[in German] Mm. Where are you going?
To make you breakfast.
Mm. Stay here.
[chuckles]
I'll be right back.
[car approaching]
[man] Good day.
Your husband, please?
He is resting, Major.
What are you doing?
[Heymann] Who? Who are you?
-[woman speaks German] -[groans]
What's going on here?
[woman] Darling.
What is going on?
[crowd murmuring]
On the 20th of March,
I issued an order that all military personnel in Aschaffenburg
must report to reserve units within 24 hours for defense of the city.
Lt. Heymann is in violation of those orders.
-Major, I am recovering from wounds-- -Your wounds are not my concern.
Your actions indicate that you are a coward and a traitor to the Reich,
and, as such, constitute a threat not only to this city,
but to our country.
What are you doing?
Your husband is a traitor.
No.
He is hereby found guilty of desertion and sentenced to death.
[woman] He isn't a traitor. He is a war hero.
Here. His orders, from the doctor!
-[sobbing] -[Heymann shouts]
No! No!
[muffled shouts]
[woman] Please, let him go!
My orders are to be obeyed by everyone!
Please, let him go!
There will be no exceptions.
[woman] Let him go! Please!
No! No!
Removal of this traitor's body is prohibited.
Anyone violating that order will be executed.
[sobbing]
[sobbing continues]
[man in English] It looks quiet enough.
Too quiet.
-You said Patton's 3rd cleared the city? -Yeah, that's what we were told.
Then they must be hiding.
Okay, Lieutenant.
-Let's go find 'em. -Yes, sir.
-[grunts] -Uh, sir,
this is Corporal Mann, your new interpreter.
-Colonel. -You seen any combat, Corporal?
Uh, not yet, but I'm hoping to see a lot.
-Did I say something wrong? -No.
Just be careful what you wish for with the colonel. You'll probably get it.
Lieutenant. This is Sergeant Nick Walsh.
-He's replacing Xander with I Company. -Sir.
Glad to have you. Been over here long?
-Long enough. -Good.
We cross this here bridge. Our objective is this tower.
Gomez, you'll take E. You'll take I up the Schubert Strasse.
Got it.
Questions?
Been a lieutenant long, sir?
Long enough.
[match strikes]
Hey, Hobson.
-How about one? -Huh?
Hey, what's your problem?
Haven't you heard, Millsy?
Old Hobson was at a German spa, waiting for the war to end.
Then it got liberated.
It was a POW camp, asshole.
I oughta be home right now,
-instead of here with you fuckwads. -[Michigan] Yeah?
So why aren't you?
'Cause they ain't sending anyone back till it's all over.
Well, it better not end until I kill some krauts.
-[gun clicks] -I tell you what, Curtain.
How about you kill my share of Nazis today?
Go ahead, knock yourself out.
Is Junior okay?
Yeah.
[bell tolling]
[dog barks]
Die, you Nazi dogs.
Oh, Jesus.
[Gomez] Sniper!
[breathing heavily]
[gunfire]
Stay back here.
[bullet ricochets]
[gunfire continues]
What's the holdup?
Machine gun in the tower, pinning us down.
-[gunfire] -[bullets ricocheting]
Every street in this sector feeds past that tower.
Get a tank up here.
Take out that gun.
Sir, I think it's probably a good idea for you to fall back
till we clear the snipers out of this area.
I remember when you guys used to like it when I was up here with ya.
That's when you were a no-account captain
and snipers didn't give a shit about you,
but now you got that leaf, you're like prime sirloin.
I think you're just worried he's gonna miss me and hit one of you.
Okay, E Company, it's time to clear these houses and find that fucking sniper!
[soldier] Relax, kid. We're way out of range.
-Except for the snipers, of course. -Snipers?
Don't bother looking for 'em. You'll never see 'em.
We're probably out of range anyway.
Isn't that what we told the last interpreter?
Oh, yeah.
Get 45th HQ.
Yes, sir. I've got the 45th, sir.
[Mann panting]
This is Sparks. We're moving to Sectors 3, 4 and 5.
All right.
Check upstairs.
Watch for traps.
[gunfire in distance]
What are you doing?
Stop it! Stop it!
Hey!
Is anyone up there?
Told you it wasn't this one.
[Vaccaro] Oh, yeah.
Like the sniper's gonna answer you.
-[shouts] -[all screaming]
Jesus Christ!
-You okay? -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's a mother and her kids!
Shh, it's okay. It's okay, it's okay. Don't worry, it's okay.
-[in German] Watch out! -[in English] Chief! Stop!
There's someone in the other room!
-[in German] No! Please, no! -Get out of the way!
[woman in German] No! No! No!
[Vaccaro] Get out of the way! Get out of the way!
Let me through! Let me through!
-No! -[panting]
Jesus, it's a kid.
[in German] Butchers!
Pigs!
[in English] Oh, my God.
Shut up. Shut the fuck up. Is this your son?
-Ja. -Do you love him?
-Ja. -Yeah.
Then get him out of this uniform before he gets killed.
[sobbing]
What do you mean we're fighting more than four divisions?
Von Lamberth has forced civilians to participate in the city's defense.
Men, women, sometimes children.
Those who aren't actively fighting…
are being made to occupy buildings to keep us from destroying them.
Well, why not bypass it?
Aschaffenburg's of no military importance.
We could leave a nominal holding force behind and move on.
With all due respect, Colonel…
we bail out on this now, Von Lamberth will call this a victory.
And every other city in Germany will follow suit.
Well, what option does that leave us?
What he doesn't think we're capable of.
Razing it.
[gunfire in distance]
[explosions in distance]
-[shells whistling] -You ready?
As soon as the artillery finishes, Walsh'll bring up I Company.
[bullets ricochet]
I thought you cleared out all these homes.
We did. He just keeps finding a way to double back on us.
[artillery exploding]
As soon as that shelling stops, be ready to move.
It's about time.
Hope they flatten that church.
-Hope they flatten the whole damn town. -Hey, boy.
What in the hell is wrong with you?
There are innocent people up there.
You want me to feel sorry for 'em?
I don't.
They should taste what they've been doing to everybody else this whole damn war.
[shells whistling]
Okay, let's move.
Hold your fire.
[in German] Please.
[Junior in English] Jesus.
Medic!
Don't you die.
[grunts]
Medic!
Okay. She's injured! Help her. Come on!
Okay. Hey, hey, look at me. You're gonna be okay, you understand?
Understand me? They're gonna take good care of you, okay? Hey, look at me.
Okay. You're gonna be okay. These guys are gonna look after you. Understand?
[medic] Okay, let's move her.
[engine starts]
[gunshot]
I see him!
Clear.
Empty.
Sarge, you sure he was here?
Hell, yeah, I'm sure.
[Coldfoot] Let's move.
[floorboard creaks]
[groans]
Where's Gomez?
He's just checking out the last apartment, sir.
[in Spanish] Come on.
[breathing heavily]
[chuckling]
Asshole.
[laughs]
[groans]
Shit.
Gomez!
[Vaccaro in English] Sarge?
[weakly] Hey.
[groaning]
[softly] Hey.
[panting]
[grunts]
Okay. Get back to the others.
[winces]
So…
[in Spanish] Idiot…
[in English] Look around.
This is your fucking grave.
[whimpering]
[panting]
[footsteps approaching]
[Coldfoot] Gomez! Gomez!
Hey, hey, hey, hey!
Come on, buddy. Let's go.
Medic! Get the medic in here now!
I got the son of a bitch, sir.
I knew you would.
We almost made it, didn't we?
Shut the fuck up.
You're gonna be fine.
Right. You and me are gonna make general.
[Coldfoot grunts]
[in Spanish] These are good men.
Your men.
[shudders]
[exhales softly]
[in English] All right. E Company! Let's go!
[Sparks] Dear Mary…
I'm told it took a thousand years to build Aschaffenburg.
It took us and the Nazis less than a week to destroy it.
Today, I am ordered to accept
the surrender of the city from its commandant.
It's a fancy ceremony with speeches and protocol.
If you ask me,
neither side should be making a spectacle after what happened here.
[clears throat] At 11:00, we meet Von Lamberth's staff at City Hall.
You'll then be escorted to the ballroom
where the major will deliver a surrender speech over the radio
and then offer you his sidearm.
What's that sign say?
-[Mann] "This is the reward for cowards." -Stop the Jeep.
[in German] Please. Please help my husband.
[speaking German]
[in English] She says he's not a traitor or a coward.
She says that they dragged him out of his bed and hung him.
[speaking German]
These are… his orders.
He was a lieutenant sent home to recover from wounds.
Ask her... ask her who did this.
Who did this?
[speaking German]
[in English] She says Maj. Von Lamberth, sir.
[woman in German] He threatened everyone.
Walsh, cut this soldier down.
Right. Tell her something from me.
-[Mann] Okay. -Tell her…
her husband will be taken care of.
He will receive a proper military burial with honors.
[Mann translating into German]
Tell her everything will be okay.
She has my word.
Sir. I'm not sure this is a good idea with the surrender and everything.
Do it.
Should I tell them all it's okay, sir?
No.
It's not you they need to hear it from.
[vehicle approaching]
Good morning, Colonel. Maj. Von Lamberth is waiting for you.
Tell the him there's been a change of plan.
We're going for a ride.
But, Colonel, Gen. Frederick assured the major that--
I don't give a fuck what Gen. Frederick promised.
You tell your major to get his regal ass down these stairs right now
or my men will do it for him.
Do you understand?
[Von Lamberth in German] Citizens of Aschaffenburg…
put down your weapons.
The fighting is over.
As of 09:00 hours this morning…
we have ended all hostilities with the Allied forces.
Citizens of Aschaffenburg…
put down your weapons.
The fighting is over.
As of 09:00 hours this morning…
we have ended all hostilities--
He was a hero! You are a coward!
[spits]
-[in English] He said-- -I know what he said.
[Sparks] My mother used to say only fools empty ashtrays when the house is on fire.
And I realize that's been my problem.
I've been trying so hard
to hold onto the person I was before the war.
And the truth is…
that person has been gone for a long time.
Probably is gone forever.
This war has changed us all.
None of us will ever be the same.
I hope we've seen it all.
Man, it doesn't feel like spring.
My hands are frozen. I can't feel my fingers.
Yeah, it does.
It feels like a Chicago spring.
Like opening day at Wrigley Field where you freeze your ass off.
[exhales]
Looks like a POW camp, Colonel, but ain't nobody in the towers.
-Ugh. -What's that smell?
Oh, my God!
-[coughs] -[groaning]
[retches]
Open them. Open them all!
Let's go! Let's go!
[doors open]
[grunts]
Who would do this?
Where have you been?
We know who did this.
Hey!
We know they're still in there.
-I say we get 'em! -Yeah! Yeah!
-Get 'em! -Come on, guys!
[gunshot]
Our orders are to secure this camp and that's what we're gonna do.
Nothing more.
[sighs]
Secure the front entrance.
Make sure no one gets in or out before we figure out what this place is.
Walsh, secure the rear gate.
Walsh!
You hear me?
Yes, sir. Let's go.
How are you boys at climbing walls?
It's an officer's quarters.
[clock ticking]
Spread out.
Don't shoot. We surrender.
What kind of operating room is this?
God.
It's an autopsy room.
I've seen one back home.
Really?
Since when do you need to tie down a corpse?
Mann, what does this say?
[Mann] "There is a path to freedom.
Its milestones are…
honesty, cleanliness, sobriety, hard work…
and love of the Fatherland."
[Sparks] Who's that meant for?
Them, sir.
Holy Christ.
[coughing]
They're just stick figures.
[speaking German]
What's he saying?
He wants to know if you are a dream, sir.
Get back in touch with Command.
Tell them we need food, doctors, clothing, medicine immediately.
There are no hostiles here. We are wounded soldiers.
Get 'em out. Everybody out.
-But they are all injured. -I don't give a damn. Now!
Get 'em out.
Move!
Line 'em up.
-Get a machine gun in here. -[Hobson] The hell are you looking at?
Get moving!
-Get the hell up! -Sergeant…
most of these men are wounded. They cannot stand.
Oh yeah? And did you think about that when you were guarding your prisoners?
We are not the prison guards. They are gone.
We are soldiers just like you.
No. You're not just like us. You're nothing like us!
Colonel! Come quick!
Private Curtain, man the gun.
Keep your fucking hands up.
But they are wounded. They can't do it.
Curtain, if any of these bastards so much as move, let 'em have it.
-Sarge? They're moving. -Keep it on them.
-Sarge! -Don't let them get away.
[in German] Get on the ground!
What the hell are you doing?
-Colonel, they were trying to get away. -They're unarmed!
They're animals. They deserve to die.
That is not your decision to make!
Listen to me!
I am as sickened by this place as you are, but this is not what we came here to do!
This is what we came here to stop.
[panting]
Arrest these men.
Medics!
Give these men some help.
[coughing]
[breathing slowly]
I wish I could tell you this was an isolated incident.
We're finding these camps everywhere.
In Poland, they're double, triple this size.
Filled with men, women…
and children.
I heard about the coal yard incident, Felix.
What were the casualties?
Seventeen dead, 12 wounded.
The men just snapped, sir.
First the train…
then this.
Who wouldn't?
I'll make sure to mention it in my report.
The good news is, now that he's dead, we're moving your men outta here…
and into Munich.
-Who's dead, sir? -Hitler.
Word came this morning from Berlin.
The Germans have surrendered.
[Sparks] Dear Mary…
And just like that, the war ended.
Unfortunately, not for me.
Were you present when this picture was taken?
And if so, where was your position?
[Curtain] I was there.
Behind the machine gun?
What were your orders, Private?
To guard the prisoners.
Not to let them escape.
And when did you open fire?
When they tried to get away.
I swear, sir.
I saw them moving.
Did your experiences in the German POW camp
make you want to shoot these men?
No.
To get them back for their treatment of you?
I was following orders, sir. We'd seen the Germans flee the compound.
So when they began to move…
we opened fire.
And who ordered you to open fire?
Sergeant Walsh.
Did you intend to execute these men when you lined them up against the wall?
No, sir.
The coal yard just happened to be the best place to hold them.
And were you aware that many of these prisoners
were brought from the camp infirmary and were wounded?
Sir, our orders were to round them all up in the camp and keep them from escaping.
And who gave you these orders?
Was Col. Sparks present at the time of the shooting?
Tell me when you saw Col. Sparks.
General.
I wasn't expecting a visit.
The 45th have been selected to make the invasion of Japan, Felix.
We're gonna re-equip and retrain in the States.
I think everybody knew we wouldn't be going home till this was all over.
Unfortunately, you've been ordered to stay.
Sir?
The coal yard investigation has become a big deal.
Been taken over by 7th Army Chief of Staff Gen. White.
And the focus is on you.
Me?
We're in a politically sensitive moment, Felix.
Washington is concerned with the way it looks to the world.
You are ordered to report to 7th Army Headquarters tomorrow at 09:00
where the Army judge advocate will present the charges filed against you.
I'm sorry, Felix.
Yeah.
Sir, the troops are ready to move out.
-If you'd like me to stay, I-- -No, no.
Get going, Bruce. I'm okay.
It was an honor, sir.
Sir.
If you ever need a driver back home, I'm your man.
Be an honor, Corporal Kanuna.
-You got it. -[chuckles]
Okay!
Let's get this show on the road.
[Sparks] Dearest Mary…
I never asked to be a leader of three divisions.
The only thing I ever asked for was a rifle company in Oklahoma.
But when you start down a path…
you never know where it will lead.
Excuse me. I'm looking for Gen. Gainer's office, 43?
Thank you.
[phone ringing]
Yes, sir.
[sniffs]
Col. Sparks.
This way, sir.
Colonel, you're formally charged in dereliction of your duty
as an officer in the United States Army,
leading to the deaths of 17 unarmed German prisoners of war.
Details of your case have been investigated
and the findings have reached the highest level of Army Command
and, for that reason, your case is going to be reviewed
by the chief Army justice at Military Command.
Sir, this is the first time I've been presented with these charges.
If I may ex--
You'll have an opportunity to present your testimony
tomorrow at the hearing, Colonel.
Report to Occupation Command HQ at 09:00, office 1644.
Dismissed.
Col. Sparks?
Yes?
Your driver's here, sir.
-[car approaching] -I don't have a driver.
So, Gomez, after he brings you in, he's yelling at the major,
"Get him in the operating room right now.
Otherwise, I'm gonna tear this place down."
-Yeah. Yeah, he would have too. -Yeah.
Ah, he should be here.
They all should.
Hallowell…
Cruz, Cloudfeather, Garcia.
Childers.
You remembered their names.
I wrote a lot of letters.
Well, since they ain't here, it's my job to say this.
You were the best leader we could have asked for.
You came back to us when you could've gone home.
Hell, you made us feel like men when others didn't.
Hell, you gave us a chance.
Especially me.
I didn't give anybody anything.
They earned it.
Especially you.
Sam…
thanks.
You ever get to Madison, Oklahoma, I'm easy to find.
Where were you going?
That day I stopped you outside Johnson's bar?
I was going to see a…
particular sergeant who had made my life miserable.
I was gonna kill him.
They'd have sent you to Leavenworth.
[chuckles]
Yeah.
Yeah, but I got made a sergeant instead.
Please take a seat. The general will be with you shortly.
[door closes]
[sighs]
As you were.
I'm sorry, sir. I was ordered to…
uh, come and see the chief Army justice.
That would be me, Colonel. Sit.
Some office, isn't it?
Used to belong to the publisher of Mein Kampf.
Guess it pays to have a best seller.
Col. Sparks, these are some serious charges against you.
If I may, sir, I've not had the--
You were one of Charlie Ankcorn's boys in Sicily.
Yes, sir.
[chuckles]
And fought at Salerno with Middleton.
Yes, sir.
Wounded.
Evacuated to Algiers for surgery.
Reclassified unfit for active combat.
Went AWOL and hijacked a B-17?
I hitched a ride, sir.
Went back to Italy to join your men.
Hmm.
Anzio.
Via Anziate.
Your unit stopped that brilliant bastard Kesselring in his tracks.
Got the Presidential Unit Citation.
My company did, sir.
Then Operation Dragoon.
Up through France into the Vosges.
[laughs]
Spit in Bob Frederick's face, did you?
We had a disagreement, sir.
Disagreement with superiors.
I wouldn't know anything about that.
Aschaffenburg. More bad business.
And finally…
Dachau.
[swallowing]
"On April 29, 1945 at approximately 09:30 hours,
men from Company I, 157th regiment…
under the command of Lt. Col. Felix Sparks…
committed the premeditated murder…
of 17 unarmed German soldiers at Dachau concentration camp."
Colonel, do you deny this shooting took place?
-No, sir. But my men were under extreme-- -It's not about your men, Colonel.
Were you in the coal yard during the shooting?
No, sir, but I was responsible--
Did you give the orders to your men to open fire on those prisoners?
No, sir, I did not.
But they are still my men.
Hmm. [sighs deeply]
Colonel, would you call me a hero?
Uh, of course, sir.
I've been a professional soldier nearly 37 years.
Mexico…
two world wars.
During that time, I've seen a great deal of combat
and, like you, I've been wounded in the line of duty.
But if you added together all the time I've spent within the sound of gunfire…
it would come to maybe 50 weeks.
350 days.
You, on the other hand…
have spent over 500.
Five hundred days.
So, tell me….
who's the hero?
[sighs]
Go home, Felix.
Go home.
And don't let the scars ruin you.
Dismissed.
[Sparks] Dear Mary…
my life as a soldier is over.
After leaving Germany, they put me in charge of sending our troops home.
I took the job literally and put myself on a ship.
When I get back, they will discharge me from Fort Bliss,
which is outside of El Paso, much closer to you.
Please meet me there.
[train horn blares]
I can't wait to see our new son.
But I need to see you first.
The war has changed me, Mary.
I have seen horrors inflicted by one human to another
that are beyond all reason or explanation.
I have killed men.
And seen men killed.
And I have lived when others more deserving of life have perished.
These experiences have made me a different man than the one you married.
And perhaps one you'll no longer want.
But I hope you will.
I pray you will.
[crying]