An American Soldier, Act II Scene 1: I'll Make Him a Soldier (Marcum, Judge, Soldiers)

MARCUM

Sprint around the compound

Two hundred times.

Then with three bags

Two hundred times more.

Gonna make you a soldier,

An American soldier.

Everyone knows

That Asians are weak,

Good at their books

That’s not what I need.

Everyone knows

Where they come from:

Countries we fought

And will fight again.

Everyone knows

In this hellhole,

Men should be men

And worthy of trust.

Everyone knows,

Chen can’t cut it.

But I’ll make him

Into a soldier,

An American soldier!

JUDGE

Sergeant Lucas Brown!

BROWN

Danny Chen was not abused. All new recruits put up with hazing. He was treated like everyone else -- no better, no worse.

JUDGE

Private Roderic Carter!

CARTER

Danny Chen was treated worse than the others, punished for no reason at all. Sgt. Marcum went out of his way to make Danny’s life miserable.

MARCUM

All gooks

Sleep outside

JUDGE

Medic Julian Swanson!

SWANSON

The names Marcum used meant no disrespect. “Gook” is a general term used for Asians. Back where I come from, we say it all the time – no one gets upset.

JUDGE

Specialist Cameron Rodriguez!

RODRIGUEZ

Let’s face it. Some officers are racists, including Sgt. Marcum. But out on the battlefield, there was no one who would stop him.

MARCUM

Five hundred push-ups

With water in your mouth!

JUDGE

Sergeant Jackson Blakemore!

BLAKEMORE

Marcum had to be tough. Danny Chen was completely unprepared for that posting. Once, he even fell asleep on night duty.

JUDGE

Specialist Austin Haldemann!

HALDEMANN

Soldiers fell asleep on duty all the time!