EXT. VETNAM/MEKONG DELTA/FIEBASE - DAY (1967)

LT. DAN

Goddamnit, kick some ass!

SGT. SIMS

I'm on it, Lieutenant.

LT. DAN

Get on it!

Lt. Dan steps back up to Bubba and Forrest.

FORREST
(voice-over)

I guess you could say he had a lot to live up to.

Lt. Dan walks along the walkway and Bubba and Forrest follow.

LT. DAN

So, you boys are from Arkansas, huh? Well, I've been
through there. Little Rock's a fine town. Now, go shake
down your gear, see the platoon sergeant, draw what
you need for the field.

Lt. Dan steps inside the latrine, still holding the roll of toilet paper.

LT. DAN

If you boys are hungry, we got steaks burnin' right here.

Lt. Dan sits down out of sight in the latrine, then stands up, looking at the boys.

LT. DAN

Two standing orders in this platoon. One, take good
care of your feet. Two, try not to do anything stupid,
like gettin' yourself killed.

Lt. Dan sits back down out of sight in the latrine. Bubba and Forrest look at each other.

FORREST

I sure hope I don't let him down.

EXT. RICE FIELD - ANOTHER DAY

Forrest, Bubba, and other soldiers in the Fourth Platoon walk across the rice field. Some Vietnamese rice farmers are working as the soldiers walk past.

FORREST
(voice-over)

I got to see a lot of countryside. We would take these
real long walks.

EXT. JUNGLE/DIRT ROAD - ANOTHER DAY

Forrest's unit walks along a dirt road.

SONG

And we were always lookin' for this guy named Charlie.
I can't get no relief.

Suddenly Lt. Dan holds up his fist, a signal for the unit to stop. He motions for them to get down.

LT. DAN

Hold it up!

SGT. SIMS

Hold up, boys!

Forrest gets down and looks around.

FORREST
(voice-over)

It wasn't always fun. Lt. Dan always gettin' these
funny feelings about a rock or a trail, or the road,
so he'd tell u to get down, shut up!

LT. DAN

Get down! Shut up!

FORREST
(voice-over)

So we did.

Lt. Dan motions for the lead soldier to get down. Lt. Dan crouches down. Lt. Dan looks at the soldiers and points to his eyes. He lies down on the dirt road and crawls.

FORREST
(voice-over)

Now, I don't know much about anything, but I think
some of American's best young men served in this war.
There was Dallas, from Phoenix. Cleveland, he was Detroit.

CLEVELAND

Hey, Tex. Hey, Tex. Man, what the hell's going on?

Tex holds up his hand, motioning that he doesn't know.

FORREST
(voice-over)

And Tex was, well, I don't remember where Tex come from.

LT. DAN

Ah, nothin'. Fourth Platoon, on your feet! Still got
ten clicks to go to that river.

Forrest stands up and begins to walk with the platoon.

LT. DAN

All right, move out! Comin' out. Look alive out there.

FORREST
(voice-over)

The good thing about Vietnam is there was always someplace
to go.

LT. DAN
(voice-over)

Fire in the hole!

EXT. VIETNAM/VIET CONG FOXHOLE - ANOTHER DAY

Lt. Dan walks away as Forrest rushes over, aims two pistols in the hole, then climbs inside.

FORREST
(voice-over)

And there was always something to do.

LT. DAN

Mount 'em up.

SGT. SIMS

Spread out! Cover his back.

ANOTHER DAY -

The platoon walks through a rice paddy, waits deep in water. It begins to rain.

FORREST
(voice-over)

One day it started raining, and it didn't quit for
four months.

EXT. JUNGLE

The rain pours down on Forrest and Bubba as they sit in a foxhole.

FORREST
(voice-over)

We been through every kind of rain there is. Little
bitty stingin' rain...

ANOTHER DAY -

The platoon walks through the jungle as rain pours down on them.

FORREST
(voice-over)

... and big ol' fat rain.

ANOTHER DAY -

The platoon shelters themself as they walks through the wind and rain.

FORREST
(voice-over)

Rain that flew in sideways.

ANOTHER DAY -

Forrest and other soldiers walk chest-deep through a river. The rain splatters back up from the river, hitting the soldiers. Forrest holds his hand up to protect his face.

FORREST
(voice-over)

And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from
underneath.

EXT. ENCHAMPMENT - NIGHT

The rain pours down on the men of the platoon as they sit in a camp. Bubba sits down next to Forrest.

FORREST
(voice-over)

Shoot, it even rained at night.

Bubba leans his back up against Forrest's back.

BUBBA

Hey Forrest...

FORREST

Hey Bubba...

BUBBA

I'm gonna lean up against you, you just lean right
back against me. This way, we don't have to sleep
with our heads in the mud. You know why we a good
partnership, Forrest? 'Cause we be watchin' out for
one another. Like brothers and stuff. Hey, Forrest,
there's somethin' I've been thinkin' about. I got a
very important question to ask you. How would you
like to go into the shrimpin' business with me?

FORREST

Okay.

BUBBA

Man, I tell you what, I got it all figured out, too.
So many pounds of shrimp to pay off the boat, so many
pounds for gas, we can just live right on the boat.
We ain't got to pay no rent. I'll be the captain; we
can just work it together. Split everything right down
the middle. Man, I'm tellin' you, fifty-fifty. And,
hey, Forrest, all the shrimp you can get.

FORREST

That's a fine idea.

FORREST
(voice-over)

Bubba did have a fine idea.

ANOTHER NIGHT

Some soldiers patrol the area. Forrest lies in a pup tent and writes a litter as the rain pours down. He uses his flashlight to see.

FORREST
(voice-over)

I even wrote Jenny and told her all about it. I
sent her letters. Not every day, but almost. I told
her what I was doin' and asked her what she was
doing, and I told her how I thought about her always.

EXT. Jenny'S GRANDMOTHER'S TRAILER - DAY

Jenny steps out of the trailer with a backpack and a guitar. She hugs a hippie guy, then jumps into the back of a Volkswagen bus with another guy.

FORREST
(voice-over)

And how I was looking forward to getting a letter
from her just as soon as she had the time I'd
always let her know that I was okay.

EXT. VIETNAM - NIGHT

Forrest writes a letter in his tent.

FORREST
(voice-over)

Then I'd sign each letter, "Love, Forrest Gump."

EXT. JUNGLE - DAY

The Fourth Platoon makes their way through the jungle and rain.

SONG

"There's something happenin' here. What it is
ain't exactly clear. There's a man with a gun over
there, telling' me I got to beware."

FORREST
(voice-over)

This one day, we was out walking, like always,
and then, just like that, somebody turned off the
rain and the sun come out.

Forrest looks up as the sun suddenly appears. Forrest's platoon is attacked. A bullet kills the soldier standing next to Forrest. Bombs explode all around as the soldiers scramble to the ground.

LT. DAN

Take cover!

Forrest crawls over a berm as bullets fly overhead and explode all around him. Forrest rolls over and pulls his pack off Lt. Dan lies next to Forrest.

LT. DAN

Get that pig up here, goddammit!

BUBBA

Forrest, you okay?

Two soldiers with a machine gun fire into the jungle. Lt. Dan shouts into the radio. Forrest begins firing his weapon into the jungle.

LT. DAN

...Strongarm, please be advised...

Two soldiers pull a wounded soldier into the jungle.

BUBBA

Medic, we got a man down!

LT. DAN

Strongarm, this is Leg Lima 6, over! Roger,
Strongarm, be advised we have incoming from the
treeline at point blue plus two. A.K's and rockets...

The machine gunner fires into the treeline. Another soldier helps him with the ammunition. The machine gun jams.

SOLDIER WITH BIG MACHINE GUN

Misfire! Misfire!

LT. DAN

Goddammit, Mac! Get that pig un????ed and get
it in the treeline!

A rocket explodes on the machine gunner and the other soldier, killing them. Forrest looks down and covers his head as rockets explodes all around him.

LT. DAN
(into radio)

Ah, Jesus! My unit is down hard and hurting! 6
pulling back to the blue line, Leg Lima 6 out!
Pull back! Pull back!

BUBBA

Forrest! Run! Run, Forrest!

LT. DAN

Pull back!

BUBBA

Forrest! Run! Run, Forrest! Run! Run!

SGT. SIMS

Pull back! Let's go!

Lt. Dan gets up and grabs Forrest by the collar.

LT. DAN

Run, goddammit, run!

The platoon gets up and runs toward the cover of the jungle. Rockets explode all around the field. Forrest runs into the jungle. The soldiers run through the jungle as bullets explode all around. A soldier is blown up by a rocket. A soldier runs through the jungle. Forrest runs past the soldier.

SOLDIER

Medic! Medic! Jesus, can I get a medic?

FORREST
(voice-over)

I ran and ran, just like Jenny told me to.

Rockets explode in the jungle as Forrest runs out toward a clearing.

FORREST
(voice-over)

I ran so far and so fast that pretty soon I was
all by myself, which was a bad thing.

FORREST

Bubba!

Forrest turns around, then runs back into the jungle.

FORREST
(voice-over)

Bubba was my best good friend. I had to make sure he
was okay.

Rockets explode in the jungle. Forrest runs back into the jungle to look for Bubba.

1ST SOLDIER

Any friendlies out there?

2ND SOLDIER

Yeah, I've got three over there.

1ST SOLDIER

Where the hell are you?

Forrest stops and aims his weapon. He looks around, scared.

FORREST

Bubba?

Something moves. Forrest turns and looks, then rushes over.

FORREST
(voice-over)

And on my way back to find Bubba, well, there
was this boy laying on the ground.

FORREST

Tex!

Tex lies on the ground, his face distorted with pain.

FORREST

Okay.

Forrest reaches down and picks up Tex from the ground. Forrest pulls Tex up over his shoulder, then runs.

FORREST
(voice-over)

I couldn't just let him lay there all alone, scared
the way he was, so I grabbed him up and run him out
of there.

Forrest carries Tex out of the jungle and into the clearing. He sets Tex down on the bank of a river, and runs back into the jungle.

FORREST
(voice-over)

And every time I went back looking for Bubba, somebody
else was saying, "Help me, Forrest. Help me."

Forrest drops another wounded soldier down at the bank of the river next to Tex, and then runs back toward the jungle. Forrest grabs the third wounded soldier up from the ground and turns him over. It is DALLAS.

DALLAS

Can't hear... Can't hear...

Dallas is dropped off at the bank next to the other wounded soldiers. Forrest turns to go back to the jungle.

2ND WOUNDED SOLDIER

No sweat, man. Just lay back. You're gonna be okay.
You're gonna be okay.

FORREST
(voice-over)

I started to get scared that I might never find Bubba.

STRONGARM
(over radio)

You're danger close for crack air, over.

Forrest trips over something and falls to the ground. He looks up to find two bloody legs. It is Lt. Dan, who is wounded. He speaks into the radio.

LT. DAN
(into radio)

Roger, Strongarm, I know my position is danger close!
We got Charlie all over this area! I gotta have those
fast movers in here now! Over!

STRONGARM
(over radio)

Six, Strongarm, we want...

FORREST

Lieutenant Dan, Coleman's dead!

LT. DAN

I know he's dead! My whole goddamned platoon is wiped out!

STRONGARM
(over radio)

Leg Lima 6, Leg Lima 6, how copy you this transmission?
Over.

Forrest tries to pick up Lt. Dan, who tries to push Forrest away.

LT. DAN

Goddammit! What are you doing? Leave me here!
Get away. Just leave me here! Get out!

Forrest pulls Lt. Dan over his shoulder and runs through the jungle.

STRONGARM

Leg Lima 6, Leg Lima 6. This is Strongarm, be advised,
your fast movers are inbound at this time, over.

FORREST
(voice-over)

Then it felt like something just jumped up and bit me.

Forrest falls down.

FORREST

Ah, something bit me!

Forrest gets up as Lt. Dan yells. Lt. Dan fires his pistol at the unseen enemy as Forrest pulls him away.

LT. DAN

You dink son-of-a-????! I can't leave the platoon!
I told you to leave me there, Gump. Forget about me.
Get yourself out! Did you hear what I said! Goddammit,
pull me down! Get your ass out of here!

Forrest drops Lt. Dan down at the bank, next to the other wounded soldiers. Lt. Dan grabs Forrest by the shirt, angry.

LT. DAN

I didn't ask you to pull me out of there, goddamn you!
What the hell do you think you're going?

FORREST

To get Bubba.

LT. DAN

I got an air strike inbound right now. They're gonna
nape the whole area.

Forrest gets up and runs as Lt. Dan yells after him.

LT. DAN

Gump, you stay here, goddammit! That's an order!

FORREST

I gotta find Bubba!

Forrest runs through the jungle searching for Bubba. Forest slows down and looks around carefully.

BUBBA

Forrest...

FORREST

Bubba...

Bubba looks up as he lies on the ground.

BUBBA

I'm okay.

Bubba holds a palm frond over his wound. Forrest removes the frond to look at the wound. Bubba's chest has been blown open.

FORREST

Oh, Bubba, no...

BUBBA

Naw, I'm gonna be all right.

Forrest looks around as he hear the voices of the enemy.

FORREST

Come on. Come on. Come here...

Forrest carries Bubba through the jungle. The sound of approaching planes fills the air.

BUBBA

I'm okay, Forrest. I'm all right.

The roar of approaching planes is deafening. Forrest looks up in fear. Three planes dive down toward the jungle. They fire napalm as the jungle explodes with massive fireballs. Forrest runs, carrying Bubba. The fireballs explode behind him. The entire jungle area is in flames as Forrest runs. Forrest carries Bubba to the bank of the river. Lt. Dan and the other wounded soldiers wait for a rescue helicopter.

LT. DAN

Helo's inbound. Top smoke, get it up there!

FORREST
(voice-over)

If I'd a known this was gonna be the last time me
and Bubba was gonna talk, I'd a thought of something
better to say.

Forrest looks down at Bubba. A soldier releases a smoke canister.

FORREST

Hey, Bubba...

BUBBA

Hey, Forrest. Forrest, why'd this happen?

FORREST

You got shot.

FORREST
(voice-over)

Then Bubba said something I won't even forget.

BUBBA

I wanna go home.

FORREST

Bubba was my best good friend. And even I know
that ain't something you can find just around
the corner. Bubba was gonna be a shrimpin' boat
captain, but instead he died right there by that
river in Vietnam.

The helicopter fly overhead.

BUS STATION - DAY

Forrest continues with his life story. A MAN is sitting next to Forrest on the bus bench.

FORREST

That's all I have to say about that.

MAN

It was a bullet, wasn't it?

FORREST

A bullet?

MAN

That jumped up and bit you.

FORREST

Oh, yes sir. Bit me directly in the buttocks.
They said it was a million-dollar wound, but the
Army must keep that money, 'cause I still ain't
seen a nickel of that million dollars. The only
good thing about being wounded in the buttocks...

Flashback - INT. US. ARMY HOSPITAL/VIETNAM - DAY

Forrest holds two ice cream cones in his hands as he is wheeled on a rolling stretcher.

FORREST
(voice-over)

...is the ice cream. They gave me all the ice cream
I could eat. And guess what. A good friend of mine
was in the bed right next door.

Forrest, lying on his stomach, is wheeled to his bed. Forrest's butt sticks up and is bandaged. Forrest looks at Lt. Dan lying on the bed. Forrest holds out an ice cream cone for Lt. Dan.

FORREST

Lieutenant Dan, I got you some ice cream. Lieutenant Dan,
ice cream.

Lt. Dan, annoyed, takes the ice cream cone and drops it into his bed pan. Forrest slides himself onto his bed. A NURSE reaches toward Lt. Dan.

MALE NURSE

It's time for your bath, Lieutenant.

The male nurse places Lt. Dan's hands on a pull-up bar, then picks up Lt. Dan, whose legs have been amputated.

MALE NURSE

Harper...

Another nurse wheels the rolling bed under Lt. Dan. The male nurse sets Lt. Dan down on the rolling bed. Forrest looks up at Lt. Dan as he is wheeled away. A soldier reads the names from a pile of letters.

SOLDIER

Cooper, Larson, Webster, Gump, Gump...

FORREST

I'm Forrest Gump.

The soldier hands Forrest a large pile of letters. "Undeliverable as addressed. No forwarding order on file." Jenny Curran Rural Route 2 Greenbow, Ala. 39902 Forrest looks down at the pile of letters.

INT. ARMY HOSPITAL/VIETNAM - DAY

A group of wounded soldiers hang out in the hospital, recuperating. Forrest sits and watches "Gomer Pyle" on the television.

SOLDIER

Gump, how can you watch that stupid ????? Turn it off!

ANNOUNCER

From the D.M.Z. to the Delta, you are tuned to the American Forces Vietnam Network. This is Channel 6, Saigon.

Forrest turns the TV off and he is hit on the back of the head by a ping-pong ball.

SOLDIER

Good catch, Gump. You know how to play this?

Forrest shakes his head.

SOLDIER

Come on, let me show you. Here.

The wounded ping-pong player hands Forrest a paddle. Forrest and the wounded ping-pong player step toward the ping-pong table.

SOLDIER

Now the secret to this game is, no matter what happens,
never, never take your eye off the ball.

He holds the ball up and moves it back and forth. Forrest keeps his eyes on the ball.

SOLDIER

All right...

The wounded ping-pong player tosses the ball down onto the table. Forrest begins to hit the ball back to the other player.

FORREST
(voice-over)

For some reason, ping pong came very natural to me.

SOLDIER

See, any idiot can play.

FORREST
(voice-over)

So I started playing it all the time.

Forrest hits ping-pong balls.

FORREST
(voice-over)

I played ping-pong even when I didn't have anyone
to play ping-pong with.

The balls at land in a bed pan positioned on a chair. A group of wounded soldier sit and watch Forrest play with himself. Forrest hits two balls at a time against the opposite side of the table.

FORREST
(voice-over)

The hospital's people said it made me look like a
duck in water, whatever that means. Even Lieutenant
Dan would come and watch me play.

Lt. Dan stares out the window. Forrest lies in his bed asleep. A hand reaches and grabs him.

FORREST
(voice-over)

I played ping-pong so much, I even played it in my sleep.

Lt. Dan pulls Forrest to the floor, and holds Forrest down.

LT. DAN

Now, you listen to me. We all have a destiny.
Nothing just happens, it's all part of a plan.
I should have died out there with my men! But now,
I'm nothing but a goddamned cripple! A legless freak.
Look! Look! Look at me! Do you see that? Do you know
what it's like not to be able to use your legs?

FORREST

Well... Yes, sir, I do.

LT. DAN

Did you hear what I said? You cheated me. I had a
destiny. I was supposed to die in the field! With
honor! That was my destiny! And you cheated me out
of it! You understand what I'm saying, Gump? This
wasn't supposed to happen. Not to me. I had a destiny.
I was Lieutenant Dan Tyler.

FORREST

Yo-You're still Lieutenant Dan.

Lt. Dan looks at Forrest, lets go of Forrest and rolls. Lt. Dan sits up as Forrest looks at him.

LT. DAN

Look at me. What am I gonna do now? What am I gonna do now?

INT. REC ROOM/VIETNAM HOSPITAL - ANOTHER DAY

Forrest plays ping-pong by himself. An OFFICER walks up to him.

OFFICER

P.F.C. Gump?

Forrest immediately grabs the ball and places it down on the table under its paddle. Stands at attention.

FORREST

Yes, sir!

OFFICER

As you were.

The officer holds up an envelope.

OFFICER

Son, you've been awarded the Medal of Honor.

INT. VIETNAM HOSPITAL WARD

Forrest steps up to Lt. Dan's bed.

FORREST

Guess what, Lieutenant Dan, they want to give me a me...

Forrest stops in mid-sentence as he looks down at the bed. A heavily bandaged soldier with bloodstains lies there. Forrest turns and look at the NURSE.

FORREST

Ma'am, what'd they do with Lieutenant Dan?

Nurse

They sent him home.

FORREST
(voice-over)

Two weeks later, I left Vietnam.