MAN: There's something I wanna tell you. (MUFFLED GUNFIRE) After I got shot, you wanna know the very first thing that entered my mind before I blacked out? Coins. I'm eight years old again on a tour of the US Mint. I'm listening to a guide explain how coins are made. How they're punched out of sheet metal. How they're rimmed and bevelled. How they are stamped and cleaned. And how each and every batch of coins are personally examined just in case any have slipped through with the slightest imperfection. That's what popped into my head. I am a coin in the United States Army. (INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE) I was minted in the year 1980. I've been punched from sheet metal. I've been stamped and cleaned. My ridges have been rimmed and bevelled. But now I have two small holes in me. I'm no longer in perfect condition. So there's something else I wanna tell you. Right before everything went black, you wanna know the very last thing that entered my mind? You. WOMAN: Why not? Because there are a lot of things we could be doing. Just like playing tennis. Wimbledon? I don't know. (ALL SPEAK) Just gonna go. I'm gonna host the thing. 6:30. And you and I could, like, go at 10:00. Oh, shit! I'm so sorry. Oh, no, Randy, no! I'm sorry. I'm... I'll get it, I'll get it, I'll get it. I'm on it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. OK? I'm on it. My whole life is in that bag. I got it. I got it. (GASPS) You got it. Dude. I was gonna get that. Yes, uh... I mean, thanks for jumping in. Yeah, no problem. But I mean, hey, I'll take it. Thank you so much! Who jumps off a 20-foot pier? Wow. Ugh. Gosh, a mess. You are a lifesaver. I'm Savannah. John. John. Brave man. Uh, this is my life in here, so I owe... I owe you. Don't worry about it. Nice to meet you, John. Nice to meet you too. Y'all have a good night. Yeah, thanks. I was in the water for that. I was seriously getting it for you. This guy's crazy. JOHN: Yeah, no, I swear I'm not... I'm not stalking you. I just gotta get my board. SAVANNAH: Um, are you staying here? JOHN: Yeah, I'm from around here. SAVANNAH: Hey, John, do you want to...? My house is right over there. We were actually going back right now. Do you want to join us? We're just gonna have a barbecue. No, it's OK. I don't want to, you know, intrude on y'all. My dad's making dinner, so... OK. Well, I could at least give you a beer for the walk home. (CHUCKLES) Where is it? Right over there. (LAUGHS) (CHUCKLES) (PEOPLE LAUGH AND CHAT) You in the military or something? Yeah. Really? Mm-hm. What branch are you in? Army, Special Forces. Oh, Special Forces. That's, uh... That's impressive. That's... Is that like a Special Forces ring they give you? Is that what it says on it? It looks nice on you. Aren't you supposed to be wearing a hat too? Like a French hat, a beret. Right? That's what it's called? SAVANNAH: Randy. Randy? What? I'm just joking with him. You shouldn't make fun of a guy who can kill you with his bare hands. Oh-ho! Ooh. Ooh! Big guy. Rock them, sock them, let's go. How about that? I'm gonna go get a beer. Soldier. Pleasure. (BOTH CHUCKLE) I'm sorry about him. He thinks he likes me. Yeah, I think he likes you too. No, I'm not his type. He just doesn't know it yet. Mm-hm. What? Come on, I just think you're probably everybody's type. (BOY IMITATES EXPLOSION) Whoa! See what I mean? Is this who I think it is? Alan, Alan. Whoa! Hey, buddy, I want you to meet my friend John. John, this is Alan. Alan, nice to meet you. Say hi. He's a little bit shy, isn't he? Hey, where's your dad? Over there. MAN: Two steps behind, as usual. Sorry, he's like a heat-seeking missile every time he sees you. Oh, hey, I'm Tim. JOHN: John. SAVANNAH: Sorry. JOHN: Nice to meet you. TIM: Oh, you Special Forces, huh? JOHN: Uh, yes, sir. ALAN: Vroom! Vroom! You, uh, stationed out at Fort Bragg? No, uh, Germany, actually. Oh, you're on leave. Yes, sir. Oh. Well, I hope you're enjoying yourself. Yeah, uh, I think I am. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. it's nice to meet you though. Nice to meet you too. Come on, son. Let's go. Let's go. Hello. Hello, John. Hello, Alan. Wow, that was really amazing. Yeah? He never talks to anybody. Only his family. He talked to you. Yeah, but I'm practically his family. I've known him since he was born. Yeah? When do you go back? Two weeks. It must be scary what you do. Boring mostly. You know, long stretches of boring. Occasional flashes of scary. Full moon tonight. Do you ever notice how big the moon is when it's rising? And how little it gets when it's up in the sky. You know, that's just your perspective. It actually doesn't matter where it is in the sky or where you are in the world if you hold your hand up, close one of your eyes. it's never bigger than your thumb. (CHUCKLES) SAVANNAH: Where'd you learn that? I don't know. Somewhere. JOHN: Yeah. SAVANNAH: Wow. You just... You just made your own fire. That's very impressive. Very primal. But you're still not gonna be able to cook that hotdog, I fear. I fear that as well. I should probably be getting going anyways. I'm sorry. I hope you don't get into, um, too much trouble. I think it's probably too late for that. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. No, you're welcome. Would you wanna maybe do this again tomorrow night? Tomorrow night is chicken, and I don't think you're gonna wanna try it. Yeah, I was kind of hoping maybe we'd let somebody else do the cooking, type of thing. OK. Yeah? So maybe I'll come by around, uh, 6:00 or something? OK. Alright. Ah! Whoa. (GRUNTS) So I'll see you soon, then? I'll see you soon, then. Yeah. Soon. (VEHICLE APPROACHES) TIM: Hey. Hey, man. We're headed into town for some ice-cream. You want a ride? No, no, no, it's fine. I don't mind walking at all. it's fine. (CHUCKLES) You sure? ALAN: Vroom, vroom! Alright. I appreciate it. Yeah. Hey, Alan, move on over here. Here, I'll undo your belt. ALAN: Five, six, seven, eight... So how long y'all in town for? ..nine... Oh, we live here year-round now. ..ten! Yeah, we were driving down every weekend anyways, so I finally just convinced my wife this just made the most sense. JOHN: Mm. She didn't want ice-cream? TIM: Who? Oh, my wife? Mm-hm. Uh, no. No, actually, she's on vacation herself. White sheep, white sheep, white sheep. It's kind of difficult to take trips together. It's fine. We make it work. (HUMS) I'm up here on the left. TIM: Hey, uh, John. For the record, if you do anything to hurt Savannah, I'm gonna have to break something. Something in your leg. Some... One of the bones in there. (CHUCKLES) OK. It's just I know her father, and he would expect me to say something like that. It'd just sound a lot more natural coming out of his mouth. It sounded fine. It sounded fine. No, it... Yes, it did. No, it didn't. It did. It really did. It didn't. But thank you. ALAN: It really did. TIM: You think so? ALAN: Yeah, it did. TIM: OK. (TIM AND ALAN CHUCKLE) (HORN HONKS) TIM: Hey, don't honk the horn. It's night time. ALAN: Vroom, vroom! TIM: Goodnight, John. JOHN: Goodnight, Tim. (ENGINE STARTS) Thanks for the ride. Yeah, no problem. (TIMER DINGS) Hey, Dad, I'm not, uh, gonna be able to stay for dinner. Well, I made lasagne. I know you made lasagne. It's Sunday. Um... Can I borrow the car? Thanks. Best seafood you'll ever have. Yeah, I know. I used to come here all the time. Really? Are you sure you don't wanna go somewhere, I don't know, nice? Nice? No, I wanna go somewhere good. OK. What the hell you doing here? Come on, Steve. It's been three years already. I don't want any trouble here. You're not gonna get any. I promise. Alright. Thank you. What happened with that guy out there? What guy? What's the story with him? No story. Really? Yeah. He's an old buddy of mine. What? (CHUCKLES) Your dad get mad at you for coming home late last night? No. Uh-uh. He's not really the type that gets mad. What kind of guy is he then? Um... Quiet one? Could be worse, I guess. I guess. And your mom? Nope, just me and my dad. Did he raise you all by himself? Yeah. Why do you wanna know so much about my dad? Just curious. Curious about where you come from. I wanna meet your dad. Tonight. JOHN: Look, you're... You're not gonna get very much out of him. So, I don't know, just don't take it personally, OK? Hey, Pop. I got somebody I want you to meet. SAVANNAH: Hey. JOHN: This is Savannah. Hi. It's nice to meet you, Mr Tyree. Um... Hmm. Wow. Wow. He... This is my... He collects coins. He, um... It's kind of like his big hobby. This is amazing. You have so many coins. How did you get started in all this? Uh... Uh... Through John, actually. But it's not his thing anymore. Hey, you know what? We should probably maybe go. What is this coin? Uh... That's a... That's a Sacagawean mule. It's actually... Wow, it's a mule. Do you want to see some more? Absolutely, yes, if you don't mind. Put this, uh, glove on, then. Thanks. This is a humorous one. This is a satirical coin. This is massive. Yeah, William Jennings Bryan, when he ran for president, he was... He believed in... No, don't turn it over. Leave it here. Do you remember that he had the free silver policy? You remember. Oh. And McKinley was his opponent and he's... Wait, here. Now, see, that's a real silver dollar. That's the size of a silver dollar. Wow. And McKinley said that... That's so weird. ..if Bryan had his way, then the silver dollars would be that big. Yeah. That's amazing. Can you imagine... No. ..walking around with that in your pocket? (LAUGHS) That's really funny. That's humorous. Now, these... Pop, we can't do this right now. I gotta... We can't be here all night. I have... I have some to show you. This is fascinating. These are all matched in colour. Oh, wow! I had fun tonight. I like your dad. You shouldn't be too hard on him. He loves you. I can tell even if you can't. Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Wait, Savannah. I mean... So I guess I'll see you soon, then? I'll see you soon, then. Where you been all day? I've been busy. You're on spring break. You're supposed to be lounging on the beach all day. You're not supposed to be busy doing things. I want to show you something. SAVANNAH: The family that lived here, their home was severely damaged by the hurricane. JOHN: What, so now you're rebuilding it? Yup. Well, not just me. You're starting to make me a little nervous. Why am I starting to make you nervous? Because I'm starting to think you might be too good of a person for me. Oh. No, I'm not that good of a person. You're sneaking off every day to do manual labour on a house for charity. On your spring break. Yeah, you're right. It's selfish, really, me being this generous. But no, seriously. You don't drink, you don't smoke. Nope. Nope. You probably don't sleep around. Absolutely not. Mm. OK, look, you gotta have a fault. Come on. I do. OK, care to enlighten me? I curse. No. I do. No, you don't. Yes, I do. I haven't heard you. That's because it's in my mind. There's a never-ending stream of curse words that I'm thinking at all times. OK, fine, just say one, then. No, I can't tell you because it's filthy. Right. Yeah. OK, alright. Fair enough. No, I have faults, John. Trust me, I have plenty of them. You'll see. I hope so. SAVANNAH: We have to be finished with this entire house in three weeks. Hope that actually happens. Um, these are gonna be the bedrooms, the parents' room, the boys' rooms, two boys, 7 and 9. Uh, living room and the bathroom. And then this is the kitchen. (THUNDER RUMBLES) This is the best room because the mom's a really good cook. We're gonna make it really beautiful with white tile floors and tiles on the countertops... (RAIN POURS) ..and there's gonna be a roof. Ah! (LAUGHS) Here, John, come here. A roof would definitely be good. It's gonna be like this, but it's gonna be everywhere. It's the only cover we have. Nice. We're gonna be here for a while. Where'd you get your scar? Hmm? That one? Oh. Um... A knife fight. It was five years ago, we were really drunk and the guy went for my eye. That's terrible. Why? He missed. (CHUCKLES) The way people act around you, the way they treated you at that restaurant... it's like they're scared of you. They're not scared of me. They might be scared of who I used to be. And who is that? Somebody different? So when did you change? When you went into the Army? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, partly, yeah. And the other part? I don't know, I'm still working on that. So you used to be tough. (CHUCKLES) And maybe you still are a little bit. Mm-hm. You don't scare me, John. No? Hm-mm. Hm-mm? Well, you scare me. SONG: # Been up all night # Staring at you # Wondering what's on your mind # I've been this way with so many before # But this feels like the first time # You want the sunrise to go back to bed # I want to make you laugh # Mess up my bed with me # Kick off the covers # I'm waiting # Every word you say I think I should write it down # I don't want to forget come daylight # Happy to lay here Just happy to be here # I'm happy to know you # And no need to wonder what's been on my mind... # (LAUGHS) (SAVANNAH SINGS) # all night lingers # In happy songs # In happy songs # To light the night # To help us grow # To help us grow # To help us grow... # Don't worry about him. # I love this house # But it's haunted... # (SAVANNAH SQUEALS) # ..without you... # SAVANNAH: John! (SAVANNAH SCREAMS AND LAUGHS) (BOTH LAUGH) JOHN: Huh. Oh! You think you're safe in there? OK. (LAUGHS) (SCREAMS AND LAUGHS) No! (LAUGHS) John! # I always know # I always know # I always know... # (PEOPLE CHEER) It's alright. Everybody understands. (SINGS) Oh! Wow. What are you doing over here? Hmm? Somebody's missing the party. The party's just managing fine without me. What's wrong? Hmm? Why are you all the way over here by yourself? I'm dying, John. What? That's not even funny. (SIGHS) I'm gonna miss you. It's almost over. No, it's not almost over. Yes, it is. Uh-uh. I leave tomorrow. I have to go back to school. So? And you. No, and me nothing. My commitment's up in 12 months. And then I'm back. For good. A lot can happen in 12 months, John. You don't think I know that? I know that. And I'm not afraid at all. I promise you that it'll all be over sooner than you think. Then I'll be back for good. You promise? I promise. (PEOPLE LAUGH AND CHAT) I'm probably gonna be out of the Army way before you're out of school. Am I gonna be in the audience when you graduate? Oh, I think I might take a little longer to graduate. Been spending so much time around your dad, and I think now I want to teach special education. You don't say. I don't know why it's taken me so long to realise. I mean, I've lived next to Alan my whole life... Wait, I'm sorry, back up. What does that have to do with my dad? Um... Well, there's... I mean, there's an explanation for why he is the way he is. Forget it. Never mind. No, no, no. No, let's go. Come here. What? So, just, what were you saying? Um... (SIGHS) I grew up next to a kid with autism. I kind of have a frame of reference. Whoa, whoa, whoa, autistic? You saying my dad's like Alan? You're saying my dad's retarded or something? No, Alan's not retarded, John. He's autistic. And there are milder forms of it, and these things go undiagnosed. Is this what you've been doing? This entire time you've just been studying my dad? No. How could you even say that? I've lived with my dad my entire life. I've put up with him my entire life. You think I don't know that he's not normal? Yeah? You think I need you to tell me he's not normal? Yeah. RANDY: Hey, soldier, leaving so soon, huh? Here, have a beer. It's on me. Come on, you should drink that. It'll make you feel better. Now's not a good time, alright? You a little sad? No, come on. You need to relax, OK? Come on. Just relax a little bit. Look, how about just...? What's going on with Savannah? Just leave me alone, alright? What's going on with Savannah? How about you get your hands off me? Come on, soldier. What is happening with you and Sav...? Hey, man, what are you doing? John! WOMAN: Oh, my... Oh, my God! John! WOMAN: Stop him. What is he doing? WOMAN: Help him! Oh, I'm so sorry. (GROANS) (KNOCKING) (KNOCKING) I don't think she's home now. But she hasn't gone back to school yet. She normally comes by and says goodbye before she heads back, but... Oh, shit, Tim. Jesus, I'm sorry, man. Hey, I like it. I think it makes me look pretty tough. I just... I had no idea it was you back there. Hey, it was my fault. I don't know what I was thinking, sneaking up behind an angry green beret like that. Hey, if you see her, can you give her a message for me? Yeah. Just tell her I came by and that I... You wanna write it down? Yeah. I'll make sure she gets it. Thank you. (TIMER DINGS) Hey, Pop. Uh... I didn't know if anyone else was coming, so I made double. No, I'll do it. I got it, Dad. it's OK. I got it. No, I'll do it. They're clean, Pop. I'll do it. I'll do it. OK. Looks like you're gonna have leftovers for once. Oh, I'll have it next Sunday. (CAR APPROACHES) Excuse me, Pop. Got your note. Short, sweet, to the point. I'm sorry. John, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel that way. I have no idea what I'm talking about. I had no business pretending I'm a doctor. I was watching him today. John. Please, I'm serious. I don't know what I'm talking about. I really don't. It means nothing. OK? I'm headed back to school. And I just wanted to make sure that, you know... Make sure that what? I made you a promise, didn't I? Yeah. Um, you wrote your first note, so I wrote mine. (CHUCKLES) Don't read it now. Wait till I'm gone. OK. Hey, can you...? You hungry? Yes. Yeah? My dad made a little extra for you. You know, it's Sunday. OK. I can only stay for a little while. I know. Come on. SAVANNAH: Dear John, two weeks together, that's all it took. Two weeks for me to fall in love with you. (SOFT MUSIC PLAYS) Now we have one year apart. But what's one year apart after two weeks like that together? Alright, Pop. OK. I gotta go. Um... You be good, OK? OK. So... Good. Alright. See you later. OK. SAVANNAH: You made me a promise. A promise I know you'll keep. So I only want one more promise from you during this time we spend apart. Tell me everything. Write it all down, John. Scribble it in a notebook. Type it out, email it to me. I don't care, but I wanna know everything. And that way we'll be with each other all the time, even if we're not with each other at all. That way before we know it, I'll see you soon, then. What's up, girls? Johnny! Whoa. What up, man? Hey, there he is. Look who it is. Welcome back, John. How are you, man? Welcome back. Take a look at your voucher. Alright. How was Atlantic City, man? (ALL LAUGH) No, laugh it up. That's great. Yeah. One thing I asked him. I didn't say a word. This is the first time I've seen him. You wouldn't ask if you didn't know. How could he know? MAN: Don't even bother unpacking, guys. We move out bright and early. Enjoy. Well, I'm excited. JOHN: Dear Savannah, I promise. I promise I'll see you soon, then. I promise I'll write all the time. I promise I'll tell you everything. Be patient with me, it may take a while for these letters to get back to you. We've already been deployed out on a mission. Come on, soldier, move it, move it. Let's go! The problem is we can't exactly use the local postal system here. And there's no such thing as internet connection. So I have to send everything from here out by airmail. Can you get this out for me? Yeah. Yeah. Don't lose it, alright? Yeah, I gotcha. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to say exactly where here is. So all I can tell you is that the place that we've been sent makes me miss America very much. And the lack of anything resembling an ocean makes me miss Charleston. And everything around me makes me miss you. We move around a lot. So letters tend to come late and out of order. We may want to number our letters from here on out, though, just so we know which order we wrote them in. But when they do finally get here, it's a good day. Whenever they don't... Alright, let's see here. Not for me. Not for me. Not for me. And not for me. Figures. JOHN: ..it's not. Sorry, dude. Nothing for you either. But I know they'll still come. I know it. That's right. SAVANNAH: Letter Number 8. Dear John, I'm back at my parents' farm for the weekend. And they have some house guests you may know. ALAN: Savannah! Savannah! I think that horse suits you just fine. I took Alan out riding with me today. It was his first time on a horse. You're looking good on that horse, Alan. You've heard of horse sense, how horses are somehow able to sense danger? Sense out evil? Well, I think autistic kids have that too, so I had this idea. This dream. I wanna open up a summer camp for autistic kids. I've never seen him act like this before. ALAN: Are you hungry? A place where they can ride horses as much as they want. Are you hungry? For at least once in their life, a place where they won't have to worry about a thing. What do you think? Pipe dream, huh? JOHN: No, it's not a pipe dream. It's a perfect dream. Erget. Merry Christmas. John, to a Mr John Tyree. Shut up, man. Seven? Stop playing around. Can I keep this one? JOHN: Letter Number 33. Dear Savannah, the good news is we've been sent somewhere new. Although I can't tell you where that is either. The bad news is, this place actually makes me miss the old place. But it's a full moon here tonight, which makes me think of you. Because I know that no matter what I'm doing, no matter where I am, this moon will always be the same size as yours. Half a world away. SAVANNAH: Dear John, most nights I fall asleep worrying about you. Wondering where you may be out there. Not tonight. Tonight you're here with me. I visited your dad yesterday. Summer's almost over, and I wanted to see him before I went back to school. I hope that's OK. Hey. I made you a pie. He made me dinner. It was Sunday, so we had lasagne. And I got him talking about his coins. So we had plenty of conversation. This one is kind of a cull, a coin that's in really bad shape. Worthless to most collectors. But not to you. No, not to me. What is your favourite coin? Out of all the coins that you have, what is your absolute favourite coin? Do you have one? '78 Jefferson mule. Wow. That'd be my favourite. Definitely. Why? Is it worth the most? Well, it's worth a lot, not the most. But, you know... What's the story behind it? Um... Now, here's one... So I'll ask you instead, John, wherever you may be. JOHN: Dear Savannah, only because I promised to tell you everything. Thank you. When I was 7 years old, I bought an ice-cream cone. On the way home, I noticed one of the pennies wasn't actually a penny. I don't know. (CHUCKLES) I don't know. Never seen anything like it. Did you find this, son? Huh? Yeah? No, it's a mule. It's a what? A mule. An error coin. Every now and then they make a mistake, batch accidentally slips through, this thing, head's a nickel, tail's a penny, thing's a mule. Really more of a novelty than anything. JOHN: Remember the horse sense you were talking about? I tell you what, since the kid found it, I will buy it anyway. 20 bucks. Huh? No, thank you. Well, my dad has it too. Now, wait a minute. Hang on. Hey, sir. Sir, let me take another look at that real quick. John, let's go. I'll be damned. Do you know what this is? No. Look at that. That's your coin. You want my advice? Dad to Dad? Keep it. Hold on to it. Pass it down to your son. Let him pass it down to his son and on and on and on, and I'll tell you what, 30, 40, 100 years from now... ..you're gonna have something worth a whole lot more than $4,000. I promise you. Hey. Do you want to keep it? (SHOP OWNER CHUCKLES) Good for you. Thank you. Thank you. JOHN: At first I loved chasing after those mules with my father. We finally had something to talk about. You know, something we could do together. But he became obsessed with them. You know how he is. And then I became a teenager, and you know how I am. All the way up to Wooster for another coin show. I'm just... No, I'm not doing that. You're going to one every weekend now. Oh, that's good. I love warm milk. That's nice. You spend all of our money on coins. Get a fricking fridge that works. Eventually he stopped talking about coins with me altogether. And then when that happened, we found there wasn't all that much left to talk about. (ROCK MUSIC PLAYS ON STEREO) So that's the story. I miss you so much it hurts. Sorry, sorry. (MOBILE PHONES RING) GIRL: Oh, my God. My brother was in the Towers. BOY: I love you too, babe. Please call me as soon as you can. (STUDENTS TALK AND SOB) BOY: Susan. Susan, is my dad there? BOY: Just calm down. (MAN ON TV SPEAKS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) Alright, fellas, here's the deal. Requesting permission to extend my tour, sir. Requesting permission to extend as well, sir. Requesting permission to extend as well, sir. OK, guys, listen. We're gonna get our orders from Operations on Monday. So before we do anything rash, let's take the weekend to mull this all over, alright? I got a wife and kids to think about here. Nobody's asking you to stay on too, Captain. Yeah, you are. This is my team. Where you go, I go. Where we go, we all go. If everyone still wants to extend on Monday, then we'll do it. Together. Y'all don't get into trouble over there. Take care of yourself. Always. Yo, let's go, man. The plane to Paris leaves in an hour. You ready? Are you ready? It's gonna be amazing. I can't go. What are you talking about? Of course you're going. I can't go to Paris. I gotta go to Charleston. You're going to Charleston? Yup. Dude, what are you, nuts? We got two days off, man. By the time you fly there and back, you'll have 18 hours on the ground, tops. It's 18 more than I had this morning. I don't know when I'll get that again, so I gotta go. Alright, man. Nothing I can say to change your mind? Nope. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) I'm going to have one side of my face have laser skin resurfacing and the other side L'Oreal Revitalift Laser creamed, and we'll see if the results compare. I actually feel my skin looks much, much better than it did four weeks ago on both sides. You can get similar results without the pain. Revitalift Laser, from L'Oreal Paris. Nope. SAVANNAH: John! John. John. # Been up all night staring at you # Wondering what's on your mind # I've been this way with so many before # But this feels like the first time # You want the sunrise to go back to bed # And I want to make you laugh # You made it back to sleep again # Wonder what you'll dream of. # You sure he...? He actually said that? He wants to come? (CHUCKLES) I think he will. He wasn't so sure about it, but... Yeah, I'll bet he wasn't. MAN ON TV: ..has asked President Bush to activate thousands of military reservists. Hey, Pop! Hey, what are you doing in here? Look at you. Wow. Spiffy. Are you coming with us? Please? My parents are so excited to meet you, Mr Tyree. Yeah. Uh... (TIMER DINGS) You hungry? I made meatloaf. I know you made meatloaf, Pop. It's Saturday. SAVANNAH: We can take it with us. Yeah, we can take it with us. You mind if we take it with us? Uh, well, I don't... Is that OK? Um... I'll wrap it up. (CHURCH BELLS RING) MR TYREE: Uh... I'm... I don't mean... I'm sorry, but, uh, could...? Could you stop the car, because I need to go back? Oh, did you...? Should I turn around? No, just stop the car, please. Stop the car. Forget something? OK. No, I need to get out of the car. Please. Alright, just...just relax, OK? Yeah. I don't think I can do this. Look, you're fine. You're fine. No, I just... Please. I need to get out. Please. You're OK, Pop. It's fine. Look, stop the car, I can't... OK, no, I'll turn around. We're fine, we're fine, we're fine. I gotta get out. Stop the car. OK, alright. Come on, Dad, stop! OK. Pop. Come on, don't do that. (PANTS) SAVANNAH: Hey, Mr Tyree. Hey, you alright? You OK? I'm sorry. It's OK. But, hey, let's, um... We're gonna wait for you in the car, alright? MR TYREE: No, I'm fine, I'm fine. SAVANNAH: No, don't, honestly. We can stay. Let's just stay. OK? Let's stay, because I can go next year. Pop, I only got one night. I mean, I gotta go back. I mean, do you understand that? You should go. You both should go. RADIO: New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said... Hey. He tried. At least he tried. Hello, welcome. (LAUGHS) My girl. (LAUGHS) Mom, this is John. John, I feel like I already know you. Where's your father? Did he come too? No, ma'am. Oh, that's OK. I'm just glad that you made it home safe. We thought about cancelling with everything that's going on, but we felt like everybody should be together. SAVANNAH: I've been briefing him in the car, and I think he's good. It was good intel. With solid tactical training, I'm about as ready as I'll ever be. (WHISPERS) I love him already. RANDY: Mrs Curtis, Savannah. Hey, how's it going? John. It's good to see you again. Alright, you know what? You look like you could use a drink. I'll grab one for you. Yes, thank you. John. What's he doing here? He's here because I invited him. His family lives just up the street. What are you, like, hanging out now? He's really not that bad once you get to know him, I swear to you, John. Here you go. It's just bourbon, It's not gonna kill you. SAVANNAH: Be right back. We got off on the wrong foot, and I want to apologise for the way I treated you. If I would have known that Savannah was actually gonna stay with you, you know, I wouldn't have treated you that way. In all seriousness, I'm sorry. Fair enough. If you need anything and, uh... Enjoy yourself. Right. SAVANNAH: Um... So this is him. Yep. No tough guy routine from you, Dad. Routine? I bench press refrigerators, honey. Your boyfriends need to know these things. He's absolutely right. Nice to meet you, Mr Curtis. But I think that Tim here might have already beat you to the punch. He said he'd rough me up if ever I hurt your daughter. I was very convincing too. I think I made quite an impact. Well, cheers, son. Glad you could join us. Thank you, sir. Billy! You actually showed up! See? Hard part's over. (LAUGHS) Whoa. Good to see you again, John. How you doing, Tim? Hi. Hey, Tim, how are you doing? Good. Good. I haven't seen your wife. is she here? Yeah, she's on vacation, actually. So I'll tell her you said hello. Please do. I will. Alan, remember what we talked about? JOHN: Another vacation? Yeah. Alan ever ask about her? Yeah, he does. I just don't know what to say. Hey, look, I'm not a father. So... You know, I'm really in no position to give you advice at all. When I was a kid, I waited around every day hoping that today would finally be the day that my mom would come home. I waited around 15 years. So I know how painful it might have been for my dad to just tell me the truth. But it would have saved me a lot of waiting around. You know? Well, I guess if the worst thing you can say about your father is he tried to protect you too much, then that's a pretty good father, isn't it? MAN: I'm sorry. You're John, right? Savannah's John? Yes, sir. I wanna thank you for what you're doing. Know that our prayers are with you. I just hope that whatever happens, it'll be over soon so you boys can come home safe and sound. MR CURTIS: Oh, it won't be over anytime soon. Afghanistan will just be the first stop of many. He's right, you know. Pretty soon they're gonna be asking you all to re-enlist for another tour. Slowly but surely they'll stop asking and start telling. None of the soldiers I know need to be asked, sir. And we sure don't need to be told. What do you mean by we? (CAR ENGINE STARTS) WOMAN: 'Bye now. MAN: It was great to see you guys. See you next year. Savannah... So you're gonna re-enlist, just like that? It's something we should talk about. Two more years, John. Have you already done it? Have you already re-upped? No. But you decided that you're going to? Do I have a say? Do I have a say in this? You don't understand. Don't ever tell me I don't understand. Leave me alone, John. Please. What do you...? What do you want from me? Savannah, I mean... Just tell me what you want from me. Because...I mean, you want me to quit? Is that it? Look, I don't know how we got here. I don't know what happened. Just woke up and there's buildings falling and... I mean, I had a plan... I had a plan, but now I don't. And I have no idea what to do. I don't know what to do and I just... all I know is I wanna stay here. I just wanna stay right here with you as long as I possibly can. You're just all that matters, OK? You're all that matters to me. I'm trying to figure out what the right thing is to do. I don't know what that is. I don't have any fricking idea how to get there because I need you to tell me. I just need you to tell me, OK? Can you just tell me, please? Just tell me what you want me to do. I want you to come with me. (SOFT MUSIC PLAYS) # Shut the door to the moon # Let the birds gather # Play no more with the fool # And let the souls wander # And bleed # From the soul # Cut the bonds with the moon # And let the souls wander # And bleed... # Hey, Pop. Uh, thank you. Thank you for coming. Well... So you think you're gonna be OK by yourself this time? Yeah, why wouldn't I be? Ha! Mm-hm. I should probably be getting going. Take care of yourself. So are we, um...? I mean, we're OK though. Right? Nothing has changed? Be careful not to step in any fires, OK? OK. I will. So I'll see you soon, then. I'll see you soon, then. Mm-hm. 1 STONE: Welcome back, guys. Hope you had a good weekend. Wish it could've been longer, but sometimes you got to take what you can get. So that's it then? It's unanimous? OK. I'll start the paperwork. # And I don't know if you notice anything different # It's getting dark, and it's getting cold # And the nights are getting long # And I don't know if you even notice at all # That I'm long gone # Babe, I'm long gone # And the things that keep us apart # Keep me alive # They're things that keep me alive # Keep me alone... # Thank you, sir. O'Neill, here you go! This smells pretty good, Russ. And we got Daniels. Where's he at? # I don't know if you notice anything missing # Like the leaves on the trees or my clothes all over the floor # And I don't know... # Move, move, move, up and shoot! # 'Cause I was real quiet when I closed the door # And the things that keep us apart # Keep me alive # The things that keep me alive # Keep me alone... # Hey, yo. Yeah, nothing today, man. Sorry. # And I don't know if you notice anything # Missing... # (PHONE RINGS AT OTHER END) (SOLDIERS SHOUT) MAN: Go, go, go. Yo, you guys seen John? Is he back here? Yo, John. Got one for you, dude. Yeah? That's it, though. SAVANNAH: Dear John, I know it's been way too long since I last wrote you. I've been staring at this blank page for the last two hours. Well, if I'm being honest, I've been staring at it for the last two months. Please forgive me for what I'm about to say and know that this is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. My life without you has no meaning. And I cannot live... I'm sorry. Yo, listen to this, hedge fund manager on Wall Street, right? How much do you think he made at his regular job? $27 million, he ran a hedge fund. Works on Wall Street. That is amazing. You making mud pies, buddy? What's going on, man? You wanna talk about it? Nothing to talk about. She, uh... She found somebody else. You got any idea who it is? No, she didn't say. I mean, I got a pretty good idea. (SIGHS) Look, man, um, you know, this happens, dude. I mean, you'll get her back. As soon as you get home, she comes running. It's the whole cycle, dude. They already got engaged. (SIGHS) Jesus. Hey, I'm sorry, man. Let me know if I can do anything, alright? MAN: ..off the bottom rim. You wouldn't think a squirrel could swim, but I swear, swam 20 yards to the shoreline. Swimming squirrel. MAN 2: That's crazy, dude. Hey, notice that. Did y'all see that? I mean, that's as sexy as it gets around here. They can't show their legs, so they got fishnets on their faces. I'm gonna bring that back to the States and make my girl wear that. How mysterious. (MAN SHOUTS IN TURKISH) Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey, hey! (GUNS COCK) Back up, back up! What's he saying? Hey, he's speaking Turkish. What is he saying, though? I don't know, man. I don't know. Come on, language specialist, figure it out! Look, man, I speak Pashtu, I speak Farsi, I speak all kinds of shit. What kind of languages you speak? Come here, man. Good work, man. Hey, where are you going? Somebody's gotta figure out what he's saying. Noodles, go with him. Yeah. Back up, back up. (STONE OVER RADIO): Tyree! Wait for further instructions. Let's move out. Good? Yeah, you? (GUNSHOT) Ohh! (JOHN YELLS) JOHN: We got a man down! Noodles, you're gonna be alright, man! Copy that, man down! Man down! Do you see it? Put your hand up. Come here. You see it? Come on, I got you. Get your hands up! STONE: Tyree, do you read? Talk to me, Tyree. You lucky son of a bitch. it hit your plate. Jesus, I never loved a piece of clothing more in my entire life, l swear to God. Come on. (GUNSHOTS) NOODLES: John! Man down! Medic! Medic! John. Come on, man. Medic! Look at me. Come on, you're gonna be fine, alright? It's nothing. It's nothing. You got this. Stay awake, OK? You just look in my eyes. Just look in my eyes! (MUFFLED GUNFIRE) Keep your eyes open, OK? Eyes, awake, awake. Right at me, OK? Jakes! Jakes! Welcome back, Sergeant Tyree. Rest easy, OK? You're in a hospital in Germany. And you're gonna be just fine. (GRUNTS) Tyree. You look good, man. Thank you, sir. I just wanted to come by and let you know I'll be extending. Extending? Tyree, it's been three months. I'm impressed, but I'm not stupid. Go home, John. Get some R&R. Keep your dad some company for a while. Have a seat. Listen, I'm being transferred. Now, this has nothing to do with what happened. But my captain duties are done here. Going back to Fort Bragg. I actually miss my family. That's good, sir. Berry and Daniels are getting out, most of the others are coming down on assignment. And you've got less than four months until... I'm definitely extending. Your war is over, John. You served your country well. You know what? I might just make this a career. No talking you out of this, huh? (HELICOPTER WHIRRING) (GUNFIRE NEARBY) On my mark! Mark! Where you thinking next? Huh? Oh, man. I don't know. Wherever they send us. Actually, we're sending you home to the States, John. I'm sorry, we just got the news. MAN: He's conscious, but he's not lucid. And he's hardly ever responsive. It's hard for me to say how severe the stroke really is because we just don't know how long he was down before they found him there. If I'd have been there to find him like that earlier, do you think it would've made a difference? I doubt it. I really doubt it. (SIGHS) WOMAN: Hey, Jeff, here's that scan. MAN: No problem. Hey, Pop. What...? What the heck do they have you out here for? Excuse me, ma'am, why do you have him out here? You OK? How you feeling? (GRUNTS) I, um... I mean, it's nothing, but I wrote you... I wrote you a letter. No, no, I mean, don't read it now. You don't have to... I mean, I didn't even think you would be... Why don't you read it when I'm not around? You know what? The hell with it. I'll...just read it to you. Dear Dad. There's something I've been wanting to tell you. You remember a few years back when I got shot? Well, you wanna know the very first thing that entered my mind at that moment? Right before I blacked out? Coins. Suddenly I was 8 years old again. I was on that tour of the US Mint. I was listening to the guide explain how coins are made. How they're punched out of sheet metal and how they're rimmed and bevelled. How they're stamped and cleaned. And how each and every batch of coins are personally examined just in case any have slipped through with the slightest imperfection. Do you remember that, Dad? I mean, do you remember that trip to Philadelphia we took? Well, that's what popped into my head. I'm a coin of the United States Army. And I was minted in the year 1980. I've been punched from sheet metal. I've been stamped and cleaned. And my edges have been rimmed and bevelled. But now I have two small holes in me. So I'm no longer in perfect condition. How about it, Dad? You know, we're just a couple of culls here, huh? But there's one... There's one more thing that I want to tell you too. After I got shot, you know, right before I blacked out... You wanna know the very last thing I thought of? I'm sorry. Uh... The very last thing I thought of... You wanna know the very last thing I thought of? (CRYING) (THUNDER RUMBLES) (FOOTSTEPS) (CLEARS THROAT) Uh, I'm so sorry, I don't want to rush you, but we have another service coming in. John. What brings you home? It's my dad. How is your dad? He, um... Oh. I'm sorry. I wish I had known. It's OK. It wouldn't have made any difference. I'm so sorry. He's... He was a really good man. (SIGHS) You finally did it, huh? Camp Horse Sense. No. I didn't. I tried. It only lasted one summer after we took over this place from my parents. It was... It was expensive. But... (SIGHS) Do you want to come inside? It's just me. When do you have to go back? As soon as I get my dad's stuff squared away. Have you...? Have you settled down yet? No. Mm-mm. But you must be dating a lot, huh? Oh, no. I don't think you can call it dating exactly. (CHUCKLES) It's so good to see you. Here. Alive. (PHONE RINGS) Hold on. I'm just gonna... I'm sorry. Hello? Hey. No, I'm fine. Um... I... Well, John... John is here. Yeah, John Tyree. Yeah. Yeah, I'm gonna leave soon. OK, I'll see you. I'll be there in like 20 minutes, OK? I love you too. 'Bye. (PHONE BEEPS) He wants to see you. Wait, what? Um... It's Tim? SAVANNAH: Initially after he was diagnosed, he was so optimistic. He wasn't really concerned about himself. All he cared about was Alan, which was inspiring. And it wasn't until after the cancer spread to stage four that I noticed a big change. What kind of cancer is it? Lymphoma. He's had it with being cooped up in that room, so he basically just spends all his time out here. Sometimes with Alan. Can I have a crumble cake? Alan, do you remember John? Hello, John. Hey, Alan. He's gotten big. How are you? Good. Um... I'm gonna get him a crumble cake. Oh, that's a good idea. He's been talking about that. Come on, Alan. I guess you must want to kick my ass, huh? There's not a lot I can do about it here, is there? It's all part of my master plan. Hell of a plan. I love her. Everything that happened in my life before, it's gone now. It's been wiped clean. I wanted to tell you that. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry for how it happened with you so far away. But I know now that Alan will always have someone to take care of him. He will always be in good hands. (SIGHS) She still loves you, you know. Why is it black? It's plain as day. You can see it all over her face. I wish that weren't the case, but she's never looked at me the way she used to look at you. You should know that. SAVANNAH: Be careful, Alan. He still loves those horses, huh? Yeah, he'll be out there till bedtime. I gotta get him out of that hospital. He needs to come home. There's a company in Texas with an experimental drug. That might help. But the insurance companies don't pay for it, of course. My parents sold their beach house a year ago. Which was a godsend. We've done a few fundraisers. (SIGHS) But I never would have guessed that we would run out so fast. Stay for dinner, OK? So you drink now. Just a glass or two at dinner. Tim got me started a couple years ago. Why are you looking at me like that? What do you mean? How am I looking at you? Differently. I don't know, how do you want me to look at you? You're different. Oh... I don't know... I don't know why I came here. I mean, what are we doing? I mean, we're sitting here and we're eating and we're talking, but no-one's actually saying anything. What do you want me to say? What do you want to talk about? Why didn't you call? Why didn't you call me? I mean, did I not deserve any more explanation than that letter? You couldn't have called me? You couldn't have given me some sort of chance to, like, change your mind? Don't you think you owed me that? I couldn't. You couldn't? You thought that little of me that you couldn't have just called me? Why? Because I couldn't. Give me an answer. Why? Why not? Because I couldn't. I want an answer. Because just hearing your voice, I would have changed my mind. Is that what you wanna hear, John? Is that what you came all this way to hear from me? You think it was tough out there? And, what, you think it was easy for me without you? You thought that every single day it wasn't a goddamn marathon of my life without you? Tim was sick. He was sick, and he needed me. He needed me to help him. He needed me to help him with Alan, with everything. I was alone, and I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't plan this. I didn't know that it was gonna happen to me. But it did. But you don't think I've tried...? I picked up the phone a thousand times to try to call you. You think that I really wanna be standing here in front of you like this? (SOBS) I had no choice. I know. I saved every single one of them. You've been so many places. Mm-hm. I think the yellow envelopes are from Africa or something. Really? Mm-hm. I even have your first, your very first letter to me. Tim's water bill. (GLASS CLATTERS) (CHUCKLES) Hmm. (LAUGHS) Sorry. It's OK. Hope you have more where that came from. I'm gonna put a pot of coffee on. (SIGHS) (SIGHS) I should go. I'll see you soon, then? Say it back. When I say it, you say it. Remember? John? Just say it. Goodbye, Savannah. (CAR ENGINE STARTS) JOHN: I don't think you remember me. But I believe you knew my father, Bill Tyree. Oh, yeah, of course I did. Yeah. I haven't seen him in a while, though. How is he? Uh, he recently passed. I'm sorry. I think you might've offered to buy his coin collection one time. Is that right? Sure did. More than once. Just out of curiosity, how much do you think a collection like his is worth? Phew. A collection that big? I don't know, I'd have to see it. Look, I only got about one condition. All the mules, they gotta stay together. I don't care, you can sell them as a set or keep them for yourself. But they have to stay together. You're really truly going to sell me all his coins? Yes, sir. All but one. JOHN: This comes up nickel, we're gonna set up right here. We got shade. It comes up penny, we'll be up on the ridge. We got visibility. That'd be penny side. Alright, let's go to the ridge. Sergeant. Thank you. SAVANNAH: Dear John, It's been almost five years since I wrote a letter with an actual pen on an actual sheet of paper. But I thought maybe I could write you now and tell you all that's happened since I saw you last. A few weeks after you showed up here, Tim received an anonymous donation. A donation that was enough to give him what the insurance companies wouldn't ` time. Time to finally come home. Time to spend with his son. Time to say goodbye. The problem with time, I've learned, whether it's those first two weeks I got to spend with you or those final two months I got to spend with him, eventually time always runs out. I have no idea where you are out there in the world, John. But I understand that I lost the right to know these things long ago. No matter how many years go by... ..I know one thing to be as true as it ever was. I'll see you soon, then. # Been up all night staring at you # Wondering what's on your mind # I've been this way with so many before # But this feels like the first time # You want the sunrise to go back to bed # I want to make you laugh # Mess up my bed with me # Kick off the covers # I'm waiting # Every word you say I think I should write it down # Don't want to forget come daylight # Happy to lay here Just happy to be here # I'm happy to know you # Play me a song Your newest one # Please leave your taste on my tongue # Paperweight on my back # Cover me like a blanket # Mess up my bed with me # Kick off the covers I'm waiting # And every word you say I think I should write down # Don't want to forget come daylight # You made it back to sleep again # Wonder what you're dreaming. # ('LITTLE HOUSE' BY AMANDA SEYFRIED PLAYS) # I love this place # But it's haunted # Without you # My tired heart # Is beating so # Slow # Our hearts sing less # Than we wanted # We wanted # Our hearts sing 'cause # We do not know # We do not know # To light the night # To help us grow # To help us grow # It is not said # I always know # Please don't make a fuss # It won't go away # The wonder of it all # The wonder that I made # I am here to stay # I am here to stay # Stay. # www.tvnz.co.nz/access-services Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air.