Rose

Rose was Don Collier's girlfriend and would-be fiancee. Although he didn't consider himself good, Don claimed that Rose was a truly good person, and "pretty like one of those old paintings.".

She was not mentioned in the final cut of the film, but in the script she is mentioned occasionally. In a deleted scene from the film, she is also talked about. Sadly, these scenes describing Rose and explaining Don's burns only appeared in the film script and though they were filmed, were not added to the film.

Biography

Don claimed that Rose treated him like a king, but hated it when he drank, something he did often. One night became terribly intoxicated on two bottles of nickel whisky at a party out in the country. He got angry and got into a fight with a "big Indian" and the sheriff was called. Don pushed Rose and his younger brother Norman into Rose's dad's truck and drove off quickly. Don hit a patch of black ice and rolled the truck, killing Rose and Norman. Don was thrown out of the truck and landed under the engine, where he lay for an unspecified amount of time, possibly almost an hour. Flaming gasoline from the hot engine cylinders dripped onto his back, fusing the cloth from his shirt to his skin until he was taken to the hospital. Don was then given an ultimatum by the judge: go to prison or go to war and die for his country. Since the whole county hated him for it, Don chose to go die for his country, and would later name it the greatest advice he ever got. 

Don carried a Smith & Wesson M1917 revolver equipped with custom clear pexiglass grips over a picture of a young woman. It's entirely possible that the young woman in the picture is Rose.