The Yellow Birds

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1

[soft dramatic music]

[soft instrumental music]

[soft dramatic music]

[Bartle] The war tried

to kill us in the spring.

And the summer.

It tried to kill us every day.

It didn't explain itself.

It didn't tell us why

it brought us there

or what it wanted.

It just took.

[distinct radio chatter]

It killed some of us before

we knew we were dead.

Pretty soon it was hard

to tell who was alive

and who was just a ghost.

We lost Murph

somewhere in there.

Not really sure when.

Even before we lost

him, he was gone.

I wish the truth were different

than what I remembered.

I wish I could find an

order that made sense.

[upbeat music]

Conceal and carry, baby.

Conceal and carry.

It's gonna take courage

to win this war.

[Soldier] Definitely.

[upbeat music]

She's into you, Murph.

Nah.

- [Bartle] You like her?

- No.

Go dance with her.

I can't.

Whatever.

I'm not a good dancer.

So just dance.

Hi!

Hi! Where you going?

Hi, sorry.

He'll get to it.

He's shy.

Yeah.

You're embarrassing me.

You're embarrassing

yourself, dude.

Come on.

Come on!

[Soldier] Yeah, baby.

[Soldier] F***ing move!

Now move! Move!

- [Soldier] Incoming!

- Move!

F***ing move, go!

[gun firing]

[explosion]

[Soldier] Oh, sh*t!

All right, let's go!

[bombs exploding]

Guys, guys...

[bombs exploding]

That was pretty close, huh?

[Officer in cadence] Yellow

bird on a window sill.

[Group of soldiers] Yellow

bird on a window sill.

[Officer] Pretty little

beak and a pretty little tail.

[Group of soldiers]

Pretty little beak

and a pretty little tail.

[guns firing]

[Man] Check your racks.

There you go, Morgan!

Hey, man.

You from Virginia?

I'm from Richmond.

Well, just outside Richmond.

[shushing]

[guns firing]

My name's Murphy.

Yeah, I know.

Oh, yeah.

Somebody told me

you're from Virginia.

Really?

Then why'd you ask?

Privates.

Get your asses up here.

[guns firing]

Now, you boys seriously

need to unfuck yourselves.

You hear me?

None of you people get it.

Now, Murphy, show me something.

[Man] Firing mine, rapidly

quick.

[gun firing]

Your turn, Private.

Murphy.

How tall are you?

5'7".

5'7" what?

- Just 5'7".

- 5'7", Sergeant.

5'7", Sergeant, sir.

You fast?

Yes, Sergeant.

All right, little man.

When the time comes I need

somebody to run for me,

I'm gonna ask you.

Till then, I want you to get

in Bartle here's back pocket

and I want you to stay there.

Understand?

[gun firing]

[Murph] Yes, sir.

Get your sh*t, get

a rack near Bartle.

- You got that, Bartle?

- What, sir?

[Sterling] You got a new

girlfriend to keep you company.

[Officer in cadence] Then I

crushed his pretty yellow head.

- [Bartle] Is that your mom?

- Huh?

Oh, yeah.

You jumped right

in, didn't you?

[Murph] Into what?

This.

Oh, yeah.

Well, it's just

something I'm getting

under my belt, you know?

My dad was in the Marines

before he went to college.

I don't know if he, like

wanted me to join up

- or anything, but...

- Mm-hm.

I guess I just wanted

to do something good

before I do whatever

else it is I'm gonna do.

I think I'm gonna go to UVA

after this and study history.

[Bartle] History of what?

I don't know.

I just like history.

What about you?

Uhh, I almost

went to school.

But then...

I didn't.

I just wound up

f***ing around and...

And not really doing

much of anything.

So why'd you join up?

Thing to do. I don't

know if it felt like

a good thing, but...

It felt like a thing.

[soldiers chatting]

Is it too late to, I

don't know, take it back?

- Come home?

- Ma.

Ma, it's done.

It's done. Okay?

Okay.

Let's just have a nice talk.

- Which base is it, again? Can I come see you?

- I don't know.

I don't know if they let us

have visitors at the base,

so I gotta find out.

- Well, I'd love to come.

- Yeah.

Oh, and your friends

have been asking after you.

Especially that uh...

What's-her-name? You know,

the one I never liked?

[Murph] Hey, man, look.

It's just me.

Come check this out.

I gotta go, Ma.

I'll write, okay?

[Amy] Okay, we'll...

[soldiers chatting]

Hey, Sarge, you

got an extra razor?

You don't got your own?

I never needed one before.

So how come you need one now?

I think I wanna shave my head.

Go get some clippers before

you waste one of my razors.

[Bartle] That's

what I told him.

[Sterling] You seriously

never shaved before?

No, sir.

[Sterling] How old are you?

[Murph] 18.

Just turned last week.

And you?

[Bartle] 20.

F***.

Look, you guys are

my guys, right?

I ain't supposed to be

telling anyone this,

but our AO just came down

this morning from on high.

We're gonna be shipping out.

All right, you guys are gonna

be seeing some sh*t real soon.

It's gonna be a goat-f***.

A what?

[Sterling] A goat-f***.

So starting now, you guys have

to promise to do what I say.

[Murph] Yeah,

sure thing, Sarge.

No, f*** that.

Don't give me that sh*t.

No sure thing this time.

Promise you'll do what I

say every f***ing time.

- Yes, sir, we'll do what you say.

- I promise.

All right now. Look, there's

some folks who go to this war

and never pull a trigger.

That ain't gonna be you guys.

They're gonna kill the

f*** out of some of us.

We're gonna kill the

f*** out of some of them.

That's just the

way it's gonna go.

Now listen, you stick with

me, you do what I say,

I'll take care of you.

All right?

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