY, LEONARD, FAKE JOE meet, each at his respective car.
FAKE JOE
Well, he was one of us.
PAUL
He was a regular guy.
ANGLE ON JOE'S TOMBSTONE - it is on its side by the grave.
CLOSE ON IT'S INSCRIPTION:
‘’Joseph Bukowski... 1921 - 1991... A quiet man in a quiet wood. / Who knew him knew a brotherhood’’.
THIS INTERCUT WITH: THE FOUR COMRADES BY THEIR CARS
LEONARD
Bill wrote the poem.
FAKE JOE
Too long.
EXT. / AND INT. JOE'S HOUSE - DAY
UNDER A T-V NEWSCAST OF GULF WAR DEVELOPMENTS - glimpses of it.
SWOOP THROUGH THE HOUSE - TO GET ONLY GLIMPSES OF PEOPLE NEW TO US - TO GET ALSO THEIR VOICES, SOUNDS OF THEM as -
IN THE KITCHEN - STELLA comes to BILL, an envelop in her hand.
STELLA
Did you hear from Tony?
Bill shakes his head.
Your father got a letter from him,
just now.
(shows it to him)
Addressed to ‘’General Joe Bukowski’’.
Stella and Bill look at each other, don’t know quite what to do next. Stella puts the letter on top of the refrigerator.
STELLA (Cont.)
We’ll read it later. Together.
Just you and me.
Bill and Stella embrace.
FOLLOW BILL OUTSIDE INTO THE BACK YARD - He puts away his drink, stares into his very unknown, as yet empty, future.
IN THE LIVING ROOM - STELLA, PAT, SANDY, PHIL, JOE'S SISTER sit with SEVERAL PEOPLE. We may think from their expressions that they find no good place for their thoughts of loss.
A TV NEWSCAST features the massacre of Iraqi soldiers on that highway to Baghdad ... PRESIDENT BUSH announces the end of hostilities - objectives having been met.
WIDEN - THE TV IS IN A SEPARATE ROOM - WITH PAUL, HARVEY, LEONARD, FAKE JOE, DANNY, JIM.
FAKE JOE
How the hell can he say that?
He didn't get Saddam. Joe must
be rolling over in his grave.
LEONARD
(but lightly)
Hey Joe? ‘’Shut the fuck up.’’
The Others laugh.
DANNY
We're gonna go there again someday.
JIM
Those flyers don’t want to bomb
anymore. It’s been a turkey shoot.
LEONARD
I don't blame them. (leaves the room)
FAKE JOE
GIS - going on strike?
BACK YARD. The Third Comrade comes out, finds BILL.
BILL
Thanks for being here, Leonard.
You especially.
LEONARD
It’s my privilege. Stop over the club
sometime.
BILL
Yeah? I will.
LEONARD
How's your kid?
BILL
The one in Iraq’s coming home.
SANDY appears in the doorway at the back of the house. He is reluctant at first - PAT is still behind him, and wants his company still; then PHIL ... But Sandy, seeing Leonard looks happy, too, to see him, comes out to join Bill, his father.
Bill exchanges a meaningful but undefined look with Pat as Phil disappears.
We hear from OUT OF FRAME A JET IN FLIGHT, then -
EXT. A US AIR FORCE BASE, CALIFORNIA - DAY
ANGLE ON A JET TRANSPORT - LANDING. - AIRMEN taxi it in to a stop, block its wheels as its engines fade.
INT. THE PLANE. - TONY, in full dress uniform, with OTHER GIs, sits, waits ... ON TONY'S CHEST we see - THE SILVER STAR ... Tony looks out the window - sees on the runway: A US ARMY BAND, play-
ing. We do not hear the music.
CLOSE ON TONY
JOE (OS)
‘’Try to enjoy life more than I did,
especially when you have a family...’’
TONY
And do the right thing.
GI NEXT TO TONY
What?
The GI Next To Tony looks at The SECOND GI ON THE PLANE, who’s also heard Tony talk to himself. The Second GI holds his hands out by the side of his head, to indicate Tony has gone big-headed. He points to Tony's Silver Star.
NCO ON THE PLANE (OS)
(from the rear)
All right, GIS, -- de-plane.
AMERICAN DAYLIGHT enters the back of the aircraft as -
OUTSIDE THE PLANE the back ramp door lowers.
INT. THE PLANE. - THE BAND'S SONG - something stirring, triumphant, and military, is heard as - A PLANELOAD OF GIs instantly rise, throw off their seatbelts with such cries as:
THIRD GI ON THE PLANE
All right!
FOURTH GI ON THE PLANE
U.-S.-A, man! First ones back.
SECOND GI ON THE PLANE
The dumb and the decorated.
The Second GI looks admiringly, foolishly proud of, a BRONZE STAR MEDAL on his chest.
Tony stays in his seat as Others file past. Some of them wonder why Tony’s not yet making his move, but only in passing.
JOE (OS)
“People are going to congratulate
you, Tony, just for being where
they couldn't be, or wouldn't be.
Be tolerant with naive people,
especially when they praise you…”
TONY FANTASIZES:
EXT. / THEN INT. THE ENGLISH PUB - YOUNG JOE, OTHERS - NIGHT
YOUNG JOE
‘’And you don't have to be a hero
for anyone. Not anymore’’.
INT. THE PLANE AS BEFORE - DAY
TONY (VO)
‘’And someday, probably when I least
expect it, suddenly I'll be happy’’.
EXT. THE PLANE. - TONY is the last man to come down the ramp. He neither smiles nor looks unhappy as, with him, we see:
THE AMERICAN FLAG - it flies high above the BASE ADMINISTRATION
BUILDING and - beyond it we see the SKY of The United States of America, with a few CLOUDS.
FADE OUT.
THE END
WGA REG. NO. 749024
Dale Reynolds (C) 2000
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