horrifying moments when they were separated during The Fall of Saigon.)AN OFFICER
sorry, sergeant, we must accelerate
state department says we evacuate
the word is, we must be out by dawn
ANOTHER OFFICER
sorry, sergeant, it’s straight from Washington
no one leaves the grounds now, not anyone
as fast as we load the planes, we’re gone
CHRIS
but my girl is out there!
(a huge crowd of VIETNAMESE is pushing at the Embassy gates)
A MARINE CAPTAIN
(to the crowd)
okay! Keep quiet! don’t shout!
the Ambassador won’t leave till everyone’s out
the choppers’re on their way, there’s room for you all
ANOTHER MARINE
they’re climbing over the wall!
get back!
MORE MARINES
get back! I tell you, don’t shout
the Ambassador won’t leave till everyone’s out
A MARINE
(entering)
th’Ambassador just sent an order to freeze
THE MARINE CAPTAIN
that’s it! No more Vietnamese! Get in!
CHRIS
but my girl is out there!
(in the streets outside the Embassy, KIM can’t get through the guards.)
KIM
I’m the wife of a soldier
please, let me through!
help me, who must I pay?
tell me what I must do
CHRIS
(to an OFFICER)
let me out, I got to go back for my bride!
KIM
listen, someone! My husband is waiting inside!
CHRIS
(telephoning, inside the Embassy yard)
please Kim
hear the phone
I can’t get there
please be home
KIM
(in the street)
please Chris
no one sees
I am lost here
find me please
BOTH
please, get me through, I don’t care how
don’t take my love away, not now
KIM
oh, Chris
CHRIS
oh Kim
KIM
I can’t get free
CHRIS
please get free
KIM
still I’m with you
CHRIS
I am with you
KIM
wait for me
CHRIS
wait for me
THE MARINE CAPTAIN (to CHRIS)
sorry sergeant, inside the Embassy!
we are pulling out now and there will be
no more reprieves
CHRIS
I got till the old man leaves!
JOHN
Chris, don’t be a schmuck
th’Ambassador is leaving now
(CHRIS is forced inside the Embassy, whose doors are then barricaded. The VIETNAMESE
are now yelling through the Embassy gates.)
ONE VIETNAMESE
take me with you!
take my children!
ANOTHER
I have a letter, look!
ANOTHER
I helped the C.I.A.!
CROWD
they’ll kill who they find here!
don’t leave us behind here!
A VIETNAMESE
I’ve a wife who left already!
ANOTHER
I have an aunt in New York!
ANOTHER
I have gold, I can pay!
CROWD
there is no one to find here!
they have left us behind here!
(KIM has pushed her way through the gate.)
KIM
I must get in there, listen, anyone!
please tell my husband… look! I have his gun!
A VIETNAMESE
out of my way, if that’s all that you’ve got!
CROWD
if I am here when they come, I’ll be shot!
(inside the compound: MARINES guard the roof helipad.)
CHRIS
let me go, John, I can’t leave her
why in the world should I be saved instead of her?
CROWD
they’ll kill who they find here!
don’t leave us behind here!
JOHN
it’s not you, it’s the war that’s cruel
and if some dreams get smashed, perhaps it’s best they were
CROWD and KIM
there is no one to find here!
they have left us behind here!
JOHN
wake up, my friend, your mercy trip has failed
there’s nothing you can do, that ship has sailed
she’s not the only one we’ll have betrayed
CROWD
get to the roof, or else we are betrayed!
(the CROWD tries to batter down the fences.)
KIM
(in the yard)
oh, Chris
I still believe
the heart of you
is here with me
my heart, against all odds
holds still
(on the Embassy roof, the last helicopter lands. CHRIS runs up and down the wall, shouting
for KIM. Finally he is forced to board the helicopter, which takes off. The nightmare passes.
KIM is in her little room with TAM
