Courage Under Fire: Difference between revisions

It is Serling's job to go and speak with the surviving crewmembers to discern what happened during the night and thus decide whether Walden deserves the Medal or not. It all looks as though it will be straightforward... [[The Rashomon|but then the surviving crewmembers offer differing explanations for what happened, and differing descriptions of what Walden was like...]] and Serling, haunted by the way the Army has swept his own responsibility for the tank incident under the rug, refuses to be part of doing the same with someone else.

 

 

* [[The Alcoholic]]: Serling has turned to drinking to help drown out the memories, and he's barely keeping it under wraps.

* [[The Atoner]]: Serling

* [[Death From Above]]: Walden implements an ad-hoc version of this by having the chopper's auxiliary fuel tank dumped on an Iraqi tank and then set off by a flare gun. Also the airstrikes sent in to cover the rescue of Walden and the others.

* [[Drill Sergeant Nasty]]: Monfriez has become this since the war.

* [[Good Looking Privates]]: Washington and Ryan's characters, of course. The other soldiers under Walden's command include Lou Diamond Phillips, a young Matt Damon, and Seth Gilliam. Although Matt Damon's character in the present of the timeline could be considered a mild subversion as he's noticeably pale and gaunt {{spoiler|due to having become a drug addict}}.

* [[Gulf War]]

* [[Honor Before Reason]]: Serling wants the committee that's investigating the incident where he accidentally fired on another of his tanks to give a real evaluation rather than just sweep it under the table. He's also determined to investigate Walden's case thoroughly and honestly, rather than just creating a good PR story, even after his CO removes him from the assignment.

* [[Is That a Threat]]: Serling, when Monfriez warns him to leave the investigation alone.

{{quote| "Son, I work for the Pentagon, so I admit I'm a little slow on the uptake, but did you just threaten me?"}}

* [[Kill It With Fire]]: Walden's improvised fuel tank firebomb and the A-10's napalm run.

* [[No One Gets Left Behind]]: Subverted; Monfriez, a [[Drill Sergeant Nasty|drill sergeant]], yells at a trainee about leaving a comrade who was tangled in barbed wire behind. We later learn, however, that {{spoiler|he'd done just that to his wounded commanding officer after she'd threatened to court martial him}}.

* [[Perspective Flip]]: The events involving Walden are told from the POV's of the various members of her crew. A critical plot point as the members give conflicting stories.