Beau Carter

Captain **Beau Carter** is an officer of the U.S Army.

Captain Carter is is a veteran commando and the General Clark needs him to accomplish a risky mission for him. He needs to capture a roadway over a dam some 50 miles into German-held territory so that his 3rd Regiment can advance more quickly. The General tells Carter that B Company is the closest unit, and thus the only hope to take the dam before the Germans blow it up themselves to stall the advance. B Company, an all black company who are more used to digging ditches and latrines than any actual fighting.

Carter is parachuted into the area where B Company is and is taken to meet the platoon commander, Lieutenant Edward Wallace. Carter learns that the troops he has been given command of are all black troops and he and Wallace don't get along from the start.

Carter is stuck with these men, however, and is determined to accomplish his mission with the cards he has been dealt. Wallace tells him that he gets his orders from General Smythe, but Carter tells him that General Clark has new orders for them. His plan is to march to the dam, stopping at a farmhouse along the way to make contact with a member of the local resistance. Carter demands that Wallace get him six volunteers to go with him and Wallace on the mission.
As the the team make there way behind German lines they are attacked by a Luftwaffe plane, with Private "Fuzzy" being shot and killed as the plane strafes them. Carter tells the team that there's no time to bury him to which Wallace replies, "Would there be time if he was white?". So they leave Fuzzy there on the road and walk on.

After some time they eventually reach the farmhouse and make contact with a German woman named Anna, their contact for this mission. Anna is a war widow, her husband having gone off to fight and die for the Fuhrer. She has been disillusioned by this and has turned into an allied spy.

Anna has a radio and with it Carter is to contact his superiors to get an update on his orders. Wallace and Anna talk alone in the kitchen, Wallace opening up to her about his bad lot in life. Anna feels sympathy for him and she consoles him with a hug as Carter enters the room. Carter instinctively assumes that Wallace is attempting to bespoil the virtue of this fine white woman and there's a confrontation. It's Anna who ends it, by slapping Carter and calling him a racist moron. Wallace storms out raging. Seeing the error in his assumption, Carter makes an effort to apologize to Wallace.

A German patrol drives up suddenly, forcing the soldiers to hunker down in the barn. The patrol is five soldiers and an officer in a Kubelwagen and a motorcycle-sidecar combo. Even though the German soldiers make no moves to check the barn, the men are starting to crack under the pressure. Private Lewis wants to charge out guns blazing, Private Jonathan Crunk wants to run out the back and hide. It's Wallace who calms them, even to the point of threatening to shoot them himself, and orders them to wait for Carter. Captain Carter returns soon and they all sneak out the back door and head away north.

On the night march to the winery, Crunk begins to crack under the strain. He begins to see Nazis in every treetop and eventually starts babbling and empties a clip of bullets into the trees. Carter disarms him and Crunk cowers behind a log whimpering and crying. Carter wants to just leave him there, but "Big" Jim, who is Crunk's best friend, manages to talk him out of it. "Big" Jim tells Crunk that if he chickens out now, then The White Man will always think of The Black Man as cowards. Crunk gathers up some inner strength and continues on with the group.

They reach the winery next without further incident, which is 12 miles north of the farmhouse. The winery is abandoned and run down, and they believe no one is there. But there is a man sneaking around the winery, watching the Americans with binoculars. He isn't a German soldier as he's not in a uniform. He has a rifle and he then goes to a hiding place in a tower.

As the dam is so close, Carter orders Lewis and George "Doc" Hayes to go on a little recon of the dam while the others rest up. Suddenly a shot rings out and "Big" Jim is hit. He goes down, clutching a nasty chest wound. The man who watching the Americans has shot "Big" Jim from the top of a tower with his rifle. The man climbs down and starts running around to change position but he eventually runs into Wallace, who stands there with pistol drawn. The man makes a lunge for his rifle, and Wallace hesitates. Fortunately, Carter is there to gun the man down with a shot from his .45. Wallace is shaken as this is the first time that Wallace has had to face death in combat.

"Doc" and Lewis are still out on their recon. They find the dam and settle down to watch. They're concerned to see that the dam is defended by a group of German soldiers. They're also very concerned to see that they are currently wiring the dam with explosives. With their recon accomplished, Lewis and "Doc" turn to head back to the winery, when suddenly they walk into a minefield and there is an explosion.

Back at the winery, Carter is concerned that his recon team is overdue. He's getting ready to go on without them when a cry sounds out. "Doc" comes stumbling back to the winery, alive, but badly injured, Lewis was killed by the mine. "Doc" tells the story of the mine incident and the German dispositions on the dam and the explosives. It's clear that they have to act soon or risk loosing the dam for good. "Doc" is unable to travel, so they quickly treat his wounds and leave him there for now. With time now at a premium, they head off to the dam to save it. Crunk takes the opportunity slips off unseen, the rest of the men believing he as acted as a coward and has deserted. Carter now only has himself, Wallace and Private George Brightman left of his team and he has no chioce but to carry on with the mission.

The three of them make the hike north and stop to observe the dam from up on a ridge. There are two light trucks, a Kubelwagon and a motorcycle down below, with around fourteen of German soldiers milling around. They can see that the dam has already been wired with explosives, and the plunger is on the flatbed of one of the trucks. As they continue to watch, a horse-drawn cart of straw approaches the checkpoint. As the wagon rolls across the dam, we see a man slide out of the hay unseen and dash to hide behind a vehicle and they realise it is Crunk.

Crunk spies the plunger detonator in the truck and dashes for it. He cracks one German in the head with his rifle butt and then shoots two more dead with his Carbine. This stars a furious gun battle as the rest of the Germans charge him. The officer takes aim with a pistol and hits Crunk in the right shoulder and left leg, down he goes, hurt but not dead. Carter, Wallce and Brightman make there way down the hill firing as they go. Brightman is first down the hill, firing like crazy to draw the Germans' attention away from the wounded Crunk. Firing wildly from the hip, Brightman kills the officer and two soldiers. The distraction allows Crunk to crawl to the railing and toss the detonator plunger over the edge. Carter and Wallace take cover behind the Kubelwagen and Brightman runs out of ammo and is shot and killed by the remaining Germans. Carter and Wallace get into the Kubelwagen and drive along the bridge with Carter firing at and killing the Germans. One of the German trucks comes barreling down the road towards them. Carter shoots the driver and the truck slews to a stop. With all the Germans now dead, They tend to Crunk, who tells them that he was running away when he saw the hay wagon. At that moment, he had to make the choice to "be something, or be a nothing". It isn't long before the leading elements of the 3rd Regiment arrive, four big trucks and some jeeps pass by, one of them notably draped with a Confederate flag. Some of the soldiers toss insults at the two black men. One even hurls a shovel at their feet, telling them to go "dig some latrines, boy". Wallace and Crunk take it with stoic resignation, they've heard it all many times before, though Crunk starts to cry a bit out of pain. Finally, a medic jeep rolls by and they pull it over. Crunk is loaded in the jeep and driven off.

## Gallery

Beau Carter and Edward Wallace.Crunk and Carter.Wallace, Carter and Lewis.Carter, Jim, Crunk and Brightman.Beau Carter and Lewis.Beau Carter, Edward Wallace, and Anna Renvic.George Hayes and Beau Carter.Anna Renic and Beau Carter.