Black Sheep Squadron (1976) s01e06 Episode Script
Prisoners of War
Jim! Get on the radio! Tell fleet to stand by! 15 Americans kills on that Zero of yours.
That's 15 of our pilots you shot down.
Inside now.
I just broke my hand.
You see, Major.
I had a duty.
Hold it.
T.
J.
, tell him to drop it.
We are poor, little lambs Who have lost our way Baa, baa, baa Baa Baa Black Sheep S01E06 - Prisoners of War S01E06 - Prisoners of War A mysterious calm in the South Pacific.
On the sea, and in the air, Allied ships and planes roam at will, unchallenged by the enemy.
But though our fighting forces welcome this respite from the fierce battles of recent weeks, to a man, our soldiers, sailors and airmen remain vigilant, ready to meet the enemy the instant he strikes again.
Hey, Meatball, what's goin' on out there? Zero! Zero! Zero! Look out, Pappy.
Here they come again.
Top end of the runway.
They're comin' around again! What's he doing? Sir, you got him, you got him! Pappy, you got him! I got him! Hold it! T.
J.
, tell him to drop it.
It's a grenade.
Hit the deck.
Banzai! How long does it take for those things to go off? It's a dud.
Tell him to hold it, T.
J.
Look out, Pappy, here they come again.
Get down.
- Dive.
I knew you'd try to mow our lawn one too many times.
Take him to the jeep.
How 'bout those vultures! We knock down their friend, they try to finish him off.
They weren't trying to hit him.
They're trying to hit his plane.
His plane? Why? Suppose you stay here and check it out, maybe you can tell me? Hey, Pappy! Want a souvenir? Get rid of it.
What're you gonna do with him, Pappy? I'll tell you what I'd do Knock it off, will you? Ask him his name.
Captain Tenyu Araki.
Do you speak English? Also American.
What do you know? We can have some fun with him.
Bragg, I said this once, and I'm not gonna say it again.
Knock that stuff off! Jim, lock this guy up somewhere.
Message to S-2? Tell 'em we got a live one.
Yes, sir.
Message.
Yeah.
Negative.
Negative.
What does it mean? I'm trying, sir.
This type of What does this symbol mean? Well, it uses five key symbols, sir.
I want to know I'm not here for a cryptography lesson, Lt.
Wyatt! I want to know what it means.
I'm trying my best, sir.
That's what I'm afraid of.
Find anything on that Zeke.
Not exactly.
What's that supposed to mean? Pappy, you got to talk to T.
J.
for me.
He's been pushin' the prop to the limit every time he flies this bird.
He's gonna crack a piston up there.
He's gotta stop treating my airplane this way.
Whose airplane? - My airplane.
Now I've heard everything.
You guys, I mean, you kill me.
You jump into these birds, you fly 'em out of here, you treat 'em like yesterday's trash.
And you limp back in here, three hours later, and you throw 'em at me.
Well, that's fine, Pappy.
That's fine for you.
But who stays up all night? Pickin' flak out of the instrument panel? I do.
Who sleeps with a wrench in his hand every night? I do.
Pappy, I gotta contend with no parts.
I got no oil.
And then I got dumbos like T.
J.
that fly around here with the mixture so rich I gotta replace his points twice a week, which I don't have, which I then have to steal from the C-47, and then I have to grind them down.
You're trying to tell me that this isn't my airplane? All right, dear, it's your plane.
Now did you find anything in the Zeke? You goin' to talk to him for me? Found this a couple of feet away.
Must've come off in the crash.
What is it? No idea.
Some electronic gizmo.
Take it apart.
Yeah.
Uh, we might be interested.
Hold on.
Hey, T.
J.
Yeah.
It's that Seabee outfit over on Munda.
They just heard that you're the Ping-Pong champion of the South Pacific, and they would like to know if you'd care to prove it.
Tell 'em anytime, any place.
Good.
Okay, you're on.
Hey, but only if you've got enough dough to make it interesting to us.
Is that right? Oh, it would be a pleasure seeing you.
Hey, T.
J.
, you better get a little practice.
Ping-Pong practice? Listen to me, champ, listen to me.
There's gonna be a pile ridin' on this.
Those groundhogs just drew their first pay in three months.
All right.
Make room! Make room! French, get over here.
See, what you can do, Boy.
Be easy on him.
Don't hurt your arm.
What's the matter, French? Need a bigger paddle? He's playing like a Girl Scout.
Come on, T.
J.
Let's go.
No, T.
J.
Come on.
Come on, T.
J.
How's the champ going to get any practice? How do you ever play Lieutenant with a serve like that? Nice shot.
What did you say? I said nice shot.
You're trying to be funny, Tojo? Not at all.
Come on, French.
I might suggest, Lieutenant, that you stood further back from the table.
How would you like to eat this paddle, Tojo? Sir.
Get out there.
I said, get out there.
Lieutenant, that's a P.
O.
W.
Shut up.
All right.
You're such an expert? Let's see you play.
We'll do the laughing.
Serve him the ball.
All right, Frenchie.
I knew Tojo would be good for somethin'.
Let's go, T.
J.
Show him.
I'll start.
It's not fair.
He ain't holding the paddle right.
Will you look at that? Hey, watch out, T.
J.
This guy's good.
Come on, champ, you can take him.
Oh, come on, T.
J.
One more, Lieutenant? I didn't know they played Ping-Pong in Japan.
Don't let him buffer you, T.
J.
You're the champ.
What kind of English is he puttin' on the ball? It's not English, it's Japanese.
Hey, what's he doin' out here? Uh, playing Ping-Pong.
I can see that.
Hey, Pappy, he took T.
J.
three straight games.
If you'd kept him locked up that wouldn't have happened.
Here, come on, Tojo, get back to your cage.
No, no, I want to talk to him.
Any news from S-2? What's the matter with those jokers? I'll try and find out.
Come on.
Sonar.
Transmitter, transducer, receiver, all in one little package.
It's very neat.
What's it for? I want some answers.
Maybe he'd rather talk to me.
Seemed like I saw 15 American kills on that Zero of yours.
That's 15 of our pilots you shot down.
How many Japanese have you shot down, Captain? See, you just wised-off the very last time around here, Tojo.
Come on, that's enough, Jim.
I ain't started yet.
You've already finished, Captain.
Come on, let's get out of here.
You probably want some chow.
I'll get some food, we'll go back to my tent, and I want to talk to you about the sonar unit.
I'm gonna need your help, and the way things are going, it looks like you're gonna need my help, too.
I should be honest with you, Major.
Good idea.
I can't help you.
Oh, I understand that.
I don't know what the device is for.
I was ordered to fly a mission and I flew it.
Hmm? Well, sooner or later, you're gonna help me.
But I can't.
And I don't think you'll try to force me.
Under the terms of the Geneva Convention Your country didn't sign the Geneva Convention.
But yours did.
I was born in the States, Major.
I grew up in the Japanese community in Los Angeles.
Then you'd be right at home.
Until I was eight years old, my father was buying silver nitrate for the Japanese film industry.
I made friends there.
I like your people, Major.
I think I know them.
But you don't know me.
I know Americans pride themselves on their sense of decency and fair play.
Damn right.
I could be wrong.
In any case, I won't help you.
Corporal.
- Yes, sir.
Lock this man up.
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir, right away.
Gen.
Moore wants the messages from CinCPAC, right now.
Sergeant.
Give me, Col.
Laird.
If I've deciphered it correctly, sir, the task force left Truk at approximately, uh, 06:00 yesterday, with orders to rendezvous at 115 degrees, 20 minutes west.
And 25 degrees 6 minutes north.
Mondoro.
All we've got there is a few leaky PT boats, a couple of Catalinas that should be in a museum, and an infantry company that's bucking for Section Eights.
Are you sure you've got that right? Yes, sir.
You better get that Gen.
Moore on the phone, and, uh, ask him to come over here right away.
I don't like it.
Well, then bring your own beer.
Nobody breaks a Japanese code in less than 12 hours.
Oh, well, Wyatt is good.
Well, he better be.
You're asking me to send everything but our laundry to Mondoro to stop this task force.
Now what happens if their operation turns south at Papang, comes down the slot and sticks this war right on our tail hooks? I'm sure I got it right, General.
Well, that's not what I'm worried about, son.
What if they wanted you to get it right? You're in training, remember, T.
J.
? Get lost.
Excuse me.
She's mine now.
She's with me.
What's the matter, what happened? I just broke my hand.
What did you do to the champ? Nothin'.
He's all right.
Let me take a look at him.
Let go or it's gonna swell up.
I gotta go to a doctor.
I'd better go help him.
Banzai! Sayonara.
Didn't I see you at the Blue Lagoon in Tulsa? Araki must have been taking depth soundings of the lagoon.
Why else would he fly so low to the water? Makes sense, I guess.
And how does he record that information? You can't fly a Zero and write down readings at the same time, right? There's got to be an indicator on that plane.
I've been over that whole bird Go over it again, okay? First thing in the morning, you take some of your grease monkeys, and tear that craft apart.
Jim, you go with 'em.
I'm duty officer tomorrow.
Get T.
J.
to take your place.
T.
J.
can't take over tomorrow.
Why not? Because of the Ping-Pong match.
Ping-Pong match.
What Ping-Pong match? The one with the guy from the Seabees.
Have you guys been setting something up without checking with me? Sorry, Pappy.
I wanted to tell you but it happened so fast.
Who is this guy from the Seabees? Have any of you seen him play? None of you have seen him play, huh? But you're going to use company money to bet on something that isn't a sure thing.
Don't you jokers know anything about gambling? Casey, you get on the horn right now, you tell the Seabees, "forget it.
" Pappy, they're loaded.
Pappy, Pappy, they just drew three months' back pay.
Drew three months' back pay? Yeah.
Well, um, now if we could take $3,000 or $4,000 away from 'em, we could pay 'em back.
And all they have to do is patch up our runway.
Hey, that's a great idea.
Yeah.
Okay, I'll go for it.
Oh, guys, uh I've got a little problem.
What happened to your hand, T.
J.
? The doc says I sprained it.
No, it's nothin'.
He'll be all right by tomorrow.
What if your diagnosis is wrong, Dr.
Boyle? [people chattering.]
Now am I imagining this? Or did I hear someone say that Tojo beat T.
J.
three games straight? Three games straight, huh, T.
J.
? Yeah.
I had a long talk with Araki that night.
About everything except the war.
He drank some of my best Scotch, talked about baseball, and movie stars, and his home in Japan.
Then I explained the fix we're in with the Seabees.
I got to hand it to Araki.
He had a sense of humor.
Good morning, chief.
Welcome to Vella La Cava Where is this fellow, T.
J.
, we've been hearing so much about.
Chief, we have a little problem, here.
Lt.
Wylie hurt his hand and he won't be able to play.
You mean you guys are canceling out? No, no, no, we have a substitute, uh, a man here on temporary duty with us from Washington.
Uh, lntelligence, top secret job.
Uh, Col.
Joe Nogano.
Italian, huh? Uh-uh, no, he's, uh, Japanese.
Nisei.
No--no, you said, uh Uh-uh, N-N-Nisei is a second generation American of Japanese descent.
I don't care how many generations he's got.
If you think I'm gonna let my boys bet on Attention.
Who is this man? Chief Petty Officer Lewis, sir.
Don't you know what "attention" means? Yeah, uh, yes, sir.
Well, let's see it! Suck it in.
That's better.
At ease.
Where's your star, Chief? Hey, Wilfred! Seaman Wilfred Tucker, sir.
All right, Tucker, Iet's take a few warm-up volleys, huh? Yes, sir.
How'd he get to be a Col.
in the Marines? He was born in the States, sir.
He's as American as you are.
Hey, you wanna cancel this match, it's all right with us, isn't it? Best four out of seven, right? Right.
$500 says that Wilfred takes the first game.
$500? You're covered.
Let's go, Joe.
Now let's make this fast.
I got $200 ridin' on that match.
That's it.
Way to go, Joe.
Oh, no.
One down, three to go.
All right, Major.
Another $500? Yeah, 2-to-1.
2-to-1? Boy's pretty good.
3-to-2.
Okay, 3-to-2.
What is this? Way to go, Joe.
Hey, come on.
Time out, time out, time out.
I appreciate you're steppin' in for T.
J.
I'm not criticizing your game.
But you're playing like you're on crutches.
What are your odds, Major? 4-to-1.
Are you saying you can beat him? You bet your assets.
I'm going to take this scarecrow apart.
So that's it.
I thought you'd approve.
Araki, you make sure you win the next four games? Take ten.
I'm tellin' you, there is nothing hidden in this bird.
I don't get it, then.
If Tojo was taking depth soundings, there's got to be some kind of an indicator in this thing.
Well, then where is it? We've been over every inch in this crate.
Captain, it can't be in the engine or the guns.
The guns.
It's in the guns.
Well, let's take them apart.
We had a lot of money riding on this Ping-Pong match.
I was keeping my fingers crossed the Seabees didn't find out the guy they were playin' against was a captured Japanese pilot we'd shot down the day before.
We're still waiting for an Intelligence officer from the rear area to come take him off our hands.
And the longer we waited, the better we got to know him.
It was lucky for him he could speak English, and it was lucky for us he could play Ping-Pong.
Come on.
Here we go, Joe.
Get it in there.
Set him, "Rocky," set him up.
To the corner, "Rocky.
" Smash it! Come on, Joe, you can do it.
Rocky, I knew you could do it.
For he's a jolly good fellow For he's a jolly good fellow Which nobody can deny Which nobody can deny Which nobody can deny We found it! We found it! Come on in, Araki.
I'm sorry I missed the celebration.
How was it? Very nice.
Lt.
Wylie nominated me, uh, an honorary member of the Black Sheep.
Oh, yeah? Hey, sit down.
Did you accept? - With pleasure.
I don't get you, Araki.
You agree to play the Ping-Pong match.
You drink with us.
You laugh with us.
Why? Why not? I like you.
You don't understand, Major, and I can't explain it to you.
I could give you a thousand words to describe the Japanese, then I'd have to give you ten thousand shades of meaning for every word.
I learned to be an American in your country, but you could spend a lifetime in mine and never learn to be Japanese.
It doesn't matter where I was born.
When I went to the village where my father and my father's father had lived, I realized there are feelings we Japanese have, for our land, for our culture, for our Emperor.
You see, Major, even though I can like you, I can't help you.
Yes, you can.
You can tell me what's this thing is for.
Araki, this war is over for you, pal.
This war will never be over for me.
It'll haunt me for the rest of my life.
I had a duty.
I had a duty, to kill myself rather than surrender to you.
I failed to do that, I dishonored I dishonored myself, my family, my friends, my people.
In their eyes, I am a dead man.
You gotta deal.
Forget it.
I'm out.
Raising it.
Hey, Rocky, how about a refill? How many do you want? Gimme two.
Gimme three.
Dealer, pick one.
Getting even.
$40.
$40? Here, $20.
Rocky, thank you.
Where's Pappy going? He's taking that thing we found on Rocky's plane back to Espritos Marcos.
It's your bet, Boyle.
Where you going, Rocky? I thought I'd take a nap.
Your call, French.
Tens and eights.
Huh, well, read 'em and weep.
That's mine.
Well, that's it.
- Yeah.
Anybody want to go to the beach? Yeah, sure.
- I'll go.
T.
J.
No, I don't wanna go.
We'll bring you back a tan.
Oh, you wanna get some sleep, l, uh, can close the door.
That'd be fine, Lieutenant.
I was just wondering, um, would it be all right if I ask you a question? Go right ahead.
You see, you're a Triple Ace.
Me, I gotta be the worst pilot in the Marine Corps, the Army, Navy, for that matter the Civil Air Patrol.
It's just that every time I sit in that airplane, I, um You sweat, you shake, you can't breathe, or get your stomach down out of your throat.
You're scared? So am l.
Every time.
You're surprised.
It's just that we never talk about fear around here.
Ever.
We're all afraid, Lieutenant.
Everybody in the whole world's afraid.
That's why we're fighting a war.
Thank you, Araki.
You know, it's almost kind of funny I never even met anybody Japanese.
Get some sleep, Araki.
Now what? A weather front has moved in over the Papang area.
I had a submarine trailing the task force but they lost it in the storm.
You mean, we have no idea where they're headed? The way our luck's been running, it'll be sitting in the Potomac before we find it again.
Hey, Rocky, how about some chow? I'm not really hungry.
Oh, come on, Anderson's makin' you some sukiyaki.
Sukiyaki? Yeah, out of left over chili.
This is Black Sheep One to Mother Hen.
What do you want, Boyington? I would like baked potato, tossed salad, steak, medium-rare, and a place to roost.
Uh, yeah, we're pretty busy right now, I don't see any clearance for you.
I'd like to take my business elsewhere, but I got to put this bird down, now where do you want it? Well, I'm glad to see that you guys are still here.
I thought you'd lost your lease.
Uh, no, sir.
I was told that I could find Gen.
Moore here.
No.
He's in with Col.
Laird, sir.
You you can't go in there, sir.
You wanna bet, Sergeant? Boyington, I tried to stop him, sir.
It's all right, we understand, Sergeant.
What's this about? - It's about this, and this, and this.
This must be the soundings of the lagoon at Vella La Cava.
And right, here.
This is where the tracer jumped when the Zeke crashed.
The rest of the stuff is you'll have to tell me, sir.
Get me all navigational charts for the slot.
The soundings on this graph match exactly the waters around Pelatau, Rendova, Munda, and also the lagoon at Vella La Cava.
Now, the threat to Mondoro was a ruse.
We expect the Japanese task force to swing south at Papang and then launch a major amphibious operation along the slot.
Right here.
Now the weather is clearing in the Papang area.
We'll hit them tomorrow morning, hard.
Any questions? Sir, even if we divert the Princeton right now, she'll still have a hard time making this rendezvous.
I'm aware of that.
Sir, why waste the fuel going to Papang? Let them come to us.
Right down the slot and into a trap.
We will decide the strategy, Boyington.
Your job is to execute it.
Boyington has a good idea, there.
Gentlemen, I hate to pull the plug on such an exciting evening, but I wanna see all all of you tomorrow at 05.
00 with both eyes both eyes open.
I, I'm a winner, T.
J.
You owe me $20.
$20, take $5.
I'm sorry I have to lock you up so early, Rocky.
No need to apologize, I understand.
You'll think this is a strange thing for me to say, Major, but good luck tomorrow.
Rocky, I thought you'd like to know, an lntelligence unit's gonna come by and pick you up and take you to Pearl tomorrow.
Helluva way to say goodbye to an honorary Black Sheep.
You know, Major, it's a shame we had to end up in the wrong war.
Is there a right one, Rocky? Well, I remember a story, from a movie I saw in the States about the First World War.
A German fighter pilot shot down a Frenchman.
The Frenchman crashed, was trapped in his burning plane.
The German landed and pulled his enemy from the wreckage, saving his life.
Then the German flew home again.
We can't very well do that, can we? No.
It's a problem of geography as much as politics.
We never see each other, we only see the airplanes.
And when we go down, we go into the ocean, and most of us die.
Thank you for the way you treated me.
I guess you were right about us after all, Rocky.
Except for one thing.
You should've lied to me about that sonar, told me a story.
I might've believed it.
So long, buddy.
What's goin' on? I don't know.
Who hit the siren? Hey, what is this all about What's goin' on, here? What time is it? Hey, Greg.
Major! Major! Rocky's escaped! - In what? You all right? This guy's out cold.
He sabotaged them! Yeah, he's got mine too! He got all of them! Maybe not all of them.
Jim, get on the radio, tell Fleet to stand by! If I can't stop Rocky, we may be the ones running into a trap.
What're you gonna do? Never mind that, just send the message! And pray that this last bird flies! Rocky, this is Boyington.
I don't want to shoot down one of my own planes, put that bird on the ground.
Do you hear me, Araki? I hear you, Major.
Then turn back! No, Major, you turn back.
I don't want to fight you.
You're not gonna have a choice.
That's up to you.
Araki, you are not in a Zero.
When your boys see you in that Corsair, they're gonna blow you out of the sky.
I'll have time to warn them.
They're not gonna believe you.
I'll have to take that chance, Major.
Go back.
Araki, you can't outfly me.
I'm gonna return you or crash you.
One way or another, I'm bringing you back.
Put that airplane on the ground, Araki.
Pappy's turned him around! What are they doin'? Pappy's gonna land him.
Pappy let him go.
What're they waitin' for up there? I've got a shot at you, Rocky.
But I'm telling you don't press your luck.
Don't press your luck, Major.
I'm behind you, but I don't want to kill you.
That was your last chance, Major.
I'm better than you are.
Turn back.
Don't kid yourself.
Call it off while you still can.
I'm sorry, Major.
It's all a lie.
Get him, Pappy.
Araki, get some altitude! There's a parachute in there! Use it! We'll pick you up in the water.
I had a duty, to kill myself rather than surrender to you.
I dishonored myself, my family, my friends, my people.
In their eyes, I am a dead man.
That's 15 of our pilots you shot down.
Inside now.
I just broke my hand.
You see, Major.
I had a duty.
Hold it.
T.
J.
, tell him to drop it.
We are poor, little lambs Who have lost our way Baa, baa, baa Baa Baa Black Sheep S01E06 - Prisoners of War S01E06 - Prisoners of War A mysterious calm in the South Pacific.
On the sea, and in the air, Allied ships and planes roam at will, unchallenged by the enemy.
But though our fighting forces welcome this respite from the fierce battles of recent weeks, to a man, our soldiers, sailors and airmen remain vigilant, ready to meet the enemy the instant he strikes again.
Hey, Meatball, what's goin' on out there? Zero! Zero! Zero! Look out, Pappy.
Here they come again.
Top end of the runway.
They're comin' around again! What's he doing? Sir, you got him, you got him! Pappy, you got him! I got him! Hold it! T.
J.
, tell him to drop it.
It's a grenade.
Hit the deck.
Banzai! How long does it take for those things to go off? It's a dud.
Tell him to hold it, T.
J.
Look out, Pappy, here they come again.
Get down.
- Dive.
I knew you'd try to mow our lawn one too many times.
Take him to the jeep.
How 'bout those vultures! We knock down their friend, they try to finish him off.
They weren't trying to hit him.
They're trying to hit his plane.
His plane? Why? Suppose you stay here and check it out, maybe you can tell me? Hey, Pappy! Want a souvenir? Get rid of it.
What're you gonna do with him, Pappy? I'll tell you what I'd do Knock it off, will you? Ask him his name.
Captain Tenyu Araki.
Do you speak English? Also American.
What do you know? We can have some fun with him.
Bragg, I said this once, and I'm not gonna say it again.
Knock that stuff off! Jim, lock this guy up somewhere.
Message to S-2? Tell 'em we got a live one.
Yes, sir.
Message.
Yeah.
Negative.
Negative.
What does it mean? I'm trying, sir.
This type of What does this symbol mean? Well, it uses five key symbols, sir.
I want to know I'm not here for a cryptography lesson, Lt.
Wyatt! I want to know what it means.
I'm trying my best, sir.
That's what I'm afraid of.
Find anything on that Zeke.
Not exactly.
What's that supposed to mean? Pappy, you got to talk to T.
J.
for me.
He's been pushin' the prop to the limit every time he flies this bird.
He's gonna crack a piston up there.
He's gotta stop treating my airplane this way.
Whose airplane? - My airplane.
Now I've heard everything.
You guys, I mean, you kill me.
You jump into these birds, you fly 'em out of here, you treat 'em like yesterday's trash.
And you limp back in here, three hours later, and you throw 'em at me.
Well, that's fine, Pappy.
That's fine for you.
But who stays up all night? Pickin' flak out of the instrument panel? I do.
Who sleeps with a wrench in his hand every night? I do.
Pappy, I gotta contend with no parts.
I got no oil.
And then I got dumbos like T.
J.
that fly around here with the mixture so rich I gotta replace his points twice a week, which I don't have, which I then have to steal from the C-47, and then I have to grind them down.
You're trying to tell me that this isn't my airplane? All right, dear, it's your plane.
Now did you find anything in the Zeke? You goin' to talk to him for me? Found this a couple of feet away.
Must've come off in the crash.
What is it? No idea.
Some electronic gizmo.
Take it apart.
Yeah.
Uh, we might be interested.
Hold on.
Hey, T.
J.
Yeah.
It's that Seabee outfit over on Munda.
They just heard that you're the Ping-Pong champion of the South Pacific, and they would like to know if you'd care to prove it.
Tell 'em anytime, any place.
Good.
Okay, you're on.
Hey, but only if you've got enough dough to make it interesting to us.
Is that right? Oh, it would be a pleasure seeing you.
Hey, T.
J.
, you better get a little practice.
Ping-Pong practice? Listen to me, champ, listen to me.
There's gonna be a pile ridin' on this.
Those groundhogs just drew their first pay in three months.
All right.
Make room! Make room! French, get over here.
See, what you can do, Boy.
Be easy on him.
Don't hurt your arm.
What's the matter, French? Need a bigger paddle? He's playing like a Girl Scout.
Come on, T.
J.
Let's go.
No, T.
J.
Come on.
Come on, T.
J.
How's the champ going to get any practice? How do you ever play Lieutenant with a serve like that? Nice shot.
What did you say? I said nice shot.
You're trying to be funny, Tojo? Not at all.
Come on, French.
I might suggest, Lieutenant, that you stood further back from the table.
How would you like to eat this paddle, Tojo? Sir.
Get out there.
I said, get out there.
Lieutenant, that's a P.
O.
W.
Shut up.
All right.
You're such an expert? Let's see you play.
We'll do the laughing.
Serve him the ball.
All right, Frenchie.
I knew Tojo would be good for somethin'.
Let's go, T.
J.
Show him.
I'll start.
It's not fair.
He ain't holding the paddle right.
Will you look at that? Hey, watch out, T.
J.
This guy's good.
Come on, champ, you can take him.
Oh, come on, T.
J.
One more, Lieutenant? I didn't know they played Ping-Pong in Japan.
Don't let him buffer you, T.
J.
You're the champ.
What kind of English is he puttin' on the ball? It's not English, it's Japanese.
Hey, what's he doin' out here? Uh, playing Ping-Pong.
I can see that.
Hey, Pappy, he took T.
J.
three straight games.
If you'd kept him locked up that wouldn't have happened.
Here, come on, Tojo, get back to your cage.
No, no, I want to talk to him.
Any news from S-2? What's the matter with those jokers? I'll try and find out.
Come on.
Sonar.
Transmitter, transducer, receiver, all in one little package.
It's very neat.
What's it for? I want some answers.
Maybe he'd rather talk to me.
Seemed like I saw 15 American kills on that Zero of yours.
That's 15 of our pilots you shot down.
How many Japanese have you shot down, Captain? See, you just wised-off the very last time around here, Tojo.
Come on, that's enough, Jim.
I ain't started yet.
You've already finished, Captain.
Come on, let's get out of here.
You probably want some chow.
I'll get some food, we'll go back to my tent, and I want to talk to you about the sonar unit.
I'm gonna need your help, and the way things are going, it looks like you're gonna need my help, too.
I should be honest with you, Major.
Good idea.
I can't help you.
Oh, I understand that.
I don't know what the device is for.
I was ordered to fly a mission and I flew it.
Hmm? Well, sooner or later, you're gonna help me.
But I can't.
And I don't think you'll try to force me.
Under the terms of the Geneva Convention Your country didn't sign the Geneva Convention.
But yours did.
I was born in the States, Major.
I grew up in the Japanese community in Los Angeles.
Then you'd be right at home.
Until I was eight years old, my father was buying silver nitrate for the Japanese film industry.
I made friends there.
I like your people, Major.
I think I know them.
But you don't know me.
I know Americans pride themselves on their sense of decency and fair play.
Damn right.
I could be wrong.
In any case, I won't help you.
Corporal.
- Yes, sir.
Lock this man up.
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir, right away.
Gen.
Moore wants the messages from CinCPAC, right now.
Sergeant.
Give me, Col.
Laird.
If I've deciphered it correctly, sir, the task force left Truk at approximately, uh, 06:00 yesterday, with orders to rendezvous at 115 degrees, 20 minutes west.
And 25 degrees 6 minutes north.
Mondoro.
All we've got there is a few leaky PT boats, a couple of Catalinas that should be in a museum, and an infantry company that's bucking for Section Eights.
Are you sure you've got that right? Yes, sir.
You better get that Gen.
Moore on the phone, and, uh, ask him to come over here right away.
I don't like it.
Well, then bring your own beer.
Nobody breaks a Japanese code in less than 12 hours.
Oh, well, Wyatt is good.
Well, he better be.
You're asking me to send everything but our laundry to Mondoro to stop this task force.
Now what happens if their operation turns south at Papang, comes down the slot and sticks this war right on our tail hooks? I'm sure I got it right, General.
Well, that's not what I'm worried about, son.
What if they wanted you to get it right? You're in training, remember, T.
J.
? Get lost.
Excuse me.
She's mine now.
She's with me.
What's the matter, what happened? I just broke my hand.
What did you do to the champ? Nothin'.
He's all right.
Let me take a look at him.
Let go or it's gonna swell up.
I gotta go to a doctor.
I'd better go help him.
Banzai! Sayonara.
Didn't I see you at the Blue Lagoon in Tulsa? Araki must have been taking depth soundings of the lagoon.
Why else would he fly so low to the water? Makes sense, I guess.
And how does he record that information? You can't fly a Zero and write down readings at the same time, right? There's got to be an indicator on that plane.
I've been over that whole bird Go over it again, okay? First thing in the morning, you take some of your grease monkeys, and tear that craft apart.
Jim, you go with 'em.
I'm duty officer tomorrow.
Get T.
J.
to take your place.
T.
J.
can't take over tomorrow.
Why not? Because of the Ping-Pong match.
Ping-Pong match.
What Ping-Pong match? The one with the guy from the Seabees.
Have you guys been setting something up without checking with me? Sorry, Pappy.
I wanted to tell you but it happened so fast.
Who is this guy from the Seabees? Have any of you seen him play? None of you have seen him play, huh? But you're going to use company money to bet on something that isn't a sure thing.
Don't you jokers know anything about gambling? Casey, you get on the horn right now, you tell the Seabees, "forget it.
" Pappy, they're loaded.
Pappy, Pappy, they just drew three months' back pay.
Drew three months' back pay? Yeah.
Well, um, now if we could take $3,000 or $4,000 away from 'em, we could pay 'em back.
And all they have to do is patch up our runway.
Hey, that's a great idea.
Yeah.
Okay, I'll go for it.
Oh, guys, uh I've got a little problem.
What happened to your hand, T.
J.
? The doc says I sprained it.
No, it's nothin'.
He'll be all right by tomorrow.
What if your diagnosis is wrong, Dr.
Boyle? [people chattering.]
Now am I imagining this? Or did I hear someone say that Tojo beat T.
J.
three games straight? Three games straight, huh, T.
J.
? Yeah.
I had a long talk with Araki that night.
About everything except the war.
He drank some of my best Scotch, talked about baseball, and movie stars, and his home in Japan.
Then I explained the fix we're in with the Seabees.
I got to hand it to Araki.
He had a sense of humor.
Good morning, chief.
Welcome to Vella La Cava Where is this fellow, T.
J.
, we've been hearing so much about.
Chief, we have a little problem, here.
Lt.
Wylie hurt his hand and he won't be able to play.
You mean you guys are canceling out? No, no, no, we have a substitute, uh, a man here on temporary duty with us from Washington.
Uh, lntelligence, top secret job.
Uh, Col.
Joe Nogano.
Italian, huh? Uh-uh, no, he's, uh, Japanese.
Nisei.
No--no, you said, uh Uh-uh, N-N-Nisei is a second generation American of Japanese descent.
I don't care how many generations he's got.
If you think I'm gonna let my boys bet on Attention.
Who is this man? Chief Petty Officer Lewis, sir.
Don't you know what "attention" means? Yeah, uh, yes, sir.
Well, let's see it! Suck it in.
That's better.
At ease.
Where's your star, Chief? Hey, Wilfred! Seaman Wilfred Tucker, sir.
All right, Tucker, Iet's take a few warm-up volleys, huh? Yes, sir.
How'd he get to be a Col.
in the Marines? He was born in the States, sir.
He's as American as you are.
Hey, you wanna cancel this match, it's all right with us, isn't it? Best four out of seven, right? Right.
$500 says that Wilfred takes the first game.
$500? You're covered.
Let's go, Joe.
Now let's make this fast.
I got $200 ridin' on that match.
That's it.
Way to go, Joe.
Oh, no.
One down, three to go.
All right, Major.
Another $500? Yeah, 2-to-1.
2-to-1? Boy's pretty good.
3-to-2.
Okay, 3-to-2.
What is this? Way to go, Joe.
Hey, come on.
Time out, time out, time out.
I appreciate you're steppin' in for T.
J.
I'm not criticizing your game.
But you're playing like you're on crutches.
What are your odds, Major? 4-to-1.
Are you saying you can beat him? You bet your assets.
I'm going to take this scarecrow apart.
So that's it.
I thought you'd approve.
Araki, you make sure you win the next four games? Take ten.
I'm tellin' you, there is nothing hidden in this bird.
I don't get it, then.
If Tojo was taking depth soundings, there's got to be some kind of an indicator in this thing.
Well, then where is it? We've been over every inch in this crate.
Captain, it can't be in the engine or the guns.
The guns.
It's in the guns.
Well, let's take them apart.
We had a lot of money riding on this Ping-Pong match.
I was keeping my fingers crossed the Seabees didn't find out the guy they were playin' against was a captured Japanese pilot we'd shot down the day before.
We're still waiting for an Intelligence officer from the rear area to come take him off our hands.
And the longer we waited, the better we got to know him.
It was lucky for him he could speak English, and it was lucky for us he could play Ping-Pong.
Come on.
Here we go, Joe.
Get it in there.
Set him, "Rocky," set him up.
To the corner, "Rocky.
" Smash it! Come on, Joe, you can do it.
Rocky, I knew you could do it.
For he's a jolly good fellow For he's a jolly good fellow Which nobody can deny Which nobody can deny Which nobody can deny We found it! We found it! Come on in, Araki.
I'm sorry I missed the celebration.
How was it? Very nice.
Lt.
Wylie nominated me, uh, an honorary member of the Black Sheep.
Oh, yeah? Hey, sit down.
Did you accept? - With pleasure.
I don't get you, Araki.
You agree to play the Ping-Pong match.
You drink with us.
You laugh with us.
Why? Why not? I like you.
You don't understand, Major, and I can't explain it to you.
I could give you a thousand words to describe the Japanese, then I'd have to give you ten thousand shades of meaning for every word.
I learned to be an American in your country, but you could spend a lifetime in mine and never learn to be Japanese.
It doesn't matter where I was born.
When I went to the village where my father and my father's father had lived, I realized there are feelings we Japanese have, for our land, for our culture, for our Emperor.
You see, Major, even though I can like you, I can't help you.
Yes, you can.
You can tell me what's this thing is for.
Araki, this war is over for you, pal.
This war will never be over for me.
It'll haunt me for the rest of my life.
I had a duty.
I had a duty, to kill myself rather than surrender to you.
I failed to do that, I dishonored I dishonored myself, my family, my friends, my people.
In their eyes, I am a dead man.
You gotta deal.
Forget it.
I'm out.
Raising it.
Hey, Rocky, how about a refill? How many do you want? Gimme two.
Gimme three.
Dealer, pick one.
Getting even.
$40.
$40? Here, $20.
Rocky, thank you.
Where's Pappy going? He's taking that thing we found on Rocky's plane back to Espritos Marcos.
It's your bet, Boyle.
Where you going, Rocky? I thought I'd take a nap.
Your call, French.
Tens and eights.
Huh, well, read 'em and weep.
That's mine.
Well, that's it.
- Yeah.
Anybody want to go to the beach? Yeah, sure.
- I'll go.
T.
J.
No, I don't wanna go.
We'll bring you back a tan.
Oh, you wanna get some sleep, l, uh, can close the door.
That'd be fine, Lieutenant.
I was just wondering, um, would it be all right if I ask you a question? Go right ahead.
You see, you're a Triple Ace.
Me, I gotta be the worst pilot in the Marine Corps, the Army, Navy, for that matter the Civil Air Patrol.
It's just that every time I sit in that airplane, I, um You sweat, you shake, you can't breathe, or get your stomach down out of your throat.
You're scared? So am l.
Every time.
You're surprised.
It's just that we never talk about fear around here.
Ever.
We're all afraid, Lieutenant.
Everybody in the whole world's afraid.
That's why we're fighting a war.
Thank you, Araki.
You know, it's almost kind of funny I never even met anybody Japanese.
Get some sleep, Araki.
Now what? A weather front has moved in over the Papang area.
I had a submarine trailing the task force but they lost it in the storm.
You mean, we have no idea where they're headed? The way our luck's been running, it'll be sitting in the Potomac before we find it again.
Hey, Rocky, how about some chow? I'm not really hungry.
Oh, come on, Anderson's makin' you some sukiyaki.
Sukiyaki? Yeah, out of left over chili.
This is Black Sheep One to Mother Hen.
What do you want, Boyington? I would like baked potato, tossed salad, steak, medium-rare, and a place to roost.
Uh, yeah, we're pretty busy right now, I don't see any clearance for you.
I'd like to take my business elsewhere, but I got to put this bird down, now where do you want it? Well, I'm glad to see that you guys are still here.
I thought you'd lost your lease.
Uh, no, sir.
I was told that I could find Gen.
Moore here.
No.
He's in with Col.
Laird, sir.
You you can't go in there, sir.
You wanna bet, Sergeant? Boyington, I tried to stop him, sir.
It's all right, we understand, Sergeant.
What's this about? - It's about this, and this, and this.
This must be the soundings of the lagoon at Vella La Cava.
And right, here.
This is where the tracer jumped when the Zeke crashed.
The rest of the stuff is you'll have to tell me, sir.
Get me all navigational charts for the slot.
The soundings on this graph match exactly the waters around Pelatau, Rendova, Munda, and also the lagoon at Vella La Cava.
Now, the threat to Mondoro was a ruse.
We expect the Japanese task force to swing south at Papang and then launch a major amphibious operation along the slot.
Right here.
Now the weather is clearing in the Papang area.
We'll hit them tomorrow morning, hard.
Any questions? Sir, even if we divert the Princeton right now, she'll still have a hard time making this rendezvous.
I'm aware of that.
Sir, why waste the fuel going to Papang? Let them come to us.
Right down the slot and into a trap.
We will decide the strategy, Boyington.
Your job is to execute it.
Boyington has a good idea, there.
Gentlemen, I hate to pull the plug on such an exciting evening, but I wanna see all all of you tomorrow at 05.
00 with both eyes both eyes open.
I, I'm a winner, T.
J.
You owe me $20.
$20, take $5.
I'm sorry I have to lock you up so early, Rocky.
No need to apologize, I understand.
You'll think this is a strange thing for me to say, Major, but good luck tomorrow.
Rocky, I thought you'd like to know, an lntelligence unit's gonna come by and pick you up and take you to Pearl tomorrow.
Helluva way to say goodbye to an honorary Black Sheep.
You know, Major, it's a shame we had to end up in the wrong war.
Is there a right one, Rocky? Well, I remember a story, from a movie I saw in the States about the First World War.
A German fighter pilot shot down a Frenchman.
The Frenchman crashed, was trapped in his burning plane.
The German landed and pulled his enemy from the wreckage, saving his life.
Then the German flew home again.
We can't very well do that, can we? No.
It's a problem of geography as much as politics.
We never see each other, we only see the airplanes.
And when we go down, we go into the ocean, and most of us die.
Thank you for the way you treated me.
I guess you were right about us after all, Rocky.
Except for one thing.
You should've lied to me about that sonar, told me a story.
I might've believed it.
So long, buddy.
What's goin' on? I don't know.
Who hit the siren? Hey, what is this all about What's goin' on, here? What time is it? Hey, Greg.
Major! Major! Rocky's escaped! - In what? You all right? This guy's out cold.
He sabotaged them! Yeah, he's got mine too! He got all of them! Maybe not all of them.
Jim, get on the radio, tell Fleet to stand by! If I can't stop Rocky, we may be the ones running into a trap.
What're you gonna do? Never mind that, just send the message! And pray that this last bird flies! Rocky, this is Boyington.
I don't want to shoot down one of my own planes, put that bird on the ground.
Do you hear me, Araki? I hear you, Major.
Then turn back! No, Major, you turn back.
I don't want to fight you.
You're not gonna have a choice.
That's up to you.
Araki, you are not in a Zero.
When your boys see you in that Corsair, they're gonna blow you out of the sky.
I'll have time to warn them.
They're not gonna believe you.
I'll have to take that chance, Major.
Go back.
Araki, you can't outfly me.
I'm gonna return you or crash you.
One way or another, I'm bringing you back.
Put that airplane on the ground, Araki.
Pappy's turned him around! What are they doin'? Pappy's gonna land him.
Pappy let him go.
What're they waitin' for up there? I've got a shot at you, Rocky.
But I'm telling you don't press your luck.
Don't press your luck, Major.
I'm behind you, but I don't want to kill you.
That was your last chance, Major.
I'm better than you are.
Turn back.
Don't kid yourself.
Call it off while you still can.
I'm sorry, Major.
It's all a lie.
Get him, Pappy.
Araki, get some altitude! There's a parachute in there! Use it! We'll pick you up in the water.
I had a duty, to kill myself rather than surrender to you.
I dishonored myself, my family, my friends, my people.
In their eyes, I am a dead man.