Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know; that Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, *saves lives*. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall. You need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it! I would rather you just said “thank you” and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a *damn* what you think you are entitled to!
You see Danny, I can deal with the bullets, and the bombs, and the blood. I don’t want money, and I don’t want medals. What I do want is for you to stand there in that faggoty white uniform and with your Harvard mouth extend me some fucking courtesy. You gotta ask me nicely.
I run my unit how I run my unit. You want to investigate me, roll the dice and take your chances. I eat breakfast 300 yards from 4000 Cubans who are trained to kill me, so don’t think for one second that you can come down here, flash a badge, and make me nervous.
Absolutely. My answer is I don’t have the first damn clue. Maybe he was an early riser and liked to pack in the morning. And maybe he didn’t have any friends. I’m an educated man, but I’m afraid I can’t speak intelligently about the travel habits of William Santiago. What I do know is that he was set to leave the base at 0600. Now, are these really the questions I was called here to answer? Phone calls and foot lockers? Please tell me that you have something more, Lieutenant. These two Marines are on trial for their lives. Please tell me their lawyer hasn’t pinned their hopes to a phone bill.
Hmmmm… transfer Santiago. Yes, I’m sure you’re right. I’m sure that’s the thing to do. Wait, I’ve got a better idea. Let’s transfer the whole squad off the base. Let’s… On second thought, Windward! Let’s transfer the whole Windward Division off the base. John, go on out there and get those boys down off the fence, they’re packing their bags. Tom!
Wait a minute, Tom, don’t get the President just yet. Maybe we should consider this for a second. Dismissed, Tom. Maybe, and I’m just spit balling here, maybe, we have a responsibility as officers to traing Santiago. Maybe we as officers have a responsibility to this country to see to that the men and women charged with its security are trained professionals. Yes, I’m certain that I read that somewhere once. And now I’m thinking,Col. Markinson, that your suggestion of transferring Santiago, while expeditious and certainly painless, might not be, in a matter of speaking, the American way. Santiago stays where he is. We’re gonna train the lad!
I think he’s kind of a weasel, myself. But he’s an awfully good officer, and in the end we see eye to eye on the best way to run a Marine Corps unit. We’re in the business of saving lives, Matthew. That’s a responsibility we have to take pretty seriously. And I believe that taking a Marine who’s not quite up to the job and shipping him off to another assignment, puts lives in danger.
We go back a while. We went to the Academy together, we were commissioned together, we did our tours in Vietnam together. But I’ve been promoted up through the chain of command with greater speed and success than you have. Now if that’s a source of tension or embarrassment for you, well, I don’t give a shit. We’re in the business of saving lives, Lieutenant Colonel Markinson. Don’t ever question my orders in front of another officer.
Maybe I’m just spitballing here, maybe we have a responsibility as officers to train Santiago, maybe we as officers have a responsibility to this county to see that the men and women charged with its security are trained professionals. I’m certain I’ve read that somewhere once, and now I’m thinking your suggestion of “transferring Santiago” while expeditious and painless might not be in the manner of speaking, the “American way”. Santiago stays where he is, we’re going to train the lad
well what’d you know? This man’s dad once made a lot of enemies in your neck of the woods. Jefferson versus Madison County School District. Folks down there said a little black girl couldn’t go to an all white school. Lionel Kaffee said “well, we’ll just see about that.”
