The movie We Were Soldiers takes place in one of the most racially charged decades in American history, but Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore — played by Mel Gibson — delivered such a rousing speech that it brought an incredibly diverse group of soldiers together as one unit. He knew if his troops could set their differences aside, then they would form a true brotherhood, increasing their chances of survival as a whole. That way, the memories of their lost brothers could live on forever when they returned home.
Mel Gibson’s Speech “We Were Soldiers”
Transcripts of the Speech by Mel Gibson:
Look around you in the seventh Cavalry
00:12
we got a captain from the Ukraine
00:16
another from Puerto Rico
00:19
we’ve got Japanese, Chinese, blacks
00:23
Hispanics, Cherokee Indians, Jews and
00:27
Gentiles all Americans now here in the
00:33
States
00:34
some men in this unit may experience
00:39
discrimination because of race or creed
00:41
but for you and me now all that is gone
00:48
we’re moving into the valley of the
00:50
shadow of death where you will watch the
00:54
back of the man next to you as he will
00:57
watch yours and you won’t care what
00:59
color he is or by what name he calls God
01:05
they say we’re leaving home
01:10
we’re going to what home was always
01:12
supposed to be
01:15
so let us understand the situation we
01:20
are going into battle against a tough
01:23
and determined enemy
01:29
I can’t promise you and I will bring you
01:33
all home alive but this I swear before
01:40
you and before Almighty God that when we
01:43
go into battle I will be the first to
01:47
set foot on the field
01:50
and I’ll be the last to step off and I
01:55
will leave no one behind
02:02
Dead or Alive
02:06
we will all come home together
02:11
so help me God
