- Admiral: What we're going to tell you Commander, may come as a surprise, but it must be held in the utmost secrecy, and its importance will become obvious. I think you'll understand.
- Court-Martial Captain: All charges against your boys have been dropped.
- Cdr. Camparelli: Sir?
- Court-Martial Captain: They're gone, dropped, never happened.
- Cdr. Camparelli: What do you want me to do, Captain?
- Court-Martial Captain: Cover it up, sweep it under the rug. Take your men back to your carrier first thing in the morning, keep their mouths shut. Beyond that, you can do what you want to with them, but this affair's over.
- Cdr. Camparelli: May I ask the captain, why?
- Admiral: Because the President of the United States, Richard M. Nixon is quite irritated at the opposition for leaving the peace table. He has just ordered Operation Linebacker II; the unrestricted bombing of all military targets in North Vietnam.
- Court-Martial Captain: We'd look like real idiots if we court-martialed an A-6 crew for doing what the President of the United States just told us to do. If even a rumor got back to the press, you can understand the ramifications.
- Cdr. Camparelli: Yes. Yes, sir.
- Lt. Cmdr. Mad Jack: [Lt. Cmdr. Mad Jack, "Doc," is flying to Subic Bay with Lt. Sammy Lundeen, and receives instructions from a crew member on ejection] Do I say roger or... just do it or what?
- Lt. Sammy Lundeen: You even say "huh," you'll be talking to yourself... 'cause I'll be gone."
- [at the bar in Po city]
- Lt. Jake Grafton: "Fighter pukes make movies. Bomber pilots make... HISTORY!"
- Lt. Grafton: Well, this is the end of Devil Five- O - Five. Say goodbye, asshole! Eject, eject, eject!
- Cole: Goodbye Asshole!
- Cole: [Cole and Grafton punch out]
- Court-Martial Captain: You took an oath, Mr. Cole. You, too, Mr. Grafton. You took an oath to defend the constitution and obey the orders of the officers appointed over you. It's the same oath that every officer in the navy has taken for damn near 200 years. And during all that time, the military has obeyed the civilian elected government. Now, they might not have always been right, or wise... or even smart, but they were elected. Any other way and the United States would be nothing more than another two-bit military dictatorship.
- Admiral: Why did you do this, Cole? An officer with your fine record? Did you think you were going to win the war?
- Cole: Frankly, sir, I think we're going to lose this one. But I do love the work.
- Court-Martial Captain: Mr. Cole, you may find that amusing, but we don't. Gentlemen, this is our country you're messing with. Well, Mr. Grafton, you have an attentive audience here. Perhaps you can explain to us why you thought a one-plane war was the way to go.
- Lt. Jake Grafton: Well, sir, we bomb worthless targets night after night - I mean, three tents under a tree... sampan repair yards that have been hit ten times already. Sir, you know the list better than I do. My first bombardier and 50,000 other Americans are dead and... can anyone tell me why? I realize that I'm Lieutenant Nobody. I'm... I'm not really sure about anything anymore. This war's become very confusing. Nobody... nobody wants to fight in it. Nobody seems to want to win it. Maybe it never should have happened, but people do die in it. Maybe for me, it got personal, because I do know the difference between dying for something and dying for nothing. I know that's no excuse. I... I know that. And I broke the faith, and for that, I am truly wrong. Perhaps I should hang.
- Court-Martial Captain: Hanging, Mr. Grafton, is no longer a punishment much in use. But a prison term in Leavenworth is, or a dishonorable discharge if a court-martial should so decide. But whatever happens,I think it's safe to say that your career in the navy is over. The only question's how.
- Cdr. Camparelli: But if I catch either one of you shitting in some vital area on my ship, I will have you *keelhauled*! And that's *serious* on an aircraft carrier!
- Lt. Jake Grafton: I hear you've been selected early for Captain. They've going to *give* you your own boat, maybe even a carrier. And I wouldn't be surprised if you made Admiral.
- Cdr. Camparelli: Have you ever seen a black man who's an Admiral?
- Lt. Jake Grafton: Hey. Third-Generation Mafia, sir!
- Cdr. Camparelli: That's right, Mr. Grafton.
- [In the briefing room]
- Cdr. Camparelli: "Movie officer, what's the film tonite?"
- Pilot: "They Shoot horses, Don't They, Sir!"
- Cdr. Camparelli: "Any skin?"
- Pilot: "No Sir."
- Cdr. Camparelli: "Cancel it!"
- [before leading the daylight raid to North Vietnam]
- Cdr. Camparelli: This is a daylight raid, gentlemen. Air Force, Marines, Navy, everything we got. They've had three years to get ready for us. The most formidable air defenses in the history of warfare. Our job, the task of the Intruder, is to kill SAMs. Make no mistake about it, gentlemen, SAMs are where your ordnance goes. Otherwise, those B-52's will be dead meat. We can expect a forest of SAMs and flak you can lay down on. We've got to cut a path through for the Air Force. We'll be going in broad daylight with nothing to hide behind. We'll be easy targets up there, gentlemen, but they're counting on us. Lean into it. Let's go downtown!
- Pilots: [all cheer]
- Cdr. Camparelli: [Reprimanding the men after a barfight] Now what's this crap about you attempting to feed a merchant seaman to some alligators?
- Lt. Jake Grafton: They were crocodiles, sir.
- Cdr. Camparelli: I don't give a damn! Now go on.
- Lt. Jake Grafton: Well, I attempted to throw the aforementioned puke to the crocodiles, sir, when his belt caught on the railing and I, failed. An altercation then ensued, sir!
- Cdr. Camparelli: Seven hundred bucks damage, thirty men in the brig and... an alligator injured. And you got away?
- Lt. Jake Grafton: Using escape and evasion techniques, sir, I was able to avoid being captured. And sir? We didn't hurt that crocodile. He was fine when we left.
- Razor: Yeah, he was okay, Skipper!
- Cdr. Camparelli: [Grafton has just been shot down while trying to rescue Camparelli] You think this changes anything, you hoodlum? You disobeyed another order! I grounded you!
- Lt. Jake Grafton: Hey, I AM on the ground!
- Razor: [meeting the squadron for the first time] I'm Lieutenant j.g. Jack Barlow.
- Pilots: Sit down, asshole!
- Boxman: [53:09] Wanna hear something?
- Lt. Jake Grafton: What do you got?
- Boxman: Hold on. Wait til you hear this. Listen to this. Hear that? Daddy! That's my son. No no, he said daddy, man, that's my son. That's my son it's beautiful
- Lt. Jake Grafton: That's your son? How did you know?
- Boxman: I don't know. I don't give a shit, either. He can be my son if he wants to be.
- Lt. Jake Grafton: Why not! Sure he can!
- Boxman: I mean, she wants him to be. So do I. I mean that's what's important.
- Lt. Jake Grafton: What's she like?
- Lt. Jake Grafton: She's butt-ugly. But she's got a great body, man. You know Jake I think I could love an ugly woman. I mean you can trust her more. The pretty ones, they only care about themselves. Right, I mean you know what I mean.
- Cdr. Camparelli: Face forward, mister. I'm just starting. Where do you get off, mister? Are you special? You're just a sensitive fella here. I'd like to take you home to my mama.
- Cdr. Camparelli: And as for you, you can lead the Manson family now that Charlie's in jail. You'd like that, wouldn't you? You're a maniac. They ought to study you, Cole.