| Toy Soldiers | |
|---|---|
| Season 1, Episode 16 | |
| |
| Air date | February 18, 1996 |
| Written by | Marilyn Osborn |
| Directed by | Stephen L. Posey |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous The Angriest Angel |
Next Dear Earth |
Toy Soldiers is the sixteenth episode of Season 1 of Space: Above and Beyond.
The episode aired February 18, 1996 on the Fox Network.
West is upset when his younger brother, who has joined the Marines, arrives upon the USS SARATOGA under the command of an inexperienced and foolish gung-ho lieutenant.
Summary[]
Nathan's brother Neil West has enlisted in the Marine Corps. Private West is then assigned, along with his unit, 5th Force Recon , to the USS SARATOGA. Nathan is afraid that his brother does not understand what he signed up for, and tells Neil he should have stayed in college. He still thinks of Neil as the little brother he played football with.
Neil's commanding officer, 2LT Herrick, is a green officer who volunteers his men for an assignment they are not ready for, in the hopes of gaining personal glory. The 58th and 5th are sent on a recon mission to the planet Mors.
Once on the ground, the 58th and 5th dig in not far from each other, and settle in to begin their recon mission. They see a Chig C-3 communications tower, and Vansen and Herrick argue about blowing it up. Nathan arranges a meeting midway between their locations with Neil, but their communications channels are open, and Herrick overhears Nathan warning Neil that Herrick is a loose cannon. Herrick takes this as a challenge and convinces his unit to follow him to blow up the C-3 tower in the name of honor and glory.
The 5th go to blow up the C-3 tower, but discover it is a fake and come under heavy fire. They manage to find a Chig wall to hide behind temporarily, but Herrick wants to engage the enemy. Vansen and West try to talk him out of it, but Herrick uses honor and glory rhetoric to convince his men to attack the enemy, rather than fall back. In the ensuing charge, several are killed or wounded, including Herrick. They hide behind the wall again, almost out of ammunition.
An extraction team is on its way, but the 5th is under heavy attack, and the 58th try to help. They move towards Neil"s position, but can only advance slowly. Soon only Neil is left standing. Eventually the air cover arrives, but by the time Nathan uses the cover to get to Neil, he is dead.
Cast & Characters[]
Main Cast[]
- Morgan Weisser as 1LT Nathan West
- Kristen Cloke as 1LT Shane Vansen
- Rodney Rowland as 1LT Cooper Hawkes
- Joel de la Fuente as 1LT Paul Wang
- Lanei Chapman as 1LT Vanessa Damphousse
- James Morrison as LTC Tyrus Cassius "T.C." McQueen
Recurring Cast[]
- Tucker Smallwood as Commodore Ross
- Steven Jang as LT Connor
- John Wilkie as Chig (uncredited)
Additional Cast[]
- Marc Worden as Neil West
- Christian Hoff as Miller
- P.J. Ochlan as Eichler
- Al Garrett as Donovan
- Michael Malota as Young Nathan
- Adam Sutton as Young Neil
- David Barrera as 2LT James Herrick
Crew[]
Director[]
Writer[]
Executive Producers[]
- Glen Morgan (executive producer)
- James Wong (executive producer)
- Stephen Zito (co-executive producer)
Producers[]
- Tim McHugh (producer)
- D. Howard Grigsby (producer)
- Herb Adelman (co-producer)
- Ken Dennis (associate producer)
Music[]
- Shirley Walker