Platoon

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words only definitions & notes
  1. foxhole
    a small dugout or pit to shelter soldiers from enemy fire
    EXT. COMPANY PERIMETER #1 - RODRIGUEZ - POSITION - DUSK

    Back in the perimeter RODRIGUEZ sets his M-60 in the newly
    dug foxhole.
  2. platoon
    a military unit that is a subdivision of a company
    "PLATOON"

    Screenplay by

    Oliver Stone



    FADE IN:

    A QUOTATION AGAINST A BLACK SCREEN:

    'Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth...'
  3. claymore
    a large double-edged broadsword
    Bare-chested soldiers chop down
    trees, clear fields of fire, set out claymores, fill sandbags,
    chow down.
  4. grenade
    a small explosive device thrown by hand
    You need a little
    salt.
    (reaching into his
    satchel)

    Sergeant Elias, a handsome, graceful dark-haired Indian kid
    of 23, the squad sergeant, is taking items out of Chris'
    pack - air mattress, extra unnecessary clothing, extra
    canteens, grenades, gas mask, books.
  5. ambush
    the act of hiding and waiting to make a surprise attack
    All platoons will set squad-
    size ambushes before full dark.
  6. C-ration
    a canned field ration issued by the United States Army
    EXT. BASE CAMP - DAY (WEEK LATER)

    Chris is driven up in a jeep to his Company PC - marked 'Bravo
    PC' on a C-ration box.
  7. machete
    a large knife used as a weapon or for cutting vegetation
    The thwack of a machete.
  8. predetermine
    establish beforehand
    They drove me crazy
    with their goddamn world, grandma,
    you know Mom, I don't want to be a
    white boy on Wall Street, I don't
    want my whole life to be predetermined
    by them.
  9. master sergeant
    a senior noncommissioned officer in the Army or Marines
    EXT. PERIMETER #3 - BATTALION CP - NIGHT

    Just outside the Bunker, a MASTER SERGEANT spots something
    in the flarelight.
  10. upfront
    frank and honest
    Barnes, upfront, turns to SAL, his radio man, under his
    breath.
  11. lifer
    a prisoner serving a term of life imprisonment
    O'Neill spits in the dust, a
    freckled, short red head with a hard worried face, a lifer,
    30 going on 60.
  12. battalion
    an army unit consisting of a headquarters and companies
    BARNES
    (to all, almost pleased
    about it)
    We got boo-coo movement. 3rd Battalion
    just got hit 15 kliks north of here.
    (the MEN react with
    wary silence)

    O'NEILL
    (eager to elaborate)
    Yeah, they had claymores strung u...
  13. lieutenant
    a commissioned military officer
    EXT. PLATOON PC - DAY - MOVING - MORNING

    At the PLATOON PC, LIEUTENANT WOLFE sweats heavily as he
    speaks in his radio.
  14. napalm
    gasoline jelled with aluminum soaps for use in bombs
    Napalm jelly is hanging from the trees in great
    canopies of spider webs, obliterating the sky.
  15. Vietnamese
    a native or inhabitant of Vietnam
    EXT. COMPANY PERIMETER #1 - COMPANY PC - DUSK

    At the COMPANY COMMAND POST a beehive of activity with its
    four radios, personnel, some Vietnamese scouts milling around.
  16. armored personnel carrier
    an armored vehicle that is used to transport infantry
    In the near distance, towards the LZ area,
    there's the sound of Armored Personnel carriers grinding,
    men moving, calling out in Americanese.
  17. sergeant
    a noncommissioned officer ranking above a corporal
    Behind him BARNES now comes, the Platoon Sergeant.
  18. fatigues
    military uniform worn by personnel when doing menial labor
    TITLES RUN

    A DOZEN NEW RECRUITS step off the plane, unloading their
    duffel bags, looking around like only the new can look around,
    their hair regulation-clipped, crisp, new green fatigues
    fitting them like cardboard.
  19. squad
    the smallest army unit
    You need a little
    salt.
    (reaching into his
    satchel)

    Sergeant Elias, a handsome, graceful dark-haired Indian kid
    of 23, the squad sergeant, is taking items out of Chris'
    pack - air mattress, extra unnecessary clothing, extra
    canteens, grenades, gas mask, books.
  20. personnel carrier
    a military vehicle (usually armored) for transporting military personnel and their equipment
    In the near distance, towards the LZ area,
    there's the sound of Armored Personnel carriers grinding,
    men moving, calling out in Americanese.
  21. underworld
    (religion) the place of the dead
    INT. UNDERWORLD HUTCH - NIGHT

    King leads Chris down to a specially constructed cellar-like
    hutch dug deep into the ground on an isolated edge of the
    battalion perimeter.
  22. reload
    load anew
    Snapping the magazine out of his AK to reload.
  23. sapper
    a military engineer who does sapping
    SOLDIER #3
    SAPPERS!
  24. machine gun
    a rapidly firing automatic gun (often mounted)
    Tex is now on the M-60 machine gun, yelling at Junior who is
    cringing on the ground.
  25. hypnotize
    induce a state that resembles sleep in
    Chris staring
    back, hypnotized.
  26. point man
    someone who is the forefront of an important enterprise
    King, an experienced point man, listens.
  27. relive
    experience again, often in the imagination
    His eyes blazing, reliving the deaths in the village, licking
    the wounds for the platoon, mourning the failure of its
    heroism.
  28. redneck
    a poor White person in the southern United States
    JUNIOR
    (irritated as always)
    Fuck that redneck noise, dude.
  29. death camp
    a concentration camp where prisoners are likely to die
    A
    BULLDOZER pushing another set of bodies in, like photos of a
    Nazi death camp.
  30. back end
    the side of an object that is opposite its front
    FRANCIS
    Hey Big Harold, put dat in your turkey
    loaf it won't come out your back
    end    .
  31. kamikaze
    a pilot trained and willing to cause a suicidal crash
    INT. PERIMETER #3 - BATTALION CP - NIGHT

    But the SECOND SAPPER runs right into the bunker in a kamikaze
    charge, the light from inside momentarily revealing a bulky
    satchel strapped on his person and the face of the astounded
    Major.
  32. double time
    a fast marching pace (180 steps/min) or slow jog
    Cee ess em oh or your ass
    is mine.
    (to Taylor)
    Francis is coming over.
    (hurries off)

    King packing up, double time.
  33. mess hall
    a military dining room where service personnel eat or relax
    Chris' Company is on the outskirts of the base camp, their
    barracks regulation wood, canvas, and fine mesh screening,
    red dust everywhere, bunkers down on the perimeter, reams of
    barbed wire and concertina, a sand-bagged MESS HALL and
    CHAPEL, 81 mm mortar pits, observation towers, recoilless
    rifles, 50-caliber machine guns.
  34. booby trap
    an explosive device hidden underground
    Rhah, an
    experienced soldier, seems tense, moves cautiously, expecting
    booby traps.
  35. reconnoiter
    explore, often with a goal of finding something or somebody
    The other Soldier already
    stripping the NVA dead, as the APC grinds on into the jungle,
    reconnoitering.
  36. gunner
    a serviceman in the artillery
    The DOOR GUNNER signaling for them to hurry, laying
    out fire.
  37. weapon
    any instrument used in fighting or hunting
    EXT. VILLAGE - WEAPONS CACHE - DAY

    Barnes stares down at a WEAPONS CACHE buried cleverly
    underneath the rice urns.
  38. crossfire
    fire from two or more points so that the lines of fire cross
    Flank's wide open,
    dinks get 3-4 snipers in these holes,
    when Third Platoon comes up, they'll
    get us in a crossfire with 'em.
  39. Cambodian
    of or relating to or characteristic of Cambodia or its people or language
    SUBTITLE reads: December 1967 - Bravo Company, 25th Infantry
    Division - Somewhere near the Cambodian Border.
  40. final judgment
    a judgment disposing of the case before the court
    And RHAH, the resident head,
    sitting there in all his finery puffing a huge burning red
    bowl in a three foot long Montagnard pipe, seems to be the
    lord of final judgment in this smoky underworld.
  41. SHAPE
    the supreme headquarters that advises NATO on military matters and oversees all aspects of the Allied Command Europe
    A SHAPE suddenly out of nowhere, looms up fast behind Bunny,
    running at him.
  42. war cry
    a yell intended to rally a group of soldiers in battle
    A rustle of movement,
    then a CRY - chilling, jubilant, a war cry.
  43. command post
    military headquarters from which a military commander controls and organizes the forces
    EXT. COMPANY PERIMETER #1 - COMPANY PC - DUSK

    At the COMPANY COMMAND POST a beehive of activity with its
    four radios, personnel, some Vietnamese scouts milling around.
  44. bayonet
    a knife fixed to the end of a rifle and used as a weapon
    Barnes jerks the radio off Hoyt's back, knocks the man to
    his knees and unsheathes his bayonet.
  45. armoured
    protected by armor (used of persons or things military)
    RTO #5
    Captain, Third Battalion Armoured's
    on its way with tracks 'bout 2 kliks
    west!
  46. barrack
    lodge in buildings used to house military personnel
    Chris' Company is on the outskirts of the base camp, their
    barracks regulation wood, canvas, and fine mesh screening,
    red dust everywhere, bunkers down on the perimeter, reams of
    barbed wire and concertina, a sand-bagged MESS HALL and
    CHAPEL, 81 mm mortar pits, observation towers, recoilless
    rifles, 50-caliber machine guns.
  47. straddle
    sit or stand astride of
    Barnes springs around on Chris, straddles him, one hand
    pushing his face back, hits him hard.
  48. Jezebel
    wife of Ahab who was king of Israel
    RHAH
    Not the only man to meet his Jezebel
    either.
  49. firepower
    the relative capacity for delivering fire on a target
    BARNES
    Goddamit, you assholes get fucking'
    firepower out there!
    (to Hoyt on radio)
    Get Two Bravo up here.
  50. wampum
    small cylindrical beads made from polished shells and fashioned into strings or belts; used by certain Native American peoples as jewelry or currency
    Well here I am - anonymous all right,
    with guys nobody really cares about -
    they come from the end of the line,
    most of 'em, small towns you never
    heard of - Pulaski, Tennessee,
    Brandon, Mississippi, Pork Bend,
    Utah, Wampum, Pennsylvania.
  51. tracer
    an investigator who is employed to find missing persons or missing goods
    He lays out red tracer bullets like laser beams, then suddenly
    reels back, whiplashed, screaming.
  52. firing squad
    a squad formed to fire volleys at a military funeral or to carry out a military execution
    ELIAS
    YOU AIN'T A FIRING SQUAD, YOU PIECE
    OF SHIT!!
  53. shotgun
    firearm that is a double-barreled smoothbore shoulder weapon for firing shot at short ranges
    Elias pulls out a Remington 870 shotgun, jacks it to the
    rear, points it at Chris.
  54. paranoid
    suffering from delusions of persecution or grandeur
    Warren is a black, thin, tall, paranoid man with
    untrusting eyes, silent and bitter.
  55. atom bomb
    a nuclear weapon in which enormous energy is released by nuclear fission (splitting the nuclei of a heavy element like uranium 235 or plutonium 239)
    Suddenly an RPG rocket breaks out of the bush, sounding like
    an atom bomb as it devastates the front of the Platoon.
  56. open fire
    start firing a weapon
    Chris opens fire.
  57. armored
    equipped with the complete arms and armor of a warrior
    In the near distance, towards the LZ area,
    there's the sound of Armored Personnel carriers grinding,
    men moving, calling out in Americanese.
  58. Ho Chi Minh
    Vietnamese communist statesman who fought the Japanese in World War II and the French until 1954 and South Vietnam until 1975 (1890-1969)
    Ho Chi Minh sucks dead
    dick!...
  59. reincarnation
    a second or new birth
    ever think about reincarnation,
    all that stuff?
  60. demented
    affected with madness or insanity
    Chris, strangling in heat, a demented look on his face,
    staggers into a hutch with Francis.
  61. undercover
    conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods
    Barnes walking with him over to an undercover rice silo being
    dug out by Tubbs and Junior.
  62. psyche
    that which is responsible for one's thoughts and feelings
    But
    deep down - somewhere in his psyche - he knows who it is.
  63. camouflage
    an outward semblance misrepresenting the nature of something
    The bunker, dug into the ground and camouflaged with brush,
    is staring right at him, not more than 20 feet away.
  64. blackout
    darkness resulting from the extinction of lights
    A grass blackout.
  65. mannerism
    a behavioral attribute that is distinctive to an individual
    Harris, a broad-shouldered fine-looking military
    specimen with the requisite Southern accent and football
    coach mannerism, is directing his remark to 2nd Platoon's
    LT. WOLFE, who looks a little nervous.
  66. guru
    a Hindu or Buddhist religious leader and spiritual teacher
    Heard
    he worked the oil wells in Oklahoma,
    made some bread and washed up in El
    Lay.

    KING
    Yeah, get married to some crazy El
    Lay bitch, an actress or somethin',
    she blew all his bread - LSD, gurus,
    all that California shit, and then
    sh...
  67. deploy
    place troops or weapons in battle formation
    EXT. JUNGLE - RHAH AND CHRIS' POSITION - DAY

    Next to the Church deployed in the jungle, Rhah looks on,
    silent.
  68. insanity
    relatively permanent disorder of the mind
    Building up to it, his eyes shaking with conviction at the
    whole insanity of the world, he neighs with all the venom he
    can muster.
  69. neurotic
    affected by worry due to a mental disturbance
    An urban
    transplant, slightly neurotic and getting more so.
  70. unwritten
    based on custom rather than documentation
    The unwritten rule is a new
    guy's life isn't worth as much cause
    he hasn't put his time in yet - and
    they say if you're gonna get killed
    in the Nam it's better to get it in
    the first few weeks, the logic being:
    you don't suffer that much.
  71. howitzer
    a muzzle-loading high-angle gun with a short barrel that fires shells at high elevations for a short range
    As the 155mm
    howitzers - sounding like deep tom-toms some three miles
    distant - beat out their shells.
  72. carbine
    light automatic rifle
    It's in white plastic
    wrappings - a load of AK-47's, rockets, grenades, claymores,
    carbines, flares, NVA uniforms.
  73. pleading
    begging
    Pleading with Tex to
    wake up, but out of reach.
  74. chaplain
    a member of the clergy ministering to some institution
    Not all that shit
    the Chaplain's jamming up our ass
    'bout the Good Lord... just a fucking
    bad feeling, y'know what I mean?
  75. infantry
    an army unit consisting of soldiers who fight on foot
    SUBTITLE reads: December 1967 - Bravo Company, 25th Infantry
    Division - Somewhere near the Cambodian Border.
  76. barrage
    the heavy fire of artillery to saturate an area
    The Village Chief's WIFE is now on the
    scene, a middle-aged woman with angry features, yelling at
    Lerner trying to answer for her husband, a high-pitched
    barrage of indignant words directed mostly at Barnes, and
    interspersed with the spitting of her betel nuts on the
    ground.
  77. veteran
    a person who has served in the armed forces
    Moving over now to a motley HALF DOZEN
    VETERANS bypassing them on their way to the plane.
  78. obsession
    an unhealthy and compulsive preoccupation with something
    The essence of evil: wrath, obsession, anger, fear, hatred,
    permanence - he is paralyzed.
  79. law of nature
    a generalization that describes recurring facts or events in nature
    DOC
    (leaving, to Harold
    and Junior)
    Self-preservation's the first law of
    nature    .
  80. tuition
    a fee paid for instruction, especially for higher education
    Finally
    there is a certain frustration to his actions; he has taken
    such great pains to stay alive that the tuition he pays is
    precisely to stay in this Jungle.
  81. courtroom
    a room in which a lawcourt sits
    Ain't no time or
    need for a courtroom out here...
  82. Nazi
    a German member of Adolf Hitler's political party
    A huge Nazi flag on an antenna looms up in the bush, followed
    by the great belly of a turreted dragon crunching down a
    tree for its breakfast.
  83. pirate
    someone who robs and plunders at sea
    Rhah comes up, a walking stick in hand, huge pirate kerchief
    on his head, semi-naked.
Created on Fri Mar 05 14:55:13 EST 2010

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