 If I am captured, I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy. I'm okay, Sarge. How you fix the ammo? I've got syphon clips, no grenades. How hard he may have fought to prevent it, there is always the chance a fighting man may be captured by the enemy. So long as he keeps up the fight, there is no disgrace. But the prison camp is only an extension of the battlefield. Your name's Crane, huh? That's right. I'm putting you on the list. Are there many ahead of me? Some. Look, there's a guard coming. Now listen, be on front of the chow line tonight. I've got a job for you. You're right. Two Americans have escaped. For the enemy, the question now is, did an escape organization set up a mock fight to cover the escape? To get this answer, the interrogators unlimber every weapon. One of the most dangerous and subtle is the offer of parole. Parole. Like a soft, inviting purr. Parole in exchange for certain privileges. A promise he will not try to escape. Again and again the offer is made till the whole camp seems to echo with the beguiling invitation. It's then every man must face up to what it really means. Military personnel of the United States Army are forbidden to give their parole to the enemy. No member of the army can give a parole to the enemy unless he's authorized to give it by a senior officer or the non-common command. When these flatheads offer a parole, they're giving you exactly nothing. You're giving them something. How do you mean, Sarge? When you give them your word of honor, your parole, that you won't try to escape. You're one guy they don't have to worry about. Now multiply you by 10. That's two gods they can send someplace else where they need them worse. Having parolees in a camp makes their job easier in other ways. But even as he talks, the sergeant is worried about one of his men, P. F. C. Crane. Sure, he did his assignment all right. He had started the fight that covered the escape, but in prison camp as elsewhere, a man is known by the company he keeps. Hey, Crane, get away from that fence, will ya? For peace sakes, come on back here, boy. What's the matter? What's up? What's the matter with you? What's the matter with me? Look, you stay away from that fence, will ya? She heard what they said when they brought us in here yesterday. Nuts. What do you want to take a chance on trouble for? Look, they got no true count in their shit. With luck a guy might... You might stir up a hornet's nest. It's not just you in there. What about the rest of us? Listen, I was watching on the way here. About a mile north is a dry riverbed with plenty of brushwood cover. Look, there's bound to be water somewhere along there for canteens. Look, Crane, will you listen to me? You would never make it five miles. Listen, why buy trouble? If they catch you, boy, no telling what they'll do to you. Just play it cool. How would that noise? Look, I heard they could a guy from barracks number two less. All they did was send some 30 days in solitary. You like it here? I'll give it to you. Yeah, but the chance will come. And when it does, I'm going out. Who said anything about liking it here? Well, I said, well, you're taking a chance. But do me a favor and take a walk, will you? I got things to think about. The sergeant has seen Crane's disgust for the parolee. And a few hours later, after Crane's interrogation, any further doubts about him are answered. He offered me a parole if I told him the fight was friend. Instead of I give my word of wanting out to escape, I get plenty of good food and a room all on myself with a stove in it. I told him the fight was strictly on the level, and I should know because I started it. I made a man. He told me to get the hell out. He seemed awful anxious to give me that parole. For the sergeant, although with guards around him, his expression can't show it, a moment of pride in a fellow soldier. For he knows the will to resist is what keeps a man alive until that inevitable, wonderful day. A soldier to resist in the battlefield of the prison camp is the only way to live at peace with his soul and his fellow Americans. And for the parolee, what lies ahead now? The enemy has used him, discarded him, and there is no pension plan for collaborators. He deserves the scornful eyes of other men who had the will to resist, who were ingrained with the spirit of the soldier's creed. If I am captured, I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy. I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender my men while they still have the means to resist. I just know I'm never going to get out of this alive. What kind of crazy talk is that? You're flipping your letter something, kid? We're almost all out of ammo. What are we going to do if they attack again? We're going to get captured for sure. Well, ain't nobody in this hole going to get captured. If we run out of ammo, we'll fight those crud with our rifle butts. You can say that again, Debrowski. Nobody in this whole company is going to be captured, kid. Don't worry, the old man knows what he's doing. We're going to get out of this all right. What did I tell you, kid? You got much ammo left? We got nine clips between us. How about grenades? Refresh out. It's all I can let you have. Make them count. Don't worry. We will. Won't we, kid? Damn right we will. I understand he's to hold his fire until I give a signal. Yes, sir. Up to sea concerns the men of the Third Platoon and what they did in their moment of truth. As soon as they lift his head... For some members of the Third Platoon, the going is tougher. Between them and the reserves to the south flows a slow-moving but treacherous river. A soldier hates the idea of parting company from his weapon. For without his rifle, he is nothing. But now the big thing is to stay alive to fight again. And he makes sure to hide his gear so it won't do the enemy any good. Each man is on his own. Each man making his way to the reserves as best he can. The Sergeant. The old pro of a soldier who knows he's going to make it. And the youngster who has forgotten his fear by now. But on his mind, even as he reaches the lines as the question, how about his young friend? Did he measure up? Was he going to make it too? What comes sliding into your mind at a time like this? A siren call. Surrender? Give up? Live it out in an enemy prison camp? But the approaching steps of the enemy play a tune that washes over that call. A tune with a heartbeat that stirs and fires the blood of the American soldier. A heartbeat that lays it on the line. I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender my men while they still have the means to resist. If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information, nor take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am a senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way. For those who were involved, it's always the ticking of a certain clock that comes to mind when they think about the prison camp, even though the whole thing started when Sergeant Martin called them over. From here on in, we're really going to get the business. Because if they don't know already, they soon will that Johnson and Whitaker have escaped. They knew, of course, had they not helped? They also knew the greater challenge lay ahead. The two who had escaped needed 48 hours to make the border. Their job? To give their two buddies that 48 hours. They won't find out. They're sure going to give it a try. Okay, fellas. Now, this is it. Remember what I said. Two men from this barracks are missing. But I think that they will get far, however. You have accomplished nothing, but to make trouble for yourselves. The enemy's campaign was started. They had 48 hours to go to hold out. We will find out how this was done. And who organized it? First man up, P. F. C. Brown. Ordered, served up on a platter, the members of the escape organization. Sure you don't want a cigarette? They're American. The recipe, sweetness and light. Then, if nothing starts to rise, bring to a boil. Listen, kid. I will have those wings. Have you experienced solitary confinement? What? I promise you will not forget it. 40 hours to go. The men here that Brown has been placed in the hole. How long will they keep? Until they're satisfied they're wasting their time. Which they are. How about Novak? Any word yet? He's still up there. Novak, that's better. You really must run to him. 31 hours to go. Now, once again, who are the members of the escape organization? Keep your eyes on me. Who are the men Novak? You could have you not to answer. Someone will. Why not you? Novak, on a real day. 21 hours to go. How would you like to move into better quarters? With time racing past, the Inquisitor pulls out all stops on Corporal Blake. Did you know that the village below posts many attractive young girls? Many a progressive prisoner has spent a pleasant evening in the village with an intelligent man, more intelligent than most of your men. Can't you see that you will harm no one by telling us something that we will find out anyway? You see, I'm not angry. Return to your barracks. I've never been in the hole, yet. You wouldn't like it. Stinks. No plumbing, you know? No room for plumbing. That interrogator's no dope. He trained for the job. But you fellas played it smart by not trying to play it smart. Just sit there like a dope with your mouth shut. That's the best bet. I, uh... I think they're saving me for dessert. 17 hours to go. You will come to understand, prisoner Martin, that every man of us on the People's Army is a friend of the American worker. We are not against Americans. You could do much more to help your fellow prisoners to better living conditions here in the camp, you know? If you help to disband such groups as this escape organization, such groups do no good and only create trouble for the camp population as a whole. You could do much good for everyone here. Look at it in that way. I can promise that neither you nor anyone else will be punished for any past activities in such an organization. If it is disbanded and we can be sure that it will operate no longer. What do you say? Down, Martin. At your feet. You will stand at attention until you answer my questions. And if one of your feet moves outside my little circle, I will have the guard put a bayonet point through it. Now, Martin, you are a member of the organization for escape. Is that not true? But not before that goon of his gave me a couple of souvenirs with this bayonet. Is there anything yet on Johnson and Whitaker? No, no word yet. Save that time to make it to the border by now. We're gonna be okay. We just keep on sticking together. Because if we do, we'll come through this with a body and a conscience in one piece. And later on, when they thought about it, they thought of the clock in that airless, tension-filled room where the questions had come again and again. They would keep silent and keep faith. The unquenchable heartbeat of their will to live. Keep faith. Keep faith. With my fellow prisoners, I will give no information nor take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am a senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and back them up in every way.