:37:00
I thought so.
:37:05
I want you to remember
that when we moved into Germany,
:37:08
we found a country of
open graves and closed hearts.
:37:11
We've tried to turn it into a civilised state.
:37:14
We had to eliminate things
that breed unrest and aggression.
:37:18
We've tried to make them free men
and give them some dignity.
:37:21
We had to return four million
displaced persons to their homes.
:37:25
That's hard if you don't have
a home to start with.
:37:27
We had to repair hospitals
and public utilities.
:37:30
I remember the first day the gasworks
started operating again.
:37:34
There were 160 suicides in Berlin alone.
:37:37
That was ten months ago.
:37:39
Today, they take a match and light
the gas and boil some potatoes.
:37:43
Not many potatoes, mind you.
There is still a lot of hunger.
:37:47
But there is a new will to live.
:37:49
We had to build schools and find teachers
and then teach the teachers.
:37:54
We helped them start a free press
and institute a parliamentary government.
:37:58
They had their first free election in 14 years.
:38:00
It had been so long
they didn't know what to do.
:38:03
It was like handing
the village drunk a glass of water.
:38:07
What I want to point out is that
it's a tough, thankless, lonely job.
:38:12
We're trying to lick it as well as we can.
:38:14
You might as well know,
some of us get out of line occasionally.
:38:17
But remember this.
For the first time in history,
:38:20
you are asking the same generation of
soldiers to be both valorous and wise.
:38:25
- Mighty fine.
- Well said.
:38:26
I sure hope our chairman has
made notes of that speech of yours.
:38:30
I think it should be
incorporated in our report.
:38:33
Colonel, we buy every word of it, all of us.
:38:36
I don't.
:38:38
I wouldn't think of buying it. I'm surprised
at my colleagues' low sales resistance.
:38:43
Miss Frost, this attitude calls
for some explanation.
:38:46
Colonel Plummer, in your eloquent speech,
:38:49
which I'm sure you've made 50 times,
:38:51
you used the phrase "Some of our boys
may get out of line sometimes."
:38:55
That is a masterpiece of understatement.
:38:57
What are you driving at?
:38:58
In your effort to civilise this country,
our boys are becoming barbarians.