2.07 - Call of SilenceThis is a featured page


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 Episode #: 07 Air Date: November 23, 2004 Next Episode ►
Call of Silence



Synopsis:
Ernie Yost, an elderly Marine veteran and Medal of Honor winner, confesses to murdering his best friend almost 60 years ago in a war battle and the NCIS team's job is to solve all the secrets and save Ernie from prison.

Episode Recap:
A former corporal, a Medal of Honor recipient from WWII, came to Gibbs claiming to have bashed his buddy, Wade Kean, to death while serving on Iwo Jima. Gibbs, of course, doesn't believe him and investigates it just to humor him.

Cpl. Yost began reporting the murder to 911 and no-one believed him. All of the self-blame for his buddy's death began when his wife, Dorothy, passed away. Cpl. Yost is grieving for the loss of his wife, he waltzes with Kate for the memory of her and it is one of the most touching scenes to have been aired. To see the old gentleman crying was so sad.

Gibbs attempts to let Cpl. Yost go home but is stopped by the confident and alarmingly professional Lt. Cmdr. Faith Coleman, played so wonderfully by Alicia Coppola. She is ordered to prosecute the Cpl. which nobody wants to happen especially Gibbs. Gibbs is not prepared, on any level, to let the Cpl. go to his grave carrying a guilt that he didn't deserve.

When the team goes to unearth Cpl. Kean Gibbs asks for a team of Marines to come by and honor the unearthing of his body.

Gibbs tells Tony to take the Cpl. home and to stay with him which is where Tony uncovers some awful evidence. Wade and Dorothy had been high school sweethearts. Could the Cpl. have been so jealous of Wade as to kill him so he could marry Dorothy?

In autopsy, Ducky points out that Cpl. Kean had lost both legs below the knee to a land mine. However, his skull does show blunt force trauma that roughly matches up to the butt of the gun that Ernie Yost claims to have bashed Kean's head in with. It starts to look like Yost did kill Kean.

Yost was telling Tony, Tim, & Kate about the music that him and Wade use to like. Then he asked Kate if she dances and answered yes and he grabs her and starts singing and dancing with her. Tim and Tony were enjoying it along with Kate while dancing with him she started tearing up.

Abby and McGee do a computer simulation of various phases of attack on Iwo Jima. They start with Mount Suribachi, but Gibbs cuts them short and tells them to get on with the specific movements of Yost and Kean and their team. As Abby describes the position where Kean died relative to the position where Yost fought the Japanese off alone, Gibbs takes special note of the locations and realizes something.

Gibbs, with a few tricks up his sleeve and the help of a former Japanese Imperial Army Lieutenant who runs a local sushi shop, helps the Cpl. to remember what happened. In a heartbreaking memory, Kate, the Cpl. and Cmdr. Coleman end in tears. As Yost relives the scene, he gradually recalls that Kean was in severe pain from the mine attack and was whimpering and moaning. Japanese troops were moving nearby, and Kean's voice was putting the entire team at risk. Yost hit him in the head to knock him out so that he would be quiet, saving the rest of the teams' lives.

Watching this, Cmdr. Coleman decides to report to SecNav that "Cpl. Kean was killed in action, not by Yost,"

In my opinion, one of the most touching moments was actually when Cpl. Ernest Yost and the Japanese Lieutenant eat sushi together and the episode ends on them raising their glasses to each other.

New Character Development / Insights:
  • Cpl. Yost's late wife was high school sweethearts with Yost's pal Cpl. Wade Kean
  • Gibbs is willing to go to great lengths to protect and honor a military hero, with even more determination than he would usually defend someone's innocence. This is especially apparent when Yost begins to look very guilty.
  • Yost's photo with threee of his buddies was two days before he got hit in the chest and when he opened his eyes on Oahu, he saw Dorothy and it was love at first sight.
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Funny Moments:
  • Gibbs, Kate and McGee telling Coleman that Yost escaped and how he did it.
  • Gibbs asking Kate to get Cpl. Yost's ID tag # but Kate looked at him and said that how could he remeber it he's 82. Then Gibbs asked Yost for it and got it.
  • Ducky telling about his uncle William who used to apologize for being naked while he was dressed during dinner but his aunt Gertrude being really naked.
  • Ernie Yost asking Yoshida, "You weren't really on Iwo Jima, were you?" Yoshida understanding enough English to break into a big smile and say, "No. Guadalcanal."
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Trivia:
  • Gibbs striking matches one after the other to create the smell of sulphur, since Iwo Jima was known as sulphur island, to help Yost recall what happened.
  • They all felt moved even Lt. Cmdr. Faith Coleman, who is usually a stickler for rules come what may.
  • Tony gave Yost a foot massage in the squad room.
  • Charles Durning was nominated for an Emmy for his guest turn on this episode.
  • Incorrectly regarded as a error: When Lt. Coleman and the MPs arrive to arrest Corporal Yost, DiNozzo pulls back his tie to display the Medal of Honor hanging from his chest. All three stand at attention but only the MPs salute, Coleman does not. By tradition a Medal of Honor recipient is saluted by all higher ranking officers/enlisted personnel, as well as those below him/her, unless the military person is without cover , i.e. bare-headed, as Coleman is.
  • Both David McCallum and Mark Harmon cite the graveyard sequence with the Marine burial squad as the episode that touched them personally the most. This was in the cast round table discussion in the special features of the Season Four DVD.
  • Charles Durning was not a marine when he served during WWII, he was in the army and was at Omaha Beach. Still has a machine gun or rifle bullet in his hip when wounded in combat.
  • While Corporal Yost wached video, Yoshida spoke Japanese. He said "For the emperor","We comitted a strategic error", "That was good" and "I'm hearing some noises." in Japanese. And When gibbs and Corporal yost are at sushi bar, Gibbs said "motto sake kudasai". It means "More sake, please".



Recurring Cast:
    Guest Starring:
        • Alicia Coppola (Lt. Cmdr. Faith Coleman)
        • Charles Durning (Ernie Yost)
        • Bennet Guillory (Henry)
        • Garette Ratliff Henson (Young Cpl. Ernie Yost)
        • Hugh B. Holub (Superintendent)
        • Lloyd Kino (Hitoshi Yoshida)
        • Scott Miles (Pvt. Ferris Bellows)
        • Marc Senter (Pvt. Chip Stearns)
        • Jason Alan Smith (Cpl. Wade Kean)
        Written By: Directed By:
        • Roger Director
        • Thomas J. Wright



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        Sorgiña
        Sorgiña         		Latest page update: made by Sorgiña , Aug 15 2009, 1:50 PM EDT (about this update About This Update Sorgiña Edited by Sorgiña


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        DaveSzcz Fav Episode 1 Apr 19 2009, 12:09 AM EDT by CatherineYetive
        Thread started: Apr 18 2009, 11:53 PM EDT  Watch
        I have been addiscted for almost a year, haven't been an NCIS fan when it first aired.
        Being a disabled Vietnam vet and having a 'Semper Phi' friend who was at Okinowa and recently died, this "Call of Silence" episode was my fav.
        I always define, as I did with my fav movie of all times, Forrest Gump, a movie I love as one that makes me laugh and cry. When those Marines came to attention and when Tony found out he was a medal of honor winner, it took my breath away. Whe Kate cried as she danced, and when the Marines showed up at the cemetary, were also very emotional times for me.
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        Scorpio-lady Call of Silence 15 Feb 23 2009, 11:49 AM EST by Sorgiña
        Thread started: Jun 14 2008, 12:48 PM EDT  Watch
        Of all the episodes I've seen, this is my all time favorite. Not only is it sentimental and emotional, it also draws on how men cope with the trauma found in war, and I found that every bit as significant. A wonderful episode from every direction, and one I can (and do) watch frequently.
        3  out of 3 found this valuable. Do you?    
        Keyword tags: Call of Silence season 2
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