When Trumpets Fade

When Trumpets Fade is a 1998 HBO television movie directed by John Irvin and starring Ron Eldard, Frank Whaley, Zak Orth, and Dylan Bruno. First released on June 27, 1998, the film is set in World War II during the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest. Plot Private David Manning is in the 28th Infantry Division, and during the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest, he becomes the sole survivor of his platoon. Manning is assigned to lead a squad of green reinforcements and promoted to sergeant. He tries to get out of it, saying he is unqualified for the position, but his company commander, Captain Roy Pritchett, disagrees. Manning then tries to back out of responsibility by asking to be discharged under Section 8 (designating him mentally unfit due to combat stress), to no avail. Manning meets with his new men and later leads them into position on the line. The next morning, while on patrol, Manning puts Private Warren Sanderson on point. However, Sanderson goes forward too quickly and gets separated from the squad, before narrowly avoiding contact with the enemy. Manning eventually decides the squad must leave without Sanderson right before the latter returns. After this incident, Manning is scorned by his peers and berated by his platoon leader, First Lieutenant Terrence Lukas. Manning's company makes a push toward the town of Schmidt in order to take and hold a key bridge. However, they move into an enemy minefield and are attacked by enemy fire. The company retreats, and Pritchett comes to Manning with a volunteer mission to destroy the enemy's guns, before promising to offer Manning a Section 8 if he volunteers for and succeeds on the mission. During the mission, one of Manning's men, Private Sam Baxter, panics and starts to flee. The other men follow suit. To stop them, Manning shoots Baxter, hitting the flamethrower he is carrying on his back, which causes it to explode and burn him to death. Horrified by this, the rest of Manning's men stop fleeing and assault the position where the guns are located. Led by Sanderson, the group succeeds in destroying the guns. Manning's company secures the bridge after suffering heavy casualties, but is soon attacked by German tanks and forced to retreat. During the retreat back to the American lines, Lonnie is killed and Despin is captured. Manning and Sanderson escape. Pritchett, who has also survived the ordeal, cracks under pressure and is ordered off the lines before he can uphold his promise to Manning.