“LEYTE” a.k.a. “A TRUE AND HONORED WARRIOR”
The Treatment
Two Main Storylines
Characters
Major
- Commander Earnest Evans – the thirty six year old Cherokee Indian and family man. He is the Captain of the Destroyer USS JOHNSTON.
- Charles Jefferson – the newly minted 19 year old black steward of Captain Evans
Minor
- Old Jefferson – the now 87 year old Charles Jefferson currently living in a retirement home in Rancho Bernardo CA.
- Margaret Evans – wife of Captain Evans.
- Robert Copeland – the Captain of the destroyer escort USS SAMUEL ROBERTS and friend of Captain Evans.
- Rear Admiral Clifton “Ziggy” Sprague – commander of task force 77.4.3 (Taffy 3).
- Captain Mike Pritchard – Admiral Sprague’s Chief of Staff and protagonist of Captain Evans.
- 1st Class Gunner’s Mate John Beauregard – the highly prejudiced southern Gun-Mount Captain and protagonist to the blacks. He will not allow them to fire, practice on or even touch the JOHNSTON’S five inch guns.
- John Grey, RL Leonard and Abe Jones – the three black mess hands on the JOHNSTON.
- Phil Ackerman (aka “Cookie”) – the white cook and torpedo man who is good friends with the blacks. He’s married with a little daughter he has never met.
- Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita – Commander of the Huge, Japanese Center Force
- Scuttlebutt – The small pet dog of Captain Copeland on the SAMUEL ROBERTS
The great hero of the battle and recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, was the thirty six years old Captain of the destroyer USS Johnston – Commander Ernest Evans. He was also three quarter Native American (half Cherokee, a quarter Creek and a quarter “Evans.”) and married with two boys. The main storyline follows his desperate desire to make it through the war and get home to the family he loves.
His troubles were compounded by racial prejudice stemming from his Indian heritage. His friends called him “Chief” out of love, his enemies also called him “Chief” but with disdain (the rank of Chief is far below Commander). The audience is gradually drawn into all this so when the great battle suddenly erupts, they’re just as desperate for him to get home as he was.
Through 16 mm home movies and carefully written letters with voice over, the deep longing of Evans to see his wife and likewise, for his wife to see him, is established. The tension around this intensifies when it becomes known that Captain Evans and his immediate superior have a history over his wife – she had been the superior’s girlfriend before Evans courted and married her while the superior was away on duty. The fact that Evans is also an Indian plays heavily in the superior’s resentment.
The second main storyline features the struggle of three men for their dignity.
On the USS Johnston, three black sailors are cooks and mess hands. They bunk together in the “Negro Quarters” and cannot fire the five inch guns because the southern gun crew will not allow it. Their general quarters (battle station) is in the ward room with the medical team tending injured white sailors. This inequality is played upon and intensified at key points. The five inch gun becomes symbolic of everything to these men. It means so much they give up a day of liberty to secretly practice loading and unloading a 5 inch gun when no one is around. They work so hard at it their hands bleed.
The battle resolves both stories – one heroically, the other tragically but with an uplifting twist. We know from history Captain Evans didn’t get home. In our story, however, a symbolic part of him does make it home. This is done in a way which does not offend history or the sensibilities of the audience. It’s important to understand that few of the audience know anything about this battle or what finally happened to Captain Evans. While most don’t know its outcome they will know they’re watching something that really happened. This allows unfolding events on the screen to hold them in an intense emotional power squeeze right to the very end.
The intense drama and heroics of this great battle stem from two important facts. First, it was the ultimate David versus Goliath. Second, it was also completely unexpected; no one, absolutely no one, saw it coming. This combination is very unique in battles and the screenplay attempts to milk it against the two storylines for maximum, emotional impact.
Pre - Battle
The story of “Leyte” is told by Old Jefferson. He is now 87 and living in a retirement home in Rancho Bernardo. When the hi-tech destroyer USS SPRUANCE comes to San Diego in 2011 he takes a public tour. As the tour passes pictures of famous naval battles of W.W. II, he stops at one and begins to emotionally break down. A young Ensign takes him to a room to try to understand what’s happening and slowly coax’s him to tell the story he has kept private his entire life.
The story begins at Manus Island, Papa New Guinea in early October 1944. A young navy steward, Charles Jefferson, on his first assignment finds and boards the USS JOHNSTON. He is told he is the Captain’s new steward and is escorted to the Negro Quarters where he meets John Grey, RL Leonard and Abe Jones (it was Navy practice at the time to segregate the races). He is surprised to learn Captain Evans is ¾ American Indian and that some of the crew don’t like him – they think he’s just a “big talker” and that he drills them too hard. They are sick of it and have nicknamed the JOHNSTON “GQ Johnny” for “general quarters JOHNSTON.” Privately, some derogatorily refer to him as “the Chief” instead of “the Captain.” However, when Jefferson meets the Captain he immediately likes him; he is courteous and seems fair but firm.
The next morning the JOHNSTON begins gunnery, torpedo, damage control and replenishment drills – and the two storylines begin to emerge.
Captain Evans announces he wants every crew member trained to load and fire the five inch guns. Jefferson is shocked to learn the black’s battle station is the ward room; they are to set it up as a triage area for any injured (white) sailors. He also discovers that the words “every crew member” do not include the four blacks; the southern, white gun crew will not allow them to touch the guns. (Captain Evans ignores this – his problem is with the Japanese, not America’s social issues). Jefferson insists that John Grey take him to the gun area right after ship drills to see for himself.
As the 5” gun drills commence, the audience is taken inside – up close and personal – to see the tremendous muscular strength and coordination required of seven men to load and fire 56 pound shells every few seconds. The drills do not end until the crew achieves Captain Evan’s firing rate of 22 rounds a minute, seven over the Navy standard of 15. Blood drips from the crew’s hands to the mount floor before they’re able to achieve it. They made it but are not happy with Captain Evans for making them do it.
When damage control commences, fake blood is used on “injured sailors” to create a sense of “reality.” Abe plays a trick on Jefferson using the fake blood and the three blacks discover that Jefferson has a deep secret. He has a severe “blood phobia”; he turns away and shakes violently at the sight of blood. They startled to see this but struggle to help him cope with the problem.
The JOHNSTON’s replenishment drill is with the small destroyer escort, the USS SAMUEL ROBERTS. We quickly learn Captain Evans and the Robert’s Captain, Bob Copeland, are old friends. Through the ship to ship power phones Evans asks about Copeland’s dog, Scuttlebutt, and jokes that Copeland should keep a close eye on him because it’s rumored the natives eat dogs. Copeland nervously laughs. He sends over to Captain Evans a letter from his wife, Margaret and a projector for home movies.
When the gun drills end, Jefferson and John Grey immediately make their way to a five inch gun and Jefferson inspects and touches it. An intense, almost violent, confrontation with 1st Class Gunner’s Mate John Beauregard and the southern gun crew erupts. As John Grey drags Jefferson away from this scene, he warns Jefferson not to make trouble over this issue. Jefferson doesn’t respond.
It’s night time and Captain Copeland is getting ready to have dinner with Captain Evans on the island and tells his steward to keep an eye on Scuttlebutt. As he begins to leave Scuttlebutt darts past him, runs down the gangplank and disappears into the dimly lit streets of the island. Copeland runs after him in a panic fearing the natives will find and eat him. What happens next is very funny.
Copeland and Evans have dinner and drinks together; the mood is light. Copeland tells Evans not to ask how him how he knows but he knows for sure they don’t eat dogs on the island. Copeland jokingly comments that Scuttlebutt – like how animals can sometimes foretell earthquakes – always seems to know when to go to GQ before it’s even announced. They discuss their mutual plan to get home, raise their families and build houses together. Evans tells Copeland how much he misses his wife and two boys. Copeland reminds him it won’t be long with the war winding down so fast.
Early next morning Captain Evans begins watching the family movie Margaret sent. It shows her and his parents waving and his two boys posing and mugging for the camera. There is no sound. We see many facial close ups – all in silence. We notice that he habitually twirls his wedding ring with his right hand as he watches the movie. He rewinds the film and replay’s it as he reads his wife’s letter. Through voice over we hear her read the letter. It’s all positive news and then she says that she misses him dearly and wants him home soon. The pain on his face is obvious.
Jefferson knocks on the Caption’s door with coffee and sees his two boys on the screen. He mentions to the Captain that he has two handsome sons. Evans thanks him and says he misses them dearly. With a positive tone Jefferson tells the Captain he’ll do his best to get him home, healthy and well fed. His sincerity touches Evans. Then Captain Evans asks Jefferson about his family. Jefferson tells him he’s their sole support as his father is sick. He mentions he might like to make the Navy a career. The Captain encourages him and says that conditions are rapidly changing to make it a good career for him. A bond is starting to form. Now, two important decisions are made that determine the fate of the movie.
Jefferson asks Captain Evans permission for the three blacks to “dry practice” firing the five inch guns when the rest of the crew is on liberty. Captain Evans tells him his fight is with the Japanese, not America’s social problems, and that he needs the gun crews on his side – but he gives his permission with assurances they will leave the area exactly as they found it. Then, as Jefferson is leaving, Captain Evans tells him that during general quarters, he wants Jefferson on the bridge with him as a runner and not in the ward room. This last decision is pivotal to the storyline. First, it allows Jefferson to help his Captain during his time of greatest need. Second, it opens the door for Captain Evans to get a highly emotional final message back to his wife providing a powerful ending to the main storyline.
(That Captain Evans survived to the very end of the battle is known. Men saw him entering the sea as the JOHNSTION was being abandoned. But how he died is still a mystery. What is known is that he lost two fingers on his left hand and had severe shrapnel wounds to face and chest. In our screenplay we supply a plausible and powerful emotional ending).
That afternoon, the thirteen Captains of Taffy 3 meet on the USS FANSHAW BAY – Admiral Sprague’s small carrier flag ship – to discuss the next mission. Admiral Sprague explains that Taffy 3 is to supply air support for General MacArthur’s army as he lands 200,000 men to recapture the Philippines. He turns the meeting over to his Chief of Staff, Mike Pritchard, to explain the details. There is noticeable tension between Pritchard and Evans. When he says this is a simple mission and that no one is to do anything not authorized without first contacting Flag, he looks straight at Captain Evans.
That night, while most of the crew is on liberty, Jefferson and the three blacks sneak down to a five inch gun mount and go inside. They find the shells and powder kegs and begin to load and unload the gun. However, RL accidently drops a shell with a loud clang. A white sailor approaches to investigate and as he opens the door they drag him in saying they have permission to be there and threaten his life if he tells anyone. He leaves terrorized into silence. As the three blacks practice we see their natural muscular strength and rhythm. They finish after hitting 22 rounds in one minute. They’re somewhat startled by this result – and proud, as blood also drips from their hands
There are now some light, enjoyable scenes before the ship leaves for Leyte. RL goes on a date with a young island native. When the three other blacks find out she can’t speak any English they kid and joke with him. Phil Ackerman (aka “Cookie”) enters the Negro quarters and asks if anyone wants to play poker. John Grey says yes and they joke about who is going to home all the money.
OCTOBER 16TH
The JOHNSTON departs Manus Island along with the destroyers USS Hoel and the USS Heermann and rendezvous with four small escort carriers. The three destroyers escort them to Taffy 3’s station in Leyte Gulf of Samar Island. They are soon joined by the Samuel Roberts and three other destroyer escorts screening two small carriers. Taffy 3 is complete.
OCTOBER 21ST
Admiral Sprague’s COS – Mike Pritchard – sends the JOHNSTON on a mission to fire its 5 inch guns at the island to help Macarthur dislodge some Japanese soldiers. After the mission the JOHNSTON sonar picks up a few blips and the Johnston, without authorization, patrols for six hours looking for submarines. Pritchard is irate – Evans didn’t check with Flag first. He orders Evans to the FANSHAW BAY.
Evans tells him if he notified flag he would give away his position. The COS responds that the sub was probably submerged so would not pick up JOHNSTON’s communication. Anger builds then erupts as Evans says, “You never got over it did you?” We discover that Margaret had been Mike Pritchard’s girlfriend and, while he was away on extended tour, Evans courted then married her. Evans tells Pritchard Margaret was over him when they dated and then fell in love. Pritchard makes a racial slur about not being able to trust an Indian and Evans storms out.
OCTOBER 23RD
It’s evening and the crew is lined up to eat dinner. Beauregard tells John Grey to pile on more potatoes and calls him “boy” when doing it. Grey asks him not to call him that but Beauregard does it again. Grey flies over the counter at him but the crew pulls them apart.
After things calm down Phil Ackerman (aka “Cookie”) corners Jefferson and tells him he is married with a baby girl he has never met. He shows Jefferson a picture of his daughter his wife just sent him. But Friends tell him she is now living with another man and plans on divorcing him. He asks Jefferson to hold the picture for him because his battle station – the torpedo mounts – is a high risk area. He asks Jefferson to promise that if anything should happen to him, he’ll go see his little girl, show her the picture and tell her he loved her. Jefferson promises and tucks the picture in his wallet between other photos.
OCTOBER 24TH (One day before the battle)
Copeland, Evans and the crew listen to incoming reports about Admiral Halsey’s engagement with Vice Admiral Kurit’a Center Force 150 miles on the other side of Samar. The news is good – Halsey’s carriers and war ships are sending the Japanese into retreat. At night fall, part of Halsey’ 3rd fleet can be seen by Taffy 3 stationed thirty miles north to their north. Everything is quiet and is as it should be.
OCTOBER 25TH
It’s 0300 and quiet aboard the JOHNSTON. A damage control crew member comes over and asks a radar tech to show him how radar works. The tech says they are on radio and radar silence but he can show him the short range radar since the Japanese aren’t around and therefore won’t sense it. When he does he notices something strange and calls the Officer of the Deck to see who then awakens Captain Evans. After watching awhile Evans decides to call Admiral Sprague. Mike Pritchard comes on but he’s mad and refuses to listen. He tells Evans he’s in big trouble since he broke radio silence and will be put on report the next morning.
Evans returns to his cabin upset. He’s feels beaten down and low and writes a touching letter to Margaret. He tells her how tired he is of the constant fighting and how much he wants to just come home and to hold her. As he thinks of her while he’s writing he twirls his wedding right with his right hand. He puts the letter in an envelope and lays it on his desk to be mailed that day.
The Battle
- When Captain Evans orders the JOHNSTON to turn and attack the Center Force, Phil Ackerman (aka “Cookie”) is at his station on the torpedo deck. When the Johnston finally gets close enough she launches the first five torpedoes, then turns and readies for the next five.
Right then a Japanese shell explodes and the pieces severs the air compression lines that launch the torpedoes and also kills everyone on the deck except Cookie. The shrapnel has also severed an artery in his left leg and it’s bleeding badly. In this desperate situation he grabs the emergency torpedo hammer, hobbles over to each torpedo and hammers off the last five torpedoes by hand. He falls to the deck but is able to see the results of his effort – a torpedo blast that splits the large Japanese cruiser, the KUMANO, in half – just before he dies. - Then, as the JOHNSTON returns from it torpedo run, Captain Evans orders Jefferson to retrieve an operation manual from his quarters. While Jefferson is below, three huge shells smash the JOHNSTON, obliterating the bridge and disabling one of its two main engines. When Jefferson comes back to the bridge, three officers are dead and Captain Evans is shirtless on the ground, blood spurting from two missing fingers with countless shrapnel wounds to his chest. Jefferson turns away in horror and begins to shake violent. But he remembers Abe Jones’ idea to try to pretend the real thing is just fake blood and injury prosthetics. When he does he gains the courage to turn back, assist his Captain and help get the ship going again.
- In the video (and other sources) survivors of the ROBERTS remember seeing Captain Evans on the Fan Tail of the JOHNSTON – with a bloody towel wrapped around his left hand, shirtless with blood covering his entire chest – yelling orders through a hole to men below now moving the rudder by hand, turning and saluting Captain Copeland as the SAMUEL ROBERTS passed. The screenplay treats this moment as the highpoint of the movie. That two men, in a desperate fight not only for their own lives but the lives of the other 5,000 men on the six defenseless carriers, would stop and honor the others steadfast devotion to duty, is something far beyond normal human experience. The following VO by old Jefferson from the screenplay indicates this.
OLD JEFFERSON (V.O.) War brings out the very best and very worst in man and I had just witnessed something I can only call great. Seeing it and being a small part of it elevated and changed me in a profound way. Looking back it was always there in my mind and affected how I treated people and what I said to them from that day forward. - Near the end of the battle, when the JOHNSTON is firing every available five inch gun trying to turn back the final Japanese destroyer charge at the helpless carriers, a Japanese shell hits an important 5 inch gun and it stops firing. Jefferson goes to the ward room and tells the three blacks the dire news. On their own initiative – and with every reason not too – they run down to help get it firing again. With assistance from the only gunner left – the now injured Beauregard – they get the gun firing again. It fires at a furious pace, driven by the tremendous muscular power and strength of the three men. In the heat of this intense activity Beauregard excitedly yells, “Pour it on ‘em men.” Time stops as he and the three blacks hear and realize what he just said. After the Japanese destroyers are turned back, a shell comes in hitting the gun mount and killing all four. Only the audience knows the heroics, bravery and symbolic change that occurred in that gun mount as white fought side by side with black. And that’s the power and beauty in it.
- Scuttlebutt has his own GQ station in a corner on the bridge of the Samuel Roberts. The constant joke is that Scuttlebutt always seems to go to GQ before it’s officially called. On the morning of the battle, fifteen minutes before it starts, Admiral Sprague orders the ships of Taffy 3 to stand down from GQ so sailors can have breakfast. Copeland calls his dog over to go have breakfast. Scuttlebutt comes over but then goes back to GQ. After much coaxing Copeland can’t get him to budge and then gets alarmed. He scans the horizon with binoculars but sees nothing. Soon he hears garbled Japanese talk come over the radio and investigates. Ten minutes later the huge 18 inch shells of the Great Yamato begin to pour down on Taffy 3.Then, late in the battle, as Captain Copeland is moving around the bridge cleaning out security manuals before abandoning ship, Scuttlebutt suddenly barks at him twice. Copeland stops and looks at the dog. Two seconds later a shell hits where he would have been. The smoke clears; Copeland is alive but Scuttlebutt is dead. Coincidence or something deeper?
The Aftermath
After Captain Evans gives the order to abandon the now sinking JOHNSTON, Jefferson helps the injured Captain to mid ship where they can “walk” into the water. Jefferson tells the Captain to wait while he looks for something they can float on. As he’s searching, an explosion suddenly rips the ship and flash burns Jefferson’s face, neck and hands. He stumbles back to Captain Evans and they fall together into the sea. As the ship sinks the camera finds Captain Evans’ letter to his wife floating in the ships swirling wake, then slowly sink out of sight.
They float together for awhile, then Captain Evans unexpectedly passes out and drops under the water. Jefferson lifts him up but it happens again, so he permanently holds Captain and fights to keep them both up. Evans tells him it’s no use. He knows something no one else knows – the Navy won’t be looking for them for days. The Navy will be looking for the Japanese and a rescue of hundreds of men throughout the seas would be too dangerous. He tells Jefferson they both will die if he tries to save him but Jefferson refuses to let go. Evans orders him to let him go but Jefferson still refuses and holds him tight. Muffled communication is heard between them and then Evans kicks himself free. While Jefferson watches in horror, Captain Evans slowly floats away and out of sight.
Jefferson now floats alone for hours, then finds a group of men floating by holding to a net and joins them. They float over fifty hours before being rescued. Jefferson is then flown to a hospital in San Francisco for his injuries. He is covered hand and chest with bandages. A nurse brings his soaked pants in and lays them across the chair. He stares at them but can do nothing.
After three weeks the nurses take off his bandages and there is scarring – the same scarring we saw on old Jefferson at the beginning. When they leave he goes over to his pants and feels for his wallet. It’s there. He opens it and takes out a mass of white, water soaked paper. He carefully peels away each sheet, layer by layer, and everything has been etched clean by the long exposure to sea water. He soon finds and peels away Cookies’ baby photo and the camera only sees white – except in the very center something still remains – just the face of Cookie’s little girl.
He leaves the hospital and takes a train to Boston; then a cab to a house in a lower class section of the city. He walks up, knocks on the door and the boyfriend answers. Jefferson says he was a friend of Phil Ackerman but is interrupted by the boyfriend who says they already know he’s dead. The boyfriend then yells in the house to Cookie’s wife and says “look honey, they sent a nigger to tell us Cookie died.” She asks him to come in. He begins to talk again but the wife also interrupts and says the marriage meant nothing to her. From the back of the house a little girl’s voice is heard asking “Is that daddy”? The mother says, “No! It’s nobody, go back.” The little girl peaks around the corner and looks at Jefferson. She smiles and he smiles back.
He then begins to say that Phil died a hero but is again cut off by the boyfriend who says “don’t give us that hero crap, the guy was a just lousy cook” and begins to shove Jefferson toward the door. Jefferson’s had enough. He turns and smashes the guy in the nose, splitting it wide open and sending him to the floor. Cookie’s wife goes to help her boyfriend; blood spurting everywhere. Jefferson stares at the bloody face and then the blood on his hand – he’s not shaking!
He leaves the house and Cookie’s little girl runs after him. She asks Jefferson if he knew her father. She says they told her he didn’t come home because he didn’t love her anymore. Jefferson gets down on one knee and shows her the photo her father gave him and tells her her father loved her very much and tried to get home but died saving his friends. He gives her the water etched photo with only her face remaining and tells her to keep it safe. Jefferson then walks down the street and disappears around the corner.
It’s the White House and Mrs. Evans is waiting in a room with her two boys. A secretary comes in and tells her the President will be a little while longer, than gives Margaret a manila envelope that has just arrived. Margaret opens the envelope and finds a letter. It’s anonymous. The person says he had the privilege to be with her husband in his final hours and that he promised her husband that if he survived he would get to her his final words. The words are very emotional and touching. He also writes that her husband told him to say this, “that when times get hard for her, to hold this to her chest and he’ll be there to help her.” She reaches to the bottom of the manila envelope and takes out her husband’s wedding ring!
In the Presidential presentation room are President Truman, Margaret and her two boys, Admiral Sprague, Robert Copeland (with Navy Cross), Mike Pritchard and a few others – all there to honor Captain Evans as the Congressional Medal of Honor is presented posthumously and given to his wife. As President Truman begins reading the CMOH citation, the screen shows flash backs to the points in the battle the citation refers to, then finally a picture of the real Captain Evans appears on the screen.