JAG s05e18 Episode Script
The Bridge at Kang So Ri
Lieutenant, we've got gooks coming over the bridge.
You know the orders, corporal.
Nobody crosses our line.
They look like civilians, sir.
They always look like civilians, corporal.
Sir, there's women and children.
Handle it.
- What are we supposed to do? - Go back.
- Go on! - Go back! - Get out of here! - Go back! Go back! He's got a gun.
It happened early in the Korean War on a bridge near the village of Kang So Ri.
- Twenty-three Koreans were killed.
- I read about it, sir.
Press is reporting American soldiers massacred civilian refugees there.
We've been dealing with these alleged massacre reports for 50 years now.
General Wolfe headed an Army enquiry into similar allegations six years ago, found no criminal liability.
South Korean government signed off on it.
The North Koreans called it a whitewash, of course.
And now we have these new articles in the American press.
Some former American soldiers have given interviews, admitting they killed civilian refugees.
Those civilian refugees were infiltrated by North Korean regulars.
Which you will take into account when you conduct your new investigation.
- General Wolfe will assist you.
- Or you can just read my report.
My government came to power with a promise to defend human rights.
But, of course, we still value highly our close relationship with the United States.
After the sacrifices our boys made in that hellhole, it would be a damn shame if all anyone remembers is some politically correct investigations.
Colonel, commander, I'll see you on the plane.
I've arranged for a liaison to meet you in Seoul since I, unfortunately, will not be able to greet you personally in my hellhole of a country.
- It's a pleasure, sir.
- Admiral.
Civilians or combatants, sounds like Vietnam.
A full generation earlier.
Find what witnesses you can, examine documents.
It sounds like everyone would be happier if we find nothing, sir.
Everyone but me.
Get the truth no matter what it is.
- That will be all.
- Yes, sir.
- Hello, colonel, commander.
- Who's your buddy? Burpee Bear.
I've been trying for six months to get one of these for baby A.
J.
What? He said it's a Burpee Bear for little A.
J.
Apparently, very hard to find.
I got the last one in Virginia.
He got the last one in Virginia.
Got the last one in Virginia.
I'm gonna leave before he does that again.
On the Internet, they cost over $5,000.
On the Internet, they cost over $5,000.
He speaks better than you do, Bud.
Well, an 18-hour flight, could be going to Australia.
- I wish we were.
- Harm.
Renee.
Hey, you didn't have to see me off.
I'm not, I'm going.
- Going where? - Korea.
Hello, Miss Peterson.
Oh, major, please.
Call me Renee.
It's colonel, but you can call me Mac.
Oh, Harm, this is Mickey Gallo, my cameraman.
Mickey, say hello to my commander.
Commander Harmon Rabb.
And this is Charlie Hoskins.
Former Corporal Charlie Hoskins.
You gave interviews for some of the articles.
And he's gonna give the best one yet for me at the Kang So Ri Bridge.
I'm doing a segment for a ZNN Korean War documentary.
On the alleged massacre? Isn't it great? The chance to move out of commercials.
Plus, we'll get a chance to be together.
Hello? Mic.
Oh, I miss you too.
Enough to move my ring to your left hand? Oh, well Still on your right, is it? For now.
Look, Mic, I can't really talk right now.
I'm about to get on a plane.
Oh, beautiful.
You're coming over to see me.
No, not this week.
It's business.
Your attention, please.
Announcing the arrival of Flight 27-- I'll get it.
--arriving now at Gate 20-B.
An officer and a gentleman.
Announcing the arrival of Flight 27 from Hong Kong, arriving at Gate 20-B.
- Hi.
- Hey.
Oceanic Air Flight 105 with nonstop service to Seoul, South Korea, is now boarding.
Sir, can you open your bag for me, please? Sure.
If you find anything that doesn't need cleaning or pressing, you can have it.
Romeo y Julieta Churchill.
Strictly legal, not even Cuban.
Corporal Hoskins.
I guess we have you to thank for this trip.
I'm not a corporal, general.
I haven't been for 50 years.
Why did you make those statements now? Maybe he wanted to clear his conscience.
Is that right, Hoskins? Do you consider yourself a war criminal? No, sir, I do not.
Good.
Earphones are available for in-flight entertainment.
I'm gonna need to take a formal statement at an appropriate time, Mr.
Hoskins.
Not a problem, commander.
I'm 70 years old, I got a prostate that's probably killing me.
I just-- You know, I wanna get out what happened so that people smarter than me can figure out the rights and the wrongs of it.
What did happen, Hoskins? What happened, general? I was an 18-year-old draftee directing traffic in Yokohama, handing out Hershey bars to hungry kids.
When suddenly, we hear there's fighting in Korea.
I didn't even know where Korea was.
Our CO tells us to pack our summer dress uniforms, because we're gonna kick the commies' butts in a couple of weeks and have a big parade in Seoul.
One year later, half the men in my platoon are dead.
I never did get a chance to wear that dress uniform.
I know what you did there, Mr.
Hoskins.
Most people have no idea.
They call it the forgotten war, you know.
I just thought it was time for somebody to remember.
Insert the metal fitting into the buckle and pull to tighten belt.
Thanks.
You ever see action, colonel? Some.
You know, I shot B-roll of the Marines in Haiti.
Did you? But I never saw a leatherneck that looked like you.
You're taking advantage of him.
He's old, he's sick.
He's stewing about something that happened 50 years ago.
Something? He shot two dozen civilian refugees.
He feels bad about it.
Wouldn't you? I see you're going into this documentary with an open mind.
Anything you have to say, general, I'll be happy to hear.
How about this? Two days before the incident at Kang So Ri, American soldiers let some refugees pass on a road near Yeoncheon.
They thought there were pregnant women in the group.
But they weren't pregnant, and they weren't women.
They were NKPA troops with hand grenades in belly packs.
Eleven Americans were blown to pieces.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain, Bill Armstead.
Well, if you can document that, it'll be in my piece.
If I can document it? How about you, commander? Are you prepared to accept the word of the United States Army? I have 10,000 pages of Army reports on my desk back at JAG.
Oh, great, there go our weekends when we get back home.
Do you two know each other? Yes, sir, we do.
Well, I see you're making friends and influencing generals.
Mac, I would love to put you in my documentary.
You would be so attractive on-screen if we could just get you out of that awful uniform.
Thanks.
Who could look good in those drab colours? Not me, I guess.
Look, I just want you both to know how excited I am to be working with you.
You're not working with us, Renee.
Well, we can help each other.
You have the official report, right? I have access to people who wouldn't trust you.
I've already talked to the North Koreans, protestors from South Korea Anything we discover is confidential until the report is published, if it's published.
Harm, the last confidential document in Washington was Abraham Lincoln's diary.
It's quid pro quo.
That's the way the system works.
Not my system.
Well, I guess I don't know your system as well as I thought.
Excuse me, general.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain.
We've just crossed the International Date Line.
We'll be arriving in Seoul, South Korea, in six hours, 15 minutes.
I already see the opening.
Charlie Hoskins walks across the bridge, the same path the refugees took.
Then we hear gunshots and dissolve to black and white.
Miss Peterson, do any of you journalists advance your careers by reporting on honourable people doing honourable things? Fireman saves cat in tree, tape at 11 ? I'd like my dinner now, please.
We'll be serving in minutes.
If you'd return to your seat.
- The vegetarian meals.
- What? Where are the vegetarian meals? So, what are you doing after we get to Seoul? Do you want anything from the galley? Like ice water? Better not be lasagne again, Young-Hee.
No, it's a chef's surprise.
Lady, you sure you wanna be doing this? - Quite.
- All right, what do you want? A small change in your flight plan.
We barely have fuel to reach Seoul.
It will be sufficient.
Set a new course for North Korea.
Everybody stay in your seats.
Stand and you will be shot.
My comrades and I have taken command over this aircraft in the name of the Korean people.
We have no grievance against most of you.
We have taken this action to serve justice.
General Wolfe, Corporal Hoskins, you are indicted by the people for crimes against humanity.
Hoskins, for slaughtering refugees at Kang So Ri, Korea, September 4th, 1950.
Wolfe, for covering up that crime.
If this was really about justice, you wouldn't need the guns.
Harm.
Don't you keep the world free and just with your guns, commander? The United States government is already investigating these alleged crimes, which is more than North Korea would ever do.
If you have information, give it to me.
I'll present it to Washington and to Seoul.
That's very generous, commander, but unfortunately for you and your South Korean lap dogs, this time, there won't be a whitewash.
No, this time, there will be a lynching.
I love you, A.
J.
I love you, A.
J.
Lieutenant? Harm and Mac's plane has been hijacked.
- By whom? - What? "By whom?" Oh, hell, I don't know.
Some group intent on refighting the Korean War.
Look, SECNAV is on his way over here.
We're gonna monitor the situation in the conference room.
I want you to go to the CIA.
You find Webb.
He may know more than we do.
- Aye, aye, sir.
- Oh, lieutenant? Unless you know Morse code, you might wanna take this - PalmPilot? - Whatever.
This is my fault.
I should have let the past stay buried.
How the hell did they know we were on this plane? Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
I talked to the North Koreans and the South Korean protestors.
I am so sorry.
You're probably just worried about how you're going to rearrange your knickknacks to make room for an Emmy.
General, with all due respect, sir, we should deal with the situation at hand and save the recriminations for later.
Fine.
- What are you gonna do? - They're well organised, sir.
They keep their eyes open.
One of them is always in the cockpit.
There's five of them and 300 of us.
We could probably take these two up here, sir, but they would shoot people before we did it.
Maybe.
I'm the senior officer here, and I'll be damned if I'm going to North Korea without a fight.
If I see fit to give you an order, I expect you to follow it.
How many people do you wanna see killed? Coffee? Tea? - Strategy.
- Mac.
I convinced the woman-- They call her Solla.
--That people need beverages.
See what you can find that we can use for a weapon.
Keep moving.
Thank you.
- That's their position, sir? - It is, on radar track.
NSA is tapping into their communications.
We're getting a feed in here so that we can see and hear what they're doing.
Well, what about us? What are we doing? We are talking to the North Koreans.
We don't think they're behind this.
They've been cooperating with us lately.
You know, up to a point.
Yeah, they promise not to build nuclear weapons, and we pay them off by building nuclear power plants.
Hell, sir, that's diplomatic extortion.
Yes.
And they probably won't wanna give it up.
Any new demands from the hijackers? No.
They say they wanna try Mr.
Hoskins and General Wolfe for war crimes.
- What about my people? - I don't know, A.
J.
What are you doing? I'm getting blankets.
Some of the passengers are cold.
Who gave you permission? No one, I'm just doing my job.
Do it when I tell you.
Sit down.
Where's Colonel MacKenzie? Don't play stupid with me.
Lieutenant Colonel S.
MacKenzie is on the passenger manifest.
He didn't make it on the plane.
I don't believe you.
He got bronchitis last night.
If you don't believe me, call Bethesda Naval Hospital.
I cannot risk getting jumped by some colonel who wants to be a general.
Tell me where the colonel is.
Or I kill your friend.
Harm.
You would shoot an innocent civilian? Only one.
Corporal Hoskins here shot a couple dozen.
Not like this.
- You don't know what it was like.
- I don't? Two of my grandparents were killed at Kang So Ri.
Probably by you.
Your grandfather wouldn't by any chance have been in the North Korean Army? You're gonna be dealt with.
You're gonna be dealt with.
Now, where is Colonel MacKenzie? I'm Colonel MacKenzie.
A woman soldier? Yeah, just like you.
These are the ones we've identified.
They came out of a radical student group in Seoul University.
- Why am I in an interrogation room? - What? Oh, this isn't an interrogation room.
It's a reception room.
It's a mirror.
This is Solla Jong.
This is Kwan Kun-An and this is-- It's a mirror.
Anything else from the CIA? The last reported activity of this group was burning down an American sneaker factory.
Sneakers? They said it exploited the Korean workers.
I've got Roberts over there trying to pry things open.
Good luck.
Chegwidden.
Oh, yes.
Sir, it's for you.
Thank you.
Yes? They what? Thank you.
The North Koreans have spoken.
The hijackers are counterrevolutionary anarchist adventurers.
The plane will not be allowed to enter North Korean airspace.
They say if we enter North Korean airspace, they will shoot us down.
I'll tell them again who we have onboard.
They know who we have onboard.
It doesn't matter to them.
Then you're all going to die.
- What were you gonna do? - Do about what? When Solla had the gun on Renee, who were you gonna protect, her or me? Well, you stepped forward, Mac.
I guess we'll never know.
All passengers except these will move to the lower cabin.
- What are you doing with them? - Getting them out of our way.
Miss Peterson, you have your camera? - Why? - To record history.
We are not sure where we are going to land, so we have our trial here.
- And you will document it.
- The hell she will.
- Actually, general, - Here it comes.
It's my duty.
It's news.
- Who's the judge? - Me.
- Who's the jury? - We don't play by your rules.
- Do you play by any rules? - This is a farce.
The defendants can plead their cases.
If you and Colonel MacKenzie want to represent them, we'll listen to you up to a point.
I'm not going to waste my breath.
Mr.
Hoskins? - You'll listen to me? - Of course.
Don't be a fool, Hoskins.
I'll tell my story.
Mickey, the camera.
This court is now in session.
Oceanic Flight 105, you are not authorised to land at any airfield in the People's Democratic Republic of Korea.
Sir, we have a carrier in the Sea of Japan.
We have Air Force bases in South Korea.
May I suggest that we put up fighters? If we put up fighters, the North Koreans are gonna react.
If we don't send up fighters, they may shoot down a civilian aircraft.
The hijackers know that.
And they may not care, damn it, and I do.
Sir, with all due respect, what do we know about these people? I mean, what the hell do they want other than some show trial? They already have something.
I just hope they don't know it.
Sir? General Wolfe.
He's our liaison with South Korea's intelligence agency.
He knows who we have in North Korea.
He knows which North Korean agents have turned.
If Pyongyang get their hands on him Charles Hoskins, you are charged with the wilful murder of 23 Korean civilians near the village of Kang So Ri.
General Zachary Wolfe, you are charged for covering up such crimes in the interest of making such massacres possible in the future.
You getting this, Miss Peterson? You still going to be filming when they carry us out in body bags? You're not helping yourself, general.
Give me a weapon, I'll do myself some good.
Solla.
And keep him out of my briefcase.
We're looking for evidence.
Don't you use evidence in your trials? Your enquiry report from the classified summary, "Whatever the provocations, it is clear that at least some Korean civilians were deliberately targeted by American troops.
" Excuse me.
Could you move away from the window? We're getting some glare.
I think that makes the case.
Are you gonna enter the entire report into evidence? You may proceed, commander.
Mr.
Hoskins, you wanna tell us what happened at Kang So Ri? Yes, sir.
It had been raining.
The refugees, they came out of a mist.
All dressed in white like ghosts.
I told them to stop.
I warned them.
I thought I saw one of them reaching for a gun.
And then? We opened fire.
Benny and McFall and me.
The women and the children and the old people, did you shoot them too? I'm sorry.
I've been sorry for 50 years.
I don't know if the hijackers have any connections in North Korea.
I've told you everything we know.
Yeah, I know Harm and Mac are on the plane.
Okay, now, we don't think this means very much, but this Solla woman was seen with a North Korean diplomat in Hanoi.
This North Korean is someone of interest to us.
This North Korean is someone of interest to us.
Would you open that, please? Would you open that, please? - Give me the bear.
- No.
Lieutenant, you can stay or you can leave, but that bear is not leaving this building with classified information.
Let's put that day at the bridge in perspective, Mr.
Hoskins.
Yes, sir.
I'd like nothing better.
- How long had you been in country? - Two weeks.
Had you experienced combat? Well, we were mostly retreating, but, yes, sir, they attacked us.
We didn't have any armour, our bazookas were firing duds, half the time our radios didn't work, and we were outnumbered.
I was green as grass when I first got there.
I never used a pig sticker for anything except to open K rations.
Pig sticker? It's a bayonet.
Yeah, first time I used one for real, we were being infiltrated from the rear.
I stabbed one.
My blade stuck in his gut.
I killed another with an entrenching tool.
A kid, really.
Just like me.
I beat him to death with a shovel.
We didn't know what we were doing.
You know, guys in our outfit were doing all kinds of brave, crazy things.
Like shooting old women? My friends were getting killed all around me.
What were your orders at Kang So Ri? Don't let anyone cross our lines.
Did you question the orders? I told the lieutenant that there were women and children in the group, and he told me to handle it.
Did you consider that an unlawful order you had a right to disobey? No, sir.
We were told about Yeoncheon and how those so-called refugees were killing our guys.
I'm not a criminal.
But I did shoot civilians.
He confesses.
Wait a minute.
Mr.
Hoskins, you told me earlier about your family.
- Let's just leave them out of this.
- No, we can't.
Do you have any pictures of your children? They're all grown up.
I got an old picture in my wallet here.
- Show it to us.
- There you go.
Thanks.
What are their names? Well, you see in the middle here? That's my daughter Sun-Tu.
And these are my boys, Ho-Jun and Young-Sam.
You adopted Korean War orphans? Yeah.
In the war, I called the people gooks.
Everybody did.
I mean, you know, we didn't know any better.
But I learned.
Koreans, Chinese, Americans, we all died the same.
This is supposed to help your defence? It tells you who Charlie Hoskins is.
Yes, an imperialist soldier who brings home souvenirs from conquered lands.
Now, you hold on there, lady.
These are my children.
Why did you adopt them? - Because l-- - Because you felt guilty.
Because you are guilty.
Thank you.
See? Good as new.
Little A.
J.
Will love it.
I love you.
Let's go to the park.
What have you done to him? Charlie Hoskins was a 19-year-old kid from a working-class family in Indiana.
His father worked at the Studebaker factory.
Charlie would've worked there too if he hadn't been drafted and sent to Japan in peacetime.
Later, in Korea, Charlie watched as his fellow troops died around him.
He'd heard about North Korean troops sneaking south disguised as refugees, and he received an order to stop this from happening.
If Charlie had not followed orders and fired upon the refugees that day at Kang So Ri, one of them might have shot and killed him.
- You don't know that's true.
- You don't know that it isn't true.
I'm sorry about your grandparents.
And Charlie is sorry too.
But condemning this man isn't fair.
It isn't just.
It isn't right.
Anything else, commander? If you do this, you will be hunted to the ends of the earth.
I'm afraid that won't be necessary.
We're landing in Seoul since no other place will take us.
In a few minutes, I'll be captured and killed.
So we carry out the sentence now.
Kwan.
- You forgot the verdict.
- Did I? Guilty.
General, I'm sorry.
Keep filming, Miss Peterson.
You definitely want to get this.
People will see this tape.
You don't want it to end like this.
This is the way it has to end.
You'll be viewed as a barbarian.
I'm done arguing with you, commander.
Do you want to join them? Solla, the general is working with the South Korean Intelligence.
He was carrying this agenda for a meeting tomorrow.
"Current State of Counterintelligence Versus the DPRK.
Attending, Major General Zachary Wolfe, U.
S.
Army intelligence liaison.
" Are you a spymaster, General Wolfe? If you're going to shoot me, shoot me.
"Penetration of the North Korean General Intelligence Bureau.
" This is why you covered up the massacre, because you are still fighting the war.
Gun down, Kwan.
North Korea may let us in after all.
They're turning north.
And the North Koreans are scrambling MiGs to intercept.
They're gonna shoot it down, sir.
Not if they turn away.
You're relying on the good sense of hijackers? - Permission denied.
- Turn that up.
Permission denied.
You may not cross our military boundary.
If you enter our airspace, your presence will be-- They claim 50 miles out into the Sea of Japan.
We've gotta send up a fighter, sir.
Even if the plane doesn't turn back, our people think that the North Koreans will let it land.
We're sending them tons of food every month, plus the power plants.
They need our goodwill.
Goodwill? What people are telling you this, sir? The CIA.
- Hello? - The plane is flying to North Korea and the CIA is peddling some bushwa about what's gonna happen.
Now, you tell Webb he's gotta level with us.
What am I saying? Put him on, let me tell him.
Webb.
Yeah.
Sorry, I can't help you with that.
Lieutenant Roberts is just leaving.
You don't understand.
We have General Wolfe and proof that he's a spymaster.
He knows the South Korean spies among you.
He knows which of your spies have betrayed you.
- I repeat-- - Tell your superiors.
- Clearance denied.
- Tell them.
Those people don't mess around.
Set the course for Pyongyang.
They'll change their minds.
"You didn't hear it from me, but HUMINT tells of power struggle in DPRK military.
Prognosis: Plane will be shot down.
" And the CIA is keeping that a secret.
Yes, because they'd rather have a plane shot down and protect the intelligence secrets in General Wolfe's head.
The decision's been made not to show force.
So unmake it, sir.
Only the president can do that.
- Sir? - Chegwidden.
Put me through to the White House.
North Korean MiGs.
You better let me go to the cockpit.
- Why? - Because I'm a combat pilot and it looks like you're gonna need one.
You will stay where you are.
We've gotta turn back.
- Keep going.
- They'll kill us.
Turn it back.
Turn back.
Altitude.
Altitude.
Altitude.
Altitude.
Can you fly to Pyongyang? I'll tie her up.
What took you so long? Watch out.
They're getting in position to shoot us down.
That won't stop them for long.
Oceanic 105, this is U.
S.
Air Force Eagle One.
Flight lead inbound with radar lock.
Eagle One, Oceanic 105.
U.
S.
Navy at the controls.
Navy? I've got two MiGs on my 6.
We are buster, 30 seconds away.
Missiles inbound.
Brake hard left now.
Your fire's out, Navy.
Sorry about that.
Apology accepted if you splash those MiGs.
Roger.
Engaged.
MiGs are bugging out.
Do you want escort to South Korea? Roger that.
Take me home.
Can you land that bus, Navy? Sure I can land this thing.
Can you? Let's hope so.
Oceanic 105, maintain flight heading 070.
You're below glide slope and descending.
Roger that.
Correcting.
- Correction looks good.
- This baby's got the moves of a whale.
It's called inertia, Navy.
You're sitting on top of 200 tons of aircraft.
Clear to land, call gear down.
Gear down.
Decrease your sink rate.
Remember, you're sitting five storeys up.
Don't fly it into the ground.
Looking good, Navy.
Ease off.
Ease off.
Flaps, and you're down.
Throttle back, you've got lots of runway.
Welcome to Korea, Navy.
You've just cost me 50 bucks.
Next time, I take the boat.
- Take your paws off me.
- Easy.
- Let's go.
- Watch it.
If you were still on active duty, Hoskins, I'd put you in for a decoration.
Never got a scratch, general, the whole first time I was here.
How is your movie looking, Miss Peterson? Happy ending.
It'll sell.
And if they had shot us, what were you going to do with the tape? We still have an investigation to conduct, sir.
Indeed we do.
We'll start tomorrow morning and take it where it leads.
Aye, aye, sir.
Well, it took a hijacking to open the general's mind.
It took Charlie Hoskins.
You know the orders, corporal.
Nobody crosses our line.
They look like civilians, sir.
They always look like civilians, corporal.
Sir, there's women and children.
Handle it.
- What are we supposed to do? - Go back.
- Go on! - Go back! - Get out of here! - Go back! Go back! He's got a gun.
It happened early in the Korean War on a bridge near the village of Kang So Ri.
- Twenty-three Koreans were killed.
- I read about it, sir.
Press is reporting American soldiers massacred civilian refugees there.
We've been dealing with these alleged massacre reports for 50 years now.
General Wolfe headed an Army enquiry into similar allegations six years ago, found no criminal liability.
South Korean government signed off on it.
The North Koreans called it a whitewash, of course.
And now we have these new articles in the American press.
Some former American soldiers have given interviews, admitting they killed civilian refugees.
Those civilian refugees were infiltrated by North Korean regulars.
Which you will take into account when you conduct your new investigation.
- General Wolfe will assist you.
- Or you can just read my report.
My government came to power with a promise to defend human rights.
But, of course, we still value highly our close relationship with the United States.
After the sacrifices our boys made in that hellhole, it would be a damn shame if all anyone remembers is some politically correct investigations.
Colonel, commander, I'll see you on the plane.
I've arranged for a liaison to meet you in Seoul since I, unfortunately, will not be able to greet you personally in my hellhole of a country.
- It's a pleasure, sir.
- Admiral.
Civilians or combatants, sounds like Vietnam.
A full generation earlier.
Find what witnesses you can, examine documents.
It sounds like everyone would be happier if we find nothing, sir.
Everyone but me.
Get the truth no matter what it is.
- That will be all.
- Yes, sir.
- Hello, colonel, commander.
- Who's your buddy? Burpee Bear.
I've been trying for six months to get one of these for baby A.
J.
What? He said it's a Burpee Bear for little A.
J.
Apparently, very hard to find.
I got the last one in Virginia.
He got the last one in Virginia.
Got the last one in Virginia.
I'm gonna leave before he does that again.
On the Internet, they cost over $5,000.
On the Internet, they cost over $5,000.
He speaks better than you do, Bud.
Well, an 18-hour flight, could be going to Australia.
- I wish we were.
- Harm.
Renee.
Hey, you didn't have to see me off.
I'm not, I'm going.
- Going where? - Korea.
Hello, Miss Peterson.
Oh, major, please.
Call me Renee.
It's colonel, but you can call me Mac.
Oh, Harm, this is Mickey Gallo, my cameraman.
Mickey, say hello to my commander.
Commander Harmon Rabb.
And this is Charlie Hoskins.
Former Corporal Charlie Hoskins.
You gave interviews for some of the articles.
And he's gonna give the best one yet for me at the Kang So Ri Bridge.
I'm doing a segment for a ZNN Korean War documentary.
On the alleged massacre? Isn't it great? The chance to move out of commercials.
Plus, we'll get a chance to be together.
Hello? Mic.
Oh, I miss you too.
Enough to move my ring to your left hand? Oh, well Still on your right, is it? For now.
Look, Mic, I can't really talk right now.
I'm about to get on a plane.
Oh, beautiful.
You're coming over to see me.
No, not this week.
It's business.
Your attention, please.
Announcing the arrival of Flight 27-- I'll get it.
--arriving now at Gate 20-B.
An officer and a gentleman.
Announcing the arrival of Flight 27 from Hong Kong, arriving at Gate 20-B.
- Hi.
- Hey.
Oceanic Air Flight 105 with nonstop service to Seoul, South Korea, is now boarding.
Sir, can you open your bag for me, please? Sure.
If you find anything that doesn't need cleaning or pressing, you can have it.
Romeo y Julieta Churchill.
Strictly legal, not even Cuban.
Corporal Hoskins.
I guess we have you to thank for this trip.
I'm not a corporal, general.
I haven't been for 50 years.
Why did you make those statements now? Maybe he wanted to clear his conscience.
Is that right, Hoskins? Do you consider yourself a war criminal? No, sir, I do not.
Good.
Earphones are available for in-flight entertainment.
I'm gonna need to take a formal statement at an appropriate time, Mr.
Hoskins.
Not a problem, commander.
I'm 70 years old, I got a prostate that's probably killing me.
I just-- You know, I wanna get out what happened so that people smarter than me can figure out the rights and the wrongs of it.
What did happen, Hoskins? What happened, general? I was an 18-year-old draftee directing traffic in Yokohama, handing out Hershey bars to hungry kids.
When suddenly, we hear there's fighting in Korea.
I didn't even know where Korea was.
Our CO tells us to pack our summer dress uniforms, because we're gonna kick the commies' butts in a couple of weeks and have a big parade in Seoul.
One year later, half the men in my platoon are dead.
I never did get a chance to wear that dress uniform.
I know what you did there, Mr.
Hoskins.
Most people have no idea.
They call it the forgotten war, you know.
I just thought it was time for somebody to remember.
Insert the metal fitting into the buckle and pull to tighten belt.
Thanks.
You ever see action, colonel? Some.
You know, I shot B-roll of the Marines in Haiti.
Did you? But I never saw a leatherneck that looked like you.
You're taking advantage of him.
He's old, he's sick.
He's stewing about something that happened 50 years ago.
Something? He shot two dozen civilian refugees.
He feels bad about it.
Wouldn't you? I see you're going into this documentary with an open mind.
Anything you have to say, general, I'll be happy to hear.
How about this? Two days before the incident at Kang So Ri, American soldiers let some refugees pass on a road near Yeoncheon.
They thought there were pregnant women in the group.
But they weren't pregnant, and they weren't women.
They were NKPA troops with hand grenades in belly packs.
Eleven Americans were blown to pieces.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain, Bill Armstead.
Well, if you can document that, it'll be in my piece.
If I can document it? How about you, commander? Are you prepared to accept the word of the United States Army? I have 10,000 pages of Army reports on my desk back at JAG.
Oh, great, there go our weekends when we get back home.
Do you two know each other? Yes, sir, we do.
Well, I see you're making friends and influencing generals.
Mac, I would love to put you in my documentary.
You would be so attractive on-screen if we could just get you out of that awful uniform.
Thanks.
Who could look good in those drab colours? Not me, I guess.
Look, I just want you both to know how excited I am to be working with you.
You're not working with us, Renee.
Well, we can help each other.
You have the official report, right? I have access to people who wouldn't trust you.
I've already talked to the North Koreans, protestors from South Korea Anything we discover is confidential until the report is published, if it's published.
Harm, the last confidential document in Washington was Abraham Lincoln's diary.
It's quid pro quo.
That's the way the system works.
Not my system.
Well, I guess I don't know your system as well as I thought.
Excuse me, general.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain.
We've just crossed the International Date Line.
We'll be arriving in Seoul, South Korea, in six hours, 15 minutes.
I already see the opening.
Charlie Hoskins walks across the bridge, the same path the refugees took.
Then we hear gunshots and dissolve to black and white.
Miss Peterson, do any of you journalists advance your careers by reporting on honourable people doing honourable things? Fireman saves cat in tree, tape at 11 ? I'd like my dinner now, please.
We'll be serving in minutes.
If you'd return to your seat.
- The vegetarian meals.
- What? Where are the vegetarian meals? So, what are you doing after we get to Seoul? Do you want anything from the galley? Like ice water? Better not be lasagne again, Young-Hee.
No, it's a chef's surprise.
Lady, you sure you wanna be doing this? - Quite.
- All right, what do you want? A small change in your flight plan.
We barely have fuel to reach Seoul.
It will be sufficient.
Set a new course for North Korea.
Everybody stay in your seats.
Stand and you will be shot.
My comrades and I have taken command over this aircraft in the name of the Korean people.
We have no grievance against most of you.
We have taken this action to serve justice.
General Wolfe, Corporal Hoskins, you are indicted by the people for crimes against humanity.
Hoskins, for slaughtering refugees at Kang So Ri, Korea, September 4th, 1950.
Wolfe, for covering up that crime.
If this was really about justice, you wouldn't need the guns.
Harm.
Don't you keep the world free and just with your guns, commander? The United States government is already investigating these alleged crimes, which is more than North Korea would ever do.
If you have information, give it to me.
I'll present it to Washington and to Seoul.
That's very generous, commander, but unfortunately for you and your South Korean lap dogs, this time, there won't be a whitewash.
No, this time, there will be a lynching.
I love you, A.
J.
I love you, A.
J.
Lieutenant? Harm and Mac's plane has been hijacked.
- By whom? - What? "By whom?" Oh, hell, I don't know.
Some group intent on refighting the Korean War.
Look, SECNAV is on his way over here.
We're gonna monitor the situation in the conference room.
I want you to go to the CIA.
You find Webb.
He may know more than we do.
- Aye, aye, sir.
- Oh, lieutenant? Unless you know Morse code, you might wanna take this - PalmPilot? - Whatever.
This is my fault.
I should have let the past stay buried.
How the hell did they know we were on this plane? Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
I talked to the North Koreans and the South Korean protestors.
I am so sorry.
You're probably just worried about how you're going to rearrange your knickknacks to make room for an Emmy.
General, with all due respect, sir, we should deal with the situation at hand and save the recriminations for later.
Fine.
- What are you gonna do? - They're well organised, sir.
They keep their eyes open.
One of them is always in the cockpit.
There's five of them and 300 of us.
We could probably take these two up here, sir, but they would shoot people before we did it.
Maybe.
I'm the senior officer here, and I'll be damned if I'm going to North Korea without a fight.
If I see fit to give you an order, I expect you to follow it.
How many people do you wanna see killed? Coffee? Tea? - Strategy.
- Mac.
I convinced the woman-- They call her Solla.
--That people need beverages.
See what you can find that we can use for a weapon.
Keep moving.
Thank you.
- That's their position, sir? - It is, on radar track.
NSA is tapping into their communications.
We're getting a feed in here so that we can see and hear what they're doing.
Well, what about us? What are we doing? We are talking to the North Koreans.
We don't think they're behind this.
They've been cooperating with us lately.
You know, up to a point.
Yeah, they promise not to build nuclear weapons, and we pay them off by building nuclear power plants.
Hell, sir, that's diplomatic extortion.
Yes.
And they probably won't wanna give it up.
Any new demands from the hijackers? No.
They say they wanna try Mr.
Hoskins and General Wolfe for war crimes.
- What about my people? - I don't know, A.
J.
What are you doing? I'm getting blankets.
Some of the passengers are cold.
Who gave you permission? No one, I'm just doing my job.
Do it when I tell you.
Sit down.
Where's Colonel MacKenzie? Don't play stupid with me.
Lieutenant Colonel S.
MacKenzie is on the passenger manifest.
He didn't make it on the plane.
I don't believe you.
He got bronchitis last night.
If you don't believe me, call Bethesda Naval Hospital.
I cannot risk getting jumped by some colonel who wants to be a general.
Tell me where the colonel is.
Or I kill your friend.
Harm.
You would shoot an innocent civilian? Only one.
Corporal Hoskins here shot a couple dozen.
Not like this.
- You don't know what it was like.
- I don't? Two of my grandparents were killed at Kang So Ri.
Probably by you.
Your grandfather wouldn't by any chance have been in the North Korean Army? You're gonna be dealt with.
You're gonna be dealt with.
Now, where is Colonel MacKenzie? I'm Colonel MacKenzie.
A woman soldier? Yeah, just like you.
These are the ones we've identified.
They came out of a radical student group in Seoul University.
- Why am I in an interrogation room? - What? Oh, this isn't an interrogation room.
It's a reception room.
It's a mirror.
This is Solla Jong.
This is Kwan Kun-An and this is-- It's a mirror.
Anything else from the CIA? The last reported activity of this group was burning down an American sneaker factory.
Sneakers? They said it exploited the Korean workers.
I've got Roberts over there trying to pry things open.
Good luck.
Chegwidden.
Oh, yes.
Sir, it's for you.
Thank you.
Yes? They what? Thank you.
The North Koreans have spoken.
The hijackers are counterrevolutionary anarchist adventurers.
The plane will not be allowed to enter North Korean airspace.
They say if we enter North Korean airspace, they will shoot us down.
I'll tell them again who we have onboard.
They know who we have onboard.
It doesn't matter to them.
Then you're all going to die.
- What were you gonna do? - Do about what? When Solla had the gun on Renee, who were you gonna protect, her or me? Well, you stepped forward, Mac.
I guess we'll never know.
All passengers except these will move to the lower cabin.
- What are you doing with them? - Getting them out of our way.
Miss Peterson, you have your camera? - Why? - To record history.
We are not sure where we are going to land, so we have our trial here.
- And you will document it.
- The hell she will.
- Actually, general, - Here it comes.
It's my duty.
It's news.
- Who's the judge? - Me.
- Who's the jury? - We don't play by your rules.
- Do you play by any rules? - This is a farce.
The defendants can plead their cases.
If you and Colonel MacKenzie want to represent them, we'll listen to you up to a point.
I'm not going to waste my breath.
Mr.
Hoskins? - You'll listen to me? - Of course.
Don't be a fool, Hoskins.
I'll tell my story.
Mickey, the camera.
This court is now in session.
Oceanic Flight 105, you are not authorised to land at any airfield in the People's Democratic Republic of Korea.
Sir, we have a carrier in the Sea of Japan.
We have Air Force bases in South Korea.
May I suggest that we put up fighters? If we put up fighters, the North Koreans are gonna react.
If we don't send up fighters, they may shoot down a civilian aircraft.
The hijackers know that.
And they may not care, damn it, and I do.
Sir, with all due respect, what do we know about these people? I mean, what the hell do they want other than some show trial? They already have something.
I just hope they don't know it.
Sir? General Wolfe.
He's our liaison with South Korea's intelligence agency.
He knows who we have in North Korea.
He knows which North Korean agents have turned.
If Pyongyang get their hands on him Charles Hoskins, you are charged with the wilful murder of 23 Korean civilians near the village of Kang So Ri.
General Zachary Wolfe, you are charged for covering up such crimes in the interest of making such massacres possible in the future.
You getting this, Miss Peterson? You still going to be filming when they carry us out in body bags? You're not helping yourself, general.
Give me a weapon, I'll do myself some good.
Solla.
And keep him out of my briefcase.
We're looking for evidence.
Don't you use evidence in your trials? Your enquiry report from the classified summary, "Whatever the provocations, it is clear that at least some Korean civilians were deliberately targeted by American troops.
" Excuse me.
Could you move away from the window? We're getting some glare.
I think that makes the case.
Are you gonna enter the entire report into evidence? You may proceed, commander.
Mr.
Hoskins, you wanna tell us what happened at Kang So Ri? Yes, sir.
It had been raining.
The refugees, they came out of a mist.
All dressed in white like ghosts.
I told them to stop.
I warned them.
I thought I saw one of them reaching for a gun.
And then? We opened fire.
Benny and McFall and me.
The women and the children and the old people, did you shoot them too? I'm sorry.
I've been sorry for 50 years.
I don't know if the hijackers have any connections in North Korea.
I've told you everything we know.
Yeah, I know Harm and Mac are on the plane.
Okay, now, we don't think this means very much, but this Solla woman was seen with a North Korean diplomat in Hanoi.
This North Korean is someone of interest to us.
This North Korean is someone of interest to us.
Would you open that, please? Would you open that, please? - Give me the bear.
- No.
Lieutenant, you can stay or you can leave, but that bear is not leaving this building with classified information.
Let's put that day at the bridge in perspective, Mr.
Hoskins.
Yes, sir.
I'd like nothing better.
- How long had you been in country? - Two weeks.
Had you experienced combat? Well, we were mostly retreating, but, yes, sir, they attacked us.
We didn't have any armour, our bazookas were firing duds, half the time our radios didn't work, and we were outnumbered.
I was green as grass when I first got there.
I never used a pig sticker for anything except to open K rations.
Pig sticker? It's a bayonet.
Yeah, first time I used one for real, we were being infiltrated from the rear.
I stabbed one.
My blade stuck in his gut.
I killed another with an entrenching tool.
A kid, really.
Just like me.
I beat him to death with a shovel.
We didn't know what we were doing.
You know, guys in our outfit were doing all kinds of brave, crazy things.
Like shooting old women? My friends were getting killed all around me.
What were your orders at Kang So Ri? Don't let anyone cross our lines.
Did you question the orders? I told the lieutenant that there were women and children in the group, and he told me to handle it.
Did you consider that an unlawful order you had a right to disobey? No, sir.
We were told about Yeoncheon and how those so-called refugees were killing our guys.
I'm not a criminal.
But I did shoot civilians.
He confesses.
Wait a minute.
Mr.
Hoskins, you told me earlier about your family.
- Let's just leave them out of this.
- No, we can't.
Do you have any pictures of your children? They're all grown up.
I got an old picture in my wallet here.
- Show it to us.
- There you go.
Thanks.
What are their names? Well, you see in the middle here? That's my daughter Sun-Tu.
And these are my boys, Ho-Jun and Young-Sam.
You adopted Korean War orphans? Yeah.
In the war, I called the people gooks.
Everybody did.
I mean, you know, we didn't know any better.
But I learned.
Koreans, Chinese, Americans, we all died the same.
This is supposed to help your defence? It tells you who Charlie Hoskins is.
Yes, an imperialist soldier who brings home souvenirs from conquered lands.
Now, you hold on there, lady.
These are my children.
Why did you adopt them? - Because l-- - Because you felt guilty.
Because you are guilty.
Thank you.
See? Good as new.
Little A.
J.
Will love it.
I love you.
Let's go to the park.
What have you done to him? Charlie Hoskins was a 19-year-old kid from a working-class family in Indiana.
His father worked at the Studebaker factory.
Charlie would've worked there too if he hadn't been drafted and sent to Japan in peacetime.
Later, in Korea, Charlie watched as his fellow troops died around him.
He'd heard about North Korean troops sneaking south disguised as refugees, and he received an order to stop this from happening.
If Charlie had not followed orders and fired upon the refugees that day at Kang So Ri, one of them might have shot and killed him.
- You don't know that's true.
- You don't know that it isn't true.
I'm sorry about your grandparents.
And Charlie is sorry too.
But condemning this man isn't fair.
It isn't just.
It isn't right.
Anything else, commander? If you do this, you will be hunted to the ends of the earth.
I'm afraid that won't be necessary.
We're landing in Seoul since no other place will take us.
In a few minutes, I'll be captured and killed.
So we carry out the sentence now.
Kwan.
- You forgot the verdict.
- Did I? Guilty.
General, I'm sorry.
Keep filming, Miss Peterson.
You definitely want to get this.
People will see this tape.
You don't want it to end like this.
This is the way it has to end.
You'll be viewed as a barbarian.
I'm done arguing with you, commander.
Do you want to join them? Solla, the general is working with the South Korean Intelligence.
He was carrying this agenda for a meeting tomorrow.
"Current State of Counterintelligence Versus the DPRK.
Attending, Major General Zachary Wolfe, U.
S.
Army intelligence liaison.
" Are you a spymaster, General Wolfe? If you're going to shoot me, shoot me.
"Penetration of the North Korean General Intelligence Bureau.
" This is why you covered up the massacre, because you are still fighting the war.
Gun down, Kwan.
North Korea may let us in after all.
They're turning north.
And the North Koreans are scrambling MiGs to intercept.
They're gonna shoot it down, sir.
Not if they turn away.
You're relying on the good sense of hijackers? - Permission denied.
- Turn that up.
Permission denied.
You may not cross our military boundary.
If you enter our airspace, your presence will be-- They claim 50 miles out into the Sea of Japan.
We've gotta send up a fighter, sir.
Even if the plane doesn't turn back, our people think that the North Koreans will let it land.
We're sending them tons of food every month, plus the power plants.
They need our goodwill.
Goodwill? What people are telling you this, sir? The CIA.
- Hello? - The plane is flying to North Korea and the CIA is peddling some bushwa about what's gonna happen.
Now, you tell Webb he's gotta level with us.
What am I saying? Put him on, let me tell him.
Webb.
Yeah.
Sorry, I can't help you with that.
Lieutenant Roberts is just leaving.
You don't understand.
We have General Wolfe and proof that he's a spymaster.
He knows the South Korean spies among you.
He knows which of your spies have betrayed you.
- I repeat-- - Tell your superiors.
- Clearance denied.
- Tell them.
Those people don't mess around.
Set the course for Pyongyang.
They'll change their minds.
"You didn't hear it from me, but HUMINT tells of power struggle in DPRK military.
Prognosis: Plane will be shot down.
" And the CIA is keeping that a secret.
Yes, because they'd rather have a plane shot down and protect the intelligence secrets in General Wolfe's head.
The decision's been made not to show force.
So unmake it, sir.
Only the president can do that.
- Sir? - Chegwidden.
Put me through to the White House.
North Korean MiGs.
You better let me go to the cockpit.
- Why? - Because I'm a combat pilot and it looks like you're gonna need one.
You will stay where you are.
We've gotta turn back.
- Keep going.
- They'll kill us.
Turn it back.
Turn back.
Altitude.
Altitude.
Altitude.
Altitude.
Can you fly to Pyongyang? I'll tie her up.
What took you so long? Watch out.
They're getting in position to shoot us down.
That won't stop them for long.
Oceanic 105, this is U.
S.
Air Force Eagle One.
Flight lead inbound with radar lock.
Eagle One, Oceanic 105.
U.
S.
Navy at the controls.
Navy? I've got two MiGs on my 6.
We are buster, 30 seconds away.
Missiles inbound.
Brake hard left now.
Your fire's out, Navy.
Sorry about that.
Apology accepted if you splash those MiGs.
Roger.
Engaged.
MiGs are bugging out.
Do you want escort to South Korea? Roger that.
Take me home.
Can you land that bus, Navy? Sure I can land this thing.
Can you? Let's hope so.
Oceanic 105, maintain flight heading 070.
You're below glide slope and descending.
Roger that.
Correcting.
- Correction looks good.
- This baby's got the moves of a whale.
It's called inertia, Navy.
You're sitting on top of 200 tons of aircraft.
Clear to land, call gear down.
Gear down.
Decrease your sink rate.
Remember, you're sitting five storeys up.
Don't fly it into the ground.
Looking good, Navy.
Ease off.
Ease off.
Flaps, and you're down.
Throttle back, you've got lots of runway.
Welcome to Korea, Navy.
You've just cost me 50 bucks.
Next time, I take the boat.
- Take your paws off me.
- Easy.
- Let's go.
- Watch it.
If you were still on active duty, Hoskins, I'd put you in for a decoration.
Never got a scratch, general, the whole first time I was here.
How is your movie looking, Miss Peterson? Happy ending.
It'll sell.
And if they had shot us, what were you going to do with the tape? We still have an investigation to conduct, sir.
Indeed we do.
We'll start tomorrow morning and take it where it leads.
Aye, aye, sir.
Well, it took a hijacking to open the general's mind.
It took Charlie Hoskins.