"War began between Germany and France on August 3, 1914. Five weeks later, the German army had smashed its way to within 18 miles of Paris."

"By 1916, after two grisly years of trench warfare, the battle lines had changed very little. Successful attacks were measured in hundreds of yards - and paid for in lives by hundreds of thousands."

"Paul, I've come to see you about something big. It's top secret."

"A group of armies is forming on this front for an offensive very soon. Headquarters is determined to make a breakthrough."

"I have formal orders to take the Ant Hill no later than the 10th. That's the day after tomorrow."

"That comes pretty close to being ridiculous, don't you think?"

"It's out of the question, George. Absolutely out of the question. My division was cut to pieces."

"Paul, the talk around headquarters is that you are being considered for the 12th Corps. Yes, and with that, another star."

"I am responsible for the lives of 8,000 men. What is my ambition against that? What is my reputation in comparison to that?"

"My men come first of all, George. And those men know it, too."

"The life of one of those soldiers means more to me than all the stars and decorations and honors in France."

"Nothing is beyond those men once their fighting spirit is aroused."

"We might just do it!"

"Hello there, soldier. Ready to kill more Germans?"

"I'll bet your mother's proud of you."

"Working over your rifle, I see. That's the way. It's a soldier's best friend. You be good to it, and it'll always be good to you."

"There is no such thing as shell shock."

"Get a grip on yourself! You're acting like a coward!"

"I am a coward, sir."

"Sergeant, I want you to arrange for the immediate transfer of this baby out of my regiment! I won't have other brave men contaminated by him!"

"I can't understand these armchair officers. Fellows trying to fight a war from behind a desk, waving papers at the enemy, worrying about whether a mouse is gonna run up their pants leg."

"I don't know, General. If I had the choice between mice and Mausers, I think I'd take the mice every time."

"If a man's a ninny, let him put on a dress and hide under the bed. But if he wants to be a soldier, then by heavens, he's got to be one. He's got to fight."

"The colonel was perhaps the foremost criminal lawyer in all France."

"We drew some artillery. Twenty-nine casualties, sir."

"Utterly inexcusable. Stupid. All swarmed together like flies, just waiting for someone to swat them."

"Herd instinct, I suppose. Kind of a lower animal sort of thing."

"Kind of a human thing, it seems to me."

"Colonel, your regiment is going to take the Ant Hill tomorrow."

"You know the condition of my men, sir."

"Naturally, men will have to be killed. Possibly a lot of them. They absorb bullets and shrapnel, making it possible for others to get through."

"Say 5% killed by our own barrage. That's a very generous allowance."

"If any soldiers in the world can take it, we'll take the Ant Hill."

"I'm not afraid of dying tomorrow, only of getting killed."

"That's as clear as mud."

"Which would you rather be done in by: a bayonet or a machine gun?"

"Oh, a machine gun, naturally."

"They're both pieces of steel ripping into your guts, only the machine gun is quicker, cleaner, and less painful, isn't it?"

"That proves that most of us are more afraid of getting hurt than of getting killed."

"If it's death that you're really afraid of, why should you care about what it is that kills you?"

"You're too smart for me, Professor. All I know is, nobody wants to die."

"The attack is to commence at 4:00 a.m. with an artillery barrage. At 4:05, the first wave goes over the top."

"The men are in a pretty rotten state of mind, Colonel."

"I thought you'd been killed."

"You didn't wait around to find out, did you, Lieutenant?"

"You ran like a rabbit after you killed Lejeune."

"It's impossible, sir. All the men are falling back."

"The troops are mutinying, refusing to advance!"

"If those little sweethearts won't face German bullets, they'll face French ones!"

"Captain, do you fail to comprehend the meaning of my order?"

"General, the battery commander reports those are our own positions. He says it must be a mistake."

"With all respect, sir, you have no right to order me to shoot down my own men, unless you are willing to take full and undivided responsibility for it."

"I must have a written order before I can execute such a command, sir."

"You'll be in front of a firing squad tomorrow morning, that's where you'll be!"

"This is a general court-martial and we shall therefore dispense with unnecessary formalities. These men are charged with cowardice in the face of the enemy."

"The indictment is lengthy and there's no point in reading it."

"How far did you advance?"

"To about the middle of no man's land, sir."

"I didn't ask you what you saw. The court has no concern with your visual experiences."

"In other words, Private Ferol, you retreated."

"Yes, sir."

"I have no further questions."

"And I submit that the attack was a stain on the flag of France, a blot on the honor of every man, woman, and child in the French nation."

"Gentlemen of the court, there are times when I'm ashamed to be a member of the human race and this is one such occasion."

"I protest against being prevented from introducing evidence which I considered vital to the defence."

"The prosecution presented no witnesses; there has never been a written indictment of charges made against the defendants."

"The attack yesterday morning was no stain on the honour of France, and certainly no disgrace to the fighting men of this nation. But this Court Martial is such a stain, and such a disgrace."

"The case made against these men is a mockery of all human justice."

"Gentlemen of the court, to find these men guilty would be a crime, to haunt each of you till the day you die."

"I can't believe that the noblest impulse for man - his compassion for another - can be completely dead here. Therefore, I humbly beg you... show mercy to these men."

"They're not cowards. So, if some of them didn't leave the trenches, did it ever occur to you that the attack to take the hill was just impossible?"

"We can't leave it up to the men to decide whether an order is impossible or not. If it was impossible, the only proof of that would be all of their dead bodies lying about in the trenches."

"They are scum, Colonel! They're cowards! The whole rotten regiment! A pack of sneaking, whining, tail-dragging curs!"

"Then why not shoot the entire regiment? I'm perfectly serious. If it's an example you want, then take me."

"When this mess is cleaned up, I'll break you! I'll find an excuse, and I'll break you to the ranks. I'll ruin you!"

"See that cockroach? Tomorrow morning, we'll be dead, and it'll be alive."

"It'll have more contact with my wife and child than I will. I'll be nothing, and it'll be alive."

"Now you've got the edge on him!"

"Is this supposed to be our last meal or something?"

"It isn't supposed to be our last meal. It is our last meal."

"What do I have to die for, Father? I'm scared, I'm scared!"

"There are few things more fundamentally encouraging and stimulating than seeing someone else die."

"Troops are like children. Just as a child wants his father to be firm, troops crave discipline. And one way to maintain discipline is to shoot a man now and then."

"Colonel Dax, are you trying to blackmail me?"

"It's an ugly word, but you are in a difficult situation."

"Too much has happened. Someone's got to be hurt. The only question is who."

"It would be a pity to lose your promotion before you get it. A promotion you have so very carefully planned for."

"Sir, would you like me to suggest what you can do with that promotion?"

"Colonel Dax! You will apologize at once or I shall have you placed under arrest!"

"I apologize for not being entirely honest with you. I apologize for not revealing my true feelings. I apologize, sir, for not telling you sooner that you're a degenerate, sadistic old man."

"And you can go to hell before I apologize to you now or ever again!"

"Colonel Dax, you're a disappointment to me. You've spoiled the keenness of your mind by wallowing in sentimentality."

"You really did want to save those men, and you were not angling for Mireau's command. You are an idealist... and I pity you as I would the village idiot."

"We're fighting a war, Dax, a war that we've got to win. Those men didn't fight, so they were shot. Wherein have I done wrong?"

"Because you don't know the answer to that question. I pity you."

"Well, it had to be done. France cannot afford to have fools guiding her military destiny."

"You're making me the goat. The only completely innocent man in this whole affair. The man you stabbed in the back is a soldier."

"Back in my hometown, there was a certain little cafe with an amusing sign over the bar. It read, 'Do not be afraid to ask for credit, for our way of refusing is very polite.'"

"We have orders to move back to the front immediately."

"Well, give the men a few minutes more, Sergeant."