The Cavalcade of America, sponsored by DuPont, maker of better things for better living through
chemistry.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
This is the Cavalcade of America, sponsored by DuPont.
Tonight we present Dennis Morgan in a new radio play, Soldiers of the Tide, especially
written by Peter Lyon for DuPont, in tribute to those fighting men on sea, on land, and
in the air, the United States Marines.
Our play is based on actual incidents from the archives of the United States Marine Corps,
starring Dennis Morgan as Lieutenant Peters in Soldiers of the Tide on the Cavalcade of
America.
Forgotten ages ago, volcanoes threw up out of the sea, a handful of slender piles of
mud and lava.
The waves beat upon them and encrusted them with coral and barnacles.
The tropic rains fell on them and the sun shone down and covered them with lush vegetation,
people then with chattering monkeys and with bright shrill-voiced birds.
This was a heaven, a garden of Eden.
These islands, called the Salamons, were to become, by the inexorable logic of military
science, a key battlefield in the greatest war ever to engulf the world.
And on one of these, Guadalcanal, the United States Marines were to come to grips with
a savage enemy without conscience, a cruel and barbaric fighter who, by choice, mutilates
before he kills.
Here is a tent under the broiling sun that burns down on Henderson Field on the island
of Guadalcanal in the Salamons.
And here, just inside the tent, are two men, Lieutenant Peters and his commanding officer,
leaning over a table on which is spread a map.
This along here is the first ridge, Lieutenant.
It's quite a deep valley here, I should say about 60 degrees.
Yes, sir.
60 anyway, Colonel.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I was forgetting you've been over this bit of land here.
Now this here is the Little Ridge.
It slopes down pretty gradually to the river.
We'll be attacking in force all along here, okay?
Okay, sir.
In the jet position where I'm at?
Right here.
It's right along here.
They've got caves in the riverbank and I should think they probably meant most of the approaches.
But it's this blockhouse we're most concerned with.
That's here.
This dot here.
Right on the bend of the river.
That's right.
Now you'll remember that it was here we tried to force a crossing three weeks ago without
enough men.
We hope we have enough now.
If...
If...
If you do your job right from the rear.
Now here.
Get this picture.
Here's the blockhouse at the bend in the river.
It's right on the only decent crossing in the whole river from the coast right way on
back to here naturally.
Now then, when you're probably in back and ready to make a bid from the rear, we'll dent
them with some heavy bombardment.
Then you can clean them out.
Then we storm from the front.
So if we don't clean them out, we lose a lot of good men coming at them from across the
river.
The Japs need a bridgehead on the river.
They've used to take Henderson Field away from us.
Now if you can't get that blockhouse, our position will be untenable.
I got my pick of men?
Absolutely.
But I...
I shouldn't take more than four.
It'll be tricky enough slipping that much through their lines.
On the other hand, if you're going to try and maintain any kind of radio liaison with
headquarters back here, you'll need at least four.
Yes, that's right.
No chance of semifoering out there, that's what it seems.
No.
Not in that jungle valley.
Okay, Lieutenant.
Pick your men.
Only be sure to pull the lads what they're getting in for.
Good, honey.
Thanks, sir.
Same to you.
How many cards, FX?
Give me two.
Rudy, one's enough.
Blair?
I'm through.
I'm way, way through.
I'm remembering what my Sunday school teacher told me.
Dealers stands, Pat.
Ooh, how do you like that guy?
Yeah, what about that?
Check the strength.
It's up to you, Lon.
Can I coax you boys to stick around?
For maybe just five little pennies?
No, not me.
Let me see them openers.
There they are.
Five little hearts.
You know, I like this game.
It's a good game.
Sure helps to prove we got the brains and personality.
Yeah.
It's a very good plot, though.
Corporal?
Oh, yes, sir, Lieutenant.
Excuse me, sir.
I didn't see you.
Okay, at ease.
Corporal, I hear you used to play a little baseball back in the States.
They tell me you were a pretty fair country pitcher.
Oh, I used to chunk the ball in there a little, sir.
Hadn't been for the war on a couple of bad breaks, I'd have been up there with them Cardinals.
I'm looking for somebody to chunk a few grenades at those little buzzards in the other side
of the river.
Something going pop, Lieutenant, sir?
I'm your boy.
Good.
And I need a good radio man.
Well, can anybody get in on the party, sir, or did you have somebody special in mind?
You'll do fine, Fennaroff, if you want to come.
Yes, sir.
You don't need a good shot, do you, Lieutenant?
I left my medals back in my dugout, but I still got the Junior Rifle Corps marksman's
badge I won with my BB gun.
Good enough.
Take your word for it.
What about it, Scanlon?
You got any special recommendations?
Well, sir, the only one I got, I guess, is I've just been waiting around a long time
for a chance, Lieutenant.
Well, there's a lot worse recommendations.
How about it?
Before, you want to do some hunting with me tomorrow?
Sure, do you, sir.
Yes, sir.
Okay.
You're ready at 1800.
That's three hours.
Better get some food first.
We've got some hiking in front of us.
You want me to have my walkie-talkie, sir?
That's right.
And listen, you guys, if I've got any letters to write, you'd better write them.
Padre tells me he'll hold a special mass for those who want it.
That's all.
See the four of you at six.
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
Something special.
Who's deal?
Getting chilly.
Sun's going down.
I think I'll go oil my rifle.
Deal me out.
Yeah, me too.
Any of you guys got a sharp pencil?
Well, let's go, you guys.
We can't waste any time.
Yes, sir.
I want to make the camp on the high ridge this side of the river by midnight.
What's up, Lieutenant?
I'll give you the story when we make camp.
Let's go.
We'll hit the trail along the shore till I tell you.
Hey, got your grenades with you, pitcher?
Yeah, I got them.
St. Louis Cardinal.
If it hadn't been for the war and a couple of bad breaks.
Sure.
How far did you get toward them Cardinals, Corporal?
About as far as the Southwestern Arkansas Semi-Pro League.
Say, listen, them cards would have took me only the day their scout come to look at me.
Just that day I had this touch of tomaine poison.
And that only gives the owls six hits.
You get it, you guys?
Those owls can't only see the ball when it's dark.
The Cardinals.
You better be pretty handy tossing those grenades.
Oh, yeah, who's talking?
One of them actors was never in a play.
Sharp shooter, is it?
Where'd you get all your practice?
Knocking all the ducks in the Broadway shooting gallery?
Can't let cherry, you guys.
Save your breath.
You'll need it going up this ridge.
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
All right, guys, hold it up.
We'll bunk down here for the night.
Praise me, kid.
What's the pitch, Lieutenant?
Yeah, this is the big ridge.
Down there's the valley and the little ridge just this side of the river.
Yeah.
Dawn tomorrow we cross the little ridge, get across the river,
and down around the jet from the rear.
From here in it's enemy territory all the way, so pick your spots on the military crest,
a little down the side of the ridge.
We don't want to be silhouetted at dawn.
Okay, everybody ready?
Darling, I feel like I'm held together by adhesive tape.
Who do you think, Blair? You, Blair?
Get down.
I'm sorry, Lieutenant.
You've got to excuse Blair, Lieutenant.
He's still an actor.
He just can't resist taking his bow to an audience.
It's not to me like that rain is stopping, Lieutenant.
Yeah, I think so, too.
It's time we got started anyway.
It'll be light any minute now.
Let's go down the incline into the valley, single file and eyes sharp for snappers.
Keep five paces, pass it back.
Keep a sharp lookout to right and to left.
Pass it back.
Keep sharp lookout to right and to left.
Check your rifles.
Pull it up.
Pull it up, pull it up.
Snipers are in.
What next, Lieutenant?
The main body is supposed to be attacking their positions down river frontally.
We're supposed to be taking advantage of their diversion.
What diversion? I don't hear no diversion.
Listen.
Hey, what was that? A chap's signal?
No, it's one of them birds, mate.
Yeah? They sure timed their mating well.
Very well, Lieutenant.
That's where we're supposed to forward the river.
Does it smell like a trap?
Looks like that's for Tojo to know, for us to find out.
Come on, we're going ahead.
Funny.
What?
I was just thinking of corn on the cob, lots of melted butter.
I was thinking of rhubarb. Don't ask me why.
Okay, guys, here we go. Five paces like before.
Lieutenant, wait a second.
What's eating you, Scammer?
You shouldn't ought to be going first. You go third, I'll lead.
No, no, no, no, sir. That ain't right.
FX is right, Lieutenant.
Okay, okay, you eat FX, then you corporal, then me.
By the way...
Yes, sir?
I go, you take over, Lon. After him, you, Rudy.
Right.
Then you, FX.
This is just like on Broadway. I never get the lead.
Listen, you guys, stop calling me Lieutenant. My name's Dick Peters.
Right. Okay, Dave.
Let's go.
You are listening to Cavalcade of America, sponsored by DuPont, starring Dennis Morgan as Lieutenant Peters of the United States Marine Corps in Soldiers of the Tide.
As our play continues, Lieutenant Peters has led his men across the X River and down back toward the seacoast, back toward their objective.
Like Indians, they are slipping through the jungle thickets of Guadalcanal and are well within the enemy lines as they creep ever closer to the Japanese blockhouse which is their goal.
Slow it up, slow it up, slow it up, slow it up.
Get down, everybody.
What's up, FX?
It's Henry.
He doesn't see us.
Yeah, I see him.
Do we risk a shot?
I could get him with a knife, sir.
I mean, Dick.
Hey, what about my junior rifle corps silver marksman's badge?
Okay, Blair, make it with one shot.
Easy money.
Okay.
Okay.
Let's shovel up.
Rudy.
Yeah?
Unsling your walkie talkie.
Aye, aye, sir.
Hey, guys, look.
Ah, them are our babies.
Yeah, Douglas SBDs.
Look.
They go to bombs.
Boy, that's pretty.
Look at them fall, huh?
All set, sir.
We got the old man.
Good.
Give me.
Colonel, come in.
Go ahead, Colonel.
Not exactly sure, sir.
I would think almost right in back of them.
Say, a couple of your shells landed too close to us for comfort.
I have 1,200 plus 42, sir.
Check with me.
42 and a half.
Good.
Yes, sir.
Right, sir.
We'll win right away, then.
Hold off your barrage, will you, sir?
Good.
Yeah.
Right.
Here you are, Rudy.
Hide this equipment somewhere.
Right here in this bush is a good place.
Mark the spot.
Okay, kids.
This is it.
Ah.
I'm glad to get rid of this thing.
For a while, at least.
Check your rifles, knives, grenades, man.
Here we...
Look out, it's Tojo.
We've got the lieutenant.
Just a nick to me.
Cover you guys.
Take cover.
Hey, Dick, are you hurt?
It's just a scratch, Lieutenant.
Take cover, you dumb leatherneck.
Okay.
We've been trapped.
We're surrounded.
Shut up.
Get down.
Get back here, will you?
What have you got guts for?
Down in your bellies.
Look out.
There's the guy.
And here goes the perfect strike.
One, two, three.
Right over the plate.
Who said I couldn't chunk them grenades, huh?
Good pitching, man.
Yeah.
Surrounded, were we?
One nest of lousy japs.
One little bunch of poison.
Three of them.
And you talk about being surrounded.
Man, too talkin'.
In fact, I'm never even gonna think again.
Yes, you are, FX.
We're gonna start thinkin' now.
Okay, guys, we'll take a little breather.
I'm gonna make our bid for that blockhouse.
300 yards, I figure.
I wish we could see it from here.
Blair.
Yeah?
You had 50 bucks, and you were in New York now.
Where would you be?
I'd sleep.
Oh, me, I'd be in a nightclub.
Three sixes at a hay market with my girl.
I wish I was there now.
Boy, it's hot.
I'm stuck, grousing, you guys.
I want to live forever.
You tell him, FX.
I'm not grousing.
It's thinking, is all.
Well, let's jump off, sir.
We got our breath.
Okay, sharp shit up.
I mean, off.
Now, Dick, you stay in here.
What do you mean, I'm stayin' here?
You're wounded.
You stay here.
You don't have any mind.
I'm in command here.
You don't seem to realize how important it is
we clean them out.
Let the colonel know it's clean.
Yeah, yeah, we know, Dick.
Yeah, and that's why you stay in here, Dick.
Listen, Shag, dear, we in command now.
But, okay, why don't we get back here?
One of you, anyway.
One of you's got to get back here.
We've got to let the colonel know when it's all clear.
We'll be back, Dick.
Take it easy.
Okay, Rudy, cover that back door.
Yeah.
FX, you got the automatic?
Yeah, I got it.
Look out, look out.
Duck.
Two of them coming out.
Now that our barrage has let up, they're going back in again.
Tell them to get back in.
They're going back in.
They're going back in.
They're going back in.
They're going back in.
They're going back in.
They're going back in.
OK, you go down on your stomachs, guys.
A little cretin seems to be in order.
But, Clare, you and FX are going to the side.
I want to cover those windows.
What are you going to do?
Me?
I got some chunking to do.
FX, you keep me covered.
I'm just naturally going to walk up and toss these little eggs inside there.
Let's go.
Quick now.
All right on them, Rudy.
file in on his
I've got
control 예
the
and
the
check
I'm how to do we get OK got the whole bunch
Yeah, there's still a lot going on back there.
Yeah, that's our side.
They stormed in that little old blockhouse from across the river.
You'll never catch me darting you pitch for them Cardinals again, Lonnie.
What a arm!
Look, there's FX carrying Blair.
What's the matter?
Go help him with you guys.
What happened to FX?
Sniper gun.
It's my stomach.
We get the blockhouse line?
Yeah, we got it, kid.
That's our boys.
They stormed in from across the river.
We got that little old blockhouse, Ken.
Where's the sniper?
Behind.
In the tree.
Help me carry him back.
There's going to be some more of them snipers around here in about ten seconds.
No, never mind FX.
Come on, Lonnie.
Give FX a hand, Blair.
You're okay, Ken.
Can we get you back?
Sure is hard.
You should think of a good exit for you guys.
At least a good exit night.
Cigarette, Blair?
Exit with excursions and alarms.
Yeah, that's it.
That's the word that I was trying to think of.
Alarms.
That's all.
Come on, we've got to get back to the radio.
I want to get through to the old man.
Will you guys cover him with his poncho?
Give me a hand, will you, Lonnie?
It's going to be a beautiful sunset.
Look, I'll write a letter to his mother.
She'd like to know what a beautiful sunset there was today.
Dear Madam, it is my thankless duty to write you of the death of your son, Blair Williams.
He died in the fire of the fire.
He was killed in the fire.
He was killed in the fire.
He was killed in the fire.
He was killed in the fire.
He was killed in the fire.
He died gallantly in performance of his duty.
I can give nothing better to say to you than what Lieutenant Colonel Evans Carlson said over the graves of the Marines in his unit who have fallen here at Guadalcanal.
Colonel Carlson said,
It has not given us to know the process by which certain of us are chosen for sacrifices while others remain.
As I pondered the names of those we honor, it seems to me as if the most worthy among us are selected for separation in this way.
These comrades of ours have given convincing proof of their determination, their courage, and their sincerity.
They also loved life, but when the time came to face the enemy, they didn't flinch or hold back.
What of the future for those of us who remain?
Our course is clear.
It is for us at this moment, with the memory of the sacrifices of our brothers still fresh, to dedicate again our hearts, our minds, and our bodies to the great task that lies ahead.
And beyond that lies the mission of making certain that the social order which we bequeath to our sons and daughters is truly based on the four freedoms for which these men died.
Any resolution less than this will spell betrayal of the faith which these staunch comrades reposed in us.
Thank you, Dennis Morgan.
Ladies and gentlemen, in a few moments Mr. Morgan will return to the microphone to introduce our special guest of the evening, Private James Gorman of the United States Marine Corps.
Before we hear from him, however, we have a story to tell you about chemistry at work in wartime.
A few days ago, the 17th Army-Navy E for Excellence Award was received by a DuPont plant.
This latest award went to a plant in West Virginia with Brigadier General Trelawney Marchand presenting the flag and Lieutenant Commander G.H. Crocker presenting the E-pins.
The plant is one of the most complex producing mechanisms the brain of man has ever devised.
So complex, so vast, that to keep it running not only the skills of chemists and chemical engineers are required, but also the skills of all of the many branches of mechanical engineering and many electrical engineers as well.
To give some idea of the intricate processes of the plant, almost 50 men are needed just to look after the sensitive instruments used, recording meters and so on.
Raw materials are air, water from the river, and coal from the nearby hills.
The plant's tools, for they are tools, are heat, cold, and pressure of an intensity almost beyond comprehension.
Cold of minus 365 degrees Fahrenheit.
Heat of 1,152 degrees.
Pressures of 10 and 15,000 pounds to the square inch.
Miles of pipes, hundreds of tons of iron and steel bend and turn beside the river.
Great jets of colored gases roar and boom.
The men at the control panels constantly watch their quivering dials as hundreds of tons of vital chemicals pour from this great plant.
The principal product is ammonia, a chemical important not only to agriculture and industry, but absolutely essential to the prosecution of the war.
For ammonia is used in making nitric acid, without which it would be impossible to make smokeless powder, TNT, and other military explosives.
In addition to ammonia, this plant makes scores of other products vital to the war effort.
Methanol cooling agents for the motors of planes and tanks, for antifreeze and plastics.
Hydraulic fluids for the brakes and controls of military vehicles.
Chemicals used in adhesives for the plywood of planes, gliders and boats. And those used in flame proofing compounds for treating the clothing of workmen in plants, aircraft factories and shipyards.
Chemicals for oil refining, for water purification, for the hardening of steel, for food preservation, for air conditioning, for the recovery of strategic metals.
In this plant also are made the intermediates for nylon, now used exclusively for many military applications such as parachute fabrics.
In awarding an E to this unique DuPont plant, the Army and Navy have recognized not only the outstanding record of the men and women who work there,
but the vast, almost unbelievable productivity of chemistry itself.
The productivity that brings you in peacetime, better things for better living through chemistry.
And now our star of the evening, Dennis Morgan.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
One of the privileges of this evening as guest of DuPont on the cavalcade of America,
has been the opportunity of meeting a young man who has been in the spot we've talked about tonight.
Private James Gorman of the United States Marine Corps.
Private Gorman enlisted in the Marines about a year ago.
He was one of the Leathernecks who first landed in the Solomons on August 7th of last year.
Saw a few weeks of action, then a Jap bullet got him in the arm and he was sent back to the United States.
He is here tonight and I take great pleasure in introducing to you, Private James Gorman.
Thank you, Mr. Morgan.
There's a lot I'd like to be able to tell you tonight.
For this show we've just listened to carries back to the Solomons
and to the fighting job that was and still is going on out there.
If there were time, I have a few things I could add about life in foxholes,
about hand-to-hand fights with knives, bayonets and grenades.
But we haven't time, so I'd rather concentrate on giving you some straight dope.
There are a lot of rumors floating around this country.
I know because I heard some of them before I joined the Marine Corps.
But American equipment is a match for anything the Japs have.
And not only that, our guns will out-shoot them on the day of the week.
Just look at the Solomons scoreboard.
I have a lot of friends out on Guadalcanal.
Fellas, I'd like to see again, either here or there.
They're all slogging it right now.
When your houses grow a little cold and you have to put up the car
and there's not enough coffee for a second cup,
I hope you'll remember them as I do
and be glad for the chance to share a tiny bit of their discomfort
for the sake of the victory we're all fighting for. Thank you.
Next week, ladies and gentlemen,
the Cavalcade of America, sponsored by DuPont,
will present the popular screen star Ralph Bellamy in a new radio play,
Flying Tigers, the story of a group of American aviators
who volunteer to fight with the Chinese against the Japs.
Be with us again next week when Cavalcade presents Ralph Bellamy in Flying Tigers.
The orchestra and original musical score tonight were under the direction of Don Bureys.
Dennis Morgan, whose latest film, The Hard Way,
is currently being shown in theaters throughout the country,
appeared tonight through the courtesy of Warner Brothers Pictures.
This is Clayton Collier sending best wishes from DuPont,
sponsor of The Cavalcade of America.
This program came from New York.
This is the National Broadcasting Company.