- [first lines]
- Narrator: A half-forgotten corner of France in a wholly-forgotten war. In memory of the heroes of the Lafayette Escadrille, who died in defense of life and of liberty. This monument, this patch of foreign sky, belongs to a handful of Americans who flew for France and died for France in the First World War. They came with an air of adventure or a sense of impatience in the days before America entered the war. The wore French uniforms, they fought in French planes, and they fell in love with French women. These weren't just names in 1917; they were headlines. But this story is about a man whose name isn't carved in stone with the other young men of that old war. He ran away to war for reasons of his own. His name is Thad Walker.
- Jimmy: [repeated line to the American flyers] Good morning, American bum!
- Duke Sinclaire: I'm not sure I like being called a "bum"! I've always thought of myself as more of a "tramp".
- [the American flyers are driving the French drillmaster crazy]
- Duke Sinclaire: We've got him out-witted! Our feet are *killing* him!
- Amos J. Walker: Marching's for the infantry.
- Duke Sinclaire: Just keep on pretending we don't know what he's yelling about.
- Bill Wellman Sr.: Pretending?
- [last lines]
- Narrator: It stands in aging splendor on the outskirts of Paris. A war turned to stone in the broad museum of Europe. To the Americans who wore French uniforms, who fought in French planes, and fell in love with French women, history has reserved two words: Lafayette Escadrille.
- Tom Hitchcock: This is a day to write home about.
- Duke Sinclaire: Dear Mother: Today we flew at a dizzy height. 25 feet off the ground. Our estimated speed: a reckless 40 miles an hour. Dear Mother: We have grown used to the smell of burnt castor oil. And the confusion of instruments: an altimeter, a compass, and a revolutions counter.
- Tom Hitchcock: Dear Mother: All he's gotta do now is land.
- Amos J. Walker: [slaps Thad] My son stealing cars! Do you realize what the newspapers will do to me?
- Arthur Blumenthal: [from the pitcher's mound] Come on, let's go, Yale! Come on, step up and take your medicine, boy.
- George Moseley: What's the matter, have I got you scared, Princeton?
- Duke Sinclaire: All right, will you educated idiots stop delaying the game. Let's play ball!
- Renée Beaulieu: [practicing her English] Where is a chair? The chair - is under the table. The chair - is on the ceiling.
- Thad Walker: Floor.
- Renée Beaulieu: Le floor is on the ceiling.
- Thad Walker: My - face is a little loused up, isn't it?
- Renée Beaulieu: I love - your - lous-sed up face.
- Thad Walker: Say it slow... lentement... maybe I'll understand.
- Renée Beaulieu: We - no can going - on street. Gendarme
- Thad Walker: Look, I go nuts in here at night without you. Just have a look at my great big wonderful world. It's not round. It's square.
- Renée Beaulieu: Having each other - we happy, no?
- Thad Walker: [frustrated] Yeah, sure. You buy the cigarettes, pay the rent...
- Thad Walker: Do you think I don't know what kind of a job it is? Now, you listen to me. I will speak - very slowly - maybe you will understand one-half of what I am trying to say. Maybe that will be enough. It won't be for long. Maybe a month. Un mois, deux mois. I make money. Madam give me protection. Tu comprends? Soon we go Buenos Aires. We - be happy. No more little hotel room. No more war! É pas de souvenir.
- Renée Beaulieu: [singing] Pretty baby, Pretty baby, Won't...
- Renée Beaulieu, Thad Walker: You come and let me rock you in my cradle of love
- Renée Beaulieu: And we'll cuddle
- Renée Beaulieu, Thad Walker: All the time
- Renée Beaulieu: Oh, I want my lovely
- Thad Walker: Baby, And it might as...
- Renée Beaulieu, Thad Walker: Well be you
- Renée Beaulieu: Pretty baby of mine!
- Thad Walker: Pretty baby of mine...
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