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.
Now underway is the greatest naval search in human history.
What do you think? Should be you out there.
I' m the best diver in the Navy.
Hell, you ain't in the Navy. You are a damned deserter.
AWOL. AWOL.
Years ago, a man go on a bender like that...
they'd pin a medal on him and take him for a blowjob.
Instead, you got your ass kicked by a couple of Marines.
Ornery son of a bitch.
Friend of yours.
Looks like chief here is a nigger-lover.
Asshole, now you're going to address me as master chief...
or I'll snap your goddamn wrist. You read me?
- You ain't a master chief no more. - You trifling me, motherfucker?
- Trifling me? - Sorry, master chief!
Thank you!
Carl.
Come on, Carl.
Turn off Daddy's radio and get ready for school.
Come on, Jane.
Get ahold, John.
Way to go, John.
Come on. Come on! Get up there, Jane. Come on.
Come on. Good girl.
Go, John.
Move in, Jane.
You best come in now.
I told Doc Maddox I'd be done by Friday and I will.
- Daddy, you acting like-- - This was my farm?
No, son. No matter how hard I work, I ain't never gonna own this land.
I heard you and Mama talking.
You'll lose the farm if this wheat ain't in on time.
Doc Maddox'll bring in a family where the kids work too.
My kids go to school.
Now go on before 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.
Today is Friday.
Come on. Good boy. Good girl.
There you go.
Make me a promise.
Sir?
Don't end up like me.
All right.
Best get moving.
Rain coming in.
Best get moving. Ready, Jane, John.
Get up there. Come on now.
Stay the hoe, John. Get the hoe, John.
Get that hoe, Jane.
Get the hoe, Jane!
Get up there!
Come on, Carl. You'll miss the bus.
Let's go, son. Your father's waiting on us.
The U. S. Navy is a big opportunity for a young man.
We got hot showers.
We got three square meals a day, unlike the Army...
And I can keep this.
They' re just giving it to me.
I wish I knew what I was gonna be.
Knowing you, it's gonna be something big.
He ain't said not one word since we left the recruiter.
- He's just real scared for you. - Coloreds now.
- I love you. - I love you.
Recruiter say first leave's September.
I wouldn't believe everything that recruiter says.
Put it away for a rainy, 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 the 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.
"ASNF. "
What's that supposed to mean?
Come on, boy.
You got a big future...
in the U.S. Navy.
A big future.
Tell that recruiter, to take his crystal ball...
and shove it directly up his ass.
I just got back from fighting a war, making the world free for democracy...
and they still got me slaving over a hot grill next to you.
There's only three choices a colored man has in the Navy.
- What, chief? - A cook...
- officer's valet... - Listening, Carl?
or getting the fuck out of the Navy.
Big future.
- Big future, I'll be doggone. - lt'll be all right.
Hot, hot, hot.
Hell ain't got nothing on the South Pacific.
Hold that.
Carl, what the hell are you doing?
Reckon I'm gonna take a swim.
Nigger, you're crazy. Tuesday is colored swim--
Well, l' m hot on Friday.
Those crackers see that nappy head--
What are they gonna do? Make me wash more dishes?
Someone's confused here.
Better get your ass off this deck.
Hey, it's not Tuesday, son.
What the hell you doing, boy?
Wrong day, asshole.
All right, make way.
Captain wants you back on the boat now.
- He'll beat you! - Go, Carl!
You got anything to say for yourself?
Your response is noted.
You ever hear of the Search and Rescue Swimmers?
- Sailor falls overboard, they-- - Dive in and save him. Yes, sir.
You just became one.
I' m transferring you to their unit.
You' re the fastest swimmer on this ship and have the balls to back it.
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.
The only reason your ass ain't in the brig is because you're high yellow.
Boy, you're in good with Captain Pullman now.
Put in a good word for me so I can drive the boat.
You won 't believe it, but I made seaman, which is a glorified deckhand.
I'm not sure what I'll be, but I'll make you proud of me.
Dad, the mail chopper's here, so I better get topside.
Give Mom a big hug for me. Your loving son, Carl.
Afternoon, chief.
The mail chopper clipped a radiomast. He's down!
Mail chopper portside.
Diver, now! Tell him I want him up alive!
Diver's coming up!
Faster. Pull him up.
Pull him up. Faster! Faster!
Brashear, get on that steadying line.
Lay back into it. Keep it steady. Steady.
Bring him in.
Let's get him up! On the hatch.
Facedown.
Goddamn! If I'd been a few minutes earlier, he'd be breathing now.
You did your best, Chief Sunday. Lieutenant Hanks.
Complete the diving operation.
The copilot is still in the water.
It's your turn, bring him home.
Take Chief Sunday to the chamber for decompression.
Lay back. On the side.
Diver coming up and over.
- Chief? - Cut the weight. Drop the weight!
- Man overboard. - Stand by.
- What the hell's going on? - We lost Caughlin, sir.
- Standby's going in. - We can't wait. Look at him.
What are you doing? I've got a man on.
I'll bounce dive, put him on a rescue line.
- Bounce dive? - I've done it before.
You can't. He's too deep. And you will call me "sir"!
Goddamn it, I got a man dying, sir!
Give me a wrench, a spare lifeline and an air hose!
I've lost two men, another drowning. I won't let you commit suicide.
- Stand fast. - He'll be dead before you get him!
- Sir, the air-- - Stand off!
You will lose if you touch that water. Do you hear me?
Yes, sir!
Goddamn it!
Master Chief Sunday, you sustained a serious embolism.
Embolism.
Both lobes of the lungs were severely scarred.
Can't cheat the laws of nature forever.
I'm afraid the condition is totally inoperable.
Ain't that a bitch.
So, what happens next time I dive and take on pressure?
Any increased pressure at all will kill you instantly.
Kill me? Goddamn. For a minute, I thought this was serious.
- Keep your voice down. - Hell, no. I feel like singing.
- Fuck. - Where are you going?
To celebrate. You had me going. I thought I couldn't dive no more.
- You' re scaring the patients. - How about me?
Goddamn! Hey, I got an idea. Maybe you could use me around here.
I' m looking to make a career move.
Maybe you could get someone to change the bedpans.
Change the bedpans!
Chief!
Change a fucking bedpan!
Master Chief Sunday, given your current physical condition...
and the far graver issue of recent acts of misconduct...
you will be medically disqualified from diving...
fined 1/2 month's pay for 3 months...
and reassigned to a training position...
where it is my greatest wish...
that you will embrace a newfound 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.
- The man I just saw-- - The man you saw is a master chief.
That's the highest rank in the Navy.
Lot of good men spend their career trying and fail.
Besides...
they're not going to take a colored at diving school. It's that simple.
What if you personally recommended me, 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.
Well, look at Mr. Navy. Bell-bottoms bleached.
Shoes all shined up.
Now all 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.
U. S. S. Hoist. I expect I remember 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.
You got you some grit, you have.
Yes, sir.
Fucking gonna be a hot one today.
Hope you're better than the last cook.
Man's food could kill your dog.
Chief.
Had anything to drink today?
No, sir, chief.
Say we go into town and get us a nice cold one.
I can't do that, chief. I haven't reported for duty.
I'll tell you what.
I'll buy you a tall one over there.
A bus ticket too.
So you can go on back to whatever burrow 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?
Beware what you wish for.
Let him in.
I stole the pot!
Get in. Hoist away.
Don't stare at him.
- Who is he? - Commanding officer.
Everyone calls him Mr. Pappy.
He's a war hero.
They were going to make him an admiral in D.C...
before they found out he has more screws loose than a Studebaker.
So they sent him here.
Better salute him, or you'll spend your first night in the brig.
I'll show you the barracks.
Attention on deck!
Gentlemen...
in 1948, President Truman had the courage and enlightenment...
to desegregate the United States military.
I want you to welcome Bayonne Diving School's first colored trainee...
Boatswain's Mate Second Class Carl Brashear.
I don't hear anyone welcoming Boatswain's Mate Brashear.
Master chief.
No disrespect to the president...
but I don't bunk with niggers.
- Aren't you going to go too? - No.
I' m from Wisconsin.
Never been there.
Rise and shine, Cookie. Time for training.
Are you familiar with the principle of Boyle's Law?
The what?!
I didn't hear your answer!
Come on, Cookie. Get up.
At a constant temperature...
the volume of a confined gas varies conversely with its pressure.
Why is this law important in diving?
I don't know, chief!
That's because you're just some dumb nigger from Podunk.
I know you. Your smell hung in every damn shack I ever lived in.
Your face staring when we had to leave...
because your daddy could farm it cheaper than mine.
He drank himself into a $7 casket, but not 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?
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 was a preacher by the same name who rid Chicago...
of the whoring spics, drunken wops and motherfucking niggers...
who were making that place unfit for decent white folks to live.
The only difference between me and that preacher...
is that he worked for God, and I am God!
Now, the first 10 of you Girl Scouts step forward.
Come on, drop your dicks! Let's go!
Three-quarters of you standing here will fail to become Navy divers.
Three from the first row, step forward.
Step forward!
Of those unfortunates who pass, only three of you will live to retirement.
Because diving is the most dangerous job in the Navy.
So who wants to quit?
Say now, who wants to quit?
You got something to offer?
Who wants to save me the sweat...
of training your sorry ass?
You?
Cookie?
You?
You gonna look me in the eye?
What are you, some broke-dick Popeye?
Let me guess. You were captain of the swim team.
You and your girlfriend used to practice the breaststroke!
Say it like you got a pair!
My wife.
It's in your record. You knocked her up sophomore year.
Maybe you can bring the little woman down one night...
and all the boys can practice the breaststroke.
I heard you were a hell of a swimmer, Snowhill. State champ?
Yes, yes, master chief.
Snowhill, please step forward.
March.
About face.
You let go before I relieve you, you fail my course.
Got it, swim champ?
Swimming don't got dick-shit to do with deep-sea diving.
If Johnny Weissmuller were in the soup wearing a 200-pound diving rig...
he couldn't swim to fuck Esther Williams if she was right there naked.
The only way to survive is to trust each other.
Underwater, all you got is the man next to you.
That's why the only men to get through my course are the very, very best.
Now get out of my sight.
Permission to relieve the man below.
What are you, Cookie? Some kind of goddamn hero?
I got no room for heroes or stuttering swim champs with a wife and kids.
Flunk me. But don't punish him for being decent to me.
You'll flunk all on your own.
Swim champ had half a chance.
He still does. Permission to relieve him.
Says he can hold his breath for 4 minutes.
Ain't even been two.
I believe Gunner's Mate Snowhill's a liar!
We' re men of honor, ain't we? We don't abide liars.
You' re out of my program, Snowhill!
Brashear, you have the barracks to yourself.
Damn!
The Navy diver is not a fighting man but a salvage expert.
If it's lost, 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 200 feet beneath the waves.
That's the closest he'll 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.
Boatswain's Mate Brashear, 37.
- You fail the next test, you' re out. - Yes, sir.
There are seats of learning beyond the walls and control of this camp.
Ladies, this is weekend liberty.
Anyone who ain't back here on time will have to answer to me personally.
And remember: One-night stands may be over by morning...
but syphilis lasts a lifetime.
Dismissed!
Hey! Hey! How about some flowers for your young lady?
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 nursing?
A person doesn't study "on" anything, boatswain's mate.
You know your rates and ranks. Did you get that from these books?
Look, I am 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'll wash out if I fail my next exam.
What's the last grade you completed?
Seventh.
- I can't help you. - Why not?
It took me four years of work to get through med school.
Now I have six weeks to study for my exam.
I pass, I become an intern, maybe someday a doctor.
You' re too far behind. And I don't have the time.
Okay. Go on.
Go read to yourself. Don't give me another thought.
Don't you get it? It doesn't matter if I help you.
- 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 pressure.
It states if a diver holds his breath at 100 feet...
continues holding while rising to 10 feet...
the gases in his lungs increase four times.
Why is this important? Forget to exhale going up, your lungs explode.
I can work with you, but my time is precious.
So the first time you go drinking and fighting and leave me waiting...
our arrangement ends.
Good morning.
I...
have to open up.
What's your name? Or is it 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 9.
Good night.
Fire Controlman Mellegrano, 91.
Mate DuBoyce, 85.
Engineman Crofoot, 69.
Boatswain's Mate Carl Brashear...
76.
Boots, Cookie, square away, ladies. You' re next in the water.
Patch the hull of the training vessel so we can pump her full of air...
and raise her up.
Then we'll sink her and do it again.
What's going on?
He stays down any longer, he'll get mail.
Isert, finish torching that hole.
I'm trying, but this thing's real awkward.
- How's it look? - Looks like hell.
Green diver, you have three minutes to get your patch hung...
before the next team comes. Move your raggedy ass, Isert.
- Red diver. - Yes, master chief.
Goddamn, I've had girlfriends who could weld faster. Move him along.
- Come on, lsert, hang the patch. - Yeah, okay, Rourke. I' m trying.
Do you feel that?
Do I feel what?
What the hell?
This wreck is rolling!
She's limping, chief. We're sliding down.
Can somebody tell me what happened?
Come on! Grab that hose!
- Red diver, what's your situation? - The whole ship just dropped 50 feet.
We landed on something.
Bring them home so we can figure this out.
You're coming home.
Negative on the come-home order. Isert's air hose is tangled.
My air hose is stuck!
Fouled. Now get it unfouled.
Rourke, what's wrong? Why are we moving?
We slipped down the channel bank.
This wreck is alive.
- I have to change out his air hose. - Listen, Rourke...
he's your buddy. Unfoul his line and get him out.
I' m trying, it's too tight. Send down a line.
Help!
- Chief, I need help. - Stay put. Help's on the way.
- l' m ready. - Undress him.
- You can't go down there. - 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 pipes coming from that factory.
They give out, this whole ship's going right to the bottom.
Don 't worry about the boat. Get that hose to Rourke.
- For God's sakes! - What the hell is that, Cookie?
The ship's weight is busting those pipes, chief.
We got to get him on a fresh hose and out of here.
Topside, blue diver is here. He's got a fresh line.
Isert, Rourke will change you out, and you'll walk out of there.
Rourke, he's got five minutes of air if he don't panic.
- You screw up and he's dead, read me? - Yes, master chief.
Isert, we can 't talk for a bit, think of your favorite song...
and I want you to sing it.
I don't know any songs!
You have to slow your respiration. 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 go home now?
I want to quit!
I really want to quit!
I want to quit!
Change him out now!
- She's moving! - Come on, Rourke.
Oh, fuck!
Topside, lsert's off air.
- What is going on? - She's gonna roll over!
I expect so. Now stay there and change that boy out, you hear me?
I' m out of here. I have to get out.
- She's going down. - Come back here!
- Rourke, get back here! - I ain't dying. 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!
- We 're coming home, chief. - Never doubted it.
Machinist's Mate First Class Rourke, front and center.
"The President of the United States...
takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Medal of Heroism...
to Machinist's Mate First Class Dylan Rourke.
Whereby Petty Officer Rourke on the 22nd of September...
of the year 1952...
with disregard for his own life, did save the life...
of Petty Officer Timothy Douglas lsert. "
Post.
Class 0252, dismissed.
Hey, I got your telegram.
No, I got the wire. I got the wire. How's Daddy doing?
Is he up and around again?
Hello?
- Carl, is that you? - Hey, Jo. It's me.
Where are you? Are you okay?
I' m okay. I' m okay.
Listen...
could you meet me?
Miserable son of a bitch, in there drinking on my anniversary.
You' re the one, aren't you?
Well, l' m Gwen...
Sunday.
Sorry to hear that.
You know he'll kick you out of the Navy.
He's gonna kick you out of diving.
What're you gonna do about it?
Let him run you over, 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 girls.
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 you doing with him?
Get out.
Well, I'll be goddamned.
It's prom night at the Moor Bar.
You boys 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 did 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.
- It's my fault. - It's all your fault.
Spoiled little girl gets her kicks dragging stray men in here.
Thinks we're a bunch of rednecks she can shake up for fun.
Hey, Donny...
be a dear lad and bring the lady a fresh soldier.
Think you deserve to be here?
Fraternizing among Navy men?
Think you're as good as them?
And me? You better than me?
Damn right I am.
See this pipe?
General MacArthur himself smoked this pipe.
I served with him at Leyte Gulf.
Biggest naval battle in history.
Kamikaze ripped into an escort carrier, the Saint Lo.
Went down on a shallow reef, trapped me and six boys in the fire room.
- Only one way out. - Flood the compartment, swim up.
Five decks, Cookie. Five fucking decks.
Locked bulkheads. Dead bodies everywhere.
You got to have your balls screwed on tight for that swim.
We still had intercom. Old MacArthur came over that squawk box:
"Sunday, you son of a bitch, I bet you can't hold your breath four minutes...
and swim out of there. " Know what I said?
" No, Mac, I can't...
but I'll bet you your cob pipe I can hold it for five...
because that's what it'll take. "
- This ain't worth it. - Get your hands off me.
Six men are breathing today because I let them out of that room.
Now because you pulled...
Isert's white ass out of some rowboat...
you think you' re better than me?
Well, let's just see.
What's your bet, Cookie?
Put Snowhill back in.
- What do you owe him? - Nothing. You do.
Oh, yeah? Fine.
But if I win, you ship out tonight. Deal?
Deal.
Show him, master chief.
- Will you be my tender? - Yeah.
Go, baby.
Come on now.
Go, Sunday!
Go.
Go, Master Chief Sunday!
One minute, fifteen seconds.
Two minutes, twenty-five seconds.
Ten bucks right here!
Three minutes, ten seconds!
Four minutes.
- Stop it. - Chief?
Rourke, stop it.
Carl, are you okay? Carl?
Chief, are you okay?
- Hold it. - You all right, chief?
I' m okay.
Hold him up.
Let's go!
She tried to drive off the pier.
Get her out of the car.
Today's my wedding anniversary.
Come on, move. Move.
No, not you, Billy.
Not you.
Bastard!
Come on, baby. Let's go home.
- Come on, baby. Let's go home. - Yeah.
Go on home now. Nothing to see here.
Jo.
I can't do this, Carl. I can't live this life again.
I pulled my father out of too many Navy bars.
- You don't know what happened tonight. - Oh, but I do.
I passed my finals.
I'm sorry.
I' m sorry, Jo.
I'm going to be starting my internship at Bellevue.
It'll be crazy. I won't have time to see you.
- lt won't happen again. - Yes, it will.
You wanted to fight that man. You were 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.
Most of what's in those diving books you know better than me.
You don't need me. You don't need anyone.
I love you.
Jo!
Marry me, Jo!
What?
He wants to know if you'll marry him.
Come in.