American Rhetoric: Movie Speech

"We Were Soldiers" (2002)

Lieutenant Colonel Harold "Hal" G. Moore: Address to Field Combat Officers on Fighting as a Family

Audio mp3 delivered by Mel Gibson

Col. Moore: When Crazy Horse was a baby, he nursed from the breasts of every woman in the tribe. The Sioux raise their children that way. Every warrior called every woman in the tribe, "Mother." Every older warrior, they called him "Grandfather."

Now the point here is that they fought as a family.

Take care of your men.

Teach them to take care of each other.

'Cause when this starts [combat against the enemy], "each other" is all we're gonna have.

...

Sgt. Maj. Basil Plumley: Any of you sons-of-bitches calls me "grandpa" --

I'll kill ya.