"Han is closing in on your position. It's night... Look at me! I'm gonna save your life and your gonna save mine. It's night, it's raining. While you're thinking about peace, love and whether or not we should be in Vietnam, Han is going to cut your fucking throat. And you're sleeping. You've been humping the boonies for months. It's your turn to sleep, you're allowed to sleep. What do you think Han is going to do? Is he going to wake you up, Alphabet? And smile? And talk about women? Mister Nathanial Victor gets his rocks off watching you die. Some of you think you have problems because you're against the war. You demonstrated in school... you wear peace symbols on your steel, and you have attitudes. I'm orphan, my brother's queer, the city of Chicago got the clap from my sister, Mom drinks, Dad coughs blood, I have ringworm, imersion foot, the incurable crud and the draft ruined my chances of being a brain surgeon. People, you are in Vietnam. You have no problems. Except me. [points to Han who is holding an RPG and grinning] And him."

"The most realistic portrayal of the Vietnam War ever filmed. Because it's the only one that's true."

"Galvan: We're Airborne. We don't start fights, we finish 'em!"

"Courtney B. Vance - Doc"

"Tim Quill - Beletsky"

"Dylan McDermott - Sgt. Frantz"

"We've been up on that hill ten times, and they still don't think we're serious."

"All right, listen up. You people will not die on me in combat. You fucking new guys will do everything you can to prove me wrong. You'll walk on trails, kick cans, sleep on guard, smoke dope and diddely-bop through the bush like you were back on the block. Or on guard at night you'll write letters, play with your organ, and think of your girl back home. Forget her. Right now, some hair head has her on her back and is telling her to fuck for peace. This is Han. Those of you who are foolish will think of him as 'gook,' 'slope,' 'slant' or 'dink.' He is your enemy. He came over on the Chieu Hoi programme, and after he fattens himself on C-rations he will be hunting your young asses in the A Shau Valley. Now forget about this Viet Cong shit. What you'll encounter out there is hard core NVA, North Vietnamese. Highly motivated, highly trained and well equipped. If you meet Han or his cousins, you will give him respect and refer to those little bastards as 'Nathanial Victor.' Meet him twice, and survive, and you will refer to him as 'MISTER Nathanial Victor.' Now people, I am sick and tired of filling body bags with your dumb fucking mistakes."

"Michael Dolan - Murphy"

"Anthony Barrile - Languilli (aka Alphabet)"

"Steven Weber - Sgt. Worcester"

"Worcester: We had a short-timer once. Johnny I-forget-his-name. He wore a flak jacket, two helmets and armor underwear. A Shau Valley... your time's up, your time is up."

"While the rest of the world wondered why, the Screamin' Eagles fought and died in the fiercest battle of America's bloodiest war."

"Tegan West - Lt. Eden"

"Don James - McDaniel"

"Daniel O'Shea - Gaigin"

"Don Cheadle - Washburn"

"Michael Patrick Boatman - Motown"

"I smile at my Mamma. Great meal, Ma. Would you please pass the fucking potatoes. The ham is fucking A, Ma. You don't know how... how fucking great it is to be home. How you going to act, huh?"

"Harry O'Reilly - Duffy"

"James Rebhorn - US Ambassador to South Vietnam Ellsworth Bunker"

"Bill Paxton - LTC John Paul Vann, US Army"

"In war as in life, the difference between truth and deception is what a man allows himself to believe."

"[in his briefing over what's needed for the advisory effort in South Vietnam, complete with slides] Southeast Asia. Rubber, timber and manpower. Southeast Asia, the Communists want it and we wanna stop 'em. And in my hand, I hold the secret weapon to win the war in South Asia. [shows handful of rice] Rice. Rice, gentlemen. Rice. For the Vietnamese peasant, it is everything. They fought the Chinese, the Japanese, they fought the French for their rice fields. The Communists have hijacked that rebellion. [points to slides] This man, Ho Chi Minh, and his General Giap, have promised the farmers they will give them back their rice, while our man, President Diem... continues dealing it. We must regain the goodwill of the peasants, restore the good faith of the people. To win the war in Vietnam, we must take back the rice revolution, throw out the rice dealers and give them back their rice. We must wage war for the peasants, not against them. Build their houses, don't destroy them. Kill the enemy with this [shows dagger], instead of this [pointing to slide of B-52 dropping bombs]. In short, we must harness the peasant revolution to defeat the Communist revolution. Thank you."

"[addressing US and Vietnamese troops preparing for the NVA assault on Kontum] All right, listen up, everyone. We are gonna hold the line here at Tan Canh, then mount a staged retreat back to where we are, Kontum. [describing map drawn on chalkboard] That will pull these North Vietnamese divisions out of the hills and when they do, we are gonna call in the B-52s and carpet-bomb each of these squares. We are gonna wipe out the Second, Third, and Fifth Division of the North Vietnamese Army. [gestures to Col Ly Tong Ba] My old colleague, Colonel Ba, will conduct a forward command defense and withdrawal. [shows picture an aide gives him] This is General Giap, commander of the NVA. He's a genius. He's never been beaten... till now. I've studied this man for ten years and we are gonna whip his ass. You know why? Because he wastes his men. Pours them away like piss in the wind. There's not a man in this room, not a man on that line out there I wouldn't die for. No matter what we've done with our lives, you and I can be proud today because we have the noblest of all professions. We are soldiers. The good Lord said it all about us. He said no greater love has a man than he lay down his life for another. And by God, this day will not end but I will see you all safely through it... and we will hold this ground."

"[last lines] John Paul Vann was America's warrior. He personified our good intentions, our arrogance, our courage, and ultimately our folly. He had fought to redeem the unredeemable, to salvage the doomed enterprise called South Vietnam. In death, he had triumphed over defeat while the rest of us are left to ask... "Why?""

"Amy Madigan - Mary Jane Vann"

"Ed Lauter - LTG Fred Weyand, US Army"

"Robert John Burke - Frank Drummond"

"Bill Whelan - Ron Dray"

"Kurtwood Smith - Gen William Westmoreland, US Army"

"Donal Logue - Steven Burnett"

"Lim Kay Tong - Colonel Huỳnh Văn Cao, ARVN"

"Vivian Wu - Lee"

"Harve Presnell - General Paul Harkins, US Army"

"Eric Bogosian - Doug Elders"

"Colonel Terry Childers is a decorated war hero, a trusted leader of American Marines, and I wish that was all there was to it. Unfortunately, there are 83 dead Yemeni citizens, many of them women and children. Colonel Hodges would have you believe that this crowd was armed. He would also have you believe that there is a videotape proving this to be true. There is no tape exonerating Colonel Childers. There is no evidence exonerating Colonel Childers. Is Colonel Childers a man capable of killing defenseless, unarmed people? Is he capable of ordering the execution of innocent men and women? Is he capable of executing P.O.W.s with his own hand? Unfortunately, we have shown that he is. You have heard the sad testimony of Colonel Cao, who witnessed Colonel Childers' barbarism firsthand. You've even heard Colonel Childers' own admission that his desire was to "waste" them, regardless of who they were. Now, we are faced with the difficult prospect of convicting one of our own. None of us wants to do this, but you've heard the facts, and it is unavoidable. Colonel Terry Childers ordered the senseless slaughter of a peaceful crowd! Now, as Marines, we do not get the luxury of covering up our mistakes. We must air them, thereby ensuring that they never happen again."

"Here's my case, it's all I've got. Thirty-two years of service, thirty-two years of heroism as a United States Marine, regardless of what you decide here, Colonel Childers' career as a Marine is over. He will never again command men in combat. The Ambassador and his family are alive today because of him, and I know how the Ambassador feels because Colonel Childers saved my life too. I am alive today only because of him! I'm alive today and I have a son, because of the heroism of Colonel Childers. To ask this man to risk his life for his country, to ask this man to watch his Marines die in his arms and call it murder when he's defending himself, to call it murder for firing back when being fired upon, to call it murder for saving the lives of his countrymen under the most extreme of circumstances, that's... my fellow Marines... that's hanging him out to dry... and it's worse than leaving him wounded on a battlefield. That is something you do not do if you are a United States Marine, and it is something I pray to God you won't do here either."

"C-123 Pilot: Gentleman, I'm responsible for anything that goes in this cargo hold. Now if that thing even twitches, you are gonna see an elephant fly."

"Colonel Nguyen: (after a request to shoot) I did not join this army to shoot elephants, especially ones that fly."

"Raymond Cruz - Staff Sergeant Adams"

"Tai - Bo Tat"

"Lihn: (angry) You nice American? You think you're Number One? You Number Ten!"

"Tim Kelleher - Major Morris"

"James Hong - Y B'ham"