 proudly we hail from New York City where the American stage begins here is another program with a cast of outstanding players and featuring Norman Rose as the narrator and Lawson's Irby as James Emmer. Public service time has been made available by the station for your Army and your Air Force to bring you this story as proudly we hail the Medal of Honor. Our story is entitled Medal of Honor. A salute to the highest military award for bravery which the United States of America can give. Our first act curtain will rise after this important message. An important message for the young men of our country. If you think you can hold down a man's job there's a man's job waiting for you in your country's rapidly expanding United States Army. Go to your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force recruiting station and get all the facts today. The Medal of Honor. When a man wins this symbol of bronze breathed in green enamel and held by a white-starred ribbon of blue silk he has found a place in history as one of America's most gallant heroes but it was not always so for the Medal of Honor has had a stormy career. The idea for the Medal of Honor was advanced nearly a century ago back in 1861 but the committee rooms in Congress heard months of heated argument before the idea was finally adopted. Gentlemen, gentlemen if you please. I know there's become a controversial subject here in Washington. I hope we might discuss the matter quietly. Now General Townsend, it's utterly preposterous to give an American soldier a medal. He doesn't fight for a trinket to put on his uniform. He fights for his country. The medal is more than a trinket Mr. Congressman. An indication that a man's country appreciates his extraordinary gallantry. How about the certificate of merit? We've had that for the last 15 years. Isn't that sufficient appreciation? The certificate of merit was a step in the right direction yes but it's only a document. Piece of paper. The soldier doesn't wear a piece of paper on his uniform so he can tell everybody read this. It says I'm a hero. Because the soldier doesn't like to talk about his honor, let's supply him with a token of that honor which he can wear without words. General Townsend, we have already given promotions in rank to our heroes and more money. Isn't that enough of a token? Sir if you look all through history you'll never find a soldier has any objection to more money. But when promotions are handed out the way they've been handed out lately an increase in rank means absolutely nothing. Sorry gentlemen if I seem to describe present company too accurate. General Townsend, I hope you don't think you have a new idea here with your Medal of Honor. It seems to me I recall that George Washington gave out a medal called the Purple Heart. Isn't that so? The Purple Heart was given out only three times senator and that was 75 years ago. Well what about the ungrade medal? Again only three times that was 85 years ago. Before that there was a special medal to George Washington another one to Light Horse Harry Lee, one to General Horatio Gecks. It was so big he couldn't wear it. And that's all. Didn't do a little research. Yes I've been doing a little research. I've been doing a lot of observing. How's that? As you know several officers from the European armies have come over here offer their services to our government this national crisis. Yes. Well in almost every case they display some very fine looking European medals on their chest. I've noticed that our young aspirants to military glory are pretty envious. General, if European soldiers wear medals that's just one more reason why Americans should not wear medals. It seems to me the idea for which we fought in the Revolution was to make a complete break with Europe and all its titles and trappings and its pomp and circumstance. Maybe we never did break with all the European ideas and institutions. I say if monarchy's developed medals which their soldiers wore with pride while serving the monarchy maybe we should borrow a page from their book develop a medal which our soldiers can wear with pride while serving democracy. Yes Mrs. Dupre. Winfield Scott does not agree with you. I know because I just talked to him but I agree with you. Thank you Mrs. Dupre. Maybe we're unwise in disagreeing with the general in chief of the army. I do not think we are unwise at all because I happen to know how deeply honored the soldiers of Napoleon felt when he awarded them the Legion of Honor. Mostly I think because they knew it was not just an award for generals. Soldiers of any rank could win it. That's the way it must be with America's Medal of Honor Mrs. Dupre was be given to the man who was highest in bravery although he may be lowest in rank. I say this because I know that when all other defenses of a government fail that government survival depends on the lengths of personal bravery which the men in uniform were willing to go in order to save it from destruction. A few months later the Medal of Honor found another champion on the 17th of February 1862. Senator Henry Wilson of Massachusetts spoke from the floor of the Senate. And therefore my resolution provides for the presentation of Medal of Honor to the men of the army and volunteer forces who shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action and other soldier-like qualities. Thank you. Senator Wilson. Yeah. The Secretary of War sitting in the way of the Senate. He'd like to speak with you. Well thank you. Pardon me gentlemen pardon me. Now where's the Secretary. Oh yeah. Good afternoon Senator Wilson. How do you do. I think your resolution is a very good one. Thank you Secretary Stanton. I think you should be especially interested in these designs. What are these designs for the new Navy Medal. You were sent to me by James Pollock Director of the Mint in Philadelphia. His letter says that this design would also be suitable for an army medal. George he's right. Now this anchor here the Navy could be easily changed to say an eagle standing on two cross cannon for the army. That's right. Who designed these Frenchmen with a German name Schusser and the dyes will be made by a German with a French name. OK. Well that's typical of America. Yes it was typical of America because generation after generation our great strength has always come from our mixing of the talents from many nations. Well President Lincoln made the resolution a law in July. Secretary Stanton ordered 2000 medals in November and by 1863 the United States Army at last had a medal of honor. Next everybody wondered who would be the first to win it. Obviously the heroic exploits in the then current conflict were uppermost in people's minds and new and exciting incidents were described in each day's newspaper. The most daring of these escapades was hatched in the mind of a civilian secret agent named James J. Andrews. For four months he'd been planning out the details of his adventure and when everything was ready he went to an army camp near Shelbyville Tennessee and called for volunteers. May I have your attention please. I'm James J. Andrews. 21 of you have answered my call for volunteers. I told you the mission was extremely dangerous. It is. My plan is to sabotage the western and Atlantic railroad. Please attention please. Now as you can see on this map the railroad runs from Marietta Georgia up here to Chattanooga Tennessee and it's a vital supply line for the Confederate forces in Tennessee. Now if we can tear the railroad apart to any effective degree the state of Tennessee will be isolated from its southern supply base and General Mitchell can move in from here and take Chattanooga. Is that clear? The idea is clear Andrews but how do we do it? What's your name? Parrot. Jacob Parrot. You sure you want to do this? Yes sir. All right. On the night of April 7th all of you will disguise yourselves as civilians and go to Chattanooga. One at a time and not in groups. Is that clear? Then you'll get on the train and go down to Marietta Georgia. You'll arrive there April the 11th. The next day you'll go back to the station. One at a time and buy tickets on the northbound train. Buy tickets from Marietta to Big Shanty. My Big Shanty that's only a little place. There's no telegraph office there. They won't be able to get help. Then why don't we get off at Big Shanty on the way down? Because we're taking over that train and when we take it over I want it to be headed north. Big Shanty, Big Shanty next. This train will stop in Big Shanty. 20 minutes for breakfast. Big Shanty. All right Parrot. Now this is it. Pass the word along. The passengers and the trainmen will get off on the right side of the train. We get off on the left. Walk up the gravel path to the baggage car up at the head of the train and take over. Is that clear? Yes sir. All right. Now tell the others. I'll meet you in the engine path. Quiet Benzier. I can't help it Andrews. The gravel. Here's the baggage car. Parrot, keep the big doors unlocked on this side. Looks like it. Wait till I see if it'll slide open. Make it slow. Not so noisy. All right that's far enough. Now Parrot, you and Benzier give these fellas a lift. Put most of them in the baggage car and then a few of you can take over the engine. I'll be back in a minute. Yes sir. All right. Off you go. Next. All right. Next. Here you two help the rest of them get in the car. Benzier, let's take over the cab. Come on. All right. Come on. Let's go. Maybe the engineer and the fireman aren't out of the cab yet. Oh sure. They'll be out. I want to eat breakfast too. I hope you're right. Okay. Climb up. I'll give you a push. Give me your hand and pull me up. All right. Hey. What's going on here? Who are you? We thought you'd gone to breakfast. What are you doing in my cab? I'll show you what we're doing. Take care of the fireman, Benzier. I got you out of here. Sorry, but you're the one who's getting out. Need any help, Benzier? No, I think I'm doing all right. They're even both out of the cab. All right. Here. Give me a hand. That's one of them. Come on, you're next. You better get out of here in a hurry. Yeah. You ready on the throttle? Yeah, I'm ready. How about the bell rope? Buffum was supposed to cut that. All right then. Let's get out of here. Can't get away for Andrews. Where'd he go? Up ahead to make sure the switch is open. Oh, here comes now. Hey, Paris, give me your hand. Pull me up, will you? All right. Thank you. Switch open. Yeah. Let her go. Open her up wide, Benzier. Take her north about six miles and then stop. All right. We'll tear down all the telegraph wires. Do all the damage we can. Try to cross ties on the tracks behind us and start north again. Just clear. Looks like we're right on schedule. We've got three times to tear up the telegraph wires and barricade the tracks. Now we've already passed Calhoun. Looks like a clear track all the way to Chattanooga. Andrews. Oh, what's the matter, Paris? I was back in the last passenger car watching the tracks behind us. Yes. Every time we hit a straight away we can see it. See what? There's a Confederate train following us. What? He must have broken through all the barricades. How far back are they? Well, hard to tell. I'd say about two miles. It looks to me like they're getting closer all the time. Now listen, Paris. Yes, sir? Take some more of the men back there with you. Uncouple the last passenger car and let it go. When they run into that, it'll stop them. Yes, sir. But if it doesn't stop them, uncouple another car. We've got to stop that Confederate train. Lawson's Irby featured in the role of James Andrews in the proudly-we-hail production Medal of Honor will return in just a moment for the second act. You young men of America know that the United States Army has been expanding. However, that expansion must continue and your health is needed. It's needed right now. You yourself can get ahead in the Army because there are many opportunities for advancement if you have initiative, courage, and leadership ability. So visit your local United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Station and enlist in the United States Army today. You are listening to proudly-we-hail. Now we present the second act of Medal of Honor. As the stolen engine roars north toward Chattanooga, secret agent Andrews hurries through the swaying wooden cars toward the rear of the train. I thought Andrews was coming back. All right, bubba. I said I'd be here and I'm here. Can't be on both ends of the train at the same time. Well, right now, Andrews, the rear end is the most important end. What is left of the rear end? How many cars have you dropped off, Parrot? Three. You want any good? No. They just slow down, pick them up, keep coming. See them back there? Let's say they're about a mile and a half away. Yeah. That engine is pushing free of our passenger cars and it's still going faster than we are. Now, wait a minute. Let's see. This is our last passenger car, isn't it? Yeah. All right. Come up ahead with me. What for? Come on, I'll tell you on the way. First get everybody into the baggy up. Hurry up. All right, everybody in? Yep. And now what? Uncouple that last passenger car. Help me with this, bubba. Got it there? Yeah. There she goes. That's it. I'll slow them down for a minute or two. Now then, remember we filed up some crust ties here in the baggage car? Yeah. All right. Throw a half of them out on the track, one at a time. Half of them. That's right. And the other half, pile them right here in the middle of the baggage car. Oh, no, not Indian TV. You'll find out in a minute. Now, you see that pile of papers over there? Yeah. Put them underneath here and set them on fire. Set the whole thing on fire. The whole baggage car? That's exactly what I mean. This wooden car will burn like tinder. All right. Here's some matches. Go ahead. Let's get it burning. Well, what about the men? They'll all into the engine. They'll be a little crowded. That's the only thing we can do. All right. The paper's starting to burn now. Get into the engine, all of it. Loosen all that. We go over along this burning baggage car loose and try to let go of it. So it'll finally stop right in the middle of that bridge. I don't know whether we can hang onto the car that long and throw the whole thing about the burst into flames. I told you to get into the engine, parrot. Yes, sir. Now, I know the whole thing's about to burst into flames. But we've got to hang onto that baggage car until we get to the bridge. Look at that. They're pushing the blazing baggage car across the bridge without even stopping. Wait a minute. They've got to cross all right, but they are stopping. Somebody's running ahead of the train. I was afraid of that. Afraid of what? We passed a siding back there, and this means they'll dump all of our cars on the siding and come after us, faster than ever. Fencing or can't this engine go any faster? We're not pulling any cars. Sure, we could go faster all right. But what? All right, man, this is as far as we go. Now you better scatter into the woods and try to keep out of sight. I'm afraid they'll be looking for us in a very few minutes. Within the next few days, Andrews and all of his 21 volunteers were captured. Andrews and seven more were court-martialed, condemned and executed. The other 14 were sent to prison. The following October, eight of these escaped from prison, and the remaining six were finally paroled by the Confederates on the 17th of March, 1863. One week later in Washington, B.C., they found themselves being escorted through the outer office of the Secretary of War, past a whole room full of military and civil dignitaries who'd been told to wait until a very important ceremony was completed in the Secretary's inner chambers. Mason, Redick, and Pittinger, would you please step into the Secretary's office? Thank you. Thank you. I beg your pardon, but I have an appointment with the Secretary of War. Can I go in now? I'm afraid not, General. Secretary Stanton has informed me that all appointments must wait. But this is a matter which must... I'm sorry, General. Those are the Secretary's orders. Oh, here's the Secretary now. Good morning, sir. Good morning, Miss Browning. She's right, General. I'll have to see you later. Come in, gentlemen, and close the door. Gentlemen, this is the Secretary of the Treasury, Simon P. Chase. And this is the Vice President, Andrew Johnson. Now, then, Private Jacob Parrott. Yes, sir? I know that all of you men have been through a very harrowing experience. We regret that this happened to you. And we realize that your suffering came as a direct result of your voluntary desire to serve your country. Gentlemen, at last your country has devised a way of showing its appreciation to men such as you. And you six men will have the distinction of being the first to receive this token of your country's appreciation. So, as authorized by the recent act of the Congress of the United States and in recognition of the fine courage you displayed in the service of your country, I now present you with the first of its kind. Private Jacob Parrott, the Medal of Honor. Thank you, sir. And by the way, gentlemen, after all of you have received your medals, President Lincoln would like to see you in the White House. During the following months, medals were awarded to the rest of the Andrews volunteers, and the country was proud of its newest popular heroes. But during the next 15 years, the Medal of Honor was to become almost too popular. Non-military organizations began to wear imitations of it as membership badges. The Commerce authorized special medals for all the soldiers who came from their cities. Generals ordered decorations for whole companies of their men. And eventually, the Civil War veterans themselves began submitting requests by the hundreds for official medals of honor, making their claims years after the war, and with no sound documentation that the heroic deed was ever performed. Finally, in 1876, Brigadier General Alfred A. Terry sputtered and exploded. I hereby disapprove the following recommendations for medals, and am returning the entire list for a vision. Looks to me as if the company commanders have recommended every man who behaved ordinarily well. In my opinion, medals of honor are not intended for good conduct, for conspicuous acts of gallantry. In 1897, Secretary of War R. A. Alcher ruled out the undeserving by saying... We require incontestable evidence of the deed for the testimony of eyewitnesses under oath. And in 1904, Brigadier General George L. Gillespie protected the medal in another way. Because the medal of honor has been so often imitated, we have now officially changed its design. Today, I patented that design at a serial number 197369. I shall transfer this patent to the Secretary of War of the United States of America and his successors. Then, in 1917, the War Department appointed a board of investigation to ascertain whether any medals of honor had been awarded for any cause other than distinguished conduct involving actual conflict with an enemy. As a result of this investigation of the 2,625 medals, which had been awarded up to this time, 911 names were stricken from the list. This was a radical move, but it returned the nation's highest military award to the position it was meant to hold. Additional decorations, such as the Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star and others, were now created to honor the various degrees of courage and heroism. But the Medal of Honor was at last restored to its proper place at the top of America's pyramid of honor. The Medal of Honor is to be awarded only to an officer or enlisted man of the armed forces who shall, in actual conflict with an enemy, distinguish himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. But who can say that every hero who has deserved a Medal of Honor has received one? Men who lay down their lives for their country cannot tell a board of review just what it was they did before they died. And units that are wiped out in battle cannot provide eyewitnesses to initiate recommendations for awards. No. The most that can be said is that the Army has made certain that the Medal will not be awarded to those who do not deserve it. And thus the Army guarantees that the Medal will not be cheapened and that the deeds of those who have won the Medal will not be forgotten. But neither the Army nor any power on Earth can be certain that it knows of all the men who have deserved the Medal. That is why the Medal of Honor is pinned to the flag which drapes the coffin of the unknown soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Our thanks to Norman Rose as narrator and to Lawson Zerbe for a fine performance as James Andrews. Here's a special message for the young men of our country. The United States Army, the senior service of our armed forces is expanding rapidly and needs your help. By enlisting in the United States Army you'll not only get the finest training in the world but you'll have the special pride that goes with wearing a United States Army uniform. If you have the qualifications the Army will train you in such interesting career fields as radio, radar, electronics, mechanics, meteorology and many others. You can get full details by visiting your local United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Station today. This has been another program on Proudly We Hail presented transcribed in cooperation with this station by the United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Service. This program featured Lawson Zerbe and Norman Rose. This is Kenneth Banghart speaking and inviting you to tune in the same station next week for another interesting story on Proudly We Hail.