Thirty six hours ago, an American B-52 bomber...
crashed into the Mediterranean Sea.
Moments before impact, the bomber's crew...
jettisoned a 50-megaton nuclear warhead.
The bomb, capable of leveling a major city, has been lost at sea.
Underway at this hour is the greatest naval search in human history.
What do you think, Sunday? It should be you out there.
Why not? I'm the best goddamn diver in the whole U.S. Navy.
Well, you ain't in the Navy. You are a damn deserter.
AWOL. AWOL.
Twenty years ago, a man'd go on a bender like that,
they'd pin a medal on his chest and take him down town for a blow job.
Instead, you got your ass kicked by a couple of Marines.
Ornery son of a bitch.
Friend of yours?
Well, it looks like Chief here is a goddamn nigger lover.
All right, asshole. Now you're gonna start addressing me as Master Chief...
or I'm gonna snap your goddamn wrist, do you read me?
You ain't a Master Chief no more.
You triflin' me, motherfucker? You triflin' me, motherfucker?
- Sorry, Master Chief! - Thank you!
Carl.
Come on, Carl.
Turn off Daddy's radio and get ready for school.
Whoa, John.
Come on there. Get a hold, John.
Come on. Come on. Get up there, Jane.
Come on. Come on. Good girl.
Whoa, John.
Come here, Jane.
Come here.
Best come in now.
I told Doc Maddox I'd be done by Friday, and I will.
- Daddy, you actin' like... - This was my farm?
No, son. No matter how hard I work, I ain't ever gonna own this land.
I heard you and Mama talkin'.
You gonna lose the farm if this wheat ain't in on time.
Doc Maddox is gonna bring in another family, where the kids work too.
My kids go to school.
Now, go on 'fore you're late.
I'm not going to school, Daddy. Not today.
Not till this field is done.
This field ain't ever gonna be done.
Daddy.
Today is Friday.
Come on, Tye. Come on, Jill. There you go.
Come on. Good boy, good girl.
There you go. There you go.
- Make me a promise. - Sir?
Don't end up like me.
All right.
We best get movin'.
Rain comin' in.
We best get movin'. Ready Jane, John.
Get up there! Come on!
Stay low, John. Get the hoe, John.
- Get the hoe! Come on. Get up there! - Get that hoe.
- Get the hoe, John. - Yeah, get that hoe, Jane.
Get that hoe, Jane.
Get that hoe, Jane!
Gee, Jane! Get up there!
Come on!
Get up there! Get up there!
Come on, Carl. You'll miss the bus.
Let's go, son. Your father's waitin' on us.
U.S. Navy's a big opportunity for a young man.
You got the hot showers. You got the three squares a day.
- And unlike the Army... - All about the Navy. It's right here in this book.
And this is mine. I can keep this. They're just giving it to me.
- No fox holes in the U.S. Navy. - I wish I knew what I was gonna be.
Knowing you, it's gonna be something big.
It don't stop there.
He ain't said one word since we met the recruiter.
He's just real scared for you.
- Coloreds now. - First uniform is paid for by Uncle Sam.
- I love you, Mama. - I love you.
You'll be all right, son.
You got a $75 pay check just waiting for you.
Recruiter say first leave come in September.
I wouldn't believe everything that recruiter says.
Put it away for a rainy day or send it home to Mom and Pop.
I'll come back, help mow the hay.
Don't. Don't ever come back here.
You get in there and fight, Carl.
Don't take promises.
Bust their old rules if you have to.
And when it gets hard...
and it will...
don't quit on me.
Ever.
Now, go on.
Don't come back here.
Not for a long time.
Charge it when you get where you're going.
A.S.N.F.
What's that supposed to mean?
Come on, boy.
You got a big future...
in the U.S. Navy.
A big future!
Look here. I advise the next time you see this Navy recruiter,
tell him to take whatever crystal ball he's lookin' through...
and shove it directly up his ass.
I just got back from fightin' a war,
makin' the whole world free for democracy.
They still got me standin' here, slavin' over a hot grill next to you.
There's only three choices a colored man's got in the U.S. Navy.
- What's that, Chief? - Bein' a cook...
Officer's valet or gettin' the fuck out of the Navy.
Big future.
- Big future, I'll be doggoned. - It'll be all right, Carl.
That's it. That's it.
Ooh, hot, hot, hot.
Hell ain't got nothin' on the South Pacific.
Damn!
Geronimo!
Hold that.
Carl, what the hell are you doing?
Reckon I'm gonna take a swim.
Nigger, you crazy. Tuesday is colored swim call on this boat.
Well, I'm hot on Friday.
Carl, crackers see that nappy, they...
What are they gonna do, make me wash more dishes?
Wait a minute now. Someone's all confused.
Better get your ass off this deck!
It is not Tuesday, son.
What the hell are you doing, boy?
- You can't do that, boy! - You're in some deep shit!
Wrong day, asshole!
All right. Make way!
Captain wants your ass back on the boat right now.
- He'll beat you! - Go, Carl!
Keep goin'! Go, Carl!
Let's go, Carl!
Beat him by a mile!
You got anything to say for yourself?
Your response is noted.
You ever hear of the Search and Rescue swimmers?
- You know, sailor falls overboard, these men... - Dive in and save 'em. Yes, Sir.
You just became one. I'm transferring you to their unit.
You're the fastest damn swimmer on this ship,
and you have got the balls to back it up.
Thank you, sir. I'll pack up and report to the deck department...
You're just there to swim. Nothing else.
Stay with the stewards.
Let him out.
Hey, Carl. You know, the only reason your ass ain't in the brig...
is 'cause you high yellow, boy.
- Damn! - Search and Rescue Squad.
Boy, you in good with Captain Pullman now.
Put in a good word for me, they might let me drive the boat.
You're never gonna believe it, but yesterday...
I made Seaman, which is Navy for a glorified deck hand.
I'm still not sure what I'm gonna be, but I'll make you proud of me yet.
Anyway, Dad, sounds like the mail chopper's here, so I better get topside.
Give Mom a big hug for me. Your loving son, Carl.
Good afternoon, Chief.
What the...
Mail chopper clipped a radio mast! He's down! He's down!
Splash a diver, now! Men on that chopper. I want 'em up alive.
Diver's coming up.
Bring it up. Bring it up!
Come on! Faster! Pull him up! Come on, Vince. Pull him up!
- Come on! Faster, faster! - Brashear, get on that steadying line.
Keep it up! Lay back into that! Keep it steady!
Keep it steady! Keep it steady!
Bring him in! Coming down!
Bring him down!
Sailors, get him up! On the hatch. Ready?
Come on.
Face down!
- No. - Goddamn!
If I'd just been a couple of minutes earlier, he'd be breathin' now!
You did your best, Chief Sunday. Lieutenant Hanks.
Sir.
- Complete the diving operation. - Yes, sir.
The copilot is still in the water.
Caughlin, it's your turn over the side. Bring that man home. Hat him.
Take Chief Sunday to the chamber for decompression.
Lay back on him. On the side!
Diver comin' up and over!
- Chief? - Drop the goddamn weight!
Drop the weight!
- Man overboard! - Stand by divers, you're in!
What the hell's going on?
Master Chief, we just lost Caughlin, sir.
- We got a standby diver going... - He can't wait that long.
Tell me what you're doing? I got a man on.
Gonna bounce dive, put him on a rescue line and yank him out.
- Bounce dive? - Bounce back before the nitrogen builds in my system.
He's too deep already, and you will call me sir.
Goddamn it, I got a man dyin' down there, sir!
Give me a wrench! Give me that spare life line and air hose!
I've lost two men on my watch.
I've got another drowning, and I'm not about to let you commit suicide.
- You will stand fast! - He'll be dead before you get to him!
- The air hose! - Stand off! I'll take you to the captain's mast,
and you will lose if you touch that water, do you hear me?
Yes, sir!
Goddamn it!
Master Chief Sunday, you've sustained a serious embolism.
- Embolism? - Both lobes of the lungs were severely scarred.
Can't cheat the laws of nature forever, can you, Doc?
I'm afraid the condition's totally inoperable.
Ain't that a bitch?
So what happens next time I go diving? I start taking on bottom pressure?
Any increased pressure at all will kill you, instantly.
Kill me. Goddamn, for a minute there I thought this was serious.
- If you could keep your voice down. - Hell, no.
Goddamn, I feel like singin', man.
- Ah, fuck! - Where are you going?
Get me a drink. Celebrate. You had me going. I thought I couldn't go diving no more.
- Chief Sunday, you're scaring the patients. - How about me?
Goddamn. Hey, I got an idea. Maybe you can use me around here.
Hell, I'm lookin' to make a career move.
Maybe, maybe you can get someone to change the bed pans!
- Change the fuckin' bed pans! - Chief!
- Change the fuckin' bed pans! - Hey! Hey! Hey!
Master Chief Sunday, given your current physical condition...
and the far graver issue...
of your recent acts of misconduct,
you will be medically disqualified from diving,
fined one-half month's pay for three months...
and reassigned to a training position,
where it is my greatest wish...
that you will embrace a new found respect for authority.
This hearing is concluded.
- That's what I want to be, sir. - A Navy Master Diver?
- Yes, sir. - Last week, you were a cook.
- Well, the man I just saw... - The man you saw is a Master Chief.
That's the highest rank an enlisted man can achieve in the U.S. Navy.
A lot of good men spend a career trying to get there and fail.
Besides,
they are not gonna take a colored at diving school.
- It's as simple as that. - What if you we're to give me a recommendation, sir?
I just made you a deck seaman three days ago.
What else do I owe you?
The way I see it, I owe you, sir.
I'll endorse your request,
but it ain't gonna work.
Wait outside.
- Mr. Pappy, Boatswain's Mate Brashear's reporting for duty. - Don't let him in, sailor.
I'll be waiting on the hilltop
Where the wild red roses grow
Yeah. Well, look at Mr. Navy.
Bell-bottoms bleached.
Shoes all shined up.
Now alls we need is an organ grinder.
Welcome to Bayonne, New Jersey. Pimple on God's ass.
Chief Sunday, we never met, but I served with you on the Hoist.
U.S.S. Hoist. I 'spect I 'member you now.
So what's for chow, cookie?
I wouldn't know, Chief. I'm reporting for diving school.
Oh, yeah, that's right.
They say you wrote over 100 letters requesting admission to this school.
You got you some grit in you, huh?
- Yes, sir. - Well, it's gonna be a hot one today.
Sure hope you're better than the last cook. That man's food could kill your dog.
Chief.
- Thank you. - All righteous.
There you go.
Had yourself anything to drink today?
No, sir, Chief.
What say we go on into town and get us a nice cold one?
I can't do that, Chief. I haven't reported for duty.
I tell you what. I'll buy you a tall one over there.
A bus ticket too, so you can go back to whatever burg you sprang from.
What do you say?
Sir, I am a Navy man.
Where I come from, there are no oceans.
Only dirt farms and ornery mules.
And no self-respecting Navy man makes a living driving mules.
Sir.
You know what the Chinese say, cookie?
Beware what you wish for.
- I stole a pie! I stole a pie! - Let him in.
I stole a pie! I stole a pie!
Get in there. Go on. Hoist away.
Do... Don't stare at him.
- Who is he? - The commanding officer,
but everyone calls him Mr. Pappy.
- He's a war hero. - Here.
They, they were gonna make him an admiral up in D.C.
'fore they, they found out he's got more, more screws loose than a Studebaker.
So they sent him here. Better salute him or you'll be spending your first night in the brig.
I stole a pie!
Come on. I'll show you the barracks.
Attention on deck!
Gentlemen, in 1948,
President Harry S. Truman had the courage and forward-thinking and enlightenment...
to desegregate the United States military.
Now I want y'all to welcome the Bayonne Diving School's first colored trainee,
Bosun's Mate Second Class Carl Brashear.
I don't hear anyone welcomin' Bosun's Mate Brashear.
Master Chief, no disrespect to the president,
but I don't bunk with niggers.
- Aren't you gonna go too? - No.
I'm from Wisconsin.
Never been there.
Haily gets a fast ball low and inside for strike three,
and Jackie Robinson strikes out.
And the score as we had it Brooklyn, one, Milwaukee, one.
Rise and shine, cookie. Time for trainin'.
Are you familiar with the principle of Boyle's Law?
The what?
I didn't hear your answer.
Come on, cookie. Get up.
Boyle's Law states that, at a constant temperature,
the volume of a confined ideal gas varies inversely with its pressure!
- Now why is this law important in divin'? - I don't know, Chief!
You ain't never gonna know, 'cause you're just some dumb dirt nigger from Podunk!
I know you. Your sweet smell hung in every bunk and goddamn shack I ever lived in.
Your nigger face stared at me every time we had to leave...
'cause your daddy could farm it cheaper than mine.
Mine drank himself into a $7 casket, but that ain't gonna happen to me...
because I'm a Master Diver!
Maybe you'll remember that next time you imply we got anything in common!
You read me, cookie?
- What? - Get your goddamn Wisconsin ass...
back to bed, Snowhill!
The men you are watching are going to be Navy divers.
You bottom suckers are not fit to observe them.
Avert your eyes!
My name is Master Chief Billy Sunday.
There's a preacher by the same name cleaned up Chicago...
of all the whorin' spics, drunken wops and motherfuckin' niggers...
that was makin' that place unfit for decent white folks to live.
The only difference between me and that old preacher...
is that he worked for God and I am God!
Now, why don't the first ten of you Girl Scouts step forward?
Come on! Drop your dicks! Let's go!
Three quarters of you standing here today...
will fail to become Navy divers.
Three from the first row, step forward. Step forward!
Of those unfortunates that do pass,
only three of you will live to reach retirement...
'cause divin' is the most dangerous job in the Navy.
So who wants to quit?
Say it now, who wants to quit?
You got somethin' to offer, huh?
Who wants to save me the sweat of training your sorry ass?
You? You?
Cookie?
You?
You gonna look me in the eye, son, huh?
What are you, some kind of broke-dick Popeye?
Huh? Let me guess.
You were captain of the swim team, weren't you?
You and your girlfriend used to practice the breast stroke!
Say it like you got a pair!
- My w... wife. - Oh, that's right.
It's in your record. You knocked her up sophomore year.
Well, maybe you can bring the little w... woman down one night...
and all the boys can practice the b... breast stroke.
I heard you were a hell of a swimmer, Snowhill. State champ?
Yes, yes, Master Chief.
Snowhill, please step forward.
Come on.
About face.
You let go before I relieve you,
you fail my course right now, got it, swim champ?
Swimmin' don't got dick shit to do with deep-sea divin'.
If Johnny fuckin' Weismuller were in the soup...
wearin' a 200-pound Mark Five divin' rig,
he couldn't swim to fuck Esther Williams...
if she was three feet in front of him buck naked.
The only way to survive is to trust each other,
'cause underwater all you got is the man next to you.
And that is why the only men that get through my course...
are the very, very best.
Now get out of my sight.
Boy, I don't know.
Permission to relieve the man below, Master Chief.
What are you, cookie, some kind of goddamn hero?
I got no room in my class for heroes or stutterin' swim champs...
with a wife and kids to worry about, do you read me?
If you wanna flunk me, flunk me, but don't punish him for being decent to me.
I don't have to flunk you. You're gonna do that all on your own. He had half a chance.
He still does. Permission to relieve him.
Claims he can hold his breath over four minutes. Hell, it ain't even been two.
I believe Gunner's Mate Snowhill's a liar!
Now we're men of honor, ain't we, cookie? We don't abide liars.
You're out of my program, Snowhill.
Bosun's Mate Brashear, you have the barracks to yourself.
Damn!
The Navy diver is not a fighting man.
He is a salvage expert. If it's lost underwater, he finds it.
If it's sunk, he brings it up. If it's in the way, he moves it.
If he's lucky, he'll die young 200 feet beneath the waves...
for that is the closest he will ever get to being a hero.
Hell, I don't know why anybody'd want to be a Navy diver.
Good flange work, Rourke. Almost there.
Thank you, Master Chief.
Machinist's Mate Rourke, 91.
Bosun's Mate Brashear, 37.
- If you fail the next test, you're out of the program. - Yes, sir.
There are seats of learning beyond the walls and control of this camp.
Ladies, this is weekend liberty.
Anyone's ass that ain't back here on time will have to answer to me personally.
And remember, ladies, one-night stands may be over by mornin',
but syphilis lasts a lifetime.
Dismissed!
Watch out.
- Have fun, baby. - Flowers!
Flowers! Hey, how about some flowers for your young lady, huh?
What's the hitch?
- You're the one who called. - Yes, ma'am.
I told you. We're a public library,
not a tutoring service.
Now, if you don't mind, there is a Mr. Biddle at home.
In fact, he's probably brought flowers.
Have a wonderful weekend. And lock up, would you?
And be sure to kick him out.
- Hello. - We're closed.
Not for three minutes. You studying on nursin'?
A person doesn't study on anything, Bosun's Mate.
You know your rates and ranks. Did you get that from one of these books?
Look, I'm not here to flirt with you.
I'm in diving school across the river.
I'm not just good at it. I was born for it.
But the joke is, I'm gonna wash out if I don't pass my next exam.
What was the last grade you completed in school?
- Seventh. - I can't help you.
- Why not? - Because it took me four years work at places like this...
to get through med school.
Now I have six weeks to study for my exam. I pass, I become an intern,
and maybe some day become a doctor.
You're too far behind, and I don't have the time.
Okay. Go on. Walk around reading to yourself.
- Don't give me another thought. Just go on. - Don't you get it?
Whether I help you or not doesn't matter. You're gonna fail anyway.
I won't. I can't.
Why do you want this so badly?
Because they said I couldn't have it.
I may know a professor at City...
Boyle's Law describes the behavior of gases under varying amounts of atmospheric pressure.
It states that if a diver holds his breath at 100 feet,
continues holding while rising to ten feet,
then the gases in his lungs increase four times.
Now why is this important to a diver?
Forget to exhale on the way up, and your lungs explode.
I can work with you, but my time is precious.
So the first time you go out drinking and fighting...
and leave me waiting here, our arrangement ends.
Good morning.
I have to open up.
Now are you gonna tell me your name, or is it still a secret?
My name is Jo.
My father always wanted a boy.
He was in the Navy too.
- Is he still active? - I haven't seen him since I was nine.
Like this.
- Good night. - Good night.
Fire Controlman Mellegrano, 91.
Mate DuBoyce, 85. Engineman Crofoot, 69.
Bosun's Mate Carl Brashear,
76.
Boots, cookie, tear yourselves away, ladies.
You're next in the water. You're gonna go down to the training vessel,
patch a hole so we can pump her full of air and raise her to the surface.
Then we're gonna sink her and do it again.
Because underwater, all you've got is the man next to you!
Chief, what the hell's goin' on down there?
That boy stays down there any longer, he's gonna start gettin' mail.
Isert, come on. Finish torching that hole.
I'm tryin' but this thing's real awkward.
- How's it look? - Looks like hell.
Green Diver, this is Master Chief Sunday.
You have three minutes to get your patch hot and hung before the next team comes down.
Now, come on, Isert! Move your raggedy ass!
- Red Diver? - Yes, Master Chief.
God damn it, Rourke, I've had girlfriends that could weld faster than that.
Now move him along.
- Come on, Isert. Now hang your patch. - Yeah, okay, Rourke. I'm trying.
- Hey, Isert, you feel that? - Do I feel what?
What the hell?
Topside, this wreck is moving!
She's limping, Chief! We're sliding down!
Somebody tell me what just happened?
- Topside! - Get it! Grab that hose!
- Red Diver, what's your situation? - The ship just dropped 50 feet.
- We landed on something. - Better bring those boys home till we figure this out.
- Square yourselves away. You're coming home. - Negative on the come home.
Isert's got his air hose tangled.
- My air hose is stuck! - Fouled. Now get it unfouled.
Rourke, what's wrong? Why are we movin'?
- We slipped partway down the channel bank. - Rourke!
- This wreck is live! - You get this off!
- I'm gonna have to change out his lifeline and air hose. - Listen, Rourke.
He's your buddy. You follow his line back, unfoul it and get him out of there.
I'm trying, but it's just too tight. Send down a line!
Help!
- I need help down here. - Help's on the way.
- I'm ready, Master Chief. - Dennis, undress him.
- You can't go down there. - Better not be talking to me. I won't have your familiar tone.
You can't dive that deep. I'm ready. Let me go.
Master Chief, it looks like the ship slid down...
on some discharge pipes coming from that factory.
They give out, and this whole ship's going right to the bottom.
You don't worry about that boat. Just get that hose to Rourke.
For God's sake!
- What the hell was that, cookie? - Look!
The ship's weight is crushing those pipes, Chief.
Gotta get him on a fresh hose and out of here fast!
Topside, Blue Diver's here. He's gota fresh line.
All right, Isert. Rourke's gonna change you out, and you're gonna be walking out of there.
- Okay. - That boy's got five minutes of air if he don't panic.
You screw up the change out, and that boy's dead, read me?
- Yes, Master Chief. - Isert, we're not gonna be able to talk for a few minutes.
I want you to think of your favorite song, and I want you to sing it.
- I don't know any songs. - You got to slow your respiration. Breathe easy.
- Just breathe easy. - Please. I wasn't made for this.
I want to go home now! I want to go home now!
Would you let me come home now?
I want to quit! I want to quit! I really want to quit!
- I want to quit! - Change him out now!
- She's movin', Chief! - Come on, Rourke! I got him!
Topside, Isert's off air.
- What's going on down there? - She's gonna roll over!
I 'spect so. You stay down there, and you change that boy out, hear me?
- Rourke! - I'm out of here!
I gotta get out of here! She's going down!
- Rourke, come back here! - Rourke!
- Rourke, get back here! - I ain't dying!
- Rourke! - I'm out of here.
Don't leave! Carl, don't leave me!
I need my air hose! I can't breathe, Carl!
I'm getting dizzy!
I can't breathe.
- Topside, he's blacking out! - Goddamn it, hook him up!
I got it!
- We're coming home, Chief. - Never doubted it.
Machinist Mate First Class Rourke, front and center!
The president of the United States of America...
takes great pleasure in presenting the Navy and Marine Corps Medal of Heroism...
to Machinist Mate First Class Dylan Rourke,
whereby Petty Officer Rourke on the 22nd of September...
of the year 1952,
with apparent disregard for his own life,
did, at Bayonne, New Jersey, save the life of Petty Officer Timothy Douglas Isert.
Post.
Class 0252 dismissed.
- Carl? - Hey, I got your telegram.
No, no, no. I got the wire. How's Daddy doing?
Is he up and around again?
Yeah! Yeah!
Hello? Carl? Is that you?
Hey, Jo. Hey, it's me.
Where are you? Are you okay?
No, I'm okay. I'm okay.
Listen...
Could you meet me?
- Goddamn it! - Okay. I'll stay here.
Damn it! The miserable son of a bitch in there drinkin' on my anniversary!
You're the one, aren't you?
Well, I'm Gwen... Sunday.
Sorry to hear that.
You know he's gonna kick you out of the Navy.
He's gonna kick you out of diving.
So what you gonna do about it?
You just gonna let him run you over, just like you do everyone else?
You know, he's in there right now.
He wanted a party,
let's give him one.
She told me...
it was okay to dance with a girl.
Oh, I love this song!
Donny, be a dear lad and get us two scotches.
- We're out. - Lucky for us, you got a whole bar full of bourbon.
What the hell are you doing, bringin' him in here?
- Get out. - Well, I'll be goddamned.
It's prom night here at the Moor Bar.
You boys, you have a drink on me. Go ahead.
Hell, I don't know who classes up the joint more...
the fetching young lady in the fur stole or cookie here.
So what'd you two kids come here to do anyway? Dance?
Why not take a turn? It's a free country, mostly.
You made a big mistake, walking in here, cookie.
- Oh, it's my fault. - It's all your fault.
Spoiled little rich girl gets her kicks draggin' stray men in here.
Thinks we're just a bunch of sweaty rednecks she can shake up for the fun of it.
Hey, Donny, be a dear lad and bring the lady a fresh soldier.
Think you deserve a beer, don't you?
Fraternizing among Navy men.
Think you're as good as they are?
How 'bout me, cookie? You better than me?
You're damn right, I am.
You see this pipe?
General MacArthur himself smoked this pipe.
I served with him in Leyte Gulf.
Biggest naval battle in history.
Kamikaze ripped into this escort carrier, name of Saint Lo.
She went down on a shallow reef, trapping me and six boys in the fire room.
- Only one way out. - Flood the compartment and swim up.
Five decks, cookie. Five fuckin' decks.
Locked bulk heads, dead bodies everywhere.
You got to have your balls screwed on tight for that swim.
We still had intercom. Old MacArthur himself came over that squawk box,
Sunday, you cocky son of a bitch,
I bet you can't hold your breath for four minutes and swim out of there.
Know what I said back?
No, Mac, I can't, but I'll bet you your cob pipe...
I can hold it for five, 'cause that's what it's gonna take, motherfucker.
- Carl, this ain't worth... - Get your hands off me.
There's six men still breathin' today, 'cause I led 'em out of that fire room.
And now just 'cause you pulled little Isert's white little fuckin' ass...
out of some row boat sunk in a mud puddle, you think you're better than me?
Well, let's just see.
What's your bet, cookie?
- Put Snowhill back in diving. - What do you owe him?
- Nothing. You owe him. - Oh, yeah?
Fine. If I win, you ship out, tonight. Deal?
Deal.
Show him, Master Chief!
Will you be my tender?
- Yeah. - Let's go.
Come on, baby!
Let's go, baby!
Come on, now.
Come on, Sunday!
- Go! - Come on, Master Chief Sunday!
One minute, fifteen seconds.
Two minutes, twenty-five seconds.
Hey, it's another ten bucks right here!
Sunday, do it!
Three minutes, ten seconds!
Come on.
- Four minutes! - Four minutes! Four!
- Stop it! - No.
- Chief. - Stop it! Stop!
Rourke, stop it!
Carl, you okay? Carl?
- Carl? - Chief Sunday, you all right?
- Hold it! - You all right, Chief Sunday?
- I'm okay. - Hold him up.
- I got it. - Hold it!
- He's all right. - Come on!
Come on, hold him up!
Let's go!
She tried to drive off the pier like a crazy woman!
Get her outta the car!
- Hey, hey. - You know, today's my wedding anniversary.
You're gonna be all right.
Come on, move, move. Come on, babe.
- No, not you, Billy! - Come on, baby, come on.
Bastard!
Come on, baby. Come on.
- Come on, baby, let's go home. - Yeah?
- Come on. - Yeah?
Go on home now. Nothin' to see here.
Jo.
Jo!
I can't do this, Carl. I can't live this life again.
I pulled my father out of more Navy bars than I care to count.
- Jo, you don't know what happened tonight. - Oh, but I do.
I passed my finals.
Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Jo.
The point is, I'm gonna be starting my internship at Bellevue.
- It's gonna be crazy hours. I won't have time to see you. - I made a mistake.
- It won't happen again. - Oh, yes, it will.
You wanted to fight that man. You were just waiting for the moment.
Don't you see... I'm not like you?
The things I want...
The things I want are smaller.
If I just work hard and keep my head down...
Your whole life will pass you by.
Carl, most of what's in those diving books...
you know better than, than me.
You don't need me anymore. You don't need anyone.
I love you.
Jo!
Jo! Jo!
- Jo! Hey, Jo! - What?
Jo! Marry me!
He wants to know if you'll marry him.
Come in.
Watch the door, Chief. Try not to touch anything.
Did you know that ordinary house dust...
is composed primarily of human skin?
No, sir, I didn't know that.
Makes you think twice about who you invite into your home.
Two table spoons of machine oil...
can contaminate...
an entire ship's fresh water supply.
Some things just don't mix.
Do they, Chief?
He's gonna pass.
Yesterday, he scored a 94 on his final.
Sir, he don't have to be that fast tomorrow.
All he's got to do is complete the exercise.
Billy...
there may come a day when a colored diver graduates from this school,
but it won't be tomorrow or as long as I'm here.
You agree with me, of course.
- Don't you, Chief? - Yes, sir.
Baseball season's over, cookie.
I figured Rourke. I never even let myself think...
- Why not? - 'Cause I saw your last dive.
You want to know what I am? I'm the sorry son a bitch put here...
to get through your thick fucking skull that some things do not change.
- I deserve to pass. - Since when does deserving mean anything?
They ain't gonna have a colored diver.
'Cause no matter what you do, in their eyes, you'll never be as good as them.
- So, deserving or otherwise, you're failing. - No, you are.
You think I owe you somethin'?
I don't owe you a goddamn fucking thing.
You or anybody else. You got fucked, cookie. Happens to the best of us.
You were right, Chief. You and I have nothing in common.
I may be some dirt dumb nigger from Podunk, but at least I'm making something of myself.
You, you're the same hateful, little man you started out as.
Without diving, you're nothing...
but a lost, broke-down son of a bitch who used to be something.
Hey!
What did he say to you to make you try so hard?
Be the best.
Well, you are.
Just don't show up tomorrow. Pappy ain't gonna let you pass.
What about you, Chief?
Today will decide which of you will become Navy Divers.
The object of this test is to correctly assemble this flange underwater.
The pieces required for assembly await you on the river bottom.
Once you have located your project flange, you will call for your tools.
They will be lowered to you.
You will be timed on your effort and will accrue points for a speedy completion.
However, we'll keep pumping air down to you for as long as you can stand the cold.
So take your time and get it right.
If you do not complete the flange,
you have just wasted six months of your lives.
Divers, square yourselves away and approach the rail.
Topside, I have located my work light.
Topside, Blue Diver.
I have located my project and am requesting my toolbag.
Topside, this is Red Diver. I have located my project flange.
- Requesting my tool bag. - Tenders, lower your tool bags.
Topside, Blue Diver. I'm still waiting on my tool bag.
Blue Diver, your tool bag is on the river bottom.
Chief, start the project time on all divers.
Machinist Mate Rourke, one hour, thirty-seven minutes.
Perfect assembly.
Survey or Second Class Yarmouth, two hours, nineteen minutes.
Perfect assembly.
I never thought I'd live to see it.
Four hours and nine minutes. Better late than never, Engineman Crofoot.
Perfect assembly. How's the water down there?
It's colder than a well digger's ass, Master Chief.
Take it inside.
What do you mean, he's still not up?
Excuse me.
Dive station, Master Diver speaking.
Chief Sunday, we have every cook and shine boy in this camp...
thinking they'll be next to try a stunt like this.
So you listen up.
Don't bring him up till he stops moving.
He's near dead now, sir.
Not till he stops moving, Chief.
Give it up, cookie.
You go into shock down there, you might not wake up.
Come on, now. This ain't worth dyin' for.
My name is...
Bosun's Mate Second Class...
Carl Brashear.
I am a Navy Diver.
Bring him up. Bring him up!
- I got him. - We're bringing him home.
Sailor, disregard that order!
Sailor! Sailor!
Chief Sunday, effective immediately,
I am relieving you of your duties!
Do you hear me, Chief?
Hold the line. Hold that line.
Come on, Brashear. You're almost there.
Just a few more steps. Come on, we'll help you.
A little more.
That's it.
Open it up.
Bosun's Mate Second Class Carl Brashear,
nine hours, thirty-one minutes.
Perfect assembly.
Get him inside.
Help him out!
Carl, did you hear...
- Slow down, Snowhill. - They put me back in the diving program.
- I start training next week. - Congratulations.
Thanks, Carl.
Hey, I almost forgot. You hear about Sunday?
- No. - Mr. Pappy blew a gasket when the son of a bitch passed you.
He busted him down a shred and shipped him out.
I guess that fucker got his in the end, huh?
I guess he did.
Guess he did.
Will you still say
I love you, dear...
From the gentleman.
You hate champagne.
You got a diving assignment.
Brooklyn Navy Yard. Stand by diver.
Brooklyn? Brooklyn!
Oh, baby, we can have dinner like an old married couple.
Oh, well, baby, I didn't take the job.
We've been waiting three years for that slot to open up.
Jo, I don't move up in rank unless I dive.
And I'll never make Master as a stand by diver. I'll find something else.
- I'm three months late. - Late for what?
You're gonna have a real baby?
We're gonna have a baby! We're gonna have a real baby!
We're gonna have a baby.
Ladies, gentlemen, and the rest of you lowdown cats, it's time to ring in the New Year.
- Happy New Year. - Five, four, three, two, one.
- Happy New Year. - Happy New Year!
You'll never know
Just how much I love you
Absolutely. You have to stand them up, being we have 16, 20 years of experience.
You have to get in their face and let them know who's boss.
If you don't, they'll never salute you the rest of your life.
So I'm sitting there... Excuse me.
What'd I tell you, huh? He don't remember me.
Senior Chief Sunday, U.S.S. Hoist.
You ended my diving career, Lieutenant.
Lieutenant Commander Hanks. Pleased to meet you.
That was a long time ago, Chief.
Ancient history.
Well, we just came by to say hey.
- Hey. - Auld lang syne and all.
Auld lang syne. I didn't know you had a daughter.
Right.
She's quite lovely.
Okay, we gotta go now because Billy's gonna dance with me.
Happy New Year.
- Come on, Billy. - Have fun.
- You're gonna dance with your lovely wife, right? - Yeah.
Mmm, you see? Now, wasn't that easy?
Has been.
- Yes. - No. Billy.
- He's the biggest drunk in the Navy is all he is. - Billy!
Are you all right, sir?
Senior Chief Sunday, I find you guilty...
of violating Article 90 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice
assaulting a superior commissioned officer.
Your conduct is completely unacceptable.
You'll be fined one half month's pay for six months,
restricted to the confines of the base for two months...
and are hereby reduced in rank to Chief Petty Officer.
For those just joining us, our top story continues to unfold...
thousands of miles away in the Mediterranean Sea.
Just hours ago, an American B-52 bomber...
flying a routine mission over the coast of Spain...
slammed into the snowy Spanish countryside.
Moments before disappearing off radar, the crew jettisoned their nuclear payload.
Three 50-megaton warheads parachuted to Earth.
Two were immediately recovered.
- However, a third hydrogen bomb remains lost at sea. - You made it.
- United States Navyships have sonar systems to aid them... - Becky, come get your toys.
in their tedious, often frustrating search of the sea floor.
Investigating a deep water find will be the work of Alvin,
a two-man submersible on loan from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.
And yet, even as U.S. Navy ships comb the Mediterranean in search of the warhead,
so do Russian submarines.
According to maritime law, the bomb which disappeared in international waters...
belongs to the first to find it.
Charged with locating and recovering the lost bomb before the Soviets do...
are the elite Navy deep-sea divers pictured here.
Stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, the divers were flown by jet to the scene just hours ago,
many still dressed in the same uniforms they were wearing only this morning.
Blue Diver, this is Captain.
Blue Diver, come in.
I'm here, Hart. What do you need?
Carl, I'd appreciate it if you could find my lost nuke for me.
I'd like to make admiral sometime before I die.
I'm doing my best, Hart.
Captain.
Topside, I have an unidentified metal object protruding from the sea bottom.
He's got something. Proceed with extreme caution.
Roger that.
Topside, we have a Coke can.
Goddamn Coke can.
Bring it on up anyway, Chief. I like my ocean clean.
Turn that equipment off. We got a diver down there.
- That's not our sonar. - What are you talking about?
Shit.
Alpha Whiskey, this is Charlie Victor.
I've got an unknown object in my perimeter, classified, probable submarine.
Blue Diver, Blue Diver, we got an unknown contact. Probable Russian submarine...
bearing at two-zero-niner at sixteen knots and headed directly for your position.
Take immediate evasive action. Repeat, immediate evasive action.
Prepare for emergency surface. Blue Diver, do you hear me? Blue Diver, do you hear me?
Blue Diver?
Talk to me, Carl.
Come in, Blue Diver.
Quarter master, tell the dive station to supply us a standby.
Come in, Carl.
Come on, Carl.
- Carl, you read me? - I'm here, Captain.
He's there.
- Prepare to surface, Carl. We're bringing you home. - Roger that.
You wanna do me a favor? The next time you scare me, give me a courtesy warning first.
Captain, that sub kicked up half the ocean bottom.
- It found it for us! - You're kidding me.
Oh, yeah!
He thinks he found it. Yeah, you got it.
That's it. You got it.
Steady! Steady! I'm pulling it in!
- Bring it up! - Pull it up here, boys.
Steady! It's coming up to port.
Let's go, boys! We got an A-bomb!
It's coming up, boys! Let's go now! Let's go, boys!
We got a heavy one here.
Move!
Jo?
Baby. Baby.
I was so scared.
I'm sorry.
Oh, shit.
Your leg was nearly severed.
It's gonna take time to heal.
Eventually, you're gonna be able to walk again with a cane.
Can I still dive?
I'm so sorry.
Come home, Carl.
Mrs. Sunday, your husband was found drunk on a public beach.
He's an alcoholic and must remain in detox for 30 days.
If he should stagger, he will not fall!
If he should fall, he will fall in such a manner...
as to cover up his rate so that passersby will think he's an officer.
A chief petty officer shall not drink!
And if he should drink, he shall not get drunk!
If he should get drunk, he shall not stagger!
And if he should stagger, he shall not fall!
And if he should fall, he will fall in such a manner as to cover up his rate...
so that passersby will think he's an officer!
We're all extremely proud of you, Chief Brashear.
Now, get better, so you can go home and enjoy your retirement.
How do you plan to spend your retirement, Chief Brashear?
How does it feel to be a hero?
How are you?
Sweetheart...
you're never gonna dive again.
And what you gotta do now...
I can't help you with.
But when you're ready to leave...
and if you can promise me...
that you'll never take another drink again,
I'll be waiting for you in that car over there.
But if you can't...
then you just walk on by.
Package for you, sir.
I want to come back.
- To where, Chief? - Full diving duty.
I want to dive again.
Carl, I understand, but...
But it's just not possible.
- Good afternoon, Admiral. - Carl, this is Cap...
- Captain Hanks. - Chief Brashear.
Captain Hanks has been assigned as a senior officer...
at the Personnel Policy Control Board at the Pentagon.
He'll be joining us for a few weeks,
meeting some of the men from the front lines, getting a feel for their concerns.
Yes, and to return to the chief's primary concern.
Working as a Navy diver with one good leg and the other...
I'm sorry. It's just not possible.
Cut it off.
Pilots injured in flying accidents have requested amputation of injured limbs.
Fitted with the right prosthesis, several of them have returned to active duty.
Cut off my leg and assemble a full medical review board 12 weeks from today.
It is then that I will demonstrate that I am fit to return to full diving duty.
I want to make Master Chief.
We admire your courage, Chief, however misplaced it may be.
Please excuse us.
I am a doctor, Carl. My opinion might mean something here.
I guess not. How are you gonna come back with one leg?
I could barely read once. I found a way.
Yeah.
I could put up with the months at sea,
the dangerous assignments that you never said no to, but this...
What do you want from me?
Do you want me to come home, mow the lawn, put a wheelchair ramp in?
- How am I gonna look at my own son? - Leave him out of this.
You're not doing this for him or for me. This is about you.
It's always been about you.
Admit it, Carl.
At least give me that much.
Why are you doing this to me?
Answer me, goddamn it!
Or I'm walking out of here, and I am not coming back.
I love you, Jo.
Get away from me!
Piece of shit!
Cookie.
Goddamn!
Looks like I missed one hell of a party.
I've been all over. Trouble, mostly.
Navy gave me this second-class diving school in Little Creek.
Don't amount to shit.
I made some calls.
Come Friday, that Captain Hanks...
he's gonna convene a medical review board, and he's gonna retire you.
- He said I had four weeks. - He lied, cookie.
He don't give a shit how many one-legged push-ups you can do.
He'd trade you and me and every other old sea dog in the Navy...
for one glass-eyed electronics technician.
The man's gonna retire your ass.
I got my leg back. I ain't done yet.
You got a stump on a wooden stick and no goddamn chance of beating Hanks, son.
All I ever wanted to do was to make Master Diver.
All I ever wanted to do was stay one.
You want to beat Hanks, you've got to go around him, right to the top.
Washington.
- Chief of Naval Personnel. - That's right.
And they don't like cocky pencil-pushers like Hanks any more than we do.
I might be able to pull a few strings.
Why are you doing this, Sunday?
Piss people off.
Chief Decker, you are the Chief Master at Arms of this hospital, are you not?
Yes, sir.
Then why is it you don't know where Chief Brashear is?
He shouldn't be too hard to spot.
He is the only Negro diver in the Navy,
and he's got one leg.
It seems that the chief has transferred, sir.
To where?
- On whose orders? - He signed his own orders, sir.
- Call the Shore Patrol. - Relax, Cap. We just wanna talk.
Wait, wait, wait, wait. You know where Chief Brashear is. Where?
I see. Fine. Chief Brashear is AWOL.
I want him found and arrested now.
- You ain't gonna find him. - What do you want from me, Chief?
Four weeks to train him, then a full readiness evaluation...
and reinstatement hearing with the Chief of Naval Personnel.
The chief of...
- Yes, sir. - At the Navy Yard in Washington?
- That's right. - Forget it.
Will the diver be allowed to be reinstated?
Seems Chief Brashear losing his leg for his country sort of makes him a hero, sir.
Fine.
I will grant you your hearing on one condition, hmm?
When he fails, you retire.
He ain't gonna fail.
Minute, five faster.
See you in court.
Captain Hanks has ordered you to remain here, Chief.
Please be seated, Senior Chief Brashear.
Only the Army salutes indoors, Senior Chief.
Sir, in the Navy I grew up in, a salute is warranted...
given the gravity of this occasion, sir.
Well, we're in a new Navy now, Senior Chief.
Shall we begin?
Senior Chief Brashear,
one day the life of another diver may depend on you.
Do you honestly feel that as a man...
You're almost 40. You have one leg.
Can you really keep up with healthy divers half your age?
The question is, sir, can they keep up with me?
- Bring the suit. - Yes, sir.
No smoking out here, Chief.
Studies of the Navy's experimental diving unit...
indicate that if the subject were to become unconscious...
or deceased, the disparity between the buoyancy characteristics...
of a prosthetic and a limb would hinder him in a free dive mode.
You mean if he drowned, he wouldn't float right, yes?
- Yes, sir. - Sir, I promise,
if I am killed at sea, I will make every effort to die like a Navy man.
I just thought you should see the future of Navy deep sea diving.
This is the latest HEO-2 mixed gas rig.
It weighs 290 pounds, and the men who want to use it,
before they can even begin the diving qualifications,
will be required to walk 12 steps, unassisted.
Could you do that, Senior Chief Brashear?
Yes, sir, I could.
Well, I see.
As much as I hate to prolong this another day,
I will, in the interests of thoroughness,
make arrangements for you to demonstrate your contention.
Here, sir. Now.
Son, step aside, or I'll have to crack you right in the jaw.
Senior Chief Brashear, I hardly think this is the appropriate...
- I want them all to see, sir. - Captain Hanks, sir, I concur with your assessment.
These slippery floors alone prohibit such a demonstration, sir.
Chief Sunday, haven't you had enough trouble in your career? Your advice is unwelcome.
- Who is this man? - Chief Leslie W. Sunday, sir.
You swam out of the Saint Lo at Leyte Gulf.
You held your breath for four minutes.
Five, sir.
He can stay.
Fine. Irrelevant.
Gentlemen, sirs, returning to the issue at hand.
This is not the time or place for Senior Chief Brashear...
Excuse me, Senior Chief, is there a problem?
Captain Hanks, I have spent most of my life in the Navy trying only to succeed.
However, my quest has come at a great personal loss to those who love me.
They, too, have made sacrifices.
They, too, have endured great pains to support me.
If I walk these 12 steps today, reinstate me to active duty.
Give me my career back.
Let me finish it and go home in peace.
Senior Chief Brashear, the business of the modern Navy...
Forgive me, sir. But to me, the Navy is not a business.
We have many traditions. In my career, I have experienced most of them.
Some good, some bad.
However, I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for our greatest tradition of all.
And which one is that?
Honor, sir.
Get on with it, Senior Chief.
Leslie?
What leg you got on?
My walkin' leg, Leslie.
It was my dad's name. You got a problem with that?
Oh, no. No problem at all.
That thing's light duty. Gonna snap like a match stick.
Not if I keep my weight on my good leg.
Two hundred and ninety pounds on one leg? You'll be passed out by the sixth step.
Tenders, hat the diver.
Navy Diver, stand up.
Leave him.
Captain, if I recall the Navy regulation manual correctly,
the diver may be helped to his feet.
This is a lot of brass to sling up from a seated position, sir.
It's spun copper, Chief. We haven't used brass in a decade.
And the new manual states the diver must rise unassisted.
That's what it says in the new book, sir?
If I may ask, Captain, how would you know?
I wrote it.
Yes, sir.
Navy Diver, stand up.
Square that rig and approach the rail.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Gentlemen, his leg.
Please. Gentlemen.
- Navy Diver, stand down. - Diver, you will disregard.
- This is my detail. - Admiral.
Goddamnit, cookie, move your ass! I want my 12!
Nine. The Navy diver is not a fighting man.
He is a salvage expert. Ten.
If it's lost underwater, he finds it. If it's sunk, he brings it up.
If it's in the way, he moves it!
Eleven. If he's lucky, he will die young 200 feet beneath the waves,
for that is the closest he will ever get to being a hero!
Hell, I don't know why anybody would want to be a Navy diver.
Now, you report to this line, cookie!
At ease.
Tenders, unhat that diver.
The United States Navy proudly reinstates...
Senior Chief and Diver Carl Brashear...
to full, active duty.
Thank you.
Congratulations, Captain.
Thank you.
I can quit.
The man I married never quit anything a day in his life.
I love you.
I love you too, baby. I love you too.
Well done, Chief.