We have changed our privacy policy. In addition, we use cookies on our website for various purposes. By continuing on our website, you consent to our use of cookies. You can learn about our practices by reading our privacy policy.

Platoon Scene 16 Summary

  • Enemy soldiers prepare to head out. They're studying a map, tying shoes—that sort of thing.
  • They start moving. Another soldier hands them grenades as they move out. While running through the forest, one of them trips a flare.
  • It's Rodriguez's hole. Taylor and Frances notice it. Machine guns and RPG's start firing.
  • Rhah comes into the foxhole and gives them instructions: shoot anything that doesn't identify itself.
  • Taylor and Francis (Corey Glover) are on the perimeter and are thus the first line of defense. A flare shoots into the air, lighting up the surrounding area.
  • It's an enemy "probe." Nothing can be seen in the trees. Suddenly, another flare goes up—a sure signal that the enemy has walked another man's foxhole.
  • A man runs towards Taylor and Francis, screaming "don't shoot, don't shoot." He's an American soldier who was ambushed in the jungle.
  • He scrambles into the foxhole, and tells that hundreds of enemy soldiers are on their way. They need to bounce—and quick.
  • Taylor and Francis stay in the hole, and then once they see enemy troops they start firing.
  • Something explodes nearby, and Taylor is blown back. Dazed, he gets up, and tells Francis to stop firing.
  • It's too quiet, and he knows that means the enemy is getting ready to blow them up. He scrambles out of the foxhole, and screams at Francis to do the same.
  • They get out of the way as a bazooka is fired at their hole. They wait in the bushes, and Taylor finally charges out, killing several enemy soldiers.
  • Inspired by his example, Francis charges forward as well.
  • Meanwhile, Bunny tries to shoot the enemy over the top of his foxhole with a shotgun while Junior sits nearby.
  • In the chaos, Bunny runs out of the foxhole, and crashes into a tree. He's shot from behind.
  • The NVA soldier jumps in and shoots him in the face. Meanwhile, Junior is being stabbed multiple times by an NVA soldier.
  • Basically, it's all a gory mess.
  • Barnes is scrambling somewhere. O'Neill, in his foxhole, is terrified. He grabs one of the dead bodies nearby, and hides under it.
  • NVA soldiers think everybody in O'Neill's hole is dead, and move on.
  • In a command somewhere, a guy is on the phone.
  • It's Oliver Stone, making a small cameo. He's being updated on the progress of the battle.
  • Outside, NVA troops have penetrated the perimeter and are overrunning the encampment.
  • One NVA soldier runs into the command center, and shortly thereafter it blows up. He's definitely the equivalent of a suicide bomber.
  • Captain Harris sees it all go down. "Son of a b****," he exclaims.
  • Lieutenant Wolfe is trying to negotiate the chaos of battle, and he can't get anybody on the radio.
  • He gets Captain Harris on, and says that he and his troops are being overrun and need to fall back.
  • There's nowhere to fall back to, Harris replies, before ordering him to stand his ground.
  • NVA troops continue to advance. Wolfe is hit with shrapnel, and then shot by an enemy soldier.
  • Harris knows the battle is all about lost, so he orders an artillery strike dangerously close to where the troops are fighting. What have they got to lose?
  • We see a jet approach, and bombs start falling.
  • Barnes is engaged in hand-to-hand combat with an enemy soldier. After taking one out, he is shot in the leg.
  • Taylor approaches. Barnes has decided to finish off an almost dead soldier. Taylor runs over, screaming at him.
  • Barnes turns around and knocks Taylor back. Then he goes over to Taylor, and gets ready to kill him with a small shovel.
  • His face and the surrounding landscape are both dark. His eyes are almost red, giving him a positively satanic look.
  • At that moment, a plane flies in and starts dropping napalm, or agent orange, or bombs—something very destructive at any rate.
  • The blast wipes out scores of soldiers—NVA and U.S. alike.