bandits at 2 o'clock.
it's germans!
good shooting, danny!
land of the free.
there's another one!
let him alone!
i'll bust you open, you. german!
nothing. danny's dad just come to get him.
daddy, sometime will you take danny up too?
i thought this was a training flight. i'm just trying to give danny some training.
didn't you say test the limits?
if you had guns, you'd be pissin' on 'em.
how could it be irresponsible, sir, if you were the first man in the world to do it?
never, sir. i just meant it's dangerous only for the kind of pilot who wants to show off, rather than inspire the other pilots in his unit. and all you've done for me, sir, working out the transfer, i did it to say thanks. to honor you, sir. what the french call a "homage."
thank you, sir.
thank you, sir.
danny, there's something i gotta tell you.
the colonel helped me work it out.
i'm sorry, danny, but they're only accepting the best pilots.
danny, you know how many times i saw you come to school with a black eye or a busted nose, and couldn't do a thing about it -- for you, or for your mother.  or your father, with his lungs scorched out with mustard gas, and more left of his lungs than there was of his spirit? you've made your sacrifice, danny. it's time i made mine.
let's go.
i have to talk to evelyn. and i want you to meet her.
hello, lieutenant. good to see you.
nice to meet you, betty.
danny would'a brought this.
no, he. got some news today. he'll be okay, he just didn't feel like coming tonight.
we'll just have to find a substitute, won't we?
the only reason it's hard to say is that i keep thinking i don't have the right to say it. but i've got to because it's true. i love you. that must surprise you.
there's one thing i have to say. i'm going away.
i'm going to the war. the real war. hitler's taken europe. the brits are hanging on by their fingernails, and if they lose, there'll be more people killed than anybody can imagine. and not just there, but here.
colonel doolittle pulled the strings, and put me on loan to the r.a.f. they need pilots, and we need experience. i leave tomorrow.
i had to tell you in person. because there's something else i need to say.
evelyn. you know the line -- let's make tonight memorable. what i feel about you makes it impossible for me to say something like that. if i don't come back, i don't want to saddle you with regret and sadness you'll carry the rest of your life.
maybe not. but i need you to know. i love you. and i will come back. i'll find a way. and then we'll get a chance to know if what i felt the first moment i saw you, and every minute since then, is real.
yeah.
it's a test. if i asked her to come and she came, it wouldn't tell me anything. if i tell her not to come, and she comes. then i know she loves me.
you too.
rafe mccawley, sir.
that's me, sir.
if you're patching up bullet holes right here on the runway, maybe we should skip the housekeeping and get right to the planes.
not anxious to die, sir, anxious to matter.
the struts are loose, the hydraulics are leaking, and the electrical system's shorting out in the cockpit.
all of 'em.
and if you don't give me a plane that can handle combat, you better start learning to speak german.
learn english, then!
crank her!
here they come.
we've got him hurt, stay on him!
we've got him going!
i can't see the clouds!
evelyn.
i sent telegrams, i guess the military traffic held them up.
i saw you, i couldn't go in, i. just stood there wondering if you knew. you looked. sad, and i had to sit down a minute.
survive? i jumped in a patch of fog, and nobody could see me. i hit the water hard. and it was so. cold.
i don't know how long i was in the water. a norwegian freighter picked me up. they were headed to spain. they docked in la rota, right beside a german ship, and told me to stay hidden below. i was afraid they'd turn me in, so i stole some clothes, jumped ship, and found a church, where the priest contacted the resistance, and got me on a freighter to new york.
i called my folks, then colonel doolittle. the colonel sent a man to pick me up. they wanted to debrief me. i told the colonel i needed to see somebody first, and he had a supply flight heading out in an hour. i've done a lot of talking. you haven't said anything.
nothing that won't heal. i guess.
i'm so sorry for what you must've gone through, but i'm back.
maybe i've assumed too much. has something changed? i'm afraid to ask what. and i'm afraid not to. have you fallen in love?
it's all right. danny always said i see things with my emotions instead of my eyes.
don't worry about that. guys away from home, lonely, good-hearted women try to cheer them up.
aw, god. oh my god.
evelyn.
upset? why should i be upset?
they'll go under you because their planes are faster, then they run so you can't catch 'em. but then they'll come around and take you from behind -- like some americans will.
sorry.
i didn't mean it.
waitress! four beers!
if you can't keep up, don't drink yours.
we gotta face some facts here.
i understand how it could happen. i know why any guy would love her. and i can't blame you that it happened. you thought i was dead, she was grieving, you were trying to help her.
yeah, right. anyway, you didn't know.
i'm saying now you do know. so it's time for you to fuck off.
how's this for a fact? i loved her first.
how's this?
that hurt? i didn't think you had any balls.
how come you're not pukin'?
fuck you.
how sweet. is that when you put the move on her?
that's better.
get me into a plane!
you're making a phone call?!
where are we going?
what's there?
they're coming around for another pass. you got extra weapons and ammo?
danny, over there! we're in a canyon, they'll come straight down it, we'll get 'em in a crossfire.
will the others get into the air?
get rolling as fast as you can. stay low! we'll use the topography to separate them and then we can take 'em one on one.
tighter 'n a bulls ass in fly season. don't hit the barn.
bet they don't dust crops in japan.
danny! let's play some chicken!
you hear my okay?
i got a half a tank. you?
they're in strafing formation, we'll blow right through their line.
land of the free.
they're trying to hold formation. we can chew 'em up!
ain't no time for spectatin'!
i'm out of ammo!
how can we help?
what else can we do?
a friend of ours wanted to be sure you're alive. evelyn. a nurse.
i need to tell you something. i didn't know what it was to lose somebody, to see death and find how much it scares you. that you haven't lived and loved enough. i didn't understand. forgive me.
of course i forgive you. i know what you feel for danny is real. and your choice is your choice.
yes, major.
what for, sir?
we can explain, colonel.
is that the good new, sir, or --
well sure, colonel --
what color flowers you want me to bring to your funeral?
bombers.
i take it back, about the flowers. we're all gonna die.
danny, what the hell are you trying to do out there?
no. you're trying to beat me.
bullshit. we've played with each other, pushed each other. this is different. like you want to prove that you're better than me. who's that for -- evelyn?
what's between you and her is between you and her. but here's what's between you and me. everybody has a hero, danny. and you're mine.
when we were growing up, i had everything. you had nothing. you climbed out of a hole i couldn't even see the bottom of. i think maybe when i went off to england, i was trying to measure up to you. measuring up's over. let's just look out for each other. okay?
wish i knew, red.
i'm gonna turn in. i hate being on the water. i think this is the last sleep i'll get for awhile.
mccawley.
what?.
it must of been a convincing letter.
does danny know?
they'll turn the ship into the wind before we launch. that'll help.
maybe we'll be lucky with the weather.
it's not getting any longer.
colonel. we're all going. whether you make it or not.
we'll get separated over the target, but you and i will rendezvous for the run to china. i'm on your wing.
home of the brave.
what's our eta for tokyo?
open bomb bay doors.
it's all yours.
can you get 'em off us?
danny, get the hell out of here!
danny, run for the clouds!
we burned a lot of fuel back there. flash them and ask about their supply.
i don't know if we're over sea or land. drop flares and try to spot something.
not unless we know he's over land!
you are not bailing out into water!
we've got coast! signal him to climb and jump.
n-o! we stay together! i'll go in first.
hang on tight! i'll put her in the smooth water and we'll swim in!
it won't open til the plane fills!
danny! danny!
you hang on, danny! you hang on! you're gonna make it!
danny.
yes you can.
i will. and your baby. you're gonna be a father.
danny.  land of the free.  land of the free.