WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:10.000 The Cavalcade of America, sponsored by DuPont, maker of better things for better living through chemistry, presents Pat O'Brien in Iron Camels. 00:10.000 --> 00:25.000 Music 00:25.000 --> 00:36.000 Tonight, Cavalcade brings you the story of a modern Casey Jones, a story about the railroads and the railroad men of the Army Transportation Corps, and the vital part they played in the winning of Tunisia. 00:36.000 --> 00:41.000 It is a true story, based on a detailed report from a correspondent in North Africa. 00:41.000 --> 00:49.000 It was adapted for Cavalcade by Sue Taylor White as a play for one of Motion Picture's outstanding personalities, Pat O'Brien. 00:49.000 --> 00:56.000 And so tonight on the Cavalcade of America, Pat O'Brien as Lieutenant Colonel Steve Carey of the Army Transportation Corps. 00:56.000 --> 01:14.000 Music 01:14.000 --> 01:22.000 I don't suppose there's hardly anybody who wouldn't say that's one of the most thrilling sounds in the world, the working song of a big steam locomotive. 01:22.000 --> 01:32.000 Today you can hear that sound in places where there's, well, there's never been any other form of transportation than a horse or a camel or a man's back since the dawn of time. 01:32.000 --> 01:38.000 The sound of an American locomotive installed and operated by the United States Army Transportation Corps. 01:38.000 --> 01:46.000 Now, just because I'm an officer in the Transportation Corps, I'm not going to claim we win all the battles single-handed. 01:46.000 --> 01:51.000 Oh, indeed, the Army's a team, and it's the teamwork that counts. 01:51.000 --> 02:04.000 But you must remember this, every gallon of gasoline, every bomb and bullet and shell that you folks at home turn out, has to reach the fighting fronts before it's any good to any of us. 02:04.000 --> 02:09.000 And that takes men and wheels, railroads and railroad men. 02:09.000 --> 02:13.000 Nowadays, an Army marches on its ammunition trains. 02:13.000 --> 02:17.000 In the North African desert, they call them iron camels. 02:17.000 --> 02:41.000 Just behind the front, the Kasserine Pass. Remember that name? Kasserine Pass? 02:41.000 --> 02:47.000 That's where the Germans licked us. That's where the Germans licked us. Almost. 02:47.000 --> 02:52.000 It was a hot night, and I was in a little hut next to our tracks doing some paperwork. 02:52.000 --> 02:57.000 The men had worked like dogs all day, laying a double track right up to the front lines. 02:57.000 --> 03:01.000 And we were all dead tired. 03:01.000 --> 03:08.000 But every so often, an ammunition train would rumble past us, taking a load of shells up to the artillery boys, 03:08.000 --> 03:12.000 who were handing it on to the Germans as fast as they could shove it into the guns. 03:12.000 --> 03:18.000 So we knew we'd done our job, and we'd done it right. And we were feeling pretty good. 03:18.000 --> 03:21.000 There was only one thing I noticed I didn't like. 03:21.000 --> 03:27.000 The sound of that artillery fire seemed to be getting nearer, and that was liable to mean trouble. 03:27.000 --> 03:29.000 Uh, say, Colonel. 03:29.000 --> 03:30.000 What do you want, Collins? 03:30.000 --> 03:32.000 You, uh, busy, Colonel? 03:32.000 --> 03:37.000 No, busy, no, no, of course not. I just see you looking at the scenery all night long. 03:37.000 --> 03:39.000 Yeah, it's beautiful, ain't it? 03:39.000 --> 03:40.000 What do you want? 03:40.000 --> 03:41.000 Colonel, I got a feeling... 03:41.000 --> 03:44.000 Listen, this is transportation, not the medical corps. 03:44.000 --> 03:46.000 Oh, I ain't sick, Colonel, but do you hear that artillery? 03:46.000 --> 03:47.000 Of course I hear it. 03:47.000 --> 03:49.000 Well, I got a feeling we're gonna start moving backwards. 03:49.000 --> 03:52.000 Yeah, well, suppose you go to sleep somewhere and stop demoralizing the armed forces. 03:52.000 --> 03:56.000 Okay, sir, but here comes a courier, and I'll bet he didn't come up here to pass out medals. 03:56.000 --> 03:57.000 Colonel Carey? 03:57.000 --> 03:59.000 That's right. Give it here. 04:00.000 --> 04:04.000 Mm-hmm. All right. Tell him we're on our way. 04:04.000 --> 04:05.000 Yes, sir. 04:05.000 --> 04:06.000 Collins? 04:06.000 --> 04:07.000 I know, sir. 04:07.000 --> 04:10.000 Shut up. We've got four locomotives. 04:10.000 --> 04:12.000 Detail men to get them hot and hype all the hell out of here. 04:12.000 --> 04:16.000 Yes, sir. But two of them hogs are as cold as the back of my neck, sir. 04:16.000 --> 04:19.000 We're not leaving good American steam engines for the master race to play with. 04:19.000 --> 04:20.000 Come on. 04:20.000 --> 04:21.000 Yes, sir. 04:22.000 --> 04:24.000 Where's that French section boss? 04:24.000 --> 04:26.000 There he is, leading the band. 04:26.000 --> 04:27.000 Hey, Roe! 04:27.000 --> 04:28.000 Oh! 04:28.000 --> 04:30.000 You come to reason to our concert this year? 04:30.000 --> 04:32.000 Beautiful. Some music, huh? 04:32.000 --> 04:34.000 Yeah, yeah, but look, we're pulling out, Roe. 04:34.000 --> 04:35.000 Out? 04:35.000 --> 04:38.000 I want all those air apps on board to train it out of here in one hour. 04:38.000 --> 04:40.000 You help Collins warm up the two coal engines. 04:40.000 --> 04:41.000 Yeah, but where we go? 04:41.000 --> 04:43.000 The front lines are so close already, monsieur. 04:43.000 --> 04:45.000 We're not going to the front lines. We're going away from them. 04:45.000 --> 04:47.000 The Germans are breaking through the Kasserine Pass. 04:47.000 --> 04:48.000 No, monsieur. 04:48.000 --> 04:51.000 Yes, monsieur. The American Army is in retreat. 04:51.000 --> 04:53.000 Your boss at the section hands. 04:53.000 --> 05:05.000 We're going to lose any and let's move. 05:05.000 --> 05:07.000 Move your hand, will you? I can't see that pal. 05:07.000 --> 05:08.000 What happened to that out of the range? 05:08.000 --> 05:12.000 All right, let it come a little this way. Let it drop slow now. 05:12.000 --> 05:14.000 Give me a hand, will you? 05:14.000 --> 05:17.000 Collins! Collins! Where's Collins? 05:17.000 --> 05:18.000 Right here, sir. Right here. 05:18.000 --> 05:20.000 We got this engine hot and ready to scram. 05:20.000 --> 05:22.000 Put Blackburn on her and send her out. 05:22.000 --> 05:24.000 Go on over to number six and see what's holding them up there. 05:24.000 --> 05:26.000 Blackburn, get aboard and take her out. 05:26.000 --> 05:27.000 Yes, sir. 05:27.000 --> 05:29.000 Hop on. Come on. Get aboard, Joe. 05:29.000 --> 05:41.000 Give her the gun, Blackburn. 05:41.000 --> 05:43.000 Well, that one's gone. 05:43.000 --> 05:45.000 What's the matter here? Collins, what are you doing? 05:45.000 --> 05:48.000 We'll never get these two babies hot in time, sir. 05:48.000 --> 05:50.000 They're getting awful close with that artillery. 05:50.000 --> 05:52.000 All right, sir. Now, look. 05:52.000 --> 05:54.000 We leave this one and number seven behind. 05:54.000 --> 05:57.000 Take off her side rods. I don't want any jewelry left on her. 05:57.000 --> 05:59.000 Burn out her pistons and do the same with number seven. 05:59.000 --> 06:00.000 Colonel Carey. 06:00.000 --> 06:02.000 That's right. Over here. I'm Colonel Carey. 06:02.000 --> 06:03.000 The Germans just broke through the pass. 06:03.000 --> 06:04.000 What do you mean, broke through? 06:04.000 --> 06:05.000 Isn't anybody fighting them anymore? 06:05.000 --> 06:06.000 Fighting them all the way, sir. 06:06.000 --> 06:08.000 But there's no telling when they'll be down on us. 06:08.000 --> 06:11.000 Boy, I can feel that ground shaking now. 06:11.000 --> 06:12.000 All right, Collins. 06:12.000 --> 06:14.000 Let's see one of your burning torches. Come on. 06:14.000 --> 06:15.000 Maybe we get them out. 06:15.000 --> 06:17.000 We'll pull out on the last engine. 06:17.000 --> 06:18.000 Those two cold hogs have... 06:18.000 --> 06:20.000 Well, they've got to be made useless. 06:20.000 --> 06:21.000 Hop up here. 06:23.000 --> 06:24.000 Well, here's the torch. 06:24.000 --> 06:26.000 All right, give me gas. You got a match on you? 06:26.000 --> 06:27.000 Here, I'll light it, sir. 06:30.000 --> 06:31.000 More oxygen. 06:36.000 --> 06:38.000 Stand by. Here goes a good piston. 06:41.000 --> 06:43.000 Boy, look at that steel burning. 06:43.000 --> 06:46.000 This is one locomotive that ain't going to carry no Germans very far. 06:46.000 --> 06:49.000 Say, sir, why don't we just blow up these two engines and scram? 06:49.000 --> 06:52.000 I got a feeling we'll be back here soon, Collins. 06:52.000 --> 06:56.000 I'd rather fix a burned piston than put an exploded locomotive in there, it cares. 06:57.000 --> 06:58.000 Oh, they're shooting at us, sir. 06:59.000 --> 07:00.000 Need more oxygen. 07:00.000 --> 07:02.000 But, gee, maybe they're only over that hill there. 07:02.000 --> 07:03.000 More oxygen. 07:06.000 --> 07:08.000 Oh, that one nearly parted my hair. 07:08.000 --> 07:09.000 One over number seven. 07:09.000 --> 07:10.000 See if they got steam up. 07:10.000 --> 07:12.000 Is she still cold? Tell Smith to burn her pistons. 07:12.000 --> 07:14.000 And I mean burn, see? Like I'm doing that here, Scott. 07:14.000 --> 07:16.000 Scorch her guts out. 07:16.000 --> 07:18.000 And get everybody who isn't working aboard number eight. 07:18.000 --> 07:19.000 She's the only one left to get away on. 07:19.000 --> 07:21.000 You, uh, you sure we got time to burn her out, huh? 07:21.000 --> 07:25.000 Young fella, the only thing I'm sure of right now is that the German Army is coming through those hills. 07:25.000 --> 07:26.000 Now get going. 07:26.000 --> 07:27.000 Yes, sir. 07:37.000 --> 07:38.000 Hey, Collins. 07:38.000 --> 07:39.000 Yes, sir. 07:40.000 --> 07:41.000 You ready to pull out of here? 07:41.000 --> 07:44.000 Yes, sir. 07:45.000 --> 07:46.000 Watch it! 07:49.000 --> 07:50.000 You all right? 07:50.000 --> 07:52.000 Well, I've been better, Colonel. 07:52.000 --> 07:53.000 Is that Smith in the cab with you? 07:53.000 --> 07:54.000 Right here, sir. 07:54.000 --> 07:57.000 We burned out number seven and this one's hot and ready to go, sir. 07:57.000 --> 07:58.000 All right, boy. 07:58.000 --> 07:59.000 Give her the gun. Go ahead. 07:59.000 --> 08:00.000 Well, ain't you coming? 08:00.000 --> 08:02.000 This is the last iron camel out of here. 08:02.000 --> 08:05.000 I'll cut across that bend out there and make sure all the men are cleared out. 08:05.000 --> 08:07.000 You two slow down beyond that gully and pick me up there. 08:07.000 --> 08:08.000 Get a rolling. Go ahead. 08:08.000 --> 08:10.000 I'll be right around the bend. 08:10.000 --> 08:11.000 Okay, sir. So long. 08:13.000 --> 08:15.000 Well, let's go, Smithy. Start a rolling. 08:15.000 --> 08:16.000 Okay, Sarge. 08:16.000 --> 08:17.000 Who, me? 08:17.000 --> 08:19.000 Yeah, you. Now start a rolling. That's an order. 08:19.000 --> 08:20.000 Oh, now look, Sarge, I don't... 08:20.000 --> 08:23.000 Now listen, Private First Class, I don't want no arguments. 08:23.000 --> 08:26.000 I got to look out this window here and watch for the Colonel. 08:26.000 --> 08:27.000 You got to do the driving. 08:27.000 --> 08:30.000 Well, if that's the way you want it, Sarge... 08:30.000 --> 08:32.000 Yeah, that's the way that I want it. 08:32.000 --> 08:36.000 Hey, hey, wait a minute. What are you doing turning on the steam? Are you crazy? 08:36.000 --> 08:38.000 That's what I mean, Sarge. I tried to tell you... 08:38.000 --> 08:39.000 Tried to tell me what? 08:39.000 --> 08:42.000 I can't. I never drove no locomotive in my life. 08:42.000 --> 08:44.000 I don't care if you're ne... 08:44.000 --> 08:46.000 You don't know how to drive this thing? 08:46.000 --> 08:47.000 Uh-uh. 08:47.000 --> 08:49.000 And you're in the Army Transportation Corps? 08:49.000 --> 08:51.000 Ah, what can the government be thinking of? 08:51.000 --> 08:52.000 Well, I... 08:52.000 --> 08:56.000 Oh, Sarge. Now, look, Sarge, I don't think this is no time to stand on ceremony. 08:56.000 --> 08:58.000 I think you better drive. 08:58.000 --> 09:01.000 Do you think I'd be asking you to pilot this pig if I could do it myself? 09:01.000 --> 09:03.000 Oh, I get it. You can't either... 09:03.000 --> 09:04.000 You can't either? 09:04.000 --> 09:07.000 No. And we ain't got no time for old correspondent school courses. 09:07.000 --> 09:09.000 Get out of my way. 09:09.000 --> 09:10.000 What are you gonna do, Sarge? 09:10.000 --> 09:12.000 I'm gonna learn by trial and by error. 09:12.000 --> 09:14.000 Now, what's this thing here? 09:14.000 --> 09:17.000 Uh-oh. I think it was an error. 09:17.000 --> 09:21.000 Oh, yeah? So concentrate on silence, okay? 09:21.000 --> 09:25.000 Now, here's something. Here, hold on. I'll give this one a pull. 09:26.000 --> 09:29.000 Well, there. See, we're moving. 09:29.000 --> 09:31.000 Hey, we're... Hey, we're going backwards. 09:31.000 --> 09:35.000 Hey, Sarge, we're going toward the German lines. Shut it off! 09:35.000 --> 09:38.000 All right, all right. Stop all the time criticizing. 09:38.000 --> 09:41.000 Here we go frontwards. I hope. 09:44.000 --> 09:47.000 Ah, well, now you did it all right. 09:47.000 --> 09:50.000 Boy, sure feels good to be getting out of here. 09:50.000 --> 09:53.000 Hey, Sarge, look back there. 09:53.000 --> 09:55.000 Are those German tanks coming around that hill? 09:55.000 --> 09:56.000 I ain't got no time to look back. 09:56.000 --> 09:59.000 If they're German tanks, I'll feel more interested in looking straight ahead. 09:59.000 --> 10:03.000 Boy, look at us go around this old turn. 10:03.000 --> 10:06.000 Hey, there's a Colonel up ahead. Slow down. 10:06.000 --> 10:08.000 Yeah, that's what I was thinking myself. 10:08.000 --> 10:10.000 Where's the brake, I wonder? 10:10.000 --> 10:13.000 The brake? Wait a sec. Oh, here, I'll pull this. 10:13.000 --> 10:15.000 Ah, stop pulling the whistle. 10:15.000 --> 10:18.000 Here, I'll try this handle. 10:18.000 --> 10:22.000 Ah, I think we're in a rut, Collins. All we do is make noises. 10:22.000 --> 10:25.000 Well, come on, do something. We're going to pass the Colonel. 10:25.000 --> 10:28.000 Well, hold on. I'm going to pull everything. 10:28.000 --> 10:31.000 Boy, you sure stopped there, Collins. 10:31.000 --> 10:33.000 Yeah, I sure did. 10:33.000 --> 10:34.000 Well, there's the Colonel. 10:34.000 --> 10:38.000 Oh, Colonel, what are you trying to do, flatten the wheels? 10:38.000 --> 10:41.000 Oh, I mean, Sarge, we're sort of experimenting. 10:41.000 --> 10:42.000 Hop in, Colonel. 10:42.000 --> 10:44.000 Well, stop experimenting. 10:44.000 --> 10:46.000 All the men got out on the other end. 10:46.000 --> 10:48.000 Germans won't find anything there but scrap. 10:48.000 --> 10:50.000 Got to go now, Collins, and fast. 10:50.000 --> 10:51.000 Well, Colonel, you see... 10:51.000 --> 10:53.000 We're shop men, Colonel. 10:53.000 --> 10:55.000 We never run one of these guns. 10:55.000 --> 10:58.000 You never run... Get away from that throttle. 10:58.000 --> 11:00.000 Yes, sir. 11:01.000 --> 11:04.000 Say, where are we heading for, Colonel? 11:04.000 --> 11:05.000 That is if you don't mind telling us. 11:05.000 --> 11:07.000 Oh, I don't mind telling you. 11:07.000 --> 11:09.000 Going to Met Louis. You boys feel tired? 11:09.000 --> 11:11.000 I don't feel nothing in this cement mixer. 11:11.000 --> 11:13.000 Because if you do, you'd better find something to lean against 11:13.000 --> 11:14.000 and get some sleep. 11:14.000 --> 11:16.000 Well, I was thinking of sleeping in Met Louis. 11:16.000 --> 11:17.000 Well, forget it. 11:17.000 --> 11:20.000 As soon as we hit Met Louis, every man who can stand up 11:20.000 --> 11:23.000 is going to load the machine shops on the flat cars and go to bed. 11:23.000 --> 11:26.000 Load the machine shops? Are we going to be cut off in Met Louis too? 11:26.000 --> 11:27.000 We're being swamped. We're in retreat. 11:27.000 --> 11:29.000 So loosen your belts and relax, boys. 11:29.000 --> 11:31.000 You got the hardest job in your lives waiting for you 11:31.000 --> 11:33.000 ten miles down that track. 11:46.000 --> 11:48.000 What you do with the starting machines? 11:48.000 --> 11:50.000 I don't see them on the cars. 11:50.000 --> 11:52.000 Oh, they're starting machines. 11:52.000 --> 11:54.000 Oh, the starting machines are on the last flat car 11:54.000 --> 11:55.000 with the radios and brakes. 11:55.000 --> 11:56.000 Wait on the line there. 11:56.000 --> 11:58.000 All right. Now, look. 11:58.000 --> 12:00.000 Take your e-rabs over and blow over the whole string. 12:00.000 --> 12:02.000 Make sure everything is lashed down tight. 12:02.000 --> 12:04.000 Pulling out in an hour. 12:04.000 --> 12:05.000 Yes, sir. 12:05.000 --> 12:07.000 Hey, the Germans are getting the range. 12:07.000 --> 12:09.000 Yeah, you better make it 40 minutes instead of an hour. 12:09.000 --> 12:10.000 Go ahead. 12:10.000 --> 12:11.000 Yes, sir. 12:11.000 --> 12:12.000 Colonel Carey. 12:12.000 --> 12:14.000 Hey, Colonel, we just got a call on a field telephone. 12:14.000 --> 12:16.000 The Germans have cut the tracks on both sides of us. 12:16.000 --> 12:18.000 We can't blow this stuff out, and Captain Allen's asking for orders, sir. 12:18.000 --> 12:19.000 Oh, he is, huh? 12:19.000 --> 12:20.000 Yes, sir. 12:20.000 --> 12:23.000 If you want to blow up the machine before the Germans get here, 12:23.000 --> 12:25.000 well, I got three squads all set to go to work. 12:25.000 --> 12:27.000 Well, that's thoughtful of you, Collins. 12:27.000 --> 12:28.000 I'll tell you what. 12:28.000 --> 12:31.000 Take your squads and roll out those trucks in that shed over there. 12:31.000 --> 12:33.000 Get hold of the roll, unload everything off the flat cars, 12:33.000 --> 12:34.000 and out of the trucks. 12:34.000 --> 12:35.000 Yes, sir. 12:35.000 --> 12:36.000 But I'd just like to remind you, sir, 12:36.000 --> 12:38.000 there ain't no roads here in this part of the country. 12:38.000 --> 12:39.000 We'll cut across the desert. 12:39.000 --> 12:41.000 Then you don't want no demolition squads now, huh? 12:41.000 --> 12:44.000 Listen, Collins, we're not going to blow anything up 12:44.000 --> 12:45.000 as long as we can move a muscle. 12:45.000 --> 12:48.000 Too many guys worked hard to turn this stuff out, 12:48.000 --> 12:51.000 and too many guys gave their lives sailing it across the ocean. 12:51.000 --> 12:53.000 Now, get that stuff out of the trucks. 12:53.000 --> 12:55.000 We'll blow it up when it needs to be blown up, 12:55.000 --> 12:57.000 until then it's moving day and move! 13:06.000 --> 13:09.000 Order number 152M3. 13:09.000 --> 13:11.000 Immediate attention. 13:11.000 --> 13:14.000 Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Carey, Transportation Corps. 13:14.000 --> 13:16.000 We are attacking. 13:16.000 --> 13:19.000 The Germans are destroying all railroad track as they retreat. 13:19.000 --> 13:22.000 Repair of track essential to success of our movements. 13:22.000 --> 13:26.000 You are to rebuild track up the front lines at maximum possible speed, 13:26.000 --> 13:30.000 keeping pace at all times with moving front. 13:30.000 --> 13:32.000 You will be under attack by German air forces, 13:32.000 --> 13:36.000 but we will give you as much air protection as we can spare. 13:36.000 --> 13:37.000 Acknowledge. 13:37.000 --> 13:38.000 Sign. 13:38.000 --> 13:39.000 Johnson. 13:39.000 --> 13:51.000 Lieutenant General Headquarters. 13:51.000 --> 13:53.000 Well, we built it. 13:53.000 --> 13:57.000 Track and track and more track, and even bridges. 13:57.000 --> 14:00.000 I remember one bridge especially in Tunisia. 14:00.000 --> 14:03.000 We had built a line all the way up to this river, 14:03.000 --> 14:06.000 and then the bridge stopped us cold. 14:06.000 --> 14:10.000 It was ripped up by the Germans so, well, you couldn't get a kiddie car over, 14:10.000 --> 14:12.000 let alone a locomotive. 14:12.000 --> 14:14.000 Up ahead our army was battling the Germans. 14:14.000 --> 14:17.000 On our side of the bridge, our trains were waiting, 14:17.000 --> 14:21.000 filled with ammunition and supplies that the boys just had to have. 14:21.000 --> 14:24.000 Yes, we worked days and we worked nights. 14:24.000 --> 14:26.000 It was near mature. 14:26.000 --> 14:28.000 You remember that name. 14:28.000 --> 14:31.000 The Germans were throwing everything they had at our boys, 14:31.000 --> 14:35.000 and here were train loads of supplies waiting to cross that bridge. 14:35.000 --> 14:38.000 Well, finally one afternoon we had track laid almost the whole length of the bridge 14:38.000 --> 14:40.000 and on its approaches. 14:43.000 --> 14:44.000 Hey there, Roo. 14:44.000 --> 14:46.000 How does it look? 14:46.000 --> 14:48.000 One hour more, Colonel. I believe we will be finished. 14:48.000 --> 14:51.000 Nobody can work like our obsession has. 14:51.000 --> 14:53.000 Yeah, I was kind of afraid I'd have trouble with them. 14:53.000 --> 14:55.000 Different kind of people and all, you never can tell. 14:55.000 --> 14:58.000 Just let me keep handling them and there will be no trouble. 14:58.000 --> 15:01.000 Don't suppose they could stop that singing, do you? 15:01.000 --> 15:03.000 Makes it kind of hard to concentrate. Unnerves me sometimes, you know. 15:03.000 --> 15:06.000 I think it will be better they keep singing, Colonel. You see, they... 15:06.000 --> 15:08.000 Here comes the Luftwaffe again. 15:08.000 --> 15:10.000 Everybody down, take cover, roll down. 15:10.000 --> 15:12.000 Take cover, tell them to take cover and stop that singing. 15:12.000 --> 15:14.000 No, no, no! 15:14.000 --> 15:16.000 They better get down in the ditch, Colonel. 15:16.000 --> 15:18.000 Coming. Come down here, Collins. 15:25.000 --> 15:28.000 If they blow up that bridge again, I'm going to go crazy. 15:28.000 --> 15:30.000 Go listen to those Arabs. Are they nuts? 15:48.000 --> 15:51.000 You are listening to the Cavalcade of America, sponsored by DuPont, 15:51.000 --> 15:54.000 presenting Pat O'Brien as Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Carey 15:54.000 --> 15:58.000 of the Transportation Corps U.S. Army. 15:58.000 --> 16:02.000 Our play, Iron Camels, is the story of the railroads and railroad men 16:02.000 --> 16:05.000 and the part they played in the campaign in Tunisia. 16:05.000 --> 16:08.000 Colonel Carey and his men have worked day and night to repair a blasted bridge 16:08.000 --> 16:11.000 over which ammunition must be carried to the American troops. 16:11.000 --> 16:15.000 While they work, again and again the Luftwaffe attacks. 16:16.000 --> 16:18.000 Here they come, dig in. 16:18.000 --> 16:20.000 I'm right with you, sir. 16:20.000 --> 16:24.000 Get down or I'll strip you. 16:27.000 --> 16:29.000 Listen to those Arabs now. 16:29.000 --> 16:31.000 They are happy now, so they sing louder. 16:31.000 --> 16:34.000 As I was saying before, Colonel, I think better you allow them to sing. 16:34.000 --> 16:37.000 Yeah, yeah, I feel better myself with this singing, I guess. 16:37.000 --> 16:39.000 Collins, anybody get hurt? 16:39.000 --> 16:41.000 No, no, everybody's okay, sir. 16:41.000 --> 16:44.000 We're going to have clear track in half an hour, sir, right through to the front. 16:44.000 --> 16:45.000 Oh, that's wonderful. 16:45.000 --> 16:47.000 Go to the field telephone and notify headquarters 16:47.000 --> 16:50.000 they can start those ammunition trains coming through. 16:50.000 --> 16:51.000 The stretch is clear. 16:51.000 --> 16:52.000 Right, sir. 16:52.000 --> 16:55.000 Oh, and Ruhl, you better get going. 16:56.000 --> 16:59.000 Holy cats, those honey planes are coming back again. 16:59.000 --> 17:02.000 You think they'd let a man finish his job before they... 17:02.000 --> 17:05.000 Look, look, there, American planes. 17:05.000 --> 17:06.000 Where are your men, Ruhl? 17:06.000 --> 17:07.000 Mustangs there. 17:07.000 --> 17:09.000 They are fighting off the Germans. 17:09.000 --> 17:11.000 Everybody down, dig in, all of you. 17:11.000 --> 17:13.000 There's a plane falling, it's one of ours. 17:13.000 --> 17:15.000 Jump in here, Ruhl. 17:15.000 --> 17:17.000 Oh, that poor kid, look at him up there. 17:17.000 --> 17:18.000 Any room in that trench? 17:18.000 --> 17:20.000 Jump in, you lunatic. 17:21.000 --> 17:23.000 Look at him, he's trying to pull out. 17:23.000 --> 17:25.000 Colonel, he's going to smash up on our tracks. 17:25.000 --> 17:27.000 Oh, kid, whoever you are, straighten out. 17:27.000 --> 17:29.000 Straighten out, boy, don't fall. 17:29.000 --> 17:31.000 Oh, he must be hurt bad, he's not bailing out. 17:31.000 --> 17:33.000 He's hitting straight with a bridge, Colonel. 17:33.000 --> 17:34.000 Poor guy, don't hit that bridge, don't. 17:34.000 --> 17:36.000 Trying to turn away from the tracks. 17:36.000 --> 17:37.000 Oh, look at that kid. 17:37.000 --> 17:39.000 Get down, here he comes. 17:39.000 --> 17:41.000 Here he comes. 17:44.000 --> 17:45.000 Come on, before he starts burning. 17:45.000 --> 17:46.000 Yes, sir. 17:48.000 --> 17:49.000 Ruhl, grab this wing with me. 17:49.000 --> 17:50.000 Turn her over. 17:50.000 --> 17:51.000 All right. 17:51.000 --> 17:52.000 If I fire the engine's burning, she's going to explode. 17:52.000 --> 17:53.000 Everybody, push up. 17:59.000 --> 18:00.000 All right, get him out of here. 18:00.000 --> 18:01.000 Ruhl, grab the cockpit cover. 18:01.000 --> 18:02.000 Come on, pull. 18:02.000 --> 18:04.000 Pull out, pull. 18:04.000 --> 18:06.000 Let me smash the hatch. 18:06.000 --> 18:07.000 The cover's jammed. 18:07.000 --> 18:09.000 Go ahead, but be careful. 18:10.000 --> 18:12.000 Don't hurt the kid now, he's moving, he's alive. 18:12.000 --> 18:15.000 Ruhl, get him throwing sand on that engine before the tanks catch fire. 18:15.000 --> 18:16.000 Yes, sir. 18:16.000 --> 18:17.000 Disarm. 18:17.000 --> 18:19.000 All right, grab him under the arms. 18:19.000 --> 18:20.000 Yes, sir. 18:20.000 --> 18:21.000 Up, down. 18:21.000 --> 18:23.000 He can't move his legs, sir. 18:23.000 --> 18:24.000 He must have got it in the legs. 18:24.000 --> 18:25.000 Up with him, Smith, grab his legs. 18:25.000 --> 18:26.000 Yes, sir. 18:26.000 --> 18:27.000 All right, let's get away from this thing. 18:27.000 --> 18:30.000 Ruhl, get everybody clear before she blows. 18:30.000 --> 18:31.000 Savez-vous. 18:31.000 --> 18:32.000 Savez-vous. 18:32.000 --> 18:35.000 Oh, boy. 18:35.000 --> 18:36.000 We're safe here, sir. 18:36.000 --> 18:37.000 She won't blow this bar. 18:37.000 --> 18:39.000 Here comes first aid now, sir. 18:39.000 --> 18:40.000 Yeah. 18:40.000 --> 18:41.000 All right, let him down. 18:41.000 --> 18:42.000 Yeah. 18:42.000 --> 18:43.000 There. 18:43.000 --> 18:45.000 Now we pull that thing off the tracks before she blows. 18:45.000 --> 18:46.000 But she... 18:46.000 --> 18:48.000 Okay, sir, I'm with you, sir. 18:52.000 --> 18:53.000 Huh? 18:53.000 --> 18:55.000 There she goes, sir. 18:55.000 --> 18:58.000 Yeah, and there goes our track. 18:58.000 --> 19:01.000 Oh, sometimes I get awful discouraged, Collins. 19:01.000 --> 19:03.000 Look at that hole, look at it. 19:03.000 --> 19:04.000 Yes, sir. 19:04.000 --> 19:06.000 I didn't have time to tell you, sir. 19:06.000 --> 19:09.000 Headquarters said over the phone that it was wonderful how we got the track clear. 19:09.000 --> 19:10.000 And they did, huh? 19:10.000 --> 19:11.000 Yes, sir. 19:11.000 --> 19:14.000 They also said they were sending the ammunition trains right through, sir. 19:14.000 --> 19:16.000 Well, that's really big of them. 19:16.000 --> 19:17.000 Yeah. 19:17.000 --> 19:20.000 We ain't never gonna get that hole filled and track laid in time for no trains. 19:20.000 --> 19:22.000 What a war. 19:22.000 --> 19:24.000 All right, Collins, here's the tick. 19:24.000 --> 19:25.000 Yes, sir. 19:25.000 --> 19:27.000 That plane wreckage won't be cool enough to move until morning. 19:27.000 --> 19:29.000 I want a shoe flight thrown around that section. 19:29.000 --> 19:32.000 Curve out the track about, well, say, 30 feet around the plane, 19:32.000 --> 19:33.000 start your fly back there by the legs. 19:33.000 --> 19:34.000 Right, sir. 19:34.000 --> 19:35.000 Roole. 19:35.000 --> 19:36.000 Oh, come here, monsieur. 19:36.000 --> 19:40.000 Listen, Roole, get your gang, bring your new ties, 19:40.000 --> 19:41.000 haul up the rails and angle bars. 19:41.000 --> 19:42.000 If you need anything, just holler. 19:42.000 --> 19:44.000 We'll get those boys going, you understand? 19:44.000 --> 19:45.000 Oui, monsieur. 19:45.000 --> 19:46.000 Allo? 19:46.000 --> 19:54.000 Well, Collins, I think we're gonna break a record laying track. 19:54.000 --> 19:59.000 Yeah, I'd like it very much if those ammo trains would go right through. 19:59.000 --> 20:02.000 In fact, if we don't break a couple of records, 20:02.000 --> 20:04.000 the United States Army is gonna start moving backwards again 20:04.000 --> 20:06.000 for lack of ammunition. 20:06.000 --> 20:08.000 And if they move backwards, we're gonna have to blow up that bridge. 20:08.000 --> 20:11.000 And if I have to blow that bridge up after all the headaches we had building it, 20:11.000 --> 20:13.000 I'm gonna leave the Transportation Corps, pick up a cannon, 20:13.000 --> 20:15.000 and go hunting Germans. 20:15.000 --> 20:17.000 So let's see some smoke around here. 20:17.000 --> 20:19.000 All is going forward, monsieur. 20:19.000 --> 20:20.000 Fine, fine, great. 20:20.000 --> 20:24.000 But must those Arabs make that beautiful music all the time? 20:24.000 --> 20:27.000 Roole, tell each and every one of those boys 20:27.000 --> 20:29.000 that the Colonel is a lover of Arabian music 20:29.000 --> 20:33.000 and that after the war he's gonna buy himself an album of Arabian records 20:33.000 --> 20:36.000 and play them morning after morning in memory of those wonderful people. 20:36.000 --> 20:38.000 Now let's lay some track. 20:38.000 --> 20:53.000 Well, the sun went down that day, and we kept at it, 20:53.000 --> 20:58.000 feeling the tracks for vibration that would tell us of the approach of those ammo trains. 20:58.000 --> 21:02.000 News came through that the Germans had bombed our forward ammunition depot. 21:02.000 --> 21:07.000 Our artillery up ahead had four hours supply of shells and no more. 21:07.000 --> 21:11.000 Oh, I tell you frankly, if our boys had to retreat again 21:11.000 --> 21:13.000 because the supply trains were held up, I... 21:13.000 --> 21:17.000 Honestly, I think I'd have eaten my helmet strap and all, 21:17.000 --> 21:21.000 because I didn't intend to blow up the rails we'd laid if I could possibly help it. 21:21.000 --> 21:24.000 It was... well, it was about midnight. 21:24.000 --> 21:28.000 I was checking rail widths on the new shoe fly we'd almost finished. 21:28.000 --> 21:31.000 Collins came running to me. The wrecked plane was still smoking. 21:31.000 --> 21:34.000 Colonel, the trains are coming down the line. The tracks are buzzing like an electric razor. 21:34.000 --> 21:36.000 Roll! 21:36.000 --> 21:37.000 Roole, what do you say? 21:37.000 --> 21:40.000 We're working so fast we can. These spites can only go in when they are pounded. 21:40.000 --> 21:43.000 Order, Sledge. Come on, Collins. Grab a hammer. Let's bang in a couple. 21:43.000 --> 21:45.000 Here you are, sir. I'll hold the spike for you. 21:45.000 --> 21:47.000 Okay. 21:47.000 --> 21:49.000 And she's started now, Collins. Grab a sledge. 21:49.000 --> 21:50.000 Right, sir. 21:50.000 --> 21:51.000 Smith! 21:51.000 --> 21:52.000 Yes, sir! 21:52.000 --> 21:54.000 Smith, get back there and flag her down. 21:54.000 --> 21:55.000 Yes, sir! 21:55.000 --> 21:57.000 She's coming up fast, sir. 21:57.000 --> 21:59.000 Bang that spike, boy. Bang it. 21:59.000 --> 22:00.000 Yes, sir. 22:05.000 --> 22:07.000 We hear you, pal. We hear you. 22:07.000 --> 22:09.000 Here's the scum, sir. 22:09.000 --> 22:11.000 I'll come back there, Roll. 22:11.000 --> 22:13.000 Oh, don't worry, monsieur. 22:13.000 --> 22:15.000 Well, we got them all pounded in here, sir. 22:15.000 --> 22:17.000 How's it roll, Cloud? I'm going through. 22:17.000 --> 22:19.000 Track clear! 22:19.000 --> 22:21.000 Smith, track clear! 22:21.000 --> 22:23.000 Everybody off the track, stand away. 22:23.000 --> 22:25.000 Don't leave any hammers laying around. 22:25.000 --> 22:27.000 All right, she's riding through. 22:27.000 --> 22:30.000 Get going, mister. They're waiting for you up front. 22:42.000 --> 22:44.000 Cigarette roll? 22:44.000 --> 22:46.000 Thank you, monsieur. 22:46.000 --> 22:48.000 How about you, Collins? 22:48.000 --> 22:51.000 Well, I don't mind if I do, sir. 22:51.000 --> 22:53.000 Well, boys, we made it. 22:53.000 --> 22:55.000 Yes, sir. 22:55.000 --> 22:57.000 Yes, sir. 22:57.000 --> 22:59.000 She's passed through, and here we are, 22:59.000 --> 23:02.000 sitting on the sand, and everything's quiet. 23:02.000 --> 23:05.000 And the moon shines as though nothing had happened. 23:05.000 --> 23:09.000 And in a record book somewhere, a notation goes down. 23:09.000 --> 23:11.000 Track bombed out. 23:11.000 --> 23:13.000 Track cleared. 23:13.000 --> 23:15.000 And that's the end of it. 23:15.000 --> 23:18.000 What a war. 23:18.000 --> 23:22.000 You know, Roll, that singing is beginning to sound nice. 23:22.000 --> 23:24.000 I think I'm getting used to it. 23:24.000 --> 23:27.000 That is because you know the song, monsieur. 23:27.000 --> 23:29.000 What do you mean, I know the song? 23:29.000 --> 23:31.000 Oui, monsieur. 23:31.000 --> 23:33.000 I teach them that one with Sergeant Collins. 23:33.000 --> 23:35.000 You know about Monsieur Casey Jones, 23:35.000 --> 23:38.000 who ever knows a part on this old leg line? 23:38.000 --> 23:40.000 Listen. 23:40.000 --> 23:43.000 Well, how do you like that? 23:43.000 --> 23:46.000 Casey Jones. 23:46.000 --> 23:48.000 Yeah, this is some war. 23:48.000 --> 23:51.000 A fighting Frenchman, Americans, 23:51.000 --> 23:53.000 and an immortal Arabian section gang 23:53.000 --> 23:57.000 singing Casey Jones in the middle of the African desert. 23:57.000 --> 24:01.000 Oh, I tell you, Roll, if we lose this war, 24:01.000 --> 24:10.000 there'll be an awful lot of brotherhood gone to waste. 24:26.000 --> 24:28.000 Thank you, Pat O'Brien. 24:28.000 --> 24:30.000 Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. O'Brien will return 24:30.000 --> 24:32.000 a little later in the program. 24:32.000 --> 24:36.000 Meantime, here is Gaine Whitman with a message from DuPont. 24:36.000 --> 24:39.000 Ordnance used to be thought of as guns and ammunition, 24:39.000 --> 24:41.000 and that was about all. 24:41.000 --> 24:43.000 But today, the Ordnance Department of the Army 24:43.000 --> 24:45.000 handles just about everything connected with the design, 24:45.000 --> 24:48.000 procurement, manufacture, distribution, maintenance, 24:48.000 --> 24:52.000 and salvage of all the tools with which the Army fights. 24:52.000 --> 24:54.000 Not only ammunition, for example, 24:54.000 --> 24:56.000 but the boxes the ammunition is packed in, 24:56.000 --> 24:58.000 the trucks that carry it to the guns, 24:58.000 --> 25:00.000 the guns themselves, 25:00.000 --> 25:03.000 and if they happen to be mounted in tanks, the tanks too. 25:03.000 --> 25:05.000 Ordnance is a $2 billion business 25:05.000 --> 25:07.000 with more than a million trained men. 25:07.000 --> 25:11.000 Those $2 billion are your dollars and my dollars. 25:11.000 --> 25:14.000 When we buy war bonds, some of the things we help to buy 25:14.000 --> 25:16.000 are the fighting weapons of Ordnance. 25:16.000 --> 25:18.000 We back the attack. 25:18.000 --> 25:20.000 These are the dollars and the weapons 25:20.000 --> 25:23.000 that liberated North Africa and Sicily. 25:23.000 --> 25:25.000 These are the dollars and the weapons 25:25.000 --> 25:27.000 that will invade Europe and end the war. 25:27.000 --> 25:29.000 There is no better argument for buying bonds 25:29.000 --> 25:32.000 in the third war loan than the Ordnance exhibits 25:32.000 --> 25:35.000 which are being shown in various cities in the country. 25:35.000 --> 25:38.000 The best known company names in American industry 25:38.000 --> 25:40.000 are represented in the Ordnance shows. 25:40.000 --> 25:42.000 One manufacturer who used to make bottle caps 25:42.000 --> 25:44.000 is now turning out ammunition cases 25:44.000 --> 25:48.000 that can be stored at the bottom of a river without leaking. 25:48.000 --> 25:51.000 A refrigerator company is making giant siege guns. 25:51.000 --> 25:54.000 As you walk from one interesting exhibit to another, you think, 25:54.000 --> 25:57.000 so that's why I can't buy a new saw. 25:57.000 --> 25:59.000 They're making armor plate. 25:59.000 --> 26:01.000 And when you see the armor plate shield 26:01.000 --> 26:04.000 that protects the pilot of some of our bombers 26:04.000 --> 26:06.000 and think how many lives may be saved, 26:06.000 --> 26:11.000 you get a lump in your throat and decide you can wait for a new saw. 26:11.000 --> 26:13.000 Wait a long time if need be. 26:13.000 --> 26:16.000 These scores of manufacturers supplying Army Ordnance 26:16.000 --> 26:19.000 are virtually a list of DuPont customers. 26:19.000 --> 26:23.000 In some cases, DuPont ammonia was used in treating the steel. 26:23.000 --> 26:26.000 In others, a DuPont finish was used on it. 26:26.000 --> 26:28.000 The rayon that goes into a parachute 26:28.000 --> 26:30.000 designed to carry a demolition bomb to Earth. 26:30.000 --> 26:32.000 The three-dimensional use of colored paints 26:32.000 --> 26:34.000 that speeds wartime production. 26:34.000 --> 26:36.000 The lacquer that coats a shell case. 26:36.000 --> 26:40.000 The laminated cellophane in which a rifle is packed for shipment. 26:40.000 --> 26:43.000 Those and with a hundred other contributions of chemistry 26:43.000 --> 26:46.000 are among the wartime tasks of DuPont 26:46.000 --> 26:49.000 better things for better living through chemistry. 26:49.000 --> 26:52.000 One of the DuPont better things for better living through chemistry 26:52.000 --> 26:55.000 is Speed Easy, a product many people are using 26:55.000 --> 26:58.000 to utilize extra rooms for war workers. 26:58.000 --> 27:01.000 If you have a spare room that might be used by a war worker, 27:01.000 --> 27:04.000 remember it's easy to freshen up dingy wallpaper 27:04.000 --> 27:07.000 or any wall surface with a coat of DuPont Speed Easy. 27:07.000 --> 27:10.000 The remarkable new wall finish that thins with water. 27:10.000 --> 27:13.000 It hides in one quick coat and dries in an hour. 27:13.000 --> 27:16.000 Speed Easy comes in eight beautiful pastel tints 27:16.000 --> 27:18.000 for every room in your house. 27:18.000 --> 27:20.000 Try DuPont Speed Easy. 27:20.000 --> 27:24.000 And now here is Pat O'Brien, star of this evening's Cavalcade. 27:24.000 --> 27:27.000 applause 27:32.000 --> 27:35.000 Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. 27:35.000 --> 27:38.000 I do hope you found as much pleasure in this story as I did 27:38.000 --> 27:41.000 when I first read the script some weeks ago. 27:41.000 --> 27:45.000 It serves to make us conscious of the job the railroads are doing in this war. 27:45.000 --> 27:48.000 We don't ordinarily think of the railroads at the front. 27:48.000 --> 27:51.000 And while the story of iron camels was fictionized, 27:51.000 --> 27:54.000 all the essential facts are true. 27:54.000 --> 27:56.000 Besides being a triumph of arms, 27:56.000 --> 27:59.000 the Tunisia victory was a triumph of men working together 27:59.000 --> 28:02.000 to keep the supplies rolling. 28:02.000 --> 28:06.000 American railroad men fighting French and Arabs. 28:06.000 --> 28:09.000 And this was an important contribution 28:09.000 --> 28:25.000 in the conquest of Sicily and the fall of Italy. 28:25.000 --> 28:29.000 Next week, Cavalcade brings you another popular motion picture star, Randolph Scott. 28:29.000 --> 28:32.000 Our play, The Vengeance of Torpedo VIII, 28:32.000 --> 28:34.000 is a story of heroism in the Pacific. 28:34.000 --> 28:37.000 How the men of the United States Navy torpedo bomber squadron 28:37.000 --> 28:41.000 avenged the death of 42 of their comrades over Midway. 28:41.000 --> 28:44.000 DuPont invites you to be its guest again next week 28:44.000 --> 28:47.000 when we bring you The Vengeance of Torpedo VIII, 28:47.000 --> 28:50.000 a story of adventure and daring starring Randolph Scott 28:50.000 --> 28:54.000 as Lieutenant Harold Larson, U.S. Navy, on the Cavalcade of America. 28:54.000 --> 28:58.000 Tonight's musical score was composed and conducted by Robert Armbruster. 28:58.000 --> 29:01.000 Pat O'Brien appeared through the courtesy of RKO Pictures, 29:01.000 --> 29:04.000 where he is currently starring in The Iron Major. 29:04.000 --> 29:07.000 This is James Bannon sending best wishes from Cavalcade sponsor, 29:07.000 --> 29:19.000 the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. 29:19.000 --> 29:21.000 The Cavalcade of America came to you from Hollywood. 29:21.000 --> 29:34.000 This is the national broadcasting company.