Ace of Aces

Nancy Adams:
You've changed. You're so different. Is this what the war has done to you?

2nd Lt. Rex 'Rocky' Thorne:
Wasn't this what you wanted?

Nancy Adams:
I didn't know. I spoke of the glory of war. I know now. The mud, the filth, the suffering, the agony, the poor, helpless, dying boys.

2nd Lt. Rex 'Rocky' Thorne:
It isn't muddy up where I am. When death comes, it comes swiftly and cleanly. Ah, it's a grand war. I only hope the next one is half as good. I used to think I could take clay and mold it into the semblance of a living thing. The closer it came to being alive, the greater my glory. The power of life is more than that, Nancy. Life--life for myself as I control my plane. And then death, swift and final in the squeeze of my fingers. [laughs] You can't do that with clay, Nancy.

Nancy Adams:
Then all that you said about saving yourself for something better--

2nd Lt. Rex 'Rocky' Thorne:
Did I say that? Forget it. Why, this is a great war, and I'm having a grand time. It's all grand, every minute of it. Thirty-three planes shot down. Decorated by a French general. My picture in the papers. The idol of the allies, the hero, the great war ace. Pursued by women. Boy, I wouldn't have missed this for anything. You did me a great favor that day in the studio. [laughs] Me and my ideals for humanity. Ha! Why, I might still be back there slaving, trying to express myself on some remote conception of art.

Nancy Adams:
Please, Rocky!

2nd Lt. Rex 'Rocky' Thorne:
Come on, Nancy. Don't try to make me feel sorry for myself, because there's nothing to feel sorry for.

2nd Lt. Rex 'Rocky' Thorne:
[looking at medals] For the glory of my country. Tell me, Nancy: are these worth forty-two dead men? Are they worth one dead man?

Nancy Adams:
Oh, Rocky.

2nd Lt. Rex 'Rocky' Thorne:
I knew the answer once. I was sure of it. Why did I forget?

Nancy Adams:
We all forgot it, Rocky.

2nd Lt. Rex 'Rocky' Thorne:
Most of us never knew. We never realized. But I thought I did. And then I forgot--forgot everything in the game of killing.

Nancy Adams:
Rocky, you're making me ashamed of you. Nobody believes you're sincere and honest about what you say.

Lt. Foster 'Froggy' Kelley:
Here today, hero tomorrow.

Maj.:
[to Rocky] Don't let this first kill lull you into a false sense of security.