I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you.
I dropped the chart.
It was really clumsy of me.
I haven't seen you before, have I?
No, I'm Commander Michaels.
I work in the emergency room.
I was there
the day they brought you in.
I'm just here to check your progress
for Dr. Pierson.
Oh, I see.
It's nice to meet you, commander.
I'm David Hastings.
So do those charts tell you
that I'll be getting out of here soon?
Well, it says that
it shouldn't be too much longer,
but Dr. Pierson
is gonna have to be the judge of that.
What's the matter, commander?
Is something crawling on me?
I'm sorry, David,
I didn't realise I was staring.
Hello?
Oh, hi, Mom.
No.
No, it's okay, you didn't wake me.
Yeah, can you hold on a second,
Mom?
It was nice to meet you,
commander.
It was nice to meet you too, David.
Hi.
Yeah, they say it looks like
I'll be getting out of here pretty soon.
Matt.
Kim, why aren't you ready?
Oh, I'm sorry, Matt.
I just--I completely forgot.
Well, can I come in?
Oh, yeah. Sure.
What's going on? Are you all right?
I'm fine. I'm fine.
Well, it's still early.
Why don't you go get dressed.
And I'll call the restaurant
and change reservations.
Oh, I just--I really don't feel up to it.
Why don't you just be honest
with me?
About what, Matt? I said I forgot.
I don't know what else to say.
Well, you can start
with what's going on.
You've been avoiding me
like the plague.
I'm just going through some changes,
okay?
Is this part of your changes?
This is none of your business.
I think it is.
There's another man in your life, Kim.
That's why you're playing with me.
- I think you'd better leave.
- Is there somebody else?
Yes. Yes, there's somebody else
and he's right here.
Do you hear me, Cmdr. Rogers?
I love him.
I love him.
Good evening, doc.
Well, Jonathan.
What brings you out so late?
Not work, I hope?
In my line of work,
it kind of goes with the territory.
Jimmy,
let me have another one, will you?
I thought you had
a dinner date tonight.
Yeah, so did I,
but it seems Commander Michaels
wasn't feeling up
to going anywhere tonight.
Oh, why? She get sick?
Yeah. I guess you could say that.
Thanks, Jimmy.
You're hitting that stuff kind of hard,
aren't you?
As a matter of fact, I don't think
I'm hitting it hard enough.
Jimmy, make the next one a double.
Would you care to join me?
No.
No, I think you're doing
enough damage all by yourself.
Kim and I had a big blow-up tonight.
We won't be seeing each other socially
anymore.
I am sorry to hear that.
Yeah, so was I.
Tonight, Kim told me
that there's another man in her life.
And that she was in love with him.
This other man,
did she tell you who he was?
No, but what's the difference?
She said she loved him, Jonathan.
All I've been to her
is somebody to pass the time with
while waiting for this other guy
to show up.
You love Kimberly, Matt?
What kind of a question is that?
It was a simple question.
Do you love Kimberly, yes or no?
Yes.
What good does it do me now?
It's all over between us.
She asked you once
to give her a little time,
maybe that's what she still needs,
some time.
Yeah.
Sure, I'll just hang around.
And if things don't work out
with this other guy
I'll be there to pick up the pieces,
right?
Maybe I'm tired of waiting around,
Jonathan, okay?
You're the only one
that can answer that question.
You're right.
Go easy on the booze, okay?
That's the trouble with angels.
They don't operate on real time.
Hi, Mark.
Jonathan,
will you not do that to me?
Hey, I'm sorry, okay?
What's the matter, have a bad day?
Yeah.
Tonight's probably gonna be worse.
Why? What's going on tonight?
Colonel Mahon and I
are going out to dinner together.
That's great. What'd I tell you?
You have to use a little charm.
No, no, no. You've got it all wrong.
She came into my office
and almost ordered me to go with her.
The last thing in the world
I wanna do
is spend an entire evening
with Colonel Stiff-Britches.
There's nothing I can do about it.
Yeah, yeah there is.
You can come with us.
I just call her up and I tell her
that I asked you to go along.
Now, look, I'm busy tonight.
Come on, Jonathan. You gotta go.
Hey, look, we're partners, right?
Partners
are supposed to stick together.
No, Mark, I can't.
I've gotta take Kimberly
to that first meeting
of the Veteran's Outreach.
You're just gonna have to handle her
by yourself.
Well, that's great.
We'll probably have
some delightful conversation.
I don't know
what you're so upset about.
I met the colonel,
she seems like a real nice person.
Sure,
if you like General Patton in a skirt.
I'm about to have dinner
with Ernie Borgnine.
Hi, Mark.
Mark, is there something wrong?
No, no, no.
Everything is just right.
Never seen you like this.
You know,
your uniform covers all your--
- You ready to go?
- I'll just get my purse.
You're gonna like this restaurant.
It's called The Natural Wonder.
Oh, Colonel Mahon,
you like it, I like it.
Please, call me Fran.
Well, Fran,
there's a nice juicy steak out there
with my name on it.
Oh, I'm afraid they don't serve meat
where we're going.
This is a health food restaurant.
Hey, well, I'm easy to please.
- Shall we go and dine?
- Yeah.
What the heck, Gordon.
You can get a nice piece of meat
anytime.
It was my job as chief nurse
to determine which of the wounded
had to be treated first
while the others
could only be comforted.
I was supposed to decide
which of those sons and fathers
was worse off than the other.
Was it the boy
whose legs were blown off
when he stepped on a land mine?
Or the chopper pilot who was b*rned
when he was blown out of the sky
trying to pick up the wounded?
When Linda asked
if any of us had a sense of guilt
as a result of Vietnam...
I do.
Because for months,
I was supposed to play God.
And to this day,
I still see those faces.
Sons who would never again see
their parents,
and husbands who would never again
see their wives and children.
I was...
I was working in Special Services
in the Mekong Delta
and it was my job...
...to set up service clubs.
You know, places where the men
could relax during their off-duty hours.
It was a relatively safe area
so it was pretty common
to travel the roads without incident.
We were running late
this one Friday afternoon
and got a late start back to the base.
I was the only woman
on the back of the truck.
Sergeant Wagner
needed to relieve himself.
He was--
He was just a kid
and he didn't want to embarrass me,
so he jumped off the truck
and went...
He went into the bushes.
Well,
that's when I heard an expl*si*n.
He stepped on a mine
and he was k*lled.
All because
he didn't wanna embarrass me.
Honey.
Honey,
you didn't cause that boy's death.
It was the w*r.
I know,
but if I hadn't been on that truck,
then maybe he'd still be alive.
And maybe he wouldn't.
Things happen
and you can't change that.
It's how we deal with them
after they happen that counts.
Honey,
I know what I'm talking about.
I'm old enough
to be a mother to any one of you.
Maybe even your grandmother.
But I'm no different than you are.
My pain is the same,
I've just lived with it longer, that's all.
Towards the end of World w*r II,
I was on Guam
working as a nurse when I met him.
His name was Frank.
He was a pilot
with the Army Air Force
and flew his missions out of Guam.
Well...
It didn't take long for us to fall in love,
you know.
I mean,
we were just two kids...
...in the middle of a w*r.
Thousands of miles from home.
They wouldn't let us get married.
But that didn't stop us.
I mean,
we found a local judge
to perform the ceremony.
And...
We spent our honeymoon night
out on the beach.
Well...
Frank's plane was sh*t down
the next day.
And I was on duty
when they brought him in.
He was hurt very bad.
And we all worked desperately
to save him.
But my husband d*ed.
He d*ed right in front of me.
I never got to tell him
that I loved him.
I never got to tell him goodbye.
So...
Are you doing all right?
Yes.
You know, I was really hesitant
about going tonight.
I'm really glad I did.
I'm glad you did too.
You know, you're not alone anymore
and knowing that is very important.
Oh, I know, Jonathan,
but I also know those feelings
they were talking about
because I've had them.
And the pain
that goes along with them.
Well, that's what the group is for.
Talking about the hurt
and getting past it.
Maybe sometime
you'll share some of your pain
with them.
You ought to finish that tofu burger.
It's very good for you.
I'll bet.
Anything that tastes that bad
has gotta be good for you.
I think it's delicious.
You do?
Well, I guess I'm more
of a salami jalapeno man.
Do you know what salami does
to your cholesterol count?
No. I just know I like it.
I've been eating it all my life.
When was the last time you had
your cholesterol level checked?
The last time I had my car serviced.
Mark, I'm serious.
I don't know.
I don't think I ever had it checked.
That's like
committing slow su1c1de.
Tomorrow you're going in
for a complete physical.
Oh, come on, Fran.
That's an order, Gordon.
Yes, ma'am.
Here you go, Fran.
Thanks, Wally.
What's this?
Well, I thought you might enjoy
an after-dinner drink.
Hey,
that's a little more down my alley.
To friendship.
And your physical.
What is that?
That's not crème de menthe.
Wheat grass.
I wish they'd have raked
the lawn first.
Believe me, once you're used to
natural foods, you're gonna be hooked.
- It gives you so much energy.
- Yeah, you're probably right.
- Oh, my purse.
- I'll get it.
No, you won't.
I left it in the women's room.
You're right, I won't.
Be right back.
How are you doing?
Hey, will you ring these up for me?
I don't have a whole lot of--
- What are you doing?
- What he's told.
You better too.
Oh, yeah, that's a good boy.
Now don't move.
Put the rest of the money in the bag.
Come on, hurry up.
Come on, the money.
- Look, you shouldn't--
- Shut up.
Come on. Hurry up.
Hurry up. Come on.
Give me the money.
Don't move. Don't move.
Don't move.
Yeah, that's a good boy.
Good boy.
Yeah, stay still now.
Don't move or I'll blow your head off.
Just stay still.
Yeah, that's it. That's it.
Don't move.
Yeah, that's a good boy.
Good boy.
Don't move.
You want some more, turkey?
See what a little health food will do?
Give me a bottle of wheat grass.
What's all this stuff?
Breakfast. You want some?
No, thank you.
How did it go last night?
Fran and I had a fine time.
Fran? What happened
to old Colonel Stiff-Britches?
Nothing, just--
Last night I just happened to see her
in a different light.
And this new diet.
Does this have something
to do with Fran, does it?
That's right.
She's gonna help me get into shape.
And from now on, buddy,
this is the only kind of stuff I'm eating.
Healthy.
So how'd it go with Kimberly
and her outreach group?
I think it's going to help her.
It's just gonna take time.
She's carrying around a lot of pain.
She's gonna have to get it out.
Well, I've gotta get to work.
You enjoy your breakfast.
I will, kemosabe.
Like Fran said,
"You are what you eat."
I'm a cesspool.
And a spokesman
for the White House said
the President would sign the bill
as soon as it reached his desk.
The Department of Defense
announced today
that a fact-finding delegation led by
New Mexico Senator Albert Zuniga
had concluded his trip
to North Vietnam
and had brought back the remains
of five American service men
who had been identified
by the forensics lab in Hawaii.
The five had previously been listed
as missing in action
by the Defense Department
but today's announcement
officially changes their status
from missing to k*lled in action.
The announcement finally ends
the years of heartache
for those families
who have waited anxiously
for word of their loved ones.
To the families and relatives
of those five servicemen,
we send our deepest sympathy.
They have been identified
as Air Force Colonel Robert Loeffler,
Gardner, Colorado,
Marine Captain Gerald Taylor
of Coronado, California,
Navy Commander Marvin Coil,
New Haven, Connecticut,
Army Warrant Officer
Joseph Johnston, Billings, Montana
and Navy Lt. William Campbell
of Beeville, Texas.
We salute all of these servicemen
who have given their lives
for the cause of freedom.
No.
I heard the newscast, Kim.
I'm sorry.
For over years, I've been waiting
for this day to arrive, Jonathan.
Dreading it.
Preparing for it.
Like it was some terrible monster
that was gonna come
and tear out my heart.
Oh, well.
That monster finally arrived.
The pain I feel today
hurts just as much as it did
the day Bill was sh*t down.
I know how much this is hurting you,
Kim.
But as painful as it is, Bill's death
will finally allow you to be free.
Free of the pain,
free of the heartache.
Maybe even free of the guilt.
What guilt?
You had Bill's baby and then put him
up for adoption, didn't you?
How did you find that out?
I'm your doctor. I had your file.
I saw when you left the service
to have the baby
and then came back in again
when you put him up for adoption.
After Bill was sh*t down,
my whole world
was turned inside out.
Here I was.
All alone.
And pregnant by the man
I knew in my heart was still alive.
Nowadays, I could have kept
my baby and my career.
But back then, it wasn't possible.
But I was determined to get back
to Vietnam.
So after the baby was born,
I put it up for adoption.
And went back into active duty.
Bill was still over there.
I wanted to be the--
I wanted to be there
when he was found.
I wanted to be the one
to treat his wounds
and I wanted...
...to be the one to make it all better.
But it didn't turn out
the way you expected, did it?
You lost your son
and now you've lost Bill.
Damn it, don't you think I know that,
Jonathan?
I have been living with that guilt
for years.
I have lost--
I have lost two big pieces
of my heart.
Two pieces I will never
be able to have again.
Kim, you weren't able to treat Bill
when he was hurt.
But you were able to treat his son.
What are you talking about?
The boy in the motorcycle accident,
David Hastings.
He's the child you and Bill created.
David finally fell asleep.
He's been pretty nervous
ever since Jonathan called.
Travis, talk to me, okay?
Tell me what you're thinking.
All right, Annie, I'll tell you.
When David first told me
about all of this,
I was kind of worried about him
meeting his birth parents.
Insecure is more like it.
But Mark convinced me
that David's love for me and you
was going to outweigh everything.
Well, that was before I found out
that David's father
was a Navy fighter pilot.
I'm in competition with a dead hero.
What are you talking about, Travis?
You're not in competition with anyone.
Oh, come on, Annie, look at me.
I'm no pilot.
I'm just a lousy grunt whose feet
have never left the ground.
I don't want her to see him,
to talk to him.
No contact.
We have to let David meet her.
Travis, I understand your fear.
But this competition, if there is any,
is with a memory.
Nothing more.
Yeah, well, maybe that's enough.
Why can't she just leave us alone?
Travis, have you forgotten
there's two of us here?
- I'm involved in this thing too.
- I know that, Annie.
Well, give some thought
to how I might feel.
Here you are worried
about losing David to some memory.
What about me?
Kimberly Michaels
is someone alive and real.
Someone David can talk to.
Someone David can touch.
If anyone should be worried
about competition here--
- Annie, I'm sorry, I--
- Wait.
You don't understand.
I'm not afraid of her.
I've given David my unconditional love
for years.
And in my heart,
in my heart, I know
I have nothing to be worried about
David will be fine.
Honey, this woman
may have given David birth.
But we've given him life.
Yeah.
You're right.
Yeah.
Everything's gonna be all right.
Hey.
It's gotta be.
Well, Kim, this is it.
I'm scared, Jonathan.
There's a whole part of my life
waiting for me behind that door.
And it scares me.
I can understand that.
But just remember,
they're just as scared as you are.
Okay, let's go.
Hey, Mark. Jonathan.
- Hello, ma'am.
- Hello, Travis.
All right. Come on in.
Annie, Travis,
this is Kimberly Michaels.
Kim, this is Travis Hastings
and his wife, Annie.
Miss Michaels.
Hello.
Nice to meet you.
Where's David?
He's waiting outside in the backyard.
I know this is very uncomfortable
for both of you and I--
I really appreciate this.
Has he said anything
about how he feels towards me?
No.
Just that he wants to talk to you.
Maybe it would be better
if we all went together.
I think it would be better
if you had this time with him alone.
You go on ahead.
He's waiting for you.
Thank you.
Miss Michaels?
Yeah?
I--
I just wanna thank you
for giving us David.
He's a...
He's a fine son.
Thank you
for being his mother and father.
I was hurting inside and...
I needed something to help it.
Well, the pills weren't doing the job
so I thought a little bourbon
might get me right into limbo.
What it got me
was wrapped around a tree.
I just thank God
that I didn't hurt anybody.
When I came to,
I was in the Trauma Care Centre.
And for the first time,
I felt good about Vietnam.
Because the treatment
we learned over there
is now being used
in Shock Trauma Units
all over this country.
It feels great to know
that what we went through
wasn't in vain.
Doctors and nurses are saving lives
because of all of us.
As for the booze,
well, I'm working on it.
And I think this time, I'm gonna win.
Thank you, Joyce,
for sharing that with all of us.
Well, we're just about out of time
so unless there's somebody--
I'd like to say something if I--
I mean, if it's okay. If it's all right.
Of course, Kim. Go right ahead.
Okay.
Well, when I first joined this group,
I was concerned about how much
good it was really gonna do for me.
Well, a lot of time has past now
and I have learned a lot
about pain and suffering.
Both yours and mine.
You know,
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
it's altered all of us.
I'll never be the same person
I was before.
Neither will any of you.
Nor will any of the thousands of men
and women just like us.
But we're doing it.
You know, like this.
By giving
each other pieces of ourselves,
maybe we can go out
and help someone else.
You know, for over years,
I have kept my personal pains
a secret.
I lost the man that I loved
and I gave away the child that he...
...gave inside of me.
And then these past two weeks,
those two pains
have finally stopped hurting.
I know now that...
...the man I loved is dead.
But my child is very much alive.
And...
My old life has finally ended.
And tomorrow, my new life begins.
Goodbye, Bill.
On the anniversary of the bombing
of Pearl Harbor,
we dedicate this film to the men
and women of our armed services
who have sacrificed so much
so that we may live in freedom.