Gods and Generals (2003)

Kevin Conway: Sgt. Buster Kilrain

Quotes 

• Sgt. Buster Kilrain : [Chamberlain meets Kilrain for the first time] 

  Sgt. Buster Kilrain : Mornin' to ya, sir. Colonel Ames sent me to get ya. Thought you'd be needin' a drop o' this.

  Sgt. Buster Kilrain : [offers Chamberlain a mug of coffee] 

  Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain : Oh, thank you. Uh...

  Sgt. Buster Kilrain : Kilrain, sir, Sergeant Kilrain. Glad to be of service. You know, Colonel... the boys, well... we've been watchin' you, sir. That we have. You've learned fast. It's becomin' a pleasure to serve under ya.

  Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain : Yes, well, thank you. Are you a veteran, Sergeant?

  Sgt. Buster Kilrain : Aye, sir. I suppose you could say that. Did me duty in the regular army for a while. Did the great long walk with General Scott down south of the Rio Grande.

  Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain : Hmm. Some of the men you fought with in Mexico are on the other side. Almost all of their generals.

  Sgt. Buster Kilrain : Oh, it gets worse than generals, Colonel. Some o' the lads that I left Ireland with are on the other side as well. Imagine that. We left together to escape a tyranny... and end up shootin' at one another in the Land of the Free.

  Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain : I, too, have friends on the other side, Sergeant. And enemies.

  Sgt. Buster Kilrain : Yes, sir. No shortage of enemies, that's for sure.

• Union private : [quoting Abraham Lincoln's Letter after the Battle of Fredericksburg]  We are thankful that the casualities have been comparitively so small...

  Sgt. Buster Kilrain : Compared to what? The Scots at Culloden? The English at Bunker Hill? The French at Waterloo?

• Sgt. Buster Kilrain : [Kilrain has yanked Tom to the ground as bullets fly past them] 

  Sgt. Thomas Chamberlain : What'd you do that for?

  Sgt. Buster Kilrain : You'll thank me in the morning.

• Sgt. Buster Kilrain : [using a dead Union soldier for cover] 

  Sgt. Buster Kilrain : Oh, Patrick... I hope you don't mind. I know you're in heaven, but you've still got plenty of work to do down here in this cold, pitiless world.

• Sgt. Buster Kilrain : [the 20th Maine is about to attack the stone wall at Fredericksburg] 

  Sgt. Buster Kilrain : Seems a terrible long distance up that hill.

  Sgt. Thomas Chamberlain : It'll be shortened by those in front.

  Sgt. Buster Kilrain : Beggin' your pardon, sir; the only thing that will be shortened by those in front is their lives.

• Sgt. Thomas Chamberlain : [deleted scene, Battle of Antietam]  It's good to be Sergeant, isn't it? To shoot a sergeant, you have fire through two men first.

  Sgt. Buster Kilrain : A sergeant never fires his weapon until the men in front of him are killed. And then, only unless you want to show off.