Jack Chapman
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Dear Billy…Sometimes, life just punch you in the balls. Damn it.
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„
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— Maj. Jack Chapman's last line before being consumed by a juvenile Skullcrawler (Kong: Skull Island) |
Major Jack Chapman is a supporting character in the 2017 Legendary Pictures film Kong: Skull Island.
History
- Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Monsterverse
Kong: Skull Island
Towards the end of the U.S. army's involvement in the Vietnam War in the spring of 1973, Jack Chapman was a major in the "Sky Devils" helicopter squadron in Vietnam. Stationed at the Dà Nång air base, Jack and the rest of the squadron were preparing for their journey home as it was announced that the final troop withdrawal was to commence at 6:00 in the morning the next day. At some point in the day, Jack paid a visit to Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard, his superior, in his stationary office to check in on the man. There, the colonel curiously asked Jack about his plans for when he came home, which Jack answered that he was set up with eastern airlines for Atlanta, Georgia, where his wife and son had just moved in and were waiting on him. Jack asked the colonel about his own plans for when he returned home, a question that went unanswered when Preston dismissed him and told him to go have some fun. Concerned, Jack asked if he was really okay, receiving a "tip top."
That night, Packard received a call from his superior about a survey mission conducted by LandSat, a scientific team that had recently discovered an uncharted island through their satellite imaging. Packard accepted the last-second orders to provide helicopter transport, promptly canceling the squadron's planned and processed withdrawal. Along with his comrades, Jack eventually arrived in Bangkok, Thailand to board the ship, the Athena, which was to take them to the vicinity of the island mission.
Following the ship's departure from its pier, the mission itself underwent its debriefing presentation, which included the expedition task of dropping seismic charges to map the density of the island's subsurface and bedrock. Jack turned to Captain James Conrad when the man asked that they were to drop bombs, which Monarch geologist Houston Brooks clarified to be scientific instruments. One of Jack's comrades, Reg Slivko, promptly joked that they were scientists now, which made Jack smile with the rest of the soldiers. Afterwards, Jack got up for his part of the presentation in which he debriefed that the interference of the storm surrounding the island would block all radio contact with the ship, leaving those partaking in the expedition on their own for the duration of their scheduled stay. Three days after arriving, a refuel team was to meet with the group on the north side of the island, marking the expedition's window of departure grimly small and uncertain, prompting Jack to stress everyone to not miss it.
Come daylight the next morning while everyone was outside on the deck enjoying themselves, Jack took the time to write a letter to his son, Billy, which was noticed Glen Mills. His comrade joked, "Dear Billy. I know I said I'd be home by your birthday, but I lied straight to your face. I'm a terrible dad. I hope this letter makes up for it." In on the intended tease, Jack said that it was too short, having a laugh. Not long later, as the Athena came before the storm surrounding the island, Jack was with Preston as the latter, Bill Randa, and Victor Nieves discussed postponing the mission due to the severity of the weather lying ahead of them. In the ensuing conversation, Bill and Preston outvoted Victor's call to postpone, meaning the mission was to commence. As everyone began hopping onto the helicopters, Colonel Packard told Jack that he'll see him at the rendezvous, to which Jack gave a "yes, sir" before boarding the passenger seat of Fox-Six. Soon enough, the "Sky Devils" took off and began their approach towards the storm. Closing in, Glen remarked, "Dear Billy. You ever looked into a hurricane and decide…'Maybe I should fly straight through it?' Because that's what's about to happen," somewhat amusing Jack. Entering the storm, the squadron was met with rough turbulence and constant bolts of red lighting around them. To keep morale up, Colonel Packard retold the story of Icarus and how he was given wings made of wax by his father, which melted when the exhilarated Icarus flew too close to the sun and thus met his death. Whereas Icarus' father was an "irresponsible father", the United States military provided its men with "wings" made of steel, "guaranteed not to melt" as Packard put it. After minutes of strenuous flying, the "Sky Devils" emerged from the storm and came into the view of the island in all its natural beauty, with Jack himself remarking "Oh, hey, that's pretty, huh?" Promptly enough, everyone began assuming their tasks and spreading out over the island, the majority of the group split off in multiple areas to deploy the seismic charges. The mission was starting out smoothly when suddenly, Fox-Eight met the horrible fate of being knocked out of the sky by a tree speared right at them, Fox-Four finding itself next as they were grabbed by Kong. All of the remaining choppers, Jack's included, grouped back together as they were met with the appearance of the 104-foot ape. Everyone awestruck by the ensuing encounter, Jack questioningly remarked, "Is that a monkey?" Colonel Packard instructed the squadron to form a perimeter around Kong and ready their gunner positions, giving the word to open fire. Enduring a barrage of bullets, Kong eventually retaliated by punching down Fox-Nine. Right as Captain Conrad and Professor Randa began urging their rides to abort, Kong grabbed onto Fox-Six's tail, sending Jack spiraling around into the distance as he radioed his oncoming controlled crash. Following the Ape's successful downing of the entire squadron, Colonel Packard radioed for any survivors that could respond to him, which Jack promptly did. Confirming his status, Jack reported that he was with one of the sea stallions, in the vicinity of the highest peak on the west side of the island. Packard instructed for Jack to hold his position so that the others would come to him since the sea stallion had presumably enough ammunitions to kill Kong, tasking Jack with surveying his area and determining possible ambush sites. Jack attempted to reply, but the radio only gave off garbled static on both ends, cutting the conversation short and leaving him to assume his job.
Later in the day, Jack came upon a lake decided to tend to himself there. Filling his canteen and starting to wash off the blood from the wounds on his face, Jack stopped when he heard a crashing sound nearby, which was caused by the sudden arrival of Kong. Jack took cover behind a rock as Kong came over and squat down above the water level to assess the harm on his hand and bicep sustained during the showdown from earlier. Curious, Jack observed Kong's visible vulnerability from checking out his wounds and looking down at his lonely reflection in the water, scooping up a handful of it to drink. When Kong looked up and reached out, Jack took cover in fear of his life, only for Kong to pull out the tentacle of a Mire Squid and engage the cephalopod in a swift fight. The still curious Jack bore witness and ducked behind the rock when the ape inadvertently sent a chunk of tentacle flying at him, watching as Kong began consuming the squid's tentacles and walked off with his kill. Some time later, Jack was walking through a woodland area when he decided to stop, proceeding to plant his knife in a tree and hang his belongings from it. He attempted to radio his comrades, only to be met with garbled static once more. He frustratedly remarked "Dear Billy…Sometimes, life just punch you in the balls." Suddenly, the log he was sitting on got up and he fell off as it revealed itself to be a Spore Mantis, scaring him into retrieving his gun and opening fire. The creature took the shots before strangely turning tail and walking off, confusing Jack for only a moment when he heard the sound of another creature behind him. His concern shifted to the ominous noise, Jack came face to face with a juvenile Skullcrawler, which promptly lunged at the man and sprayed his blooded over the walkie-talkie on the ground nearby.
The next day, Jack's killer came into the valley graveyard, where the dead man's comrades had just arrived and began crossing. The creature gagged and huffed before grimly hurling Jack's mostly digested remains. Amongst the vomited bones, Captain James Conrad noticed Jack's dog tag snagged on the man's skull. Following the chaos that ensued afterwards, Conrad retrieved the dog tag to show to the others when Packard still insisted on making it to the crash site whence Jack was expected. When Packard and the other soldiers came upon the site of Jack's death, Glen Mills grievingly retrieved his fallen comrade's letters to his family as well as his knife.
Books
Kong: Skull Island - The Official Movie Novelization
While watching Kong fight a Mire Squid, some of the ink ejected from the monster gets onto Jack Chapman's uniform, clinging to it like tar. A stray swing of one of its arms also struck the soldier's legs hard enough to make him shout. The Spore Mantis is much more aggressive towards Chapman. Like the film, the arrival of the Skullcrawler causes it to leave, but Colonel Preston Packard is instead on the radio with Chapman when he is killed, with Packard deciding not to tell his men about it.
Gallery
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