Bruce: [chuckles] Um, excuse me, sir. I saw the "help wanted" sign in the window.
Mr. Carlson: We filled that position.
Bruce: Uh-huh. Well, maybe you should take the sign out the window, then.

Bruce: Let's go find some rope.
Dean: Cool. [Bruce chuckles] To tie Santa up.
Bruce: Wait, what?
Dean: Nothing.

Dean: Dang it. How did this Canadian penny make it all the way to Alabama?

Bill: So, how'd it go?
Bruce: Well, uh, they offered me a job. But I didn't take it.
Bill: Why not?
Bruce: Because I don't want to be a janitor.
Bill: What? I thought you were interviewing for a teller position.
Bruce: Yeah, me too. But, clearly, they only offer the good jobs to the white veterans. I forget what things are like back here.
Bill: You know what? You're too smart to be a teller. It's time to start college. The GI Bill will cover your tuition. Let your Uncle Sam pay instead of your father.
Bruce: [laughs] Thanks, Dad. But you don't have to worry about me. I know I got options.
Bill: All right, son.

Kim: Look. It's the ornament Dean made in kindergarten. I can't tell. Is it Jesus in a manger or a space alien on a skateboard? [laughter]

Bill: Good news. The dean of admissions from 'Bama State is gonna meet with you personally the day after Christmas vacation.
Bruce: Thanks. Thanks. But, uh, I wouldn't want him to waste his time.
Lillian: That's fine. [chuckles] Maybe you're not ready for school, but I could ask around at work and see if there's anything.
Bruce: I can take care of myself.
Bill: Hey! Don't speak to your mother that way.
Bruce: I'm sorry, Mama.
Lillian: What's wrong? Tell us.
Bruce: I re-enlisted for another tour. [all gasping] I go back in January.

Bill: Have you lost your mind?
Lillian: When did this happen?
Bruce: Now. I just got back from the recruitment office.
Adult Dean: I guess maybe my friends at school were right. Bruce had to be crazy if he wanted to go back to Vietnam.
Dean: But... you just got home. What about all the stuff we were going to do together?
Bruce: I know, Dean, and I'm sorry, little buddy, but... I promise we'll finish the treehouse before I leave.
Dean: Don't bother.
[Dean picks up the gift-wrapped telescope]
Adult Dean: Now he'll never know what his present was.

Bill: You're not thinking straight. We've been watching the news. We know it's getting worse over there every day.
Kim: I've been going to protests and sit-ins to end this war so you could come home. And now you're choosing to go back?
Bruce: Okay, you just don't understand. I...
Lillian: Help us to understand, son.
Bruce: When I'm here, people see me as just a janitor. Over there, my men, they respect me. I'm a leader.
Kim: You really think they respect a Black soldier?
Bruce: Kim, one of the reasons I re-enlisted is because they're gonna promote me to sergeant. I could have a career in the Army, which is a hell of a lot better than sweeping floors for the rest of my life.
Lillian: You'd have a lot more opportunities if you went to college. You made good grades.
Bruce: That was two years ago. So was my last baseball game and my last rally. None of you have any idea what I've been through. I have a lot of friends back there in Vietnam. And I feel bad about that. I think about that a lot. Okay? I feel like I have to go back right now and make sure they get home safely.
Bill: Son, that is noble, but...
Bruce: There's no point in talking. I already signed the papers at the recruitment center. It's too late. It's too late.

Adult Dean: The good news was Mama and Daddy were on the same page. Bruce was wrong and we were right. It would only be a matter of time before they laid down the law.
Dean: What are you doing?
Lillian: Putting a box together for your brother to take with him. Want him to have some things that remind him of home.
Dean: So you're just letting him go back to Vietnam?
Lillian: We can't stop him, Dean, much as we want to. He's a grown man. He makes his own choices now. But he's our son, so we have to love and support him.
Dean: I bet Dad would yell at him.
Lillian: They've been out there working on that treehouse all morning. No yelling. No yelling.
Dean: What is wrong with this family?

Adult Dean: I couldn't believe it. My parents were actually gonna let this happen. Clearly, it was up to me now to keep my brother from going back to Vietnam.
[cut to Dean seated on the floor of the recruitment office holding up a sign reading "STOP THE WAR"]
Adult Dean: That's right... the sit-in, a classic act of civil disobedience. Occupy, disrupt, let them know you mean business. [telephone rings] Yeah, it wasn't really working.
Linda: Merry Christmas, little fella.
Adult Dean: Malcolm X was right. This nonviolence thing was not very effective. Uh-oh, here comes one of the imperialist warmonger pigs now.
Owen Sunhill: Hey, any idea how long your sit-in's gonna last?
Adult Dean: Time to hold my ground.
Owen Sunhill: We're supposed to close early for Christmas Eve, and I've still got some shopping to do. Gonna buy my nephew a G.I. Joe.
Dean: Don't waste your money buying the Black one. It's just the White one painted brown. But I'm not leaving until I end this war. I don't want my brother going back to Vietnam.
Owen Sunhill: Okay. What was your brother's name?
Dean: Bruce.
Owen Sunhill: Right. Well, you gotta do what you gotta do.
Adult Dean: I couldn't believe how all these people could just blindly go about their lives while my family was being torn apart. I also couldn't believe how stupid I was not to pee before I started my sit-in.
Dean: I gotta use the bathroom. Can you hold this sign for me? I'll be right back.