( inspirational music ) This is Armed Forces Radio
London, invasion at last. Allied armies assault enemy held
France from sea and skies smashing onto the Nazi held
beaches of Normandy. A vast air armada of allied
paratroopers and gliders invade Holland from the skies to free
the desperate Dutch people from the clutches of their
Nazis masters. Thousands of Hollanders pour onto the roads and streets to
greet the allied liberators. Fighting desperately rifle to
rifle, American GI’s repel and destroy a massive
German panzer army. General Patton's tanks rush in
from the South destroying Nazi forces and rescuing our boys
trapped behind enemy lines. American shock troops capture
the Ludendorff Bridge and race over the Rhine river, slashing
deep into the heart land of Nazi Germany. Entire American tank divisions
fan out against ever weakening enemy resistance, as Russian
troops assaulted his underground headquarters, Adolph Hitler took
his own life rather than being captured alive. Nazi Germany
teeters on surrender as the Fatherland crumbles. Hundreds of thousands of the
captured enemy clog the roads as the furious allied
onslaught races forward. Our frontline combat soldiers
battle their way deep into enemy territory followed by an endless
bucket brigade of support troopers who roll on day and
night keeping our fighting boys brimming with bullets,
boots and bread. The expanding gap between the
frontline spearhead and the critical rear guard a vast
moonscape of wrecked battle debris and enemy
dead is a no man’s land our GI’s have nicknamed,
“The Void,” this is Armed
Forces Radio London. ( rainfall ) That rain is really coming down. You got them? Dead in my sight.
It’s a kill shot. What’s McConkie saying? Still waiting for him to
give us the go ahead. This waiting game is killing me. We have to be patient. Company command wants us to wait
to engage the enemy till they give us the signal. ( rainfall continues ) It’s stuffy in here we need
some fresh air. Sarge? Relax Simms you haven’t had a
bath in a week, consider it a blessing. ( response on radio ) Roger that. McConkie wants us to wait 'til
it’s completely dark out there, then he will give us
the signal to fire. Mitchell? Mitchell are you ready? I’m good... and ready to move. Seek, strike, destroy. Seek, strike, destroy. ( thunder storm ) ( ominous music ) Do you know why I’ve
brought you out here? We have a problem that needs
to be discussed. This morning three men tried to
escape, two of them were shot. Someone helped these
men to get out. I want to know, by whom. ( shouting in german ) I do not tolerate this kind of
behavior in my stalag. Next time I will not be
so forgiving. Do not doubt me, there
will be no escape. Copy that out. McConkie has given the command
to engage, fire when ready. Ready?
- Clear On the way. ( shouting and gunfire ) Come on. ( peaceful music ) Sergeant Atwood, McConkie wants to see you and
Whitaker right away. Max. She’s slowly dying on you. She’ll make it. I bet you if I asked her nice
and she’d take me all the way back to Pocatello. Or you can trade her in
for a new one. Now those are fighting words. Don’t talk about my
lady like that. What? Do you think you can
take me pops? Any day of the week, and
twice on Sunday. Oh yeah, what'cha
going to do grandpa? Oh, and you missed,
what'cha going to do? Look at that I got
Nelson in a Nelson. I’m sorry. Don’t apologize to me
apologize to the lady. I’m sorry ma’am.
- It’s miss. I’m sorry miss, that was very
rude of me to say and it won’t happen again. Hey, knock it off enough of the
horse play we got to get moving. All right, all right. Don’t mess with Ramrod,
Ping Pong. Good advice. ( dance music ) Atwood, Whitaker we need the two
of you to do a little of hit and run for our boys up
in Braunlage. Atwood you are going to be
acting sergeant on this one. Baker company is having a little
bit of trouble with some stubborn Germans here on the
east side of the village. Can’t they just get the...
mayor? Bürgermeister? Yeah, Bürgermeister to convince
him that the war is basically over? Well, they tried but they shot
him and this is just a little pocket of resistance that
somehow slipped through the cracks. I need you guys to go in there
shake'm up a little bit. Do you want us to take any
infantry or security boys with us sir? No the two
M18s will suffice. We can leave right away? Captain I’m one man short
on my gun team. The assisting gunner got his
hand caught behind the breach this morning. Shattered his wrist. Any available replacements? No you will just going to have
to make due for the next few days. What about Nelson? He knows the drill we could
promote him, move to loader on your team. That’s a good solution
let’s go with that. You know with Hitler being dead
and Russians taking Berlin this might be the last bit of
action you boys see. This whole thing is going to be
over in a week mark my words. I don’t want anyone to die
today, so by the book. Yes sir. And General Allen is going to be
coming forward today I want the both of you back here for
the General’s visit. We’ll take care of the issue in
Braunlage and we’ll get right back. Excellent thank you
gentlemen dismissed. Sir. Atwood.
- Yes sir. Tell Simms that was a heck of a
shot last night, guard tower 2600 yards it’s got to be
some kind of record. I’ll let him know
you’re pleased. Avenging Angel. Hey what are you doing? Hey Simms. I like that
that’s a good name. Simms. You know I saw one the other day
you are going to love this, these boys named their
Hellcat... Hey. Why don’t you get
back to work? Driving trucks,
shining shoes I don’t care... just stay away from my Hellcat. Do you understand you’re
not welcomed here. What are your deaf? Go on leave. Looking like Corporal Cracker
there taking a liking in you. Yeah he is a real charmer. You'd think that being out here
fighting against the greatest race haters in the world we
wouldn't still be having this problem in the US of A. It’s called irony or hypocrisy
depending on which side of the boarder you’re on. Colored don’t need
drinking fountains... that’s how it was
when we left and that’s how it’s
going to be when we get back. Somebody told me you used to
drive one of them tanks. Well somebody told you wrong, M18 isn’t a tank,
it’s a tank destroyer, I was a Hellcat
commander for two years. You got to have some good
stories I bet? Good stories, I got some of
those, got some not so good ones as well. Now they got you driving trucks? They busted us down at the
service unit three months ago, General said, and I quote, “If this battalion was
a horse, I’d shoot it.” It’s a long story. - Collin! Collin, get over here! I’m all ears. Some other time you know let’s–
let’s get this jimmies loaded up and moving. Alright. Welcome gentlemen to the Owens
Express, watch your heads, our next schedule stop is HQ,
hot showers, clean beds and some good grub. Good morning, good morning? Where did you get that? I liberated it; had to get
something for my brother to prove I was here. You know they are never going to
let you bring that home. Never say never. Did you find any more treasures? Back at the guards’ barracks,
they ditched all kinds of stuff before they high tailed
it out of here. Talking about treasures– Found some of those
dime novels you love, I want your cigarettes. Here you go. Seriously, how was that
a fair trade? He doesn’t smoke he reads,
what’s the problem? You ever heard of a highway
robbery, that stack a toilet paper you got there is
maybe worth one pack. Those are hard to find. It’s okay what I’m I going
to do with smokes? See its all copacetic. Thanks Danny Boy. Don’t call me that. It’s your nickname.
- I don’t want a nickname. Everyone’s got a nickname,
Nelson is Ping Pong, Simms is Judy–
- Hold on Judy? Yeah your first name is Carey, Carey Grant. I’m sorry I’m not
following this at all. Judy! Judy! Judy! He said it in
“Bringing Up Baby”. No! No! No! You are getting that
confused with Larry Storch the comedian who does the impression
of Carey Grant with Judy Garland in the stage show. Susan! Susan! Susan! That’s what Carey Grant
said in “Bringing Up Baby”. Exactly.
Thank you. Okay I’m fine with
calling him Susan. Ping Pong, you are being
promoted to loader on Max’s team until we find a replacement for
Kelly; get a good system worked out with your gunner, alright? No problem Sarge. We’ll show you how a real
gun team works. Oh yeah, you do that Max,
alright. Alright everybody McConkie needs
his Hellcats up in Brownlog. Brownlog? It’s a Braunlage,
Braunlage. You done? We are not fighting the German
language or the people, we are fighting the Nazis. So we need to persuade the
Germans to come out with their hands up. We got a lot of work to do.
Lets load up. Mitchell, I need another two
rounds of armor piercing for the ready rack.
- You got it. Danny!
Get down here! You want to dig a fox
hole for fun? No why would I want to do that? Because you are a numbskull,
I told you yesterday, “don’t smoke around the ammo”. I know I’m sorry I forgot. You forgot?
He forgot. How do you forget, you’re the
loader, you handle ammo more than anybody on this crew? I don’t know why I forget,
I just– Keep it up, and you’ll be
digging a fox hole for each man on this team, you got me? Yes Sarge. Sometimes I wonder about you. You don’t have to wonder
anymore, it’s been confirmed, Barlow’s IQ test results
came back negative. Here you go Danny Boy. ( sorrowful music ) Sorry for the delay gentlemen
but we are going to finally get you out of here. Lieutenant, you feeling okay? I’m fine, just a
little knackered. So what happened out there? What did Shonbeck do to you? Well, that is a long story. I don't know where he came
from, but he caught us coming up past a farm of Quedlinburg. Shonbeck took us
out into the woods, I was sure he was
going to kill us. ( ominous music ) Lieutenant Goss, 12 kilometers
is quite far on foot, I’m surprised you were not
caught sooner. Your stolen uniform however
do help I have to admit. Shall we take a walk gentlemen. You see the dilemma here is that
there are strict orders to shoot any enemy soldiers who disguise
themselves as Germans. Stop here. Turn around, kneel down. My favorite pistol, my father
took it from a British officer he killed in the great war,
it’s much better than our 9mm Luger. Do you know why the British
changed from the 455 Webley to the standard issue Enfield? Do you lieutenant? You’re British, perhaps some insight. No? Neither do I. It just seem odd to use
the Enfield over the Webley, such a waste. There is a game we liked to play
on the Russian front; whomever is the last
man standing, well he can be on his
way and run off into the woods,
whatever he pleases. It seems like a rather generous
offer considering the seriousness of your crime. It’s very simple you just put it
to your head, pull the trigger and then of course if you are
still alive you pass it on. Go on take it. I certainly don’t want
to be the one to choose that wouldn’t be fair. Simple. Now if you don’t want to
consider my offer, I can kill you all now then get back to
more pressing matters. Very good. ( inspirational music ) ( engine revving ) All right Mitchell, move us out. Mitchell, lets go. Shhhh, I’m saying a prayer. Amen Sarge. Amen. ( inspirational music ) What’s going on? German blew a hydro dam last
night flood the whole area. We got the engineers up there
looking for needed repairs. So what about the rest
of our trucks? We let them risk it all but the
last track that crossed. It got caught up in something tipped over the
bridge into the river, luckily no one died. It is going to take most of the
day to repair that bridge. So what do we do? You, you need to take
520 to St. Andreasberg, they got a bailey
bridge up there where you can cross. And how far is that? 20 miles, take you an hour. A lot better than
waiting around here for who knows how long. Thanks. Hey what’s the hold up. We are going to take
the alternate route through St. Andreasberg
so into the void we go. Sorry gentlemen MPs are telling
us the bridge is out so we got to take a detour. I don’t mind the drive it’s
rather pleasant actually. Lieutenant Goss here on the
other hand I’m not so sure he likes the potholes. You can ride upfront if
you want sir. Lieutenant Goss. Sergeant Jesse Owens nice to
meet you lieutenant. Jesse Owens as in Olympic gold
medalist Jesse Owens. You got it. Well it can’t be too shabby being confused with
him I dare say. He seems like an all right guy. All right. The man won three gold medals. Four gold medals sir. Four gold medals and he broke a
world record made the Germans look like a bunch of
old pansies. I could lap him, let’s go. Danny Boy got any gum? Not if you are no going
to call me that. I told you it’s your nickname. I told you I don’t
want a nickname. Tough, that’s your nickname you
know like the song, ♪ Oh Danny Boy the pipes, ♪ the pipes are calling
from glen to glen, ♪ and down the mountain side. ♪ The summer's gone,
and all the flowers are dying. That’s an Irish song. ♪ 'Tis you, 'tis you must go
and I must bide. I’m not Irish and neither
are my ancestors. Come on give me a piece. Thanks. ♪ 'Tis I'll be here in
sunshine or in shadow. ♪ Oh Danny Boy,
oh Danny Boy, ♪ I love you so. Feeling any better sir? Now that I can see where we
are going, much. Well since you could see allow
me to give you the grand tour, welcome to the Void 100 miles of
debris and carnage after our troops crossed the Rhine they
advanced over 15 miles a day. These are the leftovers, yeah we
get to go home and the people of this country get to stand around
and stare at this. You like driving trucks? As they say it is better than
riding at the back of the bus Sorry I’m not familiar
with that saying. It’s what bus drivers said to
us, colored folks back home in America. “Negros have to ride in
the back of the bus even if the bus is empty.” What kind of rubbish is that, it
hardly seems fair? I would say so sir. Back it up!
Back it up! ( panicked music and gunfire) Gotta move, let’s go, lets go. Take this through
St. Andreasberg. Sankt Andreasberg. And then you turn right
along this road here. Okay got it. Simms you look forward
to going home? You know what I’m looking
forward to, nice clean pair of pajamas, it’s going to be nice
not to have to sleep in this anymore. That does sound good. I’m worried about etiquette. I’m going to say or do something
wrong I know it, like forget how to use a glass and end up
drinking straight out of the milk bottle or something. The thing you remember when you
get home is that, these are ladies they ain't like these
French apples so you can’t just walk up to them and say, “how
much?” Try something like, “lovely day won’t you agree?”
Or, “pardon me but have you ever “seen the Eiffel Tower?” Yeah then you can ask
them how much. Is that you? You stink I’m not joking It’s the K-rations Well don’t eat the K-rations,
the C-rations are safer. I don’t like meat that comes in
a tin, K-rations have this bar of chocolate in them and it’s
cheap and waxy probably what does it to me. Then don’t eat it. Maybe it’s the D-bars. You’ve been eating
D-bars as well? No wonder you smell like that. I like sweets. Well you know what you don’t
smell sweet, you better climb in your fart sack and sleep it off
tonight, no more K-rations and no D-bars. He’s got a point. Yeah and so does the end
of my finger... ( whispers )
pull the pin. ( click and fart ) Barlow! ( laughs ) The Hellcats weighs like
35,000 pounds. You should be able to
cross there. That bailey bridge will hold the
weight of your Hellcats. All right thanks, good. Hey Mack, can I buy a bottle
of soda from you? Sure. It’s quarter. What? It’s a nickel back at the CP. Out here, it’s a quarter. I don’t think they are
following us anymore. Cheers. That’s east right? Yeah. So if we head that way. Yeah it will take us back
to the main road. Yeah. All right boys listen up, we are
going to take the scenic route. So we are going to head up to
520 through St. Andreasberg Sankt Andreasberg. You just won’t leave it alone,
will you Max? Up through Sankt Andreasberg... and then we are going
to cross at the river Lieutenant come look at this. Let’s go up in that tower and
see where we’re at right? Yeah, let’s go. ( quiet music ) Max, why don’t you come up here
and practice your German. ( speaking German ) ( speaking German ) He and his family are their way
to their uncle’s farm house. Simms, search him. Arms up. ( speaking German ) He said, the farmhouse is about
eight kilometers this direction. ( speaking German ) Up at the next turn and then
down the little Canyon Road. It looks like his name is
Frederick Kardoff. Ask him about the car. ( speaking German ) We drove over a big hole a
couple of times– ( speaking German ) Something happened and now the
car won’t start, he doesn’t know. See if this matches up. It was loaded. Look at his boots, those
are military issue, he must be deserter, ditched his uniform
I’m guessing. Mitchell?
- Yeah. Come look at the car; see if you
can get it to work. I’m a coming. Who’s the girl? ( speaking German ) It’s his wife Gerta. ( speaking German ) His daughter Aunna. I need some wire,
just give me a second. Danny.
- Yeah. Bring me some K-rations. What about the 10 and ones? No, the K-rations, I’m sure
you’ve got some tucked in there somewhere. ( background chatter ) Yeah, I think I got it. It’s just the linkage
arm to the carburetor, a little bolt fell off, that should hold,
have him start it. ( speaking German ) This looks fine. ( car engine starts ) ( speaking German ) Let him go. Sergeant, we should report him. Corporal, I’m letting him go. Now let’s help these
people and be on our way, Barlow give the
rations to the lady. ( speaking German ) ( speaking German ) ( peaceful music ) ( speaking German ) Owens. ( speaking German ) ( dramatic music ) Keep an eye on this window.
- Okay. I’m going to go and
check this room. ( music continues ) ( sorrowful music ) Owens, I found a way out.
Come on. We can get out this way. Yeah, that’s good. Yeah, help me grab this. Alright. Not too heavy. Shh-shh. All right you go first. ( tense music ) ( speaking German ) ( music continues ) Owens. What? Can you hear that? Yeah, that’s armor coming. No, don’t, don't... No, no, don’t shoot. Don’t move. You saw us this morning
at the stalag. Criss-cross. Shoe lace, the counter
sign is shoe lace. What are you doing out here? MPs redirected us up
this road... we got ambushed, they took out our trucks with artillery fire,
we lost everybody. This is Lieutenant Goss and I’m
Sergeant Owens with the 514th. Let’s check it out. Danny, give the
lieutenant a weapon. Okay, will do. Simms, take a 50. Here you go sir, you’ve
got a full clip. Where are these Germans exactly? They are dug in.
A few kilometers from here. All right.
Lead the way lieutenant. No sign of any Germans... There’s another place
we should check. ( quiet music ) Well, they’re not leaving
any time soon. It’s a tank. It’s about 30 meters up from a
couple of rocks on the west side of the road. It’s a Panzer, dug in deep,
it’s in firing position. And there is the
commanding officer. Klaus Shonbeck he is a
retired tank commander. He teaches at the Tank Corp
Training School. Well, apparently he’s come
out of retirement. Hey Mitchell is everything okay? No, she is just leaking
a little. You know what they say;
Hellcats don’t leak oil. Yeah, they just mark
their territory. That’s right, you know Hellcats.
- Oh yeah. Did almost two years of
trainings in maneuvers at Camp Hood with the 827th and came
here and saw action in November. 827th, really? That’s part of the
12th division. Yeah, you got it. So where did you guys get
these Hellcats? I don’t really know, they just
showed up in March. March? We were in tow guns
for most of the war, and then they
switch us over the M18s. Only two weeks of training
and maneuvers, why? It’s just that they took our
Hellcats in February and I’m looking at this registration
number and it looks awfully familiar. Really? Huh. Hey Simms. What? Do you think he is
telling the truth? Which part? Do you think these Hellcats used
to belong to a bunch of colored boys? No, he’s lying. No wonder I don’t like
riding in them. Hey, were you the one who
assaulted the officer with an axe? You know, I knew a
couple of the white officers assigned to your battalion. Heard all kinds of
crazy stories. Said you were always leaving
your Hellcats unguarded, wandering off, looking for
places to sleep, hide, disobeying direct orders. Not in my gun team. They said you were untrained,
undisciplined and substandard. But hey, what do you expect from
a bunch of boys with low AGCT scores, huh? We’ve got a panzer dug in,
it’s about two kilometers up this road. They’ve got at least a dozen
foot soldiers with them. Simms, get the CP on the horn. On it. Arctic Forward, this is Hellcat
#2, are you there? Over. ( radio static ) Over. Arctic Forward, this is
Hellcat #2, do you copy? Over. ( radio static ) Hellcat #1, this is Hellcat #2,
do you hear me? I read you, go ahead. Ping Pong how does that
signal sound, over. Like you are talking into a tin
can, is your antenna hang up? No. Try channel two. Roger that. Arctic Forward, this is
Hellcat #2, do you copy? Over. Hey Nelson our radio is crap, can you call the CP and give him
an update on the situation here? Roger, will do. Arctic Forward, this is Hellcat
1, do you read me? Over. Arctic Forward, this is
Annie, do you copy? Over. ( radio static ) Hey Sarge. We are getting nothing on either
radio; I’m guessing it’s the mountains. Well keep trying. You got it. Well the way I figure, we just
knock out this panzer ourselves and be on our way. Sure we shouldn’t wait for some
support to get in here? It’s one lousy panzer. We’ve got two tank destroyers. Besides, what kind of support do
you give to the guys who do all the supporting? All right, but you said he
is dug in deep. There is no way to get around
him for a kill shot. Yeah, and he is old, slow,
its armor is thin. A round a 76 millimeters armor
piercing; we’ll go straight through that front
glacial plate. Okay, when we are talking 1500
yards, that’s one thing. But you said this is close,
real close, he gets off one shot. One good hit and he cuts us open
like a can of backed beans. Max. What happens if somebody
comes down this road from the other side? They are dead. But we can prevent it. The boys at Baker are counting
on us; we’ve got to move this out, now. I say we take out the Germans
and be on our way. Okay John. I’m game. But do not get me killed. All right, what’s the plan? My gun team will move out in
front of the Jimmy’s, we’ll cut immediately to the right. The Germans will track us try
to get a kill shot. At that point you guys come out
from around the truck and you fire on the panzer’s position. You are going to play decoy? Yeah and you are going to
knock them out. Okay. Holland, Rodger, let’s load up. I was thinking, Sergeant Owens
should ride with us. Sarge, I don’t think it’s
a great idea– Shut your pie hole. I think it would be best if he
stays here with the lieutenant. Owens was a gun commander
with the 827th. A second pair of eyes up
front would only help. John, he knows the drill. Owens, you can ride upfront. Let’s move them out. Welcome to the bread box. Kind of nice being back
in the Hellcat? Oh yeah, feels like home,
if you live in a box. Hey, I’m sorry about Simms, you
have just got to ignore him. I’ve met plenty of his
kind in my day. I can handle it. He is a bit of an odd duck. He is a real stickler about
following all the rules. By the book, huh? Yeah, I think they call
that anal retentive. You’ve got half that right. Atwood, we are all ready up
here, ready to roll. Danny Boy, what have we
got in the spread? We’ve got three rounds of armor
piercing and two rounds of high explosives in the ready rack. Go ahead and load us up
with armor piercing. You’ve got it Sarge. Max, load up with AP. Once you
light them up you hit them again just to be sure. Roger that. Any more of your chaps come up
the road; I’ll hold them up till you get back. Great, see you soon. God speed. Mitchell take us out. ( inspirational music ) Ramrod, keep it steady
at this speed. Roger that. Where are you Fritzy,
coming to get you. ( ominous music ) Condron, stop here. Fire when ready. Clear.
- On the way. Another round of AP. One yard to
the left and slightly lower. Clear.
- On the way. Mitchell, stop here. Fire on my signal. Two yards to the left. Two panzers right flank, move,
move, move, move. Whitaker, get out of there. ( groaning ) Hey we’ve got Germans
on the west. ( speaking German ) Sergeant’s been hit.
He’s hit. What now?
Where do we go? Mitchell don’t stop, keep
moving, follow the road. Over here. What happened? They’re all dead. Oh my eyes are burning I’m going ahead to find the
rest of the chaps. You going to be okay? Yeah I’m fine. I’m not going anywhere
with this leg Take my rifle. It’s got a full clip. I’ll guard the road... let them know I’m here. God speed. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey Mitchell, this bridge is
never going to hold our weight. Back it up.
Back it up. Whitaker, this is Simms.
Do you copy? Over. Sarge is dead. Mitchell, did any of
them make it out? I couldn’t see anything. I saw three German tanks. Whitaker got one of
them for sure. We’re trapped. Since we can’t go across this
bridge the only way out of here is to go back up that road
where those krauts are. It won’t be long before they
come looking for us. We got to get out of here. This is Hellcat #2.
Does anyone read me? Copy. ( radio static ) Do you read me?
Is there anyone out there? This is Avenging Angel if anyone
can read me, copy. ( speaking German ) Looks like we’re stuck here 'til
someone comes looking for us. There’s higher ground, next
to that building. Maybe we can get a stronger
signal from there. Danny, leave him, mount up. ( engine noise ) Arctic Forward, this is
Hellcat #2. Do you copy? Does anybody read me?
Over. Arctic Forward, this
is Avenging Angel. Do you copy? ( faint radio chatter ) Do you hear that. It’s still not good enough. Lieutenant. Whitaker is wounded but
he’ll be okay. He’s guarding the road. Everybody else was killed. Atwood is dead. So what do you suggest we do? Well, you should ask him not me. Why would I do that? He’s a sergeant. He outranks all of you. This is not my army
you remember. This is a segregated army. I’m not going to take
orders from him. Corporal, I suggest you put your
differences aside and let– I’ll take the
commander's position. Barlow you’re the gunner now. What?
Hold on, are you nuts? I haven’t been trained for that.
- What are you talking about? You have plenty of time in the
gunner’s seat when we did maneuvers. Yeah that was like three hours.
That’s it. Barlow, shut up. You’re the gunner now. Owens was a gun commander
for two years. He knows Hellcats better
than any of us. Mitchell, you heard what I said. I’m not going to take
orders from a nigger. Corporal, you figure it out. Shonbeck is sure to be coming down that road and
when he does... I’m going to kill him.
- Lieutenant, wait. Take this. Have you ever taken out
an enemy tank? Nine tanks in Hauton. Another four in... Let’s just ditch the Hellcats
and get out of here. Barlow, pull apart the firing
mechanisms and spread the pieces. I’ll break apart the
gun sight myself. Mitchell... smash the battery. I’m not leaving the Hellcat
here for the Nazis. I’m staying right here. You crazy, they’ve
got three tanks. So the minute you’re
outnumbered, you want to run, huh?
Ain't that a hoot. I don’t want to die today. Mitchell and I can handle it. If you and Barlow want to
run then go ahead. But I wasn’t raised to
run from a fight. Why would we risk our lives? For what? American vehicles are going to
be coming down that road. It’s the main route until
they fix the bridge. Everyone, including the General
will be using that road. Be a hero Simms. They might just give you
a medal for it. Me? No. It’s you that’s driven by some
kind of a heroic destiny okay? This is your proving ground. What are you trying to say? You know exactly what I’m
trying to say. This is your last chance to make
something of yourself, right? The war is over but you want to
go to back to the cotton fields to tell your papa how you– led a group of
white boys into battle. My father is dead,
and he was not a cotton picker, he was a soldier. He fought in France in 1917, in one of the most
decorated battalions. He was awarded the
Legion of Honor by the French but the Americans wouldn’t
award medals to Negros. When he came back home and asked
for equal treatment, he was lynched... and that’s the
last time I saw him, hanging there from that tree. If it’s God’s Will that
I go home alive, I will not brag
about days like this... when I had to fight to
beside someone like you. It’s always the same
story for the Negro. First your country,
then your rights. So we fight our
country’s battles, but we never seem to
get the rights or the simple respect of human dignity
for what we’ve done. Guys there is a tank coming. I got it. I got it. Move, move, move. ( intense music ) That panzers just went
behind the building. Look I can’t hit him
if I can’t see him. If that tank comes around that
corner you take him out. It’s that simple. I’m going up in that tower so I
can see exactly where they are. Okay? Got it? Simms, you got it? Shut up. I got it. ( speaking German ) Owens is saying that the
tank is stopped. I heard tank fire.
Is everything okay? There is an enemy tank on the
other side of this building. Hey come get this. That gentlemen, is radio wire. Owens just built you an antenna. Okay, try it now. Arctic Forward this is Hellcat
#2, do you copy? Over. This is Hellcat #2 to
Arctic Forward, do you copy? Over. This is Arctic Forward go
ahead Hellcat 2, over. We’ve been ambushed by
three German tanks, they are old panzers,
Atwood is dead, Whitaker’s gun team’s been
taken out, Annie is destroyed. Please repeat, how many
enemy tanks? Over. One is immobilized,
there are still two more trying to maneuver on us. Sir, we are getting a radio
message from Atwood’s gun team. Where are they? It’s hard to hear them sir. What is your current location?
Over. We are located four kilometers
south of Sankt Andreasberg, behind an abandoned
mill off the 520. We are trapped in a box canyon. They’ve been ambushed here right
off the 520, the bridge is under repair, the MP is
re-directed among the alternative road. Okay, radio HQ quickly, tell
them not to let the General leave, it’s not safe. Roger that.
- And get somebody there now. Yes sir. Did it work? We were able to radio company
command and they’re scrambling to get us some help,
but for now they are saying
we're on our own. Now that tank is not going to
move, he’s fixed on waiting for us to come out first, if they
Germans get their third tank up and running they are going to
come here and find a way to force us out. What about that PAK-40 we found? Yeah that’s a good idea. You guys started on
towed guns right? Yeah, what’s it to you? Well if we want a fighting
chance it’s going to have to be you and I up there, Simms are
you going to do this or not? Sir, the General left 20 minutes
ago; they are sending the MPs to catch him. This is not good, who do we have
on this side that we can send out there?
Do we have any armor? I can get a half-track and put
together a security team. Do it and do it quickly. So they surrounded us, began to
bombard the village with artillery fire every 45 minutes, we held them off for 22
hours straight. That’s 22 hours gentlemen. We weren’t going to give them
one inch of that village. What is it? Thought I heard something. You think you brought
enough gear? This is not a camping trip. How the hell are we supposed
to move this thing? I don’t know, we are just
going to do it somehow. Come on; come on keep going, a little more. Alright to the left. Right there, right there. I think this is as close as we
are going to get it. Hey get some ammo. Let’s hope this works. Hey why is he moving,
give me some ammo. Alright get back, get back. Hurry he’s moving. We’ve got to move it
to the right. They missed. The Germans are backing up
this might be your chance to knock them out. Right there. Simms, get down. Germans. We can’t stay here; we’ve got to
get back to the mill. Let’s fall back, ready? Go! Go! Go! On the way. Direct hit, hit him again. Hurry!
- I’m trying. On the way. ( screaming ) ( intense music ) Arctic Forward to Hellcat 2,
I repeat, Arctic Forward to Hellcat 2, do you read me?
Over. Wolsey what’s happening? They are not responding anymore
sir, they are just gone. Okay, keep trying to get them. I need to know where they are
and where the General is. Yes sir. Arctic Forward to Avenging
Angel are you there? I repeat Arctic Forward to
Avenging Angel, do you read me? Over. Tank, there’s a tank on our
right, back up, back up. I can’t see, I’m driving blind,
how far back can I go? Go 40 feet straight back and
then swing to the left. The transverse isn’t working,
electrical is out. Use the hand crank... It’s jammed, something‘s wrong. Alright, hold on. ( quiet music ) It’s clear. Check that one,
look are they all dead? Yeah, they're dead. See any more Germans? No, sure hope Danny and Mitchell
took out that last German tank. Thirsty? I’m fine. ( heartfelt music ) It was me. What are you talking
about Owens? I’m the one who assaulted that
white officer that you asked about earlier. His name was Captain Davis. Listen I don’t want to hear any
more about it Owens. I think you do. Back in early February we’d just
come up fighting in Colmar Pocket. We just lost four Hellcats and
morale was really low. We were ill prepared
for the winter. Harris and Cooper put this fire
out, you all know better than that. Come on give us a break Sarge. We’re just trying to survive
here; I’d rather take a licking for having a fire,
than freezing to death. Is it too much to ask for
some extra socks? Uncle Sam just wants you to kill
some Nazis, he don’t care about your little old ugly black feet. Sarge, when are we going to get
the proper gear, gloves, something? Look I’ll ask just like
I’ve been doing. You need to put this fire out
get back to the Hellcat you boys need to sober up. Five more minutes,
just five more minutes. I can almost feel my feet. Come on Owens. What would your mama say if she
saw you carrying on like this? I don’t have a family Sarge, you are the closest thing
to a mama I got. ( laughter ) Got nobody to go home to, huh? Go home; you think we
are going home? He thinks we are going to
survive this war. We aren’t going to make it
out of here Sarge. You aren’t going to make it and
we certainly aren’t going to make it. It will keep you warm. Five more minutes. To the 827th. 827th. Lord!
Finally he drinks with his crew, I never thought I’d see the day. You are right about that. You paint this? Yeah, it’s good right? Oh yeah, it’s good, it’s good. You know my nephew is a painter, yeah looks like
something he would do. He is 5 years old. ( laughter ) You’ve got jokes huh? That ain't funny. What in the hell is
going on over here. You want to invite the Germans
over here to kill us. Well, well, well, you are all drunk. Owens over here. This is how you run
your gun team? They know better than to start a
fire, they’re just freezing sir. We need socks, gloves and
warm coats sir. And you’ll get it, as soon as it’s available. Hey you driver.
- Corporal Harrison sir. Well Harrison you go get that
Hellcat right now, I don’t want to see you out of that driver
seat 'til daybreak. Yes sir.
- Let’s go. The rest of you are
going on patrol. Owens, I want you to take them
up to that trail up there and I want to know if there are any
Krauts on the other side of that river bank. I don’t know if it’s a good idea
sir, they are drunk. It’s a great idea and you can
walk off that drunken stupor. Get going before I write you up and I want you to
report back to me, personally, in one hour. ( whispers )
Yes sir. Here we are fighting in the US
army against an enemy that thinks they are better than
everybody else but everybody in this army think they are
better than us. How come we ain't got nobody
fighting for us? It’s like a dog chasing its own
tail you get that? Yeah, we got it
Smitty now shut up. You shut up Gaines. Both of you shut up,
you are too loud. Now we wouldn’t be out here if
you weren’t drunk. I ain't drunk. ( laughter ) Get down, get down. maybe a little drunk. Smitty no more talking. Just give me my flask I’ll
be quite as a wisp. You’ll get your flask when we
are done with this patrol. Well will you hurry it up,
it’s taking forever. You don’t know where we are,
do you? And you do? I can lead us up to that river
bank and back to camp in five minutes. I’d love to see that,
you take point. You want him on point Sarge
as drunk as he is? Maybe it will sober him up. Just don’t be drinking out
of my flask now. I won’t, now you promise
no more talking. Go on. Now I mean it Sarge
don’t be drinking– ( gunfire ) Down get down, take cover. Cooper get behind the tree, get down, put your
head down Cooper. Gaines put your head down. You are going to run and I’m
going to cover you, you got it? Okay. On three, one, two, three. Gaines! Davis knew he was sending us on
a suicide mission. When I got back to camp I got
real drunk when I went in to report that’s when I attacked. A week later they busted us down
to truck detail and every day since then I’ve wondered if
I hadn’t done that, there might still be an 827. Would you look at that, Hellcats coming back. It’s been hit. Which means if they
are coming back, there’s probably a German
tank right behind them. We can use this. You want to shoot an enemy tank
with a Panzerfaust? How are you going to
get that close? Well the weakest spot on a tank
is the underbelly right? Right. If we can convince the Germans that out Hellcat’s on
its last leg, then we might be able to
move them into a position where we can knock them out. How are you going to get a shot
underneath the tank? I’ll show you. ( intense music ) ( speaking German ) We’ve got Germans on the wall. ( slow motion gunfire ) Okay I think I got them all. You doing okay? Danny Boy?
- I’m fine. Danny, Simms, I’m under the
Hellcat, open up. Mitchell are you hearing that? Shut up it’s me Simms. Danny, open the escape hatch. Why are you down there? What happened to the Hellcat? They got a shot off so now the
turret won’t work. Are they following you? Yeah, I’m pretty sure there’s
one heading this way. Look we have an idea. I need rags, anything we can
set on fire okay? Where’s that metal bucket. Put the gun down Shonbeck. Lieutenant, do you know what we
do to prisoners that escape? ( chuckle ) We kill them. We kill them. ( gunshot ) Hans, come here. Danny!
Danny! Hey give me your lighter. Okay I’m going to light this on
fire and it’s going to start to smoke. That should make the Hellcat
look like it’s in bad shape. Hopefully he’ll follow you right
down over this opening. Let’s hope Owens' plan works,
you got it? I got it. Okay, crew’s ready to go? I don’t recommend standing
there, guard the hall and keep the Germans out. You know you’re going to get
yourself killed. It’s the only way we are going
to get a kill shot. If that tank comes over this
opening then we’ve got a shot. Good luck. ( ominous music ) Okay it’s smoking. I hope those Germans follow us. ( intense music ) ( speaking German ) ( slow music ) ( speaking German ) ( grenade clank ) ( ominous music ) Come on. ( coughing ) What happened here? We were ambushed. Three panzers hiding. They are waiting for
Americans to pass by. ( sorrowful music ) Hell of a mess wouldn't you say? A lot of people died today sir. Corporal Simms told me
what you did. He said if you hadn’t been here
to take charge those Germans would still be
holding this road. Thanks to you a lot of lives
were saved today. Just doing my duty sir. The Corporal also said you
set a good example. Made good decisions, assertive. I’m going to recommend you for
a Silver Star Sergeant. It’s really not necessary sir. You are going to tell me how to
run my division Sergeant? No sir.
- I didn’t think so. Let me take a look
at your leg Sarge. Looks like you made it. Yes. Do you have my pistol? ( thoughtful music ) How you doing? I’m not really sure. You did good Danny, really good. Thanks. You know I’m surprised
you’re still alive. The back blast from that Panzerfaust
should've killed you. Maybe I’ve got an angel
watching over me. Yeah maybe you do. Thanks. So sergeant, what was the name of that
Hellcat you were talking about? When I look at the name of this
thing and I ask the private... ( inspirational music )
