 The Cavalcade of America sponsored by Dupont, maker of better things for better living through chemistry, presents Helen Hayes in Autobiography of an Angel. Before we begin our play, here's news for homemakers. Your Dupont dealer has a supply of coupons each worth twenty-five cents when you purchase one gallon or more of Dupont speedy-z wall finish. Speedy-z covers even figured wallpaper quickly, easily, and economically. You can redecorate a room for less than two dollars and seventy-five cents. And within one hour after applying speedy-z, the walls will be dry. Take advantage of the twenty-five cent coupon your Dupont paint dealer has for you when you purchase one gallon or more of this new, easy-to-use wall finish. And now for this evening's play. Tonight, our Dupont Cavalcade is the story of a young American who is fighting this war in the frontline hospitals and dressing stations in Italy. The story of an Army nurse, Lieutenant Anne Norris. But in a larger measure, it's the story of the thousands of skilled, selfless, sacrificing women who have been recruited for the armed forces by the Red Cross and who have gone into the unceasing battle against pain and death in all the war theaters in which our men are engaged. Dupont salutes the nurses serving with our armed forces with an original radio play written by Peter Lyon, autobiography of an angel, and starring Helen Hayes as Lieutenant Anne Norris on the Cavalcade of America. Do you think back to what you were doing two months ago? Two months ago would make it the second week in March. What were you doing? Worrying about your income tax? Writing a letter to somebody far away from home? When a lot happens to me, I find it hard to believe that a lot hasn't happened to everybody else. And yet the things that happened to me in the last two months, it's not exactly as though they had a beginning or a middle or end. I guess in wartime, things aren't that pat. Does this sound foolish? Let me start back two months ago. When I was topside on an LCI, a landing craft infantry, heading for our beachhead at Anzio, a second lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps, with the first lieutenant of infantry beside me, flirting with me, laughing at me. What you don't understand, Anne, is that I'm serious. Serious? You've been laughing at me ever since we got on this boat. Not really. Maybe I was kidding a month ago at the base hospital, but we've said a lot of things to each other since then. It's all very well for you. Going back after nearly a year of frontline service, but I'm just on the edge. I know just how you feel, honey. I remember the same... No, you don't, Larry. You were never assigned a duty in the rear as I've been. You can't possibly remember how it feels to be getting away from a rear base, to think of doing what you've been trained to do, to know you'll be good at it. Well, I remember a lot. There are a few things I do know about, things I can tell you about, right? Well... And one of them is that when two people are in love as we are, they have a duty to each other, to realize they're a few hours. You still think I'm just flirting, don't you? What can I say to you that will make you see that I'm... Never mind. Don't be angry, Larry. And don't pout. Am I pouting? You're being superior. You're forgetting that I... I'm getting my first real crack at the work I came over here to do. Under fire, in combat, on a beachhead. Don't you see, Larry? Oh, I don't know. Maybe you're right. Maybe we should get married. Go to the commanding officer and tell him we... But I couldn't. Not now. Not when I'm just beginning to get to work, when I'm thinking every minute of how I'll be in those hospital tents, working on the men straight in from the front lines, with the guns right in my ears. I'm going to be nasty one of these days. I'm going to come up to you and say I told you so. You think I'm acting superior now? Just wait till the day I see you on Anzio and pop the question again. And you admit that I was right all along. I won't mind if you're superior. Only we'll have missed all that time. How many more hours? To Anzio? Another couple. I'm going to be good. They'll see. I'm going to be something special. I don't think I can stay on deck with you anymore. It's getting me down. I'm sorry, Larry. I don't even trust myself kissing you. Even if it were proper here on deck. I think I'll just give you a salute and... Hope to see you very soon at Anzio. Very soon, Larry. Goodbye, Andy. I'll be saying I told you so too. You don't worry. Goodbye, dear Lieutenant Lawrence. That was at three o'clock in the afternoon. Fifteen o'clock, I mean. It was an hour later we got our first strafing. You wouldn't have been nervous. You'd have been too excited and too much aware of the people around you. Three planes. And they dive and then our planes drive them away. And another half hour and everybody's walking through the shallow water off the beach at Anzio, lugging their duffles, getting their brand new GI shoes all wet. Want a hand? Thanks. I'm Ann Norris, replacement. Glad to see you, Norris. We can use you. I'm Clara Lewis. This is Martha Corelli. She owns this country. The Commandant? Are you the Commandant? Temporary. The girl you're replacing used to be. She was evacuated last week. Forgot to keep her helmet on. I'm a little nervous, I guess. Those bombs scare you? Well, you'll get used to it. Fact is, they still scare all of us. Lewis, I'm going up to mid-center. Help Norris get her gear stowed away, okay? Right. Report to the shock tent when you're ready, Norris. Lewis will tell you where. Okay, and thanks. Here we are, Ann. Come on in. You'll learn to love every stone in this building when the jerry starts shelling again. I heard they shelled the town. Bless you. They shelled the town. They shelled the barracks. They shelled the hospital tents. Shell and bomb and string. The hospital tents? Sure. Now, don't get greener on the gills. This will be your bed. I'll be okay. I just want to get to work. You will, pronto. You want to change your clothes or anything? I don't think so. Thanks. Okay. Then let's go up the hill. I'll take you to the shock tent. Lesson number one, and you'll learn it quick. This isn't like working in a nice big hospital, even a base hospital. Wash up, grab a bite, lie down for a few minutes and get a nap. Maybe later. Right now there was work, an endless amount of it. For me at first in the shock tent, that's where they bring in the wounded to fill them up with plasma. That's where I got my first glimpse of our soldiers. Hey, a new nurse. Hiya. Hiya, soldier. I'll work on this side, Ann. You take the line over there. Right. Okay, soldier. How'd you get yours? I got in the way of one of them, 88s. 88s? Kind of Jerry rifle. Too good, they're making most of your work for you around here. Here comes a needle. Cross stitch? Nothing fancy. Hostile. That's it. Me next? You're in line. Where are you from, soldier? Right now, about a mile up the road. Hold it. And before, I'll guess, Ohio, you've got a Middle Western R. Hurt? Uh-uh, uh-uh, they're at us again. Bombs, is that what that means? Well, it ain't an invitation to the dance. It's no fun being late up here when they start. Here, adhesive tape to keep the needle in place. Next? That's me. Needle, steady. You could stand to shave, soldier. You look like the wrong picture in a before and after ad. Hold your arms still. 12 blood plasmas hanging from wires. 12 blood plasmas dripping life into 12 men. That's what the shock tent is. You can hear us, soldiers, high, nervous laugh. You can hear other sounds, too. Frighteningly close. On the other side of the tent, Clara Lewis looking calm. I caught a soldier's eye and watched him grin. A slow, sure grin. It was about that time that I smiled myself for the first time. Now, I was part of that beachhead. When you work in the wards, you work by yourself. Those are the long, lonely hours. You have a couple of enlisted men around to help you. Medics who bring in the men on litters, the same litters they've been operated on a few minutes before. From the heights above the town, the Germans shell us, just as they shell everything else. They don't play favorites. Set him down here, Lieutenant. I guess so. Easy. He's tough, this baby. I'll hand it to him. Look at his emergency medical tag if he wants some light reading, Lieutenant. I'll do that. Hey, what's the matter with you, Lieutenant? You okay? You're blind, O'Hara. Can't you see the bandage on her shoulder? Hey, what happened, Lieutenant? Nothing serious. They were shelling this area a while back. You want me to get another nurse to relieve you? I'm okay. It's just a flesh wound. Not very deep. Go on, soldier. You've got your work to do. Hey, O'Hara. Okay, okay. Keep your part of dry, Professor. The world ain't waiting for your sunrise. Three bullet wounds in lower left abdomen. Trapnel in chest and upper left arm. Scalp wounds and second-degree burns on face and neck. This boy was trying to break a record. What's that? Sorry. I hurt... You should be asleep, soldier. You're telling me? Just a second. Medic, you... Yes, Lieutenant? Get over to the dispensary and pick up some morphine. About four tubes will do. On the double. Yes, sir. Easy, soldier. We'll have you fixed up quick. What can you do about pain? What can you do? A lot of things. Do one of them. Just one. Take my hand. Hold on. Oh, mother of... One, two, three. Where's my gun? Where's my gun? Quiet. It's only a few minutes. We'll have you fixed up. Think of something. Concentrate. Try and remember something. Poetry or... Poetry. A poetry I know would curl your hair. Maybe I've heard it. Maybe that's why my hair is curling. Hang on. You like baseball? Try and remember the batting averages of every player on the New York... The New York... What do they call themselves rangers, isn't it? That's hockey. That's a girl for you. Here you are, Lieutenant. Four tubes, like you said. Okay, soldier. Hold his arm, my hair. I'll give you a few minutes, soldier, and it won't make any difference to you whether it's the New York Rangers or the New York Elephant. Hold it a harrow. There's so much work to do, so much on your mind you forget the little piece of shrapnel in your own arm. You figure you'll be relieved in a little while. So you hang on when it begins to hurt worse. Poetry. Roses are red violets. Oh, no, that's too easy. Not that one about bloody but unbowed. I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul. It's 3.30. You just got to hang on another hour, and then you'll be relieved and you'll be able to get some codeine and change the dressing. Poetry. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He leadeth me beside green pastures. That's a good one. And your shoulder begins to hurt worse. It begins to catch fire. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. You are listening to Helen Hayes in autobiography of an angel on the cavalcade of America sponsored by Dupont, maker of better things for better living through chemistry. One of which is lusite, methyl methacrylate plastic, now being used for transparent bomber noses, airfield landing light lenses and compass parts for tanks. As our play continues, Ann Norris played by Miss Hayes and the other nurses are getting ready to take advantage of an unexpected free evening in their Stonehouse barracks, not three miles from the front. Yes, there are even parties on a beach head. A funny kind of party. Some of the time reminding you of a Saturday night dance at home. Some of the time making you think, making you wonder, are these people really enjoying themselves or are they just trying to? Parties aren't late on Anzio. Guests leave around 1030. He never showed up, did he, Annie? Who? I had an idea you were looking for somebody all night. Don't worry, she was. You saw him, Lewis, the day she got here. The tall one with the black hair. I saw him. I didn't realize I was looking for it. I guess what I mean is I didn't realize it. I showed it. Stuck out all over you. We'd better be hitting the hay, kids. How's your shoulder, Norris? It's okay, thanks. It's only a scratch. Good. Well, good night, you two. Good night. Not much of a success to our party, was it? Well, I liked it. Did you? Didn't you? Martha, what's the matter? Nerves, I guess. I'll be boiling in a minute if I'm not careful. Hank, would you? Thanks. Do you any good to talk about it? I'm all right now. My husband, that's all. Still a little new to me. I didn't know. I found out last week he was in the Seabees. Oh, Martha. Is there a joke? I was just thinking. And you were kidding me about Larry not getting to the party. Up at four in the morning on a beach head. Your day has a pattern of work and it lasts 16 hours or 18 hours. Then you sleep like a cat while you lie down. You work for days that melt into nights and back again. And you think the nights are getting shorter, aren't they? In the operating rooms, you work in a team. Surgeon, assistant, anesthetist, couple of enlisted men, couple of nurses. The surgeon is Captain Winthrop. Clamps. Come on, quick. Right here, sir. Sorry. Sorry for what? Nothing to be sorry about there. Jack, finish this light up with you. I'll be getting on with the next one. Right, sir. Take Miss Parker to help you. Okay, what's awaiting us, Norris? Two more fracture cases, sir. Four multiple wounds. Wipe off my forage, will you please? Thanks. Okay, anesthetist. Want the next boy in, sir? Yep, we're waiting. Okay, Norris? Me? Sure, sir. One after another. Young faces, the jaws set, the eyes screwed up. Two or three or seven days' growth of beard. Young faces that have seen the front. Men that have crept up on machine gun nests or been too close to the path of a mortar shell. Ninety-seven point five. It's wonderful to have that statistic in your mind. Ninety-seven point five percent of these bodies will be healed. Only two and one half percent will die. It's more wonderful to know you're helping to make that statistic. Now that's it, Norris. Sir? You think we've earned a cigarette? Let's step out and breathe some fresh air and pollute it with a little tobacco smoke. I'm for that. Matter of fact, did you hear? You girls have earned yourselves more than just a cigarette. Oh, here, light. Thanks. What do you mean, Captain? The CO has put in for citations for each of you. It's no surprise, of course. Bang-up jar before them. That's very nice. I know we'll all be very gratified. Well, that's a curious reaction to being told you're going to be cited. Christmas time, when you put up a tree, you stick a star or something way up on the top. Looks very pretty. But by the time you're ten years old, you know it's made of tinsel. You're tired. Sure, who isn't? It's just, it's just the distance seems more than geographical sometimes. The distance from the ideals we heard about at home. Hey, now, Lieutenant, wait a minute. They're not so far away. What do you think of the kids we've been operating on? I'm serious. Think a second before you answer. I don't need to. I never realized before how, how this is going to sound phony. No prefaces, no excuses. Just say it. I never realized before how much dignity men have. Men. Boys. How deep their strength is. And I'm not talking about the physical strength. The griping you hear. You know what that is. Just a pressure valve letting off steam. But I'd never dreamed people could be so fine until I began to see them here on a beach head for the first time. Anything more? Yes, but I thought of the men I've seen back in there. That's what I think. Yes. And will you argue that this dignity has no connection with the ideals you say seem far away? Oh, I wasn't thinking about these men. I was thinking about the slogans and the, oh, you know, the words people use when they try to say what we're fighting for. And all those words, the four freedoms, anything you want to point to. Add it up, they spell the dignity you recognize in these kids. You think the Jerry doctors on the other side of the hails there can say the same. Much less be sure of the truth of it. You think a scientist, a medical man who's watched the Germans murdering and looting can think in terms of the dignity you recognize? Quieter tonight, isn't it? Yeah. Are you ready to go back to work? Are you? More ready than I've ever been, doctor. Thanks. Two months on a beachhead, that's me. But there's just a little corner of your mind marked reserved. Reserved for the future you haven't got time to dream about. And if it happens to bump into you on the beachhead, it's just a fluke. Just the best piece of unforeseen luck you'll ever have. Here, Anne, let's sit down under those trees. For let's see, I've got 20 minutes before I have to go back on duty. 20 minutes away from war to say hello to the man you love. You still haven't answered my question. I wish everything was as simple and clear to me as it is to you. Love and so merry, night and so dead. What's so complicated? 19 minutes, really only 18. Then I'm back at work. What's complicated is the war. You know something, Larry? When I first got here, I was frightened. I was scared of what I'd do if I got wounded and scared of getting wounded. Yeah, and? I found out I wasn't the only one. And I found out that when I got them over their fear and their pain, I'd cured my own too. I know how that works. I'll tell you another thing I was in the first few days I was here. I was lonely. I missed you so badly, I'd cry sometimes at night, don't laugh. I'm not laughing. The point is, I ran into a lot of boys who were pretty lonely too, for the same reason. Talking to them, kidding them, getting their minds off what they were thinking about. You did the same for yourself. That's right, it works. I could even do it better because I... Gosh, it's a big job we've got. You can't take time off from this job ever, Larry. It's not easy to say this. You see how complicated it is. I see. You've got two choices, Larry. We can kiss and say goodbye or... Or I can give you my telephone number and you can call me up when you get to town again. This beachhead won't always be a beachhead. No, it won't. Let me give you my telephone number, dear Lieutenant Lawrence. I haven't seen my Larry since that day. If I... When I do see him again, it'll just be another lucky fluke. The war will take him away from me again. And if I don't see him, well, the war is a big place. Anyway, I know he's got my phone number. Thank you, Helen Hayes. Miss Hayes will return to Cavalcade's microphone in just a few moments with a special message for the nurses of America and their families. But first, here is Ted Pearson speaking for Dupont to tell us how the chemical compound phenothiazine is making possible more sutures for surgical use by our Army and Navy doctors. For wounded men who must have surgical care, Army and Navy surgeons must have surgical sutures. Doctors use a number of materials to sow wounds, and one of the most widely used is the gut suture made from the intestines of sheep. Cat gutters, some people call it. These sutures are needed now in great quantity, and of course they must be manufactured only from the intestines of healthy sheep and lambs. There's a parasite called the nodular worm that sometimes damages the intestinal walls of the animals and spoils them so they're no good for sutures. Sheep men in the United States are doing everything they can to protect their flocks against the parasite that causes this damage. And here's where chemistry comes into it. Six years ago, the Department of Agriculture suggested as a remedy against animal parasites of this kind, a compound called phenothiazine. Dupont was the first chemical company to manufacture phenothiazine, and this compound is widely used by sheep men today. Here's a report from a packing plant in Minnesota which will give you an idea of how effective phenothiazine is. In 1942, with no phenothiazine treatment, a third of their sheep and lambs showed a heavy infestation. But in 1943, with the farmers of Minnesota using phenothiazine, the figure went down to only 7%. Thus, more material for sutures became available. Phenothiazine, a chemical compound unknown and untried only six years ago as a medicine for animals, is one reason why there are more surgical sutures. It also means that we'll have more wool and more meat because it protects cattle and hogs too. We may even see the day and very soon too when the pasture lands of America will be practically free of a number of these parasites thanks to this compound. Phenothiazine is one of Dupont's better things for better living through chemistry. And now here is Helen Hayes, star of tonight's Cavalcade. I have been asked to say a few words to the nurses of America and to their families. I do so in all humility and no feeling that because I just played the part of a nurse, I can now speak as one. No, I speak to you as a woman and for this little moment as the voice of the Red Cross. Before me is a clock ticking off the remaining seconds of this broadcast. Around the world, there are other clocks ticking off more momentous seconds. Those that remain before invasion. This is another zero hour. In it, I appeal to every nurse, qualified for military duty to reexamine the reasons that are keeping her at home. I ask every nurse's family to weigh the comfort they feel at having their nurse with them against the comfort she can be against the very lives she can save in the final assault upon our enemies. The clock ticks on. The time is running out. You must forever live with the decision you make now. If you value the lives of our fighting men above your personal concerns, report to your Red Cross chapter tomorrow. Next Monday night, DuPont presents John Garfield in The Blessings of Liberty, the dramatic account of an American soldier and the deep personal meaning of the principles he fights for as he faces the enemy in battle. Cavalcade's orchestra was conducted by Donald Voorhees. This is Roland Winters sending best wishes from Cavalcade sponsor the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware and inviting you to join us again next Monday evening when John Garfield will be our star. And now for your further listening pleasure, may we suggest that you stay tuned to NBC for the Firestone program, the Bell Telephone Hour and Information Please, which are to follow immediately over most of these stations. The Cavalcade of America sponsored by DuPont came to you from New York. This is the national broadcasting company.