WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:06.500 The Cavalcade of America, sponsored by DuPont, maker of better things for better living through 00:06.500 --> 00:25.500 chemistry, presents Dean Jagger in Nine Men Against the Arctic. 00:25.500 --> 00:30.500 Before we begin our show, here's news of an invention from a DuPont research laboratory. 00:30.500 --> 00:35.340 DuPont paint technicians have developed a new instrument called a profilograph, so delicate 00:35.340 --> 00:39.600 that it will draw the outline of a film of paint only one-fiftieth the thickness of a 00:39.600 --> 00:40.600 dime. 00:40.600 --> 00:45.440 By pointing out the lows and highs in a film of paint, the profilograph helps DuPont paint 00:45.440 --> 00:50.480 laboratories to supply better finishes to the Army and the Navy. 00:50.480 --> 00:54.720 Tonight the Cavalcade of America presents Dean Jagger in an authentic documentary story 00:54.720 --> 00:58.800 as starkly dramatic as the courage of the men who enacted it in real life. 00:58.800 --> 01:01.280 You will hear from one of these men, Lieutenant W.F. 01:01.280 --> 01:03.960 O'Hara, at the end of our play. 01:03.960 --> 01:08.240 Our scene is the great ice cap of Greenland, a wilderness of ice as far as the eye can 01:08.240 --> 01:09.240 see. 01:09.240 --> 01:14.060 Our radio play was written by Paul Peters and in the role of Captain Armand L. Monteverdi 01:14.060 --> 01:35.240 it stars Dean Jagger. 01:35.240 --> 01:43.360 Over the ice cap of Greenland zoomed an American B-17 Flying Fortress, searching for an Army 01:43.360 --> 01:47.320 transport plane long overdue. 01:47.320 --> 01:53.000 It circled the ice cap in vain and started down the eastern coast. 01:53.000 --> 01:58.800 As the weather closed in, Captain Armand L. Monteverdi anxiously turned to his co-pilot, 01:58.800 --> 02:00.200 Lieutenant Harry E. Spencer. 02:00.200 --> 02:04.600 You know, Spence, I don't like this place. 02:04.600 --> 02:06.840 Sure is a long way from Texas. 02:06.840 --> 02:07.840 Can't see anything. 02:07.840 --> 02:08.840 All this whiteness everywhere. 02:08.840 --> 02:09.840 No horizon. 02:09.840 --> 02:13.640 How high are we, anyhow? 02:13.640 --> 02:17.480 I reckon we're plenty high. 02:17.480 --> 02:18.480 Can't be sure. 02:18.480 --> 02:19.480 Like flying through milk. 02:19.480 --> 02:20.480 Yeah, yeah it is, but I don't like it. 02:20.480 --> 02:21.480 What exploded? 02:21.480 --> 02:22.480 Sounds like supercharging me. 02:22.480 --> 02:23.480 You know what I think, Spence? 02:23.480 --> 02:24.480 I think we're... 02:24.480 --> 02:25.480 Spence? 02:25.480 --> 02:26.480 Huh? 02:26.480 --> 02:27.480 Spence, are you hurt? 02:27.480 --> 02:28.480 Well, let me think. 02:28.480 --> 02:41.000 Let me feel my legs first. 02:41.000 --> 02:42.600 How could we crash? 02:42.600 --> 02:43.600 We had altitude, didn't we? 02:43.600 --> 02:44.880 I just thought we had. 02:44.880 --> 02:46.480 Well, let's see what happened to the crew. 02:46.480 --> 02:47.480 Right. 02:47.480 --> 02:48.480 Come on back to the bomb bay. 02:48.480 --> 02:49.480 Great scuff. 02:49.480 --> 02:50.480 Look at that fuselage. 02:50.480 --> 02:51.480 It's busted smack in half. 02:51.480 --> 02:52.480 Oh, Herra. 02:52.480 --> 02:53.480 Lieutenant Herra, are you all right? 02:53.480 --> 02:54.480 Yeah, I think so. 02:54.480 --> 02:58.760 But everything back here has been smashed to pieces. 02:58.760 --> 03:01.760 I call her old, Spence. 03:01.760 --> 03:02.760 Terturone. 03:02.760 --> 03:03.760 Yeah. 03:03.760 --> 03:06.280 Now answer how you're hurt. 03:06.280 --> 03:08.280 I'm just kind of bumped up, sir. 03:08.280 --> 03:09.280 How is it? 03:09.280 --> 03:10.280 Arms lame, sir. 03:10.280 --> 03:11.280 Is it broken? 03:11.280 --> 03:12.280 I know, sir. 03:12.280 --> 03:14.280 There's a charley host, I guess. 03:14.280 --> 03:15.280 Waddell? 03:15.280 --> 03:17.680 Feels like I got a shiner on my left eye, sir. 03:17.680 --> 03:18.680 Am I right? 03:18.680 --> 03:19.680 Yeah, you're right. 03:19.680 --> 03:20.680 Best, I think I cut my head a bit, sir. 03:20.680 --> 03:21.680 Take a look at that. 03:21.680 --> 03:24.680 Where are you? 03:24.680 --> 03:27.680 That's a fiddle. 03:27.680 --> 03:28.680 Spina? 03:28.680 --> 03:29.680 Where's Spina? 03:29.680 --> 03:30.680 There he is. 03:30.680 --> 03:31.680 But he's knocked out. 03:31.680 --> 03:32.680 Cold. 03:32.680 --> 03:33.680 He's alive, though. 03:33.680 --> 03:34.680 Looks like his arm's broken. 03:34.680 --> 03:35.680 Get a blanket for him. 03:35.680 --> 03:36.680 How are you feeling, Spina? 03:36.680 --> 03:37.680 My hands. 03:37.680 --> 03:38.680 My hands. 03:38.680 --> 03:39.680 Oh. 03:39.680 --> 03:40.680 Here, let me see that arm. 03:40.680 --> 03:41.680 Does this hurt? 03:41.680 --> 03:42.680 A little. 03:42.680 --> 03:43.680 Don't say a little. 03:43.680 --> 03:44.680 If it hurts, I'll take it. 03:44.680 --> 03:45.680 I'll take it. 03:45.680 --> 03:46.680 I'll take it. 03:46.680 --> 03:47.680 I'll take it. 03:47.680 --> 03:48.680 I'll take it. 03:48.680 --> 03:49.680 I'll take it. 03:49.680 --> 03:50.680 I'll take it. 03:50.680 --> 03:51.680 Don't say a little. 03:51.680 --> 03:52.680 If it hurts, holler. 03:52.680 --> 03:53.680 It hurts. 03:53.680 --> 03:57.920 It's a multiple fracture above the wrist. 03:57.920 --> 03:59.680 Let me rig up a splint for him. 03:59.680 --> 04:00.680 Yeah, all right. 04:00.680 --> 04:01.680 Thanks, Vince. 04:01.680 --> 04:02.680 Best. 04:02.680 --> 04:03.680 Huh? 04:03.680 --> 04:04.680 Hang up a tarpaulin to keep out the wind. 04:04.680 --> 04:05.680 Yes, sir. 04:05.680 --> 04:06.680 Howarth, collect the rations. 04:06.680 --> 04:07.680 Yes, sir. 04:07.680 --> 04:08.680 Now, look, fellas. 04:08.680 --> 04:16.240 Now, being stranded on an ice cap in a 40-pillow blizzard is as new to me as it is to you. 04:16.240 --> 04:18.800 So we'll just have to work out our problems together. 04:18.800 --> 04:20.840 Can't we communicate with our base? 04:20.840 --> 04:25.600 Oh, radio's smashed, but Howarth now start tinkering on it in the morning. 04:25.600 --> 04:27.800 How long you think we'll be out here, sir? 04:27.800 --> 04:32.200 Well, we can't be more than 25 or 30 miles from our weather station. 04:32.200 --> 04:35.400 I'd say two or three days, five at the most. 04:35.400 --> 04:40.720 Boy, when I get back to Waco, I'm gonna strip my backyard and just soak up that good Texas 04:40.720 --> 04:41.720 sun. 04:41.720 --> 04:45.640 You Texans in California, you don't have to go in the backyard for sun. 04:45.640 --> 04:50.160 Well, I think we ought to turn in, Captain. 04:50.160 --> 04:53.160 We can keep pretty warm if we wrap up in parachutes and huddle together. 04:53.160 --> 04:54.640 Yeah, Howarth is right, man. 04:54.640 --> 04:57.120 It's 3 o'clock and the sun's going down. 04:57.120 --> 04:59.480 All right, find yourself a roost and perch. 04:59.480 --> 05:00.480 Shut eye, everybody. 05:00.480 --> 05:01.480 All right. 05:01.480 --> 05:02.480 Out of mile, we'll look to join over. 05:02.480 --> 05:05.880 Then if you've got to get up at night, don't step on the bodies. 05:05.880 --> 05:06.880 We won't. 05:06.880 --> 05:27.000 For three days, the Willow War wind held them locked like a jailer in that frozen plain. 05:27.000 --> 05:31.800 Snow blew into their shelter and sifted into the seams of their clothing. 05:31.800 --> 05:38.720 Hot and cold, they waited for the Arctic to relax its grip. 05:38.720 --> 05:41.720 But the fourth day dawned bright and clear. 05:41.720 --> 05:44.520 It's pretty all right. 05:44.520 --> 05:48.920 Yeah, like living in a box of rock candy. 05:48.920 --> 05:51.960 That time I get out of here, I reckon I'll have seen enough snow to last me the rest 05:51.960 --> 05:53.120 of my life. 05:53.120 --> 05:55.120 Let's take a walk around and see what we can see. 05:55.120 --> 05:57.080 Take you up on that. 05:57.080 --> 05:58.080 We'll be back soon, Marty. 05:58.080 --> 06:00.080 All right, don't go far now. 06:00.080 --> 06:02.080 But outside, men, everybody, outside. 06:02.080 --> 06:03.080 The wind's gone down. 06:03.080 --> 06:08.080 Hunt around on the snow and collect all supplies. 06:08.080 --> 06:11.800 Well, sure, it takes you wind. 06:11.800 --> 06:12.800 Yeah. 06:12.800 --> 06:14.920 My feet are numb. 06:14.920 --> 06:16.320 Like walking on stilts. 06:16.320 --> 06:17.320 Yeah. 06:17.320 --> 06:19.720 Where are you from, O'Hare? 06:19.720 --> 06:20.720 Pennsylvania. 06:20.720 --> 06:21.720 Scranton. 06:21.720 --> 06:22.720 Married? 06:22.720 --> 06:23.720 No. 06:23.720 --> 06:26.720 Just got out of college. 06:26.720 --> 06:27.720 You? 06:27.720 --> 06:28.720 Yes, sir. 06:28.720 --> 06:29.720 Three months. 06:29.720 --> 06:30.720 Name's Patsy. 06:30.720 --> 06:32.760 Cute as a bug. 06:32.760 --> 06:35.440 Little, but oh, my, oh, my. 06:35.440 --> 06:38.040 Mrs. Lieutenant Harry E. Spencer. 06:38.040 --> 06:39.840 That's what the mailman calls her. 06:39.840 --> 06:43.240 Mail for Mrs. Lieutenant Harry E. Spencer. 06:43.240 --> 06:44.240 Oh! 06:44.240 --> 06:45.240 Hey, Marty. 06:45.240 --> 06:46.240 Marty, come here, quick. 06:46.240 --> 06:47.240 What's the matter? 06:47.240 --> 06:48.240 Well, Spence, he just disappeared. 06:48.240 --> 06:49.240 A hole opened and he disappeared. 06:49.240 --> 06:50.240 Hold the hole, everything. 06:50.240 --> 06:51.240 I'll be right there. 06:51.240 --> 06:52.240 Spence. 06:52.240 --> 06:53.240 Hey, Spence, are you down there? 06:53.240 --> 06:54.240 Yeah. 06:54.240 --> 07:01.240 I found him in the dance. 07:01.240 --> 07:03.800 Can you see me? 07:03.800 --> 07:04.800 How far down are you? 07:04.800 --> 07:05.800 About 100 feet. 07:05.800 --> 07:06.800 Over here. 07:06.800 --> 07:07.800 On his ledge. 07:07.800 --> 07:08.800 Oh, OK. 07:08.800 --> 07:09.800 I see you. 07:09.800 --> 07:10.800 Hey, take it easy. 07:10.800 --> 07:11.800 That ledge doesn't look too solid. 07:11.800 --> 07:12.800 Don't worry. 07:12.800 --> 07:13.800 I ain't breathing. 07:13.800 --> 07:14.800 How far is it to the bottom? 07:14.800 --> 07:15.800 Bottom? 07:15.800 --> 07:16.800 Ain't no bottom. 07:16.800 --> 07:17.800 There's the bottom. 07:17.800 --> 07:18.800 Oh, my God. 07:18.800 --> 07:19.800 Oh, my God. 07:19.800 --> 07:20.800 Oh, my God. 07:20.800 --> 07:21.800 Oh, my God. 07:21.800 --> 07:22.800 Oh, my God. 07:22.800 --> 07:23.800 Oh, my God. 07:23.800 --> 07:24.800 There's a big black hole down the center of the earth. 07:24.800 --> 07:25.800 Hurry up and get me out of here. 07:25.800 --> 07:26.800 All right, Spence, just keep quiet. 07:26.800 --> 07:27.800 Here comes Marty and the crew with a pile of rope. 07:27.800 --> 07:28.800 I've got a hundred feet of parachute shroud line. 07:28.800 --> 07:29.800 How far down is he? 07:29.800 --> 07:30.800 Well, that ought to make it. 07:30.800 --> 07:31.800 Here, bastard, you're from Texas. 07:31.800 --> 07:32.800 Make a sling harness. 07:32.800 --> 07:33.800 Give it here. 07:33.800 --> 07:34.800 You don't have to watch these ice crevasses. 07:34.800 --> 07:35.800 They're covered with snow. 07:35.800 --> 07:36.800 You step on them and bang down you go like falling down an elevator shaft. 07:36.800 --> 07:37.800 Right, sir. 07:37.800 --> 07:38.800 I know it's good for steers. 07:38.800 --> 07:39.800 All right, Spence. 07:39.800 --> 07:40.800 Spence, slip this harness in. 07:40.800 --> 07:41.800 All right, Spence. 07:41.800 --> 07:42.800 All right, Spence. 07:42.800 --> 07:43.800 All right, Spence. 07:43.800 --> 07:44.800 All right, Spence. 07:44.800 --> 07:53.800 All right, Spence. 07:53.800 --> 08:21.800 All right, Spence. 08:21.800 --> 08:24.800 All right, hold it a minute. 08:24.800 --> 08:25.800 You all right, Spence? 08:25.800 --> 08:28.800 Well, rope is slicing handwrapped off my ribs. 08:28.800 --> 08:30.800 Just keep on pulling. 08:30.800 --> 08:33.800 All right, then, once more. 08:33.800 --> 08:34.800 Pull. 08:34.800 --> 08:35.800 Pull. 08:35.800 --> 08:36.800 Pull. 08:36.800 --> 08:37.800 Pull. 08:37.800 --> 08:38.800 Oh, boy, oh, boy. 08:38.800 --> 08:39.800 Don't let me down now. 08:39.800 --> 08:40.800 We won't let you down. 08:40.800 --> 08:41.800 Can you reach my hand? 08:41.800 --> 08:42.800 Yeah. 08:42.800 --> 08:43.800 I've got it. 08:43.800 --> 08:44.800 All right. 08:44.800 --> 08:45.800 Now. 08:45.800 --> 08:46.800 Now. 08:46.800 --> 08:47.800 Up. 08:47.800 --> 08:48.800 All right. 08:48.800 --> 08:49.800 All right. 08:49.800 --> 08:50.800 All right. 08:50.800 --> 08:51.800 Now. 08:51.800 --> 08:52.800 Up. 08:52.800 --> 08:53.800 Good boy, Spence. 08:53.800 --> 08:54.800 Good boy. 08:54.800 --> 08:55.800 You hurt anybody, Spence? 08:55.800 --> 08:56.800 How does it feel, Lieutenant? 08:56.800 --> 08:57.800 Feel? 08:57.800 --> 09:03.800 It feels like falling in a cube compartment of a great big refrigerator. 09:03.800 --> 09:06.800 Yowee! 09:06.800 --> 09:21.800 Next time I go underground, I want to be deep in the heart of Texas. 09:21.800 --> 09:23.800 Five days. 09:23.800 --> 09:24.800 Six days. 09:24.800 --> 09:26.800 Eight days. 09:26.800 --> 09:28.800 Ten days. 09:28.800 --> 09:34.800 With tireless patience, they thawed out their radio, patched it up, and sent their anxious 09:34.800 --> 09:38.800 hands ringing over the frozen air to the nearest weather station. 09:38.800 --> 09:40.800 Back came the reassuring answer. 09:40.800 --> 09:41.800 Cheer up, men. 09:41.800 --> 09:44.800 We're sending sleds and dog teams to save you. 09:44.800 --> 09:49.800 We'll have you here in no time. 09:49.800 --> 09:53.800 Out of a bomb site, they built a stove to thaw their rations. 09:53.800 --> 09:58.800 With wires, they secured the tail of their plane to the forward part when they discovered 09:58.800 --> 10:03.800 their shelter slipping into a crevasse that yawned at their very door. 10:03.800 --> 10:08.800 O'Hara's feet were now frozen, and he had to be put to bed beside the injured spinner. 10:08.800 --> 10:14.800 Filled with hope, beset by problems, they fought the elements. 10:14.800 --> 10:17.800 And then came Thanksgiving. 10:17.800 --> 10:20.800 Another helping of that turkey, please. 10:20.800 --> 10:23.800 You'll have half a ration, Kay, and lichen. 10:23.800 --> 10:28.800 Would you consider me a hog if I asked for just a little more of that chestnut dressing? 10:28.800 --> 10:30.800 Oh, Lieutenant, cut it out. 10:30.800 --> 10:31.800 What's the matter, Waco? 10:31.800 --> 10:32.800 Stomach weak? 10:32.800 --> 10:35.800 When I think of the way Patsy used to cook those... 10:35.800 --> 10:37.800 Keep quiet a minute. 10:37.800 --> 10:40.800 Excuse me, Lieutenant, but I... 10:40.800 --> 10:42.800 I keep hearing a motor. 10:42.800 --> 10:43.800 Ah, go on, Howard. 10:43.800 --> 10:45.800 That's just the electric fan in the parlor. 10:45.800 --> 10:48.800 You mean the oil furnace in the basement, don't you? 10:48.800 --> 10:50.800 Don and I do hear a motor. 10:50.800 --> 10:52.800 It's an airplane. 10:52.800 --> 10:54.800 Listen, I tell you! 10:56.800 --> 10:57.800 Hey! 10:57.800 --> 10:58.800 Hey, he's right. 10:58.800 --> 10:59.800 Hey! 10:59.800 --> 11:00.800 Hey, look out, Wadalya. 11:00.800 --> 11:02.800 You're stepping on a harrow. 11:02.800 --> 11:03.800 Hey, Tucciarone, take your mittens. 11:03.800 --> 11:05.800 Want to freeze your hands? 11:06.800 --> 11:07.800 It's a C-54. 11:07.800 --> 11:10.800 Boy, oh, boy, ain't that pretty. 11:10.800 --> 11:11.800 Look! 11:11.800 --> 11:13.800 Look, he's wagging his wings at us. 11:13.800 --> 11:15.800 I think he's dropping something. 11:15.800 --> 11:16.800 Yeah, it's... 11:16.800 --> 11:18.800 It's fallen on the other side of the crevasse. 11:18.800 --> 11:20.800 Inside, Howard, get that radio going. 11:20.800 --> 11:22.800 Now, wait, I'll go with you. 11:24.800 --> 11:26.800 C-54. 11:26.800 --> 11:28.800 C-54, come in. 11:28.800 --> 11:30.800 Come in, C-54. 11:30.800 --> 11:32.800 C-54. 11:33.800 --> 11:35.800 This is C-54. 11:35.800 --> 11:37.800 This is C-54. 11:37.800 --> 11:40.800 B-17 on the ice cap. 11:40.800 --> 11:41.800 Do you hear me? 11:41.800 --> 11:42.800 We hear you, C-54. 11:42.800 --> 11:43.800 Go ahead. 11:43.800 --> 11:46.800 This is Colonel Bernd Bolshan speaking. 11:46.800 --> 11:48.800 Is Captain Monteverdi there? 11:48.800 --> 11:49.800 It's Bernd Bolshan, the Arctic explorer. 11:49.800 --> 11:50.800 Here's the mic. 11:50.800 --> 11:51.800 Thanks. 11:51.800 --> 11:53.800 This is Captain Monteverdi. 11:53.800 --> 11:55.800 Be careful, Colonel. 11:55.800 --> 11:57.800 We're surrounded on all sides by deep crevasses. 11:57.800 --> 11:59.800 Can't land anyhow. 11:59.800 --> 12:01.800 Wind's too high. 12:01.800 --> 12:05.800 I've dropped rations, Arctic clothes, and a primus stove. 12:05.800 --> 12:07.800 Can you reach them, Captain? 12:07.800 --> 12:09.800 No, they fell on the other side of the crevasses. 12:09.800 --> 12:10.800 All right. 12:10.800 --> 12:12.800 I'll circle back and drop some more. 12:12.800 --> 12:13.800 Well, fly low. 12:13.800 --> 12:15.800 You'll have to do precision bombing. 12:15.800 --> 12:16.800 Right. 12:16.800 --> 12:19.800 I'll come down to 200 feet. 12:19.800 --> 12:21.800 How are your two injured men? 12:21.800 --> 12:24.800 Ospina's wrist is healing, Colonel, but O'Hara, I'm afraid... 12:24.800 --> 12:26.800 Tell him I'm all right. 12:26.800 --> 12:28.800 I'm afraid O'Hara's feet are frozen. 12:28.800 --> 12:30.800 We've got to get him out of here. 12:30.800 --> 12:33.800 We have your precise location now. 12:33.800 --> 12:35.800 The dock teams couldn't make it, 12:35.800 --> 12:37.800 but we are sending out a motor sled 12:37.800 --> 12:39.800 and there's a coast guard cut ahead 12:39.800 --> 12:42.800 for the nearest shore with a grum and amphibian aboard. 12:42.800 --> 12:46.800 We'll get there, but you've got to be patient. 12:46.800 --> 12:50.800 That's all... that's all we've got, Colonel, patience. 12:50.800 --> 12:53.800 But don't make it too long, please. 12:53.800 --> 12:55.800 Right. 12:55.800 --> 12:57.800 I'm signing off now. 12:57.800 --> 12:59.800 Fog rolling in. 12:59.800 --> 13:01.800 So long and good luck. 13:01.800 --> 13:03.800 Cheers. 13:13.800 --> 13:16.800 They fished round in the snow for those precious rations. 13:16.800 --> 13:20.800 Canned chicken, sausage, soup, 13:20.800 --> 13:23.800 and a carton of candy bars. 13:23.800 --> 13:25.800 The tea and sugar were scrambled, 13:25.800 --> 13:28.800 but they strained them apart with mosquito netting 13:28.800 --> 13:30.800 from a jungle kit. 13:30.800 --> 13:33.800 American ingenuity found use for even a jungle kit 13:33.800 --> 13:35.800 in the Arctic. 13:37.800 --> 13:40.800 November 29th, a hopeful day. 13:40.800 --> 13:43.800 By sled, by boat, by plane, 13:43.800 --> 13:45.800 rescuers approaching. 13:46.800 --> 13:48.800 Try again. We've got to reach them, Howarth. 13:48.800 --> 13:50.800 We've got to. 13:50.800 --> 13:52.800 B-17 calling grum and amphibian. 13:52.800 --> 13:55.800 B-17 calling grum and amphibian. 13:55.800 --> 13:57.800 Come in, please. 13:57.800 --> 13:59.800 Grumman, come in. 14:00.800 --> 14:02.800 This is Lieutenant John A. Pritchard 14:02.800 --> 14:05.800 on the grum and amphibian from Coast Guard Cutter Clinton. 14:05.800 --> 14:08.800 Can we come down, B-17? 14:09.800 --> 14:11.800 B-17, can we come down? 14:11.800 --> 14:15.800 Captain, he wants to know if we can come down. 14:16.800 --> 14:18.800 Tell him no. 14:18.800 --> 14:20.800 Don't land, Lieutenant. 14:20.800 --> 14:22.800 Ice crevasses all around. 14:23.800 --> 14:26.800 How about further up? Is it safe there? 14:26.800 --> 14:28.800 No. 14:28.800 --> 14:30.800 You can't come down, Lieutenant. 14:30.800 --> 14:33.800 Not even using plane floats for skis? 14:33.800 --> 14:34.800 No. 14:34.800 --> 14:36.800 Captain Monteverdi says no, Lieutenant. 14:40.800 --> 14:42.800 He's going away, sir. 14:42.800 --> 14:50.800 Yes, he's going away. 15:12.800 --> 15:15.800 As our play continues, nine Army fliers 15:15.800 --> 15:17.800 marooned on the Greenland ice cap 15:17.800 --> 15:19.800 with their plane crashed 15:19.800 --> 15:21.800 have just watched a rescue plane turn back 15:21.800 --> 15:23.800 after Captain Monteverdi advised them 15:23.800 --> 15:25.800 that a landing would be sheer suicide. 15:25.800 --> 15:27.800 But one hour later... 15:27.800 --> 15:29.800 Hello! 15:29.800 --> 15:31.800 Say, did you hear what I hear? 15:31.800 --> 15:33.800 Hey, somebody's calling. 15:33.800 --> 15:35.800 They're here. They're here. 15:35.800 --> 15:37.800 Boy, is this going to be a welcome. 15:37.800 --> 15:39.800 Captain Monteverdi. 15:39.800 --> 15:41.800 Yes, I'm Monteverdi. 15:41.800 --> 15:43.800 I'm from Amphibia. 15:43.800 --> 15:45.800 I came down a mile away. It took an hour to walk it. 15:45.800 --> 15:47.800 You shouldn't have landed, Lieutenant. 15:47.800 --> 15:49.800 You may not be able to take off again. 15:49.800 --> 15:51.800 I'll have to move fast before the floats freeze in. 15:51.800 --> 15:53.800 Two are all I can carry, Captain. 15:53.800 --> 15:55.800 You? Only two? 15:55.800 --> 15:57.800 I'll be back again. 15:57.800 --> 15:59.800 Besides, a couple of motor sleds are coming over the ice cap for you. 15:59.800 --> 16:01.800 They ought to be here by midnight. 16:01.800 --> 16:03.800 Well, are you ready, Captain? 16:03.800 --> 16:05.800 No, not me. I... 16:05.800 --> 16:07.800 I want to get my sick men out. 16:07.800 --> 16:09.800 Can they walk it in this wind? 16:09.800 --> 16:11.800 I'll have to test for crevasses every inch of the way. 16:11.800 --> 16:13.800 Yes, yeah, I... 16:13.800 --> 16:15.800 I guess you're right at that. 16:15.800 --> 16:17.800 Tutcherone. 16:17.800 --> 16:19.800 Yes, sir. 16:19.800 --> 16:21.800 Do you feel strong enough to walk that mile? 16:21.800 --> 16:23.800 Captain, I never felt strong in my life. 16:23.800 --> 16:25.800 All right. 16:25.800 --> 16:27.800 Per year, how about you? 16:27.800 --> 16:29.800 Captain, I'm a born walker. 16:29.800 --> 16:31.800 All right, Lieutenant. 16:31.800 --> 16:33.800 There are your men. You better get going. 16:33.800 --> 16:35.800 Goodbye, Captain. 16:35.800 --> 16:37.800 I'll be back soon. 16:37.800 --> 16:39.800 Hey, Tutcherone. 16:39.800 --> 16:41.800 Send a wire to my folks in La Crosse. 16:41.800 --> 16:43.800 Don't forget for a year... 16:43.800 --> 16:47.800 Mrs. Lieutenant Harry E. Spencer in Dallas. 16:57.800 --> 16:59.800 November 30th. 16:59.800 --> 17:01.800 Pritchard came back in the grumman... 17:01.800 --> 17:03.800 when Monteverde saw a fog rolling in... 17:03.800 --> 17:05.800 and sent Howarth, the farm boy... 17:05.800 --> 17:07.800 to warn them to take off at once. 17:07.800 --> 17:09.800 Howarth was to fly back with Pritchard. 17:09.800 --> 17:11.800 They wagged their wings merrily... 17:11.800 --> 17:13.800 as they soared over the camp... 17:13.800 --> 17:15.800 and crashed to instant death... 17:15.800 --> 17:17.800 five minutes later. 17:19.800 --> 17:21.800 Now only the sleds remain. 17:21.800 --> 17:23.800 But they did arrive. 17:23.800 --> 17:27.800 At 1 a.m., manned by Lieutenant Demarest... 17:27.800 --> 17:29.800 of the weather station... 17:29.800 --> 17:31.800 and Staff Sergeant Don Tetley. 17:31.800 --> 17:35.800 Next morning... 17:35.800 --> 17:37.800 O'Hara and Spinner ready to go? 17:37.800 --> 17:41.800 Yeah. I got them bundled up like papooses. 17:41.800 --> 17:43.800 Spence, do you see something? 17:43.800 --> 17:45.800 No, what? 17:45.800 --> 17:47.800 Say, there's only one sled now. 17:47.800 --> 17:49.800 Hey! Hey, fellas, quit! 17:49.800 --> 17:51.800 Everybody, step on it. 17:51.800 --> 17:53.800 Best, Maddow, bring some rope. 17:53.800 --> 17:55.800 Tetley, what happened? 17:55.800 --> 17:57.800 Where's Demarest? Gone, huh? 17:57.800 --> 17:59.800 Just like that, he's disappeared. 17:59.800 --> 18:01.800 No! Hang on to me, I'll look over the edge. 18:01.800 --> 18:03.800 Look out, Monty, you go in. Hang on to my legs. 18:03.800 --> 18:05.800 You see anything, Captain? 18:05.800 --> 18:07.800 Just the tail end of the tow sled. 18:07.800 --> 18:09.800 How far down? 18:09.800 --> 18:11.800 About 200 feet. 18:11.800 --> 18:13.800 Oh! She will never get him out. 18:13.800 --> 18:15.800 Demarest! 18:15.800 --> 18:17.800 Demarest! 18:17.800 --> 18:19.800 Can you answer, Demarest? 18:23.800 --> 18:25.800 He's gone. 18:25.800 --> 18:27.800 Just a minute ago. 18:27.800 --> 18:29.800 Keep quiet. 18:29.800 --> 18:31.800 Demarest! 18:33.800 --> 18:35.800 It's no use. 18:35.800 --> 18:37.800 No. 18:37.800 --> 18:39.800 Let me down on a rope, sir. 18:39.800 --> 18:41.800 We've been out here three weeks, man. 18:41.800 --> 18:43.800 We haven't the strength. 18:43.800 --> 18:45.800 Can't we do something, sir? 18:45.800 --> 18:47.800 A rope ladder, maybe. 18:47.800 --> 18:49.800 Well, we get enough rope. 18:49.800 --> 18:51.800 We can't just leave him here. 18:51.800 --> 18:53.800 Here we... 18:55.800 --> 18:57.800 He gave up a good job to come out here. 18:59.800 --> 19:01.800 He knew Greenland. 19:01.800 --> 19:03.800 He loved it. 19:05.800 --> 19:07.800 Now Greenland's taken his life. 19:07.800 --> 19:09.800 Come on, boy. 19:09.800 --> 19:25.800 Come back to camp. 19:27.800 --> 19:29.800 Storms and blizzards. 19:29.800 --> 19:33.800 Not even Pappy Turner, the veteran Greenland pilot who dropped the marations, could fly. 19:33.800 --> 19:35.800 Food ran low. 19:35.800 --> 19:37.800 Ohara, sickened with gangrene feet, 19:37.800 --> 19:39.800 began to waste away. 19:39.800 --> 19:41.800 Still the blizzard hemmed them in. 19:41.800 --> 19:43.800 Silently, each by himself, 19:43.800 --> 19:45.800 they fought despair. 19:49.800 --> 19:51.800 December, January. 19:51.800 --> 19:53.800 January 7th. 19:53.800 --> 19:55.800 At last, a still clear day. 19:55.800 --> 19:59.800 With Ohara snogging a sleeping bag on the motor sled, 19:59.800 --> 20:03.800 Spencer, Tetley and Waddell were trudging by the road. 20:03.800 --> 20:07.800 Taking him out to safety. 20:07.800 --> 20:09.800 You know, I've been thinking. 20:09.800 --> 20:13.800 When this war's over, I'm gonna buy me a farm. 20:13.800 --> 20:17.800 The farm's nice if you like it, Waddell. 20:17.800 --> 20:19.800 I like it. 20:19.800 --> 20:23.800 Wife's gonna have a baby sometime this month. 20:23.800 --> 20:25.800 He'll like it, too. 20:25.800 --> 20:27.800 Yeah. 20:27.800 --> 20:29.800 Warm enough for Ohara? 20:29.800 --> 20:31.800 Yeah. 20:31.800 --> 20:33.800 Warm enough for Ohara? 20:33.800 --> 20:37.800 Yeah, I'm warm. 20:37.800 --> 20:41.800 How far did you say we've gone? 20:41.800 --> 20:43.800 A mile, maybe. 20:43.800 --> 20:45.800 Hey! 20:45.800 --> 20:47.800 Look out! Grab a sled! 20:47.800 --> 20:49.800 Wait! I can't! 20:49.800 --> 20:51.800 Hold it! I'm sleeping! I can't! 20:51.800 --> 20:53.800 Ah! 20:53.800 --> 20:55.800 Tetley, quick! Got a sled ahead! 20:57.800 --> 20:59.800 I think the sled's safe here. 20:59.800 --> 21:01.800 Let's go back and look for him. 21:01.800 --> 21:03.800 Hey. 21:03.800 --> 21:05.800 See anything? 21:07.800 --> 21:09.800 Not a chance. 21:11.800 --> 21:13.800 Fritchett and Howarth and Demarest, 21:13.800 --> 21:15.800 and now Waddell. 21:15.800 --> 21:17.800 Greenland. 21:17.800 --> 21:19.800 He's eating us up one by one. 21:21.800 --> 21:23.800 Wife's gonna have a baby sometime this month. 21:23.800 --> 21:25.800 Yeah. 21:25.800 --> 21:27.800 He was gonna buy a farm when he got back. 21:31.800 --> 21:33.800 Howrah's fast asleep. 21:35.800 --> 21:37.800 Hey, what's this brown stuff on the snow? 21:37.800 --> 21:39.800 It looks like oil to me. 21:39.800 --> 21:41.800 What do you know about that? 21:41.800 --> 21:43.800 Feed line's busted. 21:43.800 --> 21:45.800 How can't we fix it? 21:45.800 --> 21:47.800 I doubt it. 21:47.800 --> 21:49.800 You ask me, the sled's finished. 21:49.800 --> 21:51.800 What do we do now? 21:53.800 --> 21:55.800 Dig in. 21:55.800 --> 21:57.800 Make a snow house. 21:59.800 --> 22:01.800 Wait, wait, wait, wait. 22:01.800 --> 22:03.800 That's all we do. Wait. 22:03.800 --> 22:13.800 How much can a human being endure? 22:13.800 --> 22:17.800 January passed in an agony of blizzards. 22:17.800 --> 22:21.800 February and wind drifts and nights of ruthless cold. 22:21.800 --> 22:25.800 March, spring equinox, 22:25.800 --> 22:27.800 and the days going out. 22:27.800 --> 22:09.660 The 22:09.660 --> 22:13.660 Ohara Delirious. 22:13.660 --> 22:15.660 Monteverde suffering from frostbite. 22:15.660 --> 22:37.920 The 22:37.920 --> 22:41.920 Spina's arm healed, but he was weak and helpless. 22:41.920 --> 22:47.920 How much suffering can that bundle of muscle, nerve, and brain we call a man endure? 22:47.920 --> 22:51.920 April 5th. 22:51.920 --> 22:55.920 A Catalina flying boat dropped out of the sky. 22:55.920 --> 22:57.920 Her wheels retracted. 22:57.920 --> 22:59.920 Her wing floats lowered. 23:03.920 --> 23:05.920 Captain Monteverde. 23:05.920 --> 23:07.920 Colonel Balchon. 23:07.920 --> 23:10.920 It took us a long time, Captain, but we got here. 23:10.920 --> 23:12.920 Well, that's the main thing, Colonel. 23:12.920 --> 23:14.920 You got here. 23:14.920 --> 23:17.920 We want you and your men to drop everything now, Captain. 23:17.920 --> 23:19.920 We'll tuck you in and take care of you. 23:19.920 --> 23:23.920 I guess we won't object to that, Colonel. 23:23.920 --> 23:48.920 We're just so darn tired of fighting. 23:48.920 --> 23:50.920 Thank you, Dean Jagger. 23:50.920 --> 23:54.920 A little later, our star will return to introduce Lieutenant Ohara, 23:54.920 --> 23:58.920 one of the real-life heroes of tonight's dramatization. 23:58.920 --> 24:03.920 Meanwhile, we want to tell you how chemical rubber is helping to defend American cities 24:03.920 --> 24:07.920 and war industry centers from hostile aircraft attack. 24:07.920 --> 24:13.920 For the first time, barrage balloons now float in the sky over vital points in American cities. 24:13.920 --> 24:17.920 They call them rubber cows, and they do look a bit like cows, 24:17.920 --> 24:20.920 but they aren't made of natural rubber. 24:20.920 --> 24:23.920 And in that fact, there's a story we think will interest you. 24:23.920 --> 24:27.920 Two years ago, the task of training men to handle barrage balloons 24:27.920 --> 24:29.920 was handed to the Coast Artillery. 24:29.920 --> 24:32.920 A training center was established, balloons were tested, 24:32.920 --> 24:35.920 and specifications given to manufacturers. 24:35.920 --> 24:38.920 When the Army was reorganized in March a year ago, 24:38.920 --> 24:42.920 the anti-aircraft troops were given the barrage balloons as one of their anti-aircraft weapons. 24:42.920 --> 24:45.920 That's what they are, a defensive weapon. 24:45.920 --> 24:49.920 Their cables form a sky-riding net through which an enemy bombing plane 24:49.920 --> 24:53.920 flies at the risk of having its wings torn away and its propeller entangled. 24:53.920 --> 24:58.920 They force the enemy bombers to fly high where the bomber's aim is poor. 24:58.920 --> 25:01.920 That's why, although it comes as news to many people, 25:01.920 --> 25:05.920 American anti-aircraft units have flown barrage balloons for more than two years, 25:05.920 --> 25:09.920 and they're flying over more than one American city tonight. 25:09.920 --> 25:11.920 Barrage balloons are sausage-shaped, 25:11.920 --> 25:15.920 with fins that keep them pointing into the wind like weather vanes. 25:15.920 --> 25:19.920 They're made of fabric treated with neoprene, DuPont's chemical rubber. 25:19.920 --> 25:22.920 Neoprene is used not merely to save rubber, 25:22.920 --> 25:26.920 but because neoprene, a man-made rubber, is much more resistant to sunlight, 25:26.920 --> 25:31.920 weather, grease, and oil than the rubber made from the sap of trees. 25:31.920 --> 25:35.920 In this particular case, man's chemistry is better than nature's. 25:35.920 --> 25:37.920 Or as the War Department says, 25:37.920 --> 25:41.920 quote, in many respects the neoprene balloon appears to have definite advantages 25:41.920 --> 25:43.920 over the rubberized balloon. 25:43.920 --> 25:47.920 It is believed that neoprene fabric will stand up better in the tropics than will rubber. 25:47.920 --> 25:51.920 The diffusion rate of neoprene fabric is generally more favorable 25:51.920 --> 25:54.920 than that of rubberized fabric, unquote. 25:54.920 --> 25:58.920 We of DuPont are glad the Army has found still another wartime job 25:58.920 --> 26:04.920 for one of our peacetime better things for better living through chemistry. 26:04.920 --> 26:08.920 And here is Dean Jagger, star on tonight's cavalcade. 26:08.920 --> 26:11.920 APPLAUSE 26:16.920 --> 26:20.920 The real star, the real stars of tonight's cavalcade 26:20.920 --> 26:24.920 are those brave men whose story we have reenacted for you tonight. 26:24.920 --> 26:28.920 And not all of those nine men came back from the Arctic. 26:28.920 --> 26:32.920 Those who did will carry the marks and scars of those harrowing months all their lives. 26:32.920 --> 26:36.920 Such a man is Lieutenant W.F. O'Hara of Scranton, Pennsylvania. 26:36.920 --> 26:40.920 In order to save his life, it was necessary to amputate both legs. 26:40.920 --> 26:44.920 Lieutenant O'Hara has left Walter Reed Hospital in Washington tonight 26:44.920 --> 26:46.920 to speak to the cavalcade audience. 26:46.920 --> 26:52.920 It's my honor now to present Lieutenant W.F. O'Hara of the United States Army Air Force. 26:52.920 --> 26:55.920 APPLAUSE 26:55.920 --> 26:58.920 APPLAUSE 27:00.920 --> 27:04.920 Hearing cavalcade's reenactment of those days on the ice cap 27:04.920 --> 27:08.920 has compressed an eternity of waiting into less than half an hour. 27:08.920 --> 27:13.920 Of the seven men who came back, three, Lieutenant Spencer, Sergeant Spina, and Tucciarone, 27:13.920 --> 27:17.920 are still serving on the fairly command from our old base near Wilmington, Delaware. 27:17.920 --> 27:20.920 Captain Monteverdi is on duty on the West Coast. 27:20.920 --> 27:24.920 Staff Sergeant Tetley is an officer's candidate school, 27:24.920 --> 27:28.920 while Best and Purier are on active duty. I don't know just where. 27:28.920 --> 27:32.920 And Colonel Balchon, who brought us out, is still in the Arctic. 27:32.920 --> 27:37.920 With the passage of time, I have regained some of the 100 pounds I lost in weight, 27:37.920 --> 27:40.920 and the experience grows more and more unreal. 27:40.920 --> 27:43.920 A bad dream that one wants to forget. 27:43.920 --> 27:47.920 The only reality now is a reality of the day-by-day winning of the war. 27:47.920 --> 27:51.920 Each of us has to help in his own way, and there are money ways, 27:51.920 --> 27:57.920 being blood donors, buying bonds, doing a good day's work on the production line. 27:57.920 --> 28:01.920 There isn't much one can do in a wheelchair in a hospital, 28:01.920 --> 28:06.920 and yet if I can make this one point, the need for everyone to do is utmost. 28:06.920 --> 28:08.920 That is something. 28:08.920 --> 28:10.920 Thank you, Lieutenant O'Hara. 28:16.920 --> 28:19.920 There are many roads which lead right to Tokyo. 28:19.920 --> 28:21.920 We shall neglect none of them. 28:21.920 --> 28:23.920 This is the promise of our Commander-in-Chief, 28:23.920 --> 28:26.920 a promise which recent victories in the Aleutians are bearing out. 28:26.920 --> 28:30.920 Next week, Cavalcade takes you on a shortcut to Tokyo, 28:30.920 --> 28:32.920 a vivid eyewitness account of the Battle of the Aleutians, 28:32.920 --> 28:37.920 based on Corey Ford's bestseller of the same title, starring Ralph Bellamy. 28:40.920 --> 28:43.920 Don't forget, be with us next week when Cavalcade brings you Ralph Bellamy 28:43.920 --> 28:45.920 in Shortcut to Tokyo. 28:45.920 --> 28:47.920 Cavalcade is pleased to announce that Dean Jagger, 28:47.920 --> 28:49.920 star of this evening's performance, is shortly to be seen 28:49.920 --> 28:52.920 in the new Samuel Goldwyn production, North Star. 28:52.920 --> 28:55.920 The orchestra and musical score tonight were under the direction of Donald Burys. 28:55.920 --> 28:59.920 This is Clayton Collier sending best wishes from Cavalcade sponsor, 28:59.920 --> 29:02.920 the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. 29:07.920 --> 29:09.920 This program came to you from New York. 29:09.920 --> 29:17.920 This is the National Broadcasting Company.