In Country

Left, Left, two, three, four. Left.

Halt!

Left face!

Ground your gear!

Gentlemen you depart today to fight the forces of godless Communism.

You were chosen to be leaders in a fight that will never be forgotten.

You are chosen, chosen because you are the best.

Because you are the meanest.

Because you are the hardest, fastest, toughest sons of bitches in the world.

The Viet Cong going to learn to respect you, or he's going to die.

You will make him die until he gives you that respect.

The Viet Cong is never going to forget you.

America is never going to forget you.

God bless you. I love you.

America loves you. You are the best.

You are the chosen.

Good luck and go with God.

Where the fuck are we?

Blue Velvet, Blue Velvet this is Night Cross. Cold LZ.

- Request medic. Coordinates 956. - Take cover!

Let's get the fuck out of here.

It's going to take courage.

Courage to face the legions of Godless Communism wherever it may be.

America used to be God's light on this earth.

America was the world's Good Samaritan.

And there was no place on the globe...

...that an American couldn't walk tall, proud, respected, and safe.

But along the way, our world has fallen...

...and our dreams have vanished.

And we forgot our place in God's plan for America.

Things need to be changed. Changed for the better.

And it's up to you the youth of America.

I congratulate you on the achievement of graduation from high school.

May God bless every one of you because you are the future of America.

Congratulations to Hopewell High's class of 1989.

Good luck, and may you all find your heart's desire.

Sam? Sam!

- Mom, wasn't it wonderful? - Yes.

- Are you proud of me? - God.

Oh my. Hold on honey.

Let me just get a shot of this grown-up woman here. Alright now say cheese. Calm.

For God's sake. I hate to say cheese!

- Come here pumpkin, come here. - Larry, take her for a minute.

You looked cute as a bug up there. I'm so proud of you.

- Oh, Sam, I wish your daddy had been here to see you. - I think he was, Mamaw. I felt his eyes on me.

- Grandpa! You, too. - You need some fattening up.

- Hi, how are you? - Congratulations, Lonnie. Are you going to Murray in the fall?

No, no, my brother is the college boy of the family. I'm just glad to be done high school.

- Everyone's going to meeting at the lake. - Okay. Come pick me up. - All right.

Sam, is that the boy who won that game over Libertyville with all those jump shots?

- Uh ha that's Lonnie Malone, all right. - That would be Roy Bob Malone's grandson.

- That's him. - His mom's a Crittenden.

- See you all at the lake. - Alright okay, I'll come meet you guys there.

OK everybody family group

- Excuse me, guys. - Oh you don't want me in there.

Well now Irene declared everybody. Now nobody's not everybody without you Mrs. Hughes.

Okay, all right, now Donna. Donna, let's see George's little face now. Nobody is paying for his back.

I wish you'd come live with us. I don't like to see you stuck down here with Emmett.

- Oh I can't just pickup and walk away. - Hey, I put up with Emmett for 13 years.

I think deserve a little bit of happiness now, Sam. So don't talk to me like that.

Everybody ready?

- Come on, Larry. - One, two... everybody say... Che...

- Che... - Stop! Wait! We forgot Emmett! Emmett!

Come on Uncle Emmett, come get your picture took. This is history.

I'm not ready for history.

You look real good.

Oh she's on me again. Why does she have to do that? She ruins everything.

She's your Mom. She's just doing her job. You feel smart?

I feel like I could fly! Now, come on!

Alright, family portrait. Everybody looking pretty?

One... too late! Got you!

Yeah, come on! Hey!

- Hi, Marlene! - Hi.

- Hi, Belinda! - Hi.

Lonnie says his dad told him that they're hiring at the tire plant.

- Fuck the tire plant. - Uh-ha.

Fuck the tire plant, by all means.

Marlene, jelly donut and diet coke, please!

You let her use that kind of language around you at home, Emmett?

- On the HBO. - You let her watch HBO?

Hell, I don't let my wife watch HBO.

You mind if I sit next to you, Sam?

- I swear, I ain't smelled nothing sweet in weeks. - Uh-ha.

You can if you show me your tattoo.

Emmett, you dog. You told her my dark secret.

Why I tell you. You come on out to my truck and I'll show you.

I wonder if anybody ever tattooed his own face on his chest like a face on a T-shirt.

Why would anyone want do that?

Well so when you get older people could see how you started out.

That could be a lot to live with.

Emmett, what's your long-legged niece doing here?

- What's her problem? - Morning Earl.

I hear they're hiring at the tire plant Emmett.

- Fuck the tire plant. - Fuck the tire plant.

Buddy Mangrum ain't coming. His little girl taken sick again.

- Eggs over easy Marlene, bacon and a lot of coffee hon. - OK.

Her guts are all twisted around on itself. He blames Agent Orange.

Oh, hell, he blames everything on Agent Orange. It wasn't no big deal.

Did you get sprayed with Agent Orange over there Emmett?

- Why? Is something wrong with Emmett? - Oh, yes, he gets these headaches and he can't sleep.

- Look, he has this rash... - Hey!

Emmett don't be macho and pretend.

Well you know I had a place come up on my leg. All kind brown and funny.

Kind of like a bruise on a banana.

But then it just went away.

You don't reccon that it ate clear down to my bone do you?

Nothing gonna hurt you, Pete.

You're like that guy on TV that ate a bicycle.

Oh, that was on "That's Incredible". I saw that.

It didn't hurt him much. He was going to go to Canada and eat a helicopter.

If I had a car, I'd drive Emmett on down to the VA hospital and get him checked out.

- I got a car I'll sell you. - Uh-ha?

A VW bug. I'll fix it up real good.

A 600 bucks, that's what I've got in it.

I don't know where I can round up that much cash.

Do you want a car? I'll show you a car.

- Look at this man! - Wow! Jeez!

- You see that little thing there that looks like a ladybug? - Uh-humm.

That's my old Corvette.

My wife sold it while I was gone.

- It would be a classic now. - You got that right.

That's my house.

There's my street. This is the... county.

I think this could be the stupidest thing I ever did in my life.

Nobody can eat a helicopter. You don't know how to lie.

- Hey, man, keep it long to the left. - Ride this bucko.

Think about that VW, Sam.

Come on over and take a test drive and teach me how to lie.

- See you all later! - See you.

Sam now you come by any time you want.

I got tattoos in places you never even dreamed of.

Is that true what you told me about Pete chasing his wife with a shotgun?

- No, was her chased him. - Why?

Why? Why does everything always have to have a reason Sam?

- Because it does. - Some things don't.

- Well things just are. You can't do nothing about them. - Well, I don't accept that.

- Oh, you don't accept that? - No. - I see. What's your plan to deal with gravity? Do you accept that?

How come all of a sudden you got to know about Vietnam?

- What do you remember when you think about it? - Jesus Christ , Sam.

Hey, Emmett! Hey Sam, you want to come with me?

- I need to talk to you. - Hey, Lonnie.

Go on. Go one.

Take her out of here, Lonnie. She's pestering me.

Boy, you're in a mood!

That's good reason to be alone, ain't it?

What's the matter with him?

Well, I don't know. They all act like there's some big deep dark secret or something.

- Why aren't you at work? - Well...

I walked in there this morning and, I looked in Quinnie's face and thought to myself:

"If I do this for 30 years, and I'm going to look just like Quinnie."

- So I told him I quit. - You what?

He says, "Fine we don't need you. You're fired."

- Wouldn't that burn your ass? - Oh, so you just up and quit.

Box boy. That ain't for me.

I'd like to do something outdoors, where I'm my own boss.

Oh well you're your own boss now, all right.

So how come you started hanging out with Emmett's friends over at the diner? You know I ain't too crazy about that.

I didn't ask you to worry about it.

Those guys are still back in Vietnam. None of them come to nothing.

Oh, shut up, Lonnie!

- What do you think they'll do? Snap and hold me hostage? - Well you know what they say about Emmett.

Ya, I know what they say about everything in Hopewell.

This town never shuts up.

- You think I'm weird because of Emmett. - Oh God, you're not weird. You just think you are.

You're only half-weird.

I got to find me a job.

I got to get a car otherwise I'm gonna go nuts.

Let me out, Lonnie. I feel like running.

- Hi, Sam. - Hi.

- I've been thinking. - Good.

How old were you when you went over there?

Old enough to know better, I guess.

- Well how old is that? - About a year older than you are now.

What do you remember when you think about it?

You know, the first thing.

There was these little white birds, used to follow the water buffalo around.

There was one for every water buffalo, like he had a little pet.

And these birds would pick the bugs off the buffalo's head.

Sometimes one would get right inside of his mouth and pick the bugs right out of his teeth.

One time...

Yes, Algebra.

...there was this tree...

...and it was full of these white birds...

...and a grenade blew it all to hell.

And all these white birds went flying out of that tree, just like it was snowing.

It was beautiful.

All these beautiful white birds, just going about their business...

...all this crazy stuff going on around them.

Egrets. Called them Egrets.

I sure would like to see one of them Egrets again.

- Sam, everything's ready! - Yeah, I'm coming!

Emmett, that's neat.

- Is it numb? - I hope so.

- Can you feel this? - No.

All right.

You look like you got a surprise.

It didn't hurt that much.

If I had a car, I could go to Paducah and get it done at the mall.

A person needs a car to be free.

Think of the money you're saving.