- Hey, Falcone, you break left?
- No go, he's coming right behind ya.
- Easy.
- They're takin' our shovels.
We'll be all right.
- Hey you fuckin' found somethin' finally.
You gettin' a good feel buddy?
Fuck you, you don't even know what I'm sayin'.
- These Krauts trip or fall, we jump on them, all right?
Yep.
They aint got nothin' on us.
Five of us, four of them.
At some point, they're gonna take a break,
they're gonna get tired.
- We got these Krauts. - Or trip or somethin'.
- I'm waiting for it.
These Krauts aint standing in the way.
Am I right, Falcone?
How about that bird you keep talking about?
- You get that guy before he takes his boot off.
There's only three guns to five of us.
I think it's worth a shot.
- Diggin' this grave for them.
- Hey boss.
Don't dig so hard now.
- You're just gonna piss him off.
You just keep digging, keep your head down.
- I got a pretty lady back home waiting for me.
- Throwin' goddamn cigarettes at me now?
Hey, hey, hey.
No, no, no, come on.
No, no, you can take me.
Aye, you're gonna be all right.
He would've shot you already if he was gonna do somethin'. Hey, hey, hey, no, no.
- What's going on?
- Hey, no, no, you can take me.
- What's going on?
- Keep pressure on it, keep pressure on it.
- How, how bad is it, Sarge?
- It aint so bad, buddy.
You're all right.
- Aint bad at all, Goldie.
We gotta keep movin'.
SS are crawlin' all over the goddamn place.
- Run line aint but a thousand yards from here.
Davey, I need you to do me a favor, all right?
I need you to keep those eyes open until you got
a pretty nurse staring back at you, okay?
Hey.
Hey, hey, okay, wake up.
Look at me, look at me.
Okay?
- Okay.
I don't wanna die out here.
- You aint gonna die.
No, no, you aint gonna die.
I promise you, you aint gonna die. They couldn't kill us at Normandy,
they aint get us in Guam,
they sure as shit aint gonna get us while we're knocking at their front door.
Aint that right, Boston?
- Couldn't have said it better myself, Sarge.
- Mikey, I need you to do me a favor.
I need you to carry him, all right?
I'm gonna take point.
Let's go.
- Let's go, buddy.
We got you, we got you.
- We're goin' this way.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Whoa, we're the good guys, all right? Stand down.
- I thought you boys were dead.
- Krauts didn't get so lucky.
Medic!
Come on, Mikey.
- Almost there, Goldie.
- Just lay him right here. Right here, right here.
- Stay with me Goldie.
Stay with me.
- Gently, gently, gently, gently. - Okay, Goldie.
Just hold on a little while longer. Stay with me, Goldie.
Hold on.
It's gonna be all right buddy.
You're okay, you're okay.
- Move back, private.
- I'm staying right here.
- No, you can't, please.
Move back and let us do our job.
- Private, that's an order.
Get back.
- Three bullets.
Center mass.
One behind the left rib.
- Two went straight through.
- He's got blood in his lungs.
We need to get him in the tent now.
Stretcher!
- He's gonna be all right, right?
Come on, Mikey, get the other side, come on.
Come on, one.
- One, two, three.
- We'll do the best we can.
Your boy's not in good shape.
- He's gonna be okay, Mikey.
I have a feeling.
He's gonna be all right.
- I'm sorry, Sergeant.
They said you've been collecting those,
sending personal letters back to their families.
- Yeah.
- It's an honorable thing you do.
I'm sure it's not easy.
- I thought it was hard writing letters to my own family.
But it pales in the comparison
to having to write Dads, tell 'em their boys
aint coming home anymore.
- He feel any pain?
- We gave him a lot of morphine.
He didn't feel much, private.
- Thanks, you guys.
- We have some fresh chow in a few tents down.
We heard you boys hadn't eaten for a few days.
You should probably go fill your bellies.
- Let's go, Mikey.
The only thing we look forward to around here is hot chow.
If you find a paper, let me know.
I wanna find out the score of the ga--
- Yeah, you got it.
- Archer, what the hell you doin?
- God damn, look who it is.
- My sarge took one to the head.
They reassigned me to your unit.
Said you were gettin' low on supplies.
Told me to bring as much as I could carry.
- Sorry to hear about your sergeant.
- He was a good man.
- We're about to go get chow, you wanna join us?
- I just ate.
Thank you, though.
- All right.
We'll see you after.
- Thanks, buddy. - All right.
- How you holdin' up, Mikey?
- Just another day in Europe, Greg.
- I wish I could have seen this place before the war.
Go to Rome.
Athens.
- Well you already been to Paris.
Is that enough for ya?
- Yeah, but it would've been nice to see it,
before all the swastikas flying around, you know?
- Yeah.
- I bet it was pretty as hell here.
- Europe's just gonna be one big mortar hole
after this is all done.
Aint gonna be much to look at then.
- Time, Mikey.
Time heals all.
- Does it?
Why don't you tell that to Goldie?
Tell it to Hickman, Benny, Cray, and Dillinger.
- Hey I have to carry that shit around too, Mike.
You're not the only one here.
- All I'm sayin' is, aint much of us left, Sarge.
- Don't you think I know that?
I'm your sergeant.
I'm supposed to keep you boys alive.
- May we join you?
- I think we'd understand if you wanted to be alone.
- Yeah.
Sit. - No, it's all right.
Good to see some friendly faces.
- Any word on when the line might move?
- Not gonna be for some time I'm thinkin'.
We're outnumbered, out manned.
This flank is falling apart.
Look around you.
- We had some boys come in yesterday.
They were from the 28th infantry division.
The word is that the entire division's down
to a few hundred men.
They were referring to them as the,
the Bloody Buckets.
- The war'll be over soon.
And we'll all go back to our lives and,
the world'll be better for it.
- What makes you think rainbows and sunshine's
gonna be waitin' for us when all this is over?
- When, uh,
ideologies,
and men this evil enter the world.
Private, good men and women have no choice
but to battle against them.
For the good of the people,
then the world must change.
And it must change for the better.
Otherwise,
what is all this for?
We have no choice but to change.
And if we don't,
well
humanity's still young.
- Well said, lieutenant.
- This is the warmest I've been in weeks.
- Hm.
Yeah, you're tellin' us.
- You boys should really get some rest.
Especially before they call you out again.
- That's the best idea I've heard all day, huh, Greg?
- Yeah.
- Morning, Sergeant.
- Morning.
- I won't say good considering you look like hell.
- Look,
feel.
I'm pretty sure this place is hell.
- No.
Hell's warmer.
- Hell is empty.
And the devils are here.
- Shakespeare?
Didn't think you ranger boys were into reading.
- Always liked The Tempest.
You ladies get the supplies you need for the medic tents?
- No.
The supply chain got cut off.
Won't get new supplies for another few days, at least.
Those Krauts are really leaning into you boys.
You okay, Sergeant?
- No.
That soldier that just died on your table, he was,
he was a friend of mine.
- Goldman?
- Yeah.
I'm not sure I really have any left to spare, you know?
- Friends or soldiers?
- Both.
I remember when I enlisted,
me and the guys at school, we wanted to enlist together.
We heard that some of the boys in town had.
And then when Pearl happened,
we thought, "Shit, we gotta go over there
"and kill some Japs."
Then Roosevelt's speech.
Declaration of war and what not.
We wanted to go over there, and right a wrong.
Never thought we'd end up here.
In Europe, I mean.
When we landed on the beaches of Normandy in Omaha,
those MG 42's, and the pill boxes, they,
they cut down practically my entire football team.
Damn near my entire senior class
turned into soup right in front of me.
That's an image that I still can't shake.
I suppose it aint that much different than going
to war in one of these.
- Boys just burn in there.
It's like an oven.
- What's your name?
- Jackie.
- Jackie, have you lost anyone around here?
Someone you know, a friend?
- More than a few.
- I'm sorry to hear that.
This is crazy.
How many of our boys have to die so we can stop one tyrant's
lust for power?
And when is this enemy gonna give up?
We have 'em beat, cornered, on the ropes.
Yet they still fight.
It baffles my mind
how one man can raise an army
behind one idea,
one
symbol.
- It's just a piece of cloth Sergeant.
You start starting at it, like it has a meaning,
that's when it gets ya.
- The only time this symbol will be mentioned or shown
will be in the history books,
as they talk about how free men
fought tyranny and oppression,
and won.
"Mother.
"The weather has arrived, and it's wet and cold.
"The kind of cold that sinks down to your bones
"and stings your soul.
"Even when the sun decides to grace us with its presence,
"there's still a chill in the air.
"It's as if this forest were in hate's warmth
"all together, as if it hates all living things.
"I haven't seen a deer since we've been here.
"But maybe it's not this forest.
"Maybe it's the enemy that we're fightin'.
"The Germans have mustered their last line of defense
"and they refuse to surrender.
"They appear to be more brutal than I remember.
"More so than when we stormed the beaches at Normandy.
"They are monsters among men.
"I'm not sure why men have so much hate about them,
"but they are unleashing every bit of it on us here.
"Please pray for us.
"We rangers are tired.
"I'm tired.
"Pray for me.
"Pray that God gives us the strength and sound mind to return still whole.
"I love you.
"Your son, Greg."
- I couldn't believe it.
They got hot joe back at that med tent.
I figured you'd want some.
- They got fresh water, too?
- Crazy, right?
Christmas came early this year.
Christmas.
- Writin' that thing again, are ya?
- Yep.
You ever gonna write home, Boston?
- I don't see no cause for it.
I mean, why I gotta put my pops through that?
We're all ghosts out here anyway, aint we?
Just goin' through the paces is all.
- I still got a heartbeat.
Doesn't look like that jaw of yours is gonna stop
flappin' any time soon.
We're defying the odds on the daily.
Don't you think?
- Yeah, for how much longer you think that's gonna go?
- You gotta will it, Mikey.
You gotta will it.
- This is a death factory.
It's a meat grinder for anyone wearin' an allied patch.
I know that and you know that.
- Wait a minute.
You're tellin' me you're not the slightest bit excited
to get home and watch my Yanks beat the shit
out of your Red Sox?
Not even a bit?
- Aint gonna happen, Greg.
No way, no how. - Why is that?
- You got Cronin the Catfish, and Peacock.
Peacock.
Give me a break.
- I'll be damned if any ball's gettin' through any one of 'em.
- We got Chandler.
- Chandler?
You aint got shit.
- We're gonna make it through this war, Mikey.
I promise you that.
- Yeah, I made a promise once.
- Oh yeah?
- I promised your sister we'd see her when we get back. - That shit aint funny, private.
- Pretty funny, Sarge, to see your face right now.
- I'm gonna slug you if you keep talking
about my sister that way.
- Flowers.
- What?
- Flowers.
- What about 'em?
- I'd like to make it back, take some dame out,
and give her some flowers.
Maybe go dancin'.
Maybe go see a picture show.
- Yeah, that'd be nice.
- Got a fire in the hole, Sarge!
- You hear that whistle?
- Those aint no 88s!
- W--
What's the modus?
- Border team's gotta be a few hundred yards that way
into the tree line.
- You got enough M blocks over there?
- Yeah.
Plenty.
- Boston!
- Yeah?
- What do you say we go find that mortar team, yeah?
- Right after you Sarge.
- Right now.
I got one loader, two support.
If there's so much as breath in their lungs, we fire.
Ready?
- Sarge!
- They're just gonna keep comin' until the last man, Mikey.
There's no surrender in these boys.
- The story checks out, Sarge.
- Oh shit.
- Jesus Christ.
They shelled our aid station.
Who does that, Greg?
Huh?
Who the hell does that?
- That mortar team.
That was a suicide mission, Mikey.
Aint no way a three man team like that gets so close.
This place was a target, but,
for what?
- The colonel's there.
- Grab all the unit leaders.
Have 'em meet me in the comms tent.
- Right away, sir.
- Something must be up, huh?
- Probably more shit news.
- I suppose all of you boys have noticed that
the Kraut's haven't put the 88's on you.
It's because they're concentrating all their fire power
on our second armored just a couple miles away.
They've been splittin' Shermans in half like walnuts.
The SS have gathered in strength
just to our north.
They know that we are weakest on this flank.
We don't have any tanks coming through save for
a couple of M3s, but our supply chain has been cut off
at the River Rur.
Operation Queen is on the verge of failure, gentlemen.
And we haven't been moving the line in days.
And even when we do, Germans are killing 50 of our good men
for every one tree that we take.
The SS are,
they're about to make a push right through this flank. We got six aid tents with wounded soldiers on stretchers,
and we do not have enough man power or supplies
to fend off another attack.
- You sayin' we need to retreat, sir?
- No, what I'm sayin' is, if we don't wanna see
our wounded slaughtered and our nurses raped and murdered,
we need to pull back, immediately.
And even then, I don't know if there's enough time.
Jerries are already on the move
marchin' through this goddamn forest.
They'll probably be here by morning.
Now listen up.
There is a, uh, petrol station about a thousand yards in from the line.
It's not much, but enough to fuel German lied armor and give them Krauts a jumpin' off point.
If we gear up right now, and I do mean right now,
load up the wounded,
we might be able to get some of 'em out of here
before the attack.
- Colonel?
- Sergeant?
- We only got a few rangers left, but,
I'm thinkin' maybe we can contribute a bit more
given the current situation.
- Explain, sergeant.
- What I mean to say, sir, is that,
me and the boys, we head in them forests,
and we take out that petrol station.
You know, put a hitch in them Kraut's step.
If we do that, maybe we buy these nurses and the wounded
some more time.
- There's a thousand yards of forest to cross.
And most likely, an MG nest and a sniper or two.
Are you Irish, sergeant?
- No, sir.
If it's luck you're referrin' we're needin',
Boston here is a leprechaun.
He just don't look it.
- How many men you got left, son?
- I got three rangers, colonel.
More than enough to get the job done.
- Well there's your mission then.
You fellas get these boys all the ammo
that they can carry.
Now.
- Think they maybe get us a paper,
we can see the score of the game?
- That'd be nice.
You should get that arm checked out.
- Last paper I saw was from two weeks ago.
- Lieutenant.
- We heard.
- We figured we'd get patched up before we gotta
head back out again.
Not much to fix on us though.
- Please.
Sit down.
You took quite the beating there, private.
- Eh.
The kids in the school yard back home
hit harder than these Krauts.
Aint that right there, Falcone?
- Maybe kids in Brooklyn.
I don't know about Boston, though.
Caught a window when we confronted that mortar team.
Caught me unawares just for a moment.
- I'm sorry.
- What you sorry for?
- I'm sorry that you and what's left of your team
is gonna have to go back out there.
- Aint nothing for you to be sorry about, miss.
It's our job.
Just like patching us boys up is yours.
Funny thing, though.
I don't think I could do this everyday.
- What's that?
- This.
I couldn't do it.
Those boys who go down in the field,
patchin' em up, that's one thing.
But here, day after day.
You got boys coming in and you're trying to save 'em.
Stoppin' 'em from dyin'.
I just couldn't do it.
- You do it every say, Sergeant.
I just don't think you realize it.
- You scared, private?
- Scared?
I aint got time to be scared.
Second fear visits your mind,
you hesitate.
Hesitation is what gets people killed out there.
- It would be okay, you know.
- What's that?
- To be afraid.
We all are.
- I hope that helps.
- Good as new.
- Stay safe out there, Sergeant.
Please.
- Greg.
My name's Greg.
- Stay safe out there, Greg.
- Hopefully next time we see you,
we've accomplished the mission and you'll be safe
and out of danger.
Thanks again.
- See you when the dust settles, lieutenants.
- We got 12 of these grenades.
Four a piece.
- Sounds good, private.
- Yeah, I'm full on dirty out six.
Archer, you should probably, uh,
load up another slinger, too.
- We get in trouble out there, there's no tellin' if
any help's gonna be comin'.
Make sure you load up heavy.
- Sarge, you think we're gonna, uh,
pull through on this one?
- We don't got no choice, Mikey.
If we don't pull this off,
and all these people here, they're gonna die.
- Seems like us rangers have been takin' a beatin', Sarge.
Even if we do take that forest,
there aint gonna be no more blue patches left
in the whole damn army.
- Rangers lead the way private.
What, you forget that?
- Sarge, I think what Archer means is,
we get stuck with all the shit jobs.
- I volunteered us for this mission, so that's that.
Okay?
I don't have to remind you boys.
We're at war.
Aint no clean sheets, no comfy beds here.
We got mud for pillows and the only thing keeping
us warm is when we're holding our barrels tight
after a fire fight.
I don't wanna hear anymore complanin'.
We good?
- How many Krauts you think we'll be crossin' out there?
- You heard the colonel.
There's at least one MG nest out there.
Falcone, what's that?
Four or five men?
- At minimum.
It's not the buzz saws I'm worried about.
It's the snipers.
This place is like a paradise for 'em.
- I hate snipers.
- Oh yeah?
What makes them so special?
- You can't rightly appreciate an individual who
takes pride in
shootin' another man from a distance.
Cowardly.
- It's war, private.
Just war.
- Yeah.
Their feet are a hundred yards.
Don't mean much to me,
as long as my bullets find Jerry.
- Seems like the honorable thing to do
would be to look a man in the eye
before pullin' the trigger.
- Honorable?
The enemy don't got that word in their vocabulary.
I remember this Fourth of July, way back when
when I was a kid.
My pops bought up a whole bunch of fireworks.
Wanted the family to have a nice big show,
you know what I mean?
- Yeah.
- He had all sorts of crazy things.
Bottle rockets, poppers, mortars.
He wanted us to feel real special.
Anyway.
Puts the crate down next to my mom's brand new Ford.
And my pops, he loved the cigars.
And he's puffin' on this big old one like a chimney stack.
Neighborhood's all around, waitin' for the big show.
He's puffin' and puffin' away,
until it gets down next to nothin'.
He flicks this thing right into the goddamn box.
Box explodes, colors are flyin' everywhere.
Boom, boom, boom.
The fireworks start to simmer down and realize
my mom's car is on fire.
"My car's on fire."
Pops had to bring her to Atlantic City
to try to make up for it.
Let's make sure we take out that damn station, yeah?
- Yeah.
Private.
Let's take a break right here.
Stay low.
Based on the map, we've got another 700 yards before
we hit the petrol station.
We keep goin' at this pace,
we should get there in about two hours.
- Eh, two days.
We're going at a snail's pace.
- Better to go slow and stay low.
Run into one of those bouncing Bettys.
Based on the colonel's map,
we got patterns and mines all over here.
- Who's thirsty?
Two full.
- Thanks, private.
- The first thing I'm doin' when I get home,
is have my girl whoop up a batch of fried chicken.
She makes the best damn chicken you've ever had.
I don't care where you're from.
- What was your girl's name again?
- Molly.
- Blonde or brunette?
- Wouldn't you like to know.
- This is the only time I'll say this, but,
I'll take that chicken over a dame right now.
- Well that's a good thing, 'cause it's the
only option you got.
- We'll be home soon enough, boys.
Safe and sound.
Soon enough.
All right, that's enough break.
Archer, you take point again.
Go slow.
Stay low.
Archer, go.
- Sniper, 12 o'clock.
- Archer, you hit?
- Left leg, Sarge.
- Archer, can you find cover?
- I think so.
- Private, just stay down.
Boston.
Can you get to Archer?
- I think so.
- All right.
Go, I'm gonna cover you.
- Okay.
- Where are you Sarge?
- Stay down, Archer.
Boston's coming to you.
- Archer, I'm right here.
Stay down.
- Boston.
I'm gonna flank left.
Try to draw his fire.
I'm gonna try to surprise him from behind.
- Archer, look at me buddy.
Where's that sniper?
Archer.
Look at me.
Look at my eyes.
Look, Archer, just stay where you are.
Falcone's going around.
He's gonna get this guy, all right?
I just need you to relax and stay put now, okay?
We're gonna get you.
Look, I need you to roll over and get to these
ferns right here and I will pull you the rest of the way.
Archer.
- Mikey.
You gotta come get me Mikey.
- Just stay put, relax.
- Mikey, you gotta come...
- You're gonna be all right.
- I didn't write a letter, Mikey.
I didn't write a letter, Mikey.
- All right, you don't need to.
You're gonna make it home, all right?
I just need you to stay put, all right?
Just stay right there, Archer.
- Just come get me.
- Just stay put man.
- Save me!
- Archer.
- Got him!
He's loaded.
Boston, I'm flanking left, all right?
Oh fuck!
- I see him!
Ugh, I'm gettin' lead up over here!
- Clear.
Two Krauts down.
- Sarge!
I got a panzerschreck over here!
- Stop.
Stop!
We're not them.
We can never be them.
They're savages, not like us.
If we become savages like them,
there's no point in fighting this war.
It'll be all right, brother.
Come on.
Let's go find that petrol station.
- I'm sorry, Greg.
- Hey, you got nothing to be sorry about.
You have this many Krauts coming at ya,
you start losing your humanity.
You've got nothing to be ashamed of.
Come on, there might be more Krauts up ahead,
we gotta be quiet.
The night's moving in on us.
No way we can keep crawling through these woods
in the dark.
Bound to have a Kraut step on us,
or worse, stumble upon a bouncing Betty or somethin'.
- You thinkin' shifts?
- Yeah.
I'll go first, do a few hours, then you do a few hours.
Just make sure none of the patrol sees us.
- All right.
I'll go first Sarge.
- You sure about that Mikey?
- Yeah.
I aint restin' much these days anyhow.
- Okay.
Keep your eyes open, private.
You gotta open fire, do so at your own discretion.
- Copy that, Sarge.
- We're gonna go after that goddamn petrol station
at first light.
Make sure those Krauts pay for what they did to Archer.
- He was a good man.
Let's finish this mission for him, huh?
- Yep.
- Think they're moving all those nurses and our boys out?
- I haven't seen any infantry armor.
I think the colonel was right.
They're gonna gear up and assault the flank
early tomorrow morning.
- Get some sleep, Greg.
- Aint nobody I'd rather be out here with than you, Mikey.
Boston, I got one bag of grenades and one satchel charge.
I'm gonna go around the corner,
I'm gonna throw one grenade in.
You're gonna have a couple of guys comin'.
I need you to pop 'em one at a time.
At that point, I'm gonna take the satchel charge,
throw it at the tent.
I'm gonna also try to get one of those barrels with the gasoline in it.
- You got enough arm on you to hit that tent?
- I liken' my arm to Spud Chandler of the New York Yankees.
I think I'll be all right, all right?
- I'll take that as a no then.
You hear that, Sarge?
- Light armor.
- Can't let 'em refuel here.
They get that to the front line, our boys are done.
- We gotta move fast.
Hit the deck!
- Falcone, hit the deck.
- Boston, let's go.
I got fire!
Reloading!
Fall back!
- Sarge!
Reloading!
- Boston.
- Yeah?
- We got over a mile left to get back to base. Don't even worry about hittin' the Krauts.
We just gotta keep giving each other cover, got it?
- Hope I have enough M blocks to make it a mile, Sarge.
- Use smoke grenades, grenades, whatever you got.
Boston!
- Yeah?
- Grenade out.
Boston, go!
- Running!
- Jam!
- Covering!
Reloading!
- Grenade out!
Boston, out.
Boston, you good?
- Yeah!
- Reloading!
Jam!
- Move out!
Oh shit.
Shit.
Mikey?
No!
Jesus, no.
No, no, no, no.
Mikey, you'll be all right.
You're gonna be all right Boston.
Christ.
- It aint that bad.
- You'll be okay, all right, all right? - It aint bad.
Oh, I'm out of ammo, Sarge.
- I'm out of ammo too, all right?
It's a good thing that improvisation's
one of our strong suits, right?
- Yeah, you got it, Sarge.
- You're gonna hang on, hey hey.
Look at me.
You got two hits.
All right, that wound?
The knife wound aint nothin', all right?
That medics gonna fix you up real good.
We just gotta make it back to the line, all right?
Now you're gonna get up right now.
Get up right now.
One, two, three!
Gonna come over here and,
alright, I'm gonna put you down.
That line aint nothin' but a few hundred
yards away Mikey.
We keep this pace up, I promise you, we're gonna get back.
We're gonna get you out of here.
Keep your eyes open, all right?
Mikey?
No.
You all right?
Keep your eyes on me.
Mikey, come on.
No.
Come on, Mikey, wake up.
Mikey, wake up.
- Do me a favor.
Give this to my pops.
We had a good run, Greg.
- We did.
- Fire!
Glad to see you made it, Sarge.
All the way!
Let's go!
- Did everyone make it?
- Yeah, Greg.