 One of Radio's outstanding dramatic half-hours starring Lee Tracy and presented transcribed by your army and your Air Force. From Radio City, New York, here is your star and host on Proudly We Hail. The distinguished Broadway stage, screen and radio star, Lee Tracy. Welcome again to Proudly We Hail. Here is our playtaker, Lee. To the Melee Peninsula, Ken, to the heart of the jungle for a story of a gallant fight against the Cindy's bandits and the besieged rubber plantation. Hey, it sounds like an exciting story, Lee. It is, Ken. We'll be ready for the first act in just a moment after your important message. Why not get an early start with an army job that gives you the feeling of having been of real service to your country? In the army, you'll be in a job that will be a little different every day and you'll be getting the finest technical training in the world. In the army, visit your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Station and get all the details. And now with your star, Lee Tracy, in the role of Bart, your army and your Air Force present the Proudly We Hail production of Story at Tendereck. The Peninsula of Melee dangles down off the irregular southeastern coastline of Asia, looking to some like a thin, probing foot about to come to rest on the largest of the Send Islands, and to others like a bent and bony finger pointing into the South China Sea. Melee is the place where half the world's natural rubber is produced, and rubber has become as important as gold in our tension-filled globe. And so in Melee, there's a boom on. It's a boom of sudden riches, yes, but it's also a boom of sudden death. For within the jungles, there lurks an army of terrorists. Small in number, but fanatically in intent. They sweep down without warning upon the rubber plantations, killing without respect to age, race, or sex. Thought it was you. Come in. You all set to go, Van? In just a minute. First, I have wondered that you should meet someone. Well, I have to make it fast. Want to get back before dark tonight? Well, of course. Miss Burke, this is Bart Krogan, my partner. Bart, this is Miss Karen Burke. Yeah, how do you do, Miss Burke? Nice to meet you. How do you do, Mr. Krogan? I've been hearing all about you. I don't believe anything he told you. Bart, Miss Burke would like to go back with us. She was sent here to Singapore to get her story on the emergency. Sent here? By whom? My newspaper. I'm a correspondent. Ken Holiday sent her to me. He said Miss Burke could get her first-hand story at our place. What's the matter, doesn't Ken Holiday like you, Miss Burke? Well, yes, he's an old friend. What do you mean? Did he tell you anything about Ken Direct, our plantation? Well, he said that you'd have a lot of trouble. That bandits had attacked you several times and probably would again. I guess that sums it up mildly. Ken Direct is in Pahang. If you know anything about this situation out here, you know that Pahang is the most remote and dangerous of all in Malaya State. Well, that's exactly why I'd like to go there, Mr. Krogan. I can't get the story first-hand here in Singapore. I'd also like to get some pictures. Does your paper expect you to risk your life to tell your readers what's going on out here? My paper expects me to get the story if I can. If you feel that you can't take me to your plantation, I'm sure I'll be able to find someone else a little more hospitable. Oh, Bart, is he just concerned for your safety, Miss Burke? I'm sure he is. Would you mind telling me, Miss Burke, why your paper felt this was a woman's job? Because perhaps I'd handled things like this before and they liked the way I did it. I see. In other words, you've been in a similar situation. If you'd like proof, I could produce it. No, that won't be necessary. Vanna don't like it. You know what we're up against. Oh, that's true, Bart. But if we don't take Miss Burke with us, she'll go to one of the other plantations. I think she'd be safer at Tender-Eck. Hmm, I'd like to ring Ken Holiday's neck. See here. Are you ready to go? Yes. All right. Now, Miss Burke, you want a story. I guarantee you'll get it. We'll take it at Tender-Eck, but when you get there, you'll obey my orders, or I'll have you sent right back here. Agreed? Yes, agreed. But there's one thing... But nothing. I don't know how much bloodshed you've seen, but I assure you that what's going on around here is a lot nastier than you bargained for. Then let's get going. Hmm. Everything OK, Ricky? Everything OK, Twan. Ricky, this is Miss Burke. She's coming out with the thrower stuff in the trunk, and let's hit the road. What? She come with us? That's what I said. Yes, Twan. Hey, this looks like an armored car. That's because it is, Miss Burke. Good protection against snipers. I think I'll get a picture of it. Later, Miss Burke. Please, we have a long drive. I want to get there before dark. Ricky, put it in there. You don't mind my saying, so, Mr. Van Ock, and I think your partner is a very disagreeable person. Ha ha ha! Make the light tell him. Oh, no, please don't do that on me. My dear girl, I was just joking. You like Tender-Eck better after you meet Dixon. Get in, Miss Burke. It's never too good to stand on the street talking like this. Thank you. That's better. Dixon is the third partner? That's correct. Cobber is an Australian, very handsome, very kind to the ladies. Van, here's a new submachine gun. You can put it back there. You really travel in style. The long road to Tender-Eck, Miss Burke. That's the Bahang River there on your right. We've come a long way, haven't we? On another 50, 60 miles to go. They're the worst. Well, we get there before dark? What do you think, Mark? Well, it depends on the road out of tumbling. If it's no worse, when we came down, we should make it. What happens if we don't? Nothing, we hope. We just get there later, that's all. The jungle here certainly is tough. What was that? Material for your story, sniper. Keep your foot on that accelerator, Ricky. I was afraid of this van. Fortunes of war. Having trouble, Ricky. A road like river. Ricky, ride rapid. Just keep her rolling. If we get stuck, Mark, you and I stay here with Miss Burke, and Ricky will go on and get covered to bring us in. Only we're not going to get stuck. How many more miles to go? About 12, I should say. Miss Burke, if any real trouble starts, you hit the floor, and don't worry. I'm not worried, Mr. Krogan. And if you have an extra gun, I'll be glad to assist you. Regular fire eater, aren't you, Miss Burke? How did you guess? Swire to the roadblock ahead. Try for the left side. Hit it as hard as you can. Van, swap places with her. Spray the jungle on that side. I'll take this. Get on the floor, Miss Burke. Hit it, Ricky. Don't let her stall. What the heck? Burke, that was nearly to hinder your story. But it was just a tree across the road. No one tried to shoot at us. You two did all the shooting. Just thank your lucky stars, that Ricky is the best blasted driver in Malaya. Oh, my god, that's one too close. I'm almost finished, it's like tuan baros. The same sort of thing happened to a neighbor about three weeks ago. They didn't get through or they stopped because they thought it was just a fallen tree. There were five of them and two children and there were no survivors. Tendereck ahead, Miss Burke. Oh, the barbed wire fence and iron gate, it looks like the entrance to a forest. That's just what it is today. We grow rubber and we fight for our lives to grow rubber. And either we protect ourselves in this there, we lose everything we got. Are those men of the gate soldiers? We have 25 special constables. You can call the first chapter of your story my uneventful trip to Tendereck. The second chapter has to be a lot more exciting. This is Miss Burke. Oh, don't be so blasted, formal van. These daydreams are rare enough. Hello, Cobber. I'm Karen. Not that I want to intrude on anyone's dreams, but let's stay awake long enough to get inside. There's something in what you say, old boy. Here, let me take that, Karen. Get the car in the garage, Ricky, and see if she took much damage. Now you better have your supper first. Trouble? Roadblock. Nasty. How did you get through? Ricky is driving. Good boy. Well, Karen, welcome to our happy home. Thank you, Cobber. What about supper? Well, what the matter? How good a cook are you? I see. When? Oh, you can talk in front of Miss Burke, Cobber. She's a newspaper woman. Came out to get a story on all this mess. Oh, I see. Well, maybe we'd better go into the den and sit down and have a spot or something. It'll tell better sitting down. It must have been about 2 o'clock in the morning when they got in, cut through the wire. Didn't hear them in the rain. Where did they get in? At the southern end. They went to work on the trees first. Made a little too much noise, and one of our lads spotted them. He didn't panic, got back here, and gave the warning. All of us went down after them. They were working up toward the smokehouse. I left half the men there and took the others around behind. Then we moved in. We took one prisoner. Well, that sounds as like we had the best of it for once. We think only two or three of their band got away. But this morning over half our people quit. Why? That wasn't anything new. They're safer here than any place else in this territory. Well, before our prisoner joined his ancestors, he made quite a lot of racket. Our people heard about what he said and got the wind up. What was it, he said? That his chief was Talag, that he had 300 men under his command and he was going to do it to us in Tenderek. But he did to Calentan, and Lord knows how many other places. And they swallowed it? Can't really blame the poor devils. No. No, you can't. How big a working force have they got now? About 38 men, not including the consuls. I wonder if we paid them double wages if we could get them to work part-time and guard part-time. Well, Ricky's the man to see them on that. Caron, you angel with news spread on your hands. You can't cooking among your accomplishments? As a matter of fact, Carver, old ear, I do. Why don't you lead me to the kitchen? Lead you? Nothing. Why, I'll escort you with it. Oh, Carver, I can wait. I want to find out how we stand. All right, old boy, there's no need to get excited. First things first, Carver. Now, how much damage... Come on, Mr. Burt, you stay here and keep out of sight. We'll take the starring in the role of Bart Kogan in the proudly-we-held production Story at Tender-X will return in just a moment for the second act. You young men graduating from high school, the United States Army needs intelligent young men to handle the thousands of important jobs opening up in our growing Army. If you can qualify for one of the Army's many technical training schools, you'll study such interesting subjects as radio, radar, mechanics, or electronics. When you're in the Army, you'll wear with pride the uniform that's the mark of a man. So don't worry about what you're going to do when you finish high school. You'll find the answer to that all-important question at your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Station and list in the United States Army today. You are listening to Proudly We Hail and now with your star Lee Tracy in the role of Bart Kogan, we present the second act of Story at Tender-X. I think they've had enough for the time being. And they have the nerve to attack the front gate. It's getting bad. I know it, Van. You lose any men on your side? Fun. Three wounded. None of them too badly. What about you? Two and four. You'd better go see how Cobber made out. They hit us front and rear this time. Next time I suppose it'll be from all four sides. Maybe that prisoner wasn't lying. You all right, Ricky? Well, me find Dundee to give those babies what for. Good. How many? Miss Burke, I thought I told you to stay at the house. I wanted to help. She did help, Bart. A couple of the lads got a wing. Karen knew what to do. If you're a nurse, that's fine, Miss Burke. We'll set up a hospital in the house. But you'll obey my orders or I'll have you shipped out of here tomorrow. Ricky, take her back. Yes, Twan. A regular Napoleon, aren't you, Mr. Krogan? You two boys get back to the house with her. She'll fix you up. Say you're only casualty? Right. Listen, Bart, what have you got to be so rough on her for? You want her to get hurt? Of course not. I didn't know she was here with us until things quieted down. Why be so rude? She's a nice girl. Pretty, too. You tell me why that devil in newspaper sends a woman into a place like this? That's not her fault, Bart. She's just trying to do her job. Well, we don't have time to argue about the merits of Miss Burke. She'll do as I say if she leaves. We've got enough responsibility in our hands without having to worry about her. As a matter of fact, old Bonehead, you're right. Last night was the worst we've had so far. The night went far beyond that. They come in force, going to try to wear us down, and then, poof, Penderac is in ashes. Good thing we got our last shipment to Singapore. Might not be another. Nine wounded. Three done for. That's how it adds up. It's not good. Well, no point in standing here, John, about it. Won't be any sleep for any of us tonight if we don't get things organized. Tomorrow we'll see if we can get some reinforcements from Koala. No rest for the wicked. Mm-hmm. With Ricky's help, I'll turn your living room into a hospital. That's fine. Tomorrow we'll try and get a doctor over. We'll get these men to Koala. How are they? Two of them are pretty bad. The rest will be all right, I think. I guess you really have been through this sort of thing before, haven't you? Yes. Even worse. I'm, uh... Well, I'm kind of sorry if I've been... unfriendly. It's just that... I think I understand. If we can get help from one of the other plantations tomorrow or some reinforcements from Koala, I'm afraid we'll have to cut your story short. They mean real business. I made some coffee. Would you like a cup? Maybe I could ask a few questions. Coffee sounds fine. I'll have to get back soon. How about your patients? Oh, they'll be all right for a little while. I put them to sleep. Lucky you had more seen here. We're equipped for a long siege. How long has it been going on? About three years. As bad as this? Never as bad as this. The past six months around here have been brutal. Hundreds of plantations destroyed, villages burned, women and children killed. We're going together. The jungles are too thick. It's impossible. A man doesn't like to cut down his own fighting force to help a neighbor because while he's gone, his place may be hit. That's happened often enough, so now each plantation has its own independent outfit. Here, try some of his coffee. Thanks. You can't go on like this forever. That's true, but the boom isn't going to last forever either. That's wonderful. Ms. Burke, what other talents do you have? Asking questions. I'm glad you like it. Do you still sell your rubber to any one buyer? We deal through brokers who sell exclusively to the United States. Could that be the reason they're out to ruin you? You'd think so, wouldn't you? But it doesn't matter whether you sell to their friends or not. You're still in as much danger. It's simple enough. The long-range plan is why should they buy what they think they can ultimately take. In the meantime, these fanatics are making it as rough on everyone as they can. You said the boom won't last forever. You mean you'll make as much as you can and then clear out? Well, you can look at that a couple of ways. Van and Carver and I built Tenderek with nothing but sweat and determination. Tomorrow you'll be able to understand that better when you see the jungle and the mountains all around us. Just about the time we got things in good running order and knew that it had all been worth it, the war started. We got off with our skins and that's all. We all did our bit, as it were. When it was over, we came back. Tenderek hadn't been much compared to most of the other plantations around here. It went to pot. And so you started all over again? Just about. We were in a hawk up at our ears until last year. Now with the boom, we've been cleaning up, but the boom isn't going to last. I don't know. You can't expect to work a place like this without hired hands and they get scared off. What are you going to do? If you got this man telegaddle the word, would that help? For a time, yeah. He's the one who's been raising Mary, you know, around these parts. You can't get rid of him if you don't know where to look for him. It's suicide to go into the jungle after him. Yeah. Well, thanks for the coffee. Gotta get back. You better try and get some sleep. We'll see how things are in the morning. Well, I'm sorry if I've been a nuisance. No, you haven't been. You've been a big help. But this isn't any place for a woman, even if she is after a story. What was just coming for you? We've had a spot of luck. What do you mean? Claught one of teleorgs boys. He's badly hit trying to crawl away. One of our lads recognized him as having lived in his village. They had a talk. The devil knew he was going to die, and felt sorry for all he'd done. He told our man where teleorgs hideout is located. Listen, those cookies don't ever feel sorry whether they're dying or not. That's another trick to lead us into a trap. That's what I thought, but Ricky said no. He talked to him, too. He said it's straight. No, no, it sounds a little too pat. Ricky. Yes, yes, yes to one. What about it? This fellow, he knows to say lie. This fellow, he's scared. Plenty scared. He's afraid he'd die and go to bad place. Where did he say the hideout was? In jungle. Go that way toward Gunanka-Aunt. You might know. Do you know the place he was talking about? Yes, to one. I don't resent word around to everyone in this area, and then go in and get the devil. No, take too long. Make too much noise. By the time we got there, they'd be gone, and for good measure, they'd probably ambush us. What have you got in mind, bud? Ricky, could we reach that place before dawn? Yes, to one. We go now, but travel fast, and I still think it may be a trap. At best, it's mighty risky, but still it's worth a try. Telogg's been flying the ointment around here for a long time. If we get him out of the way, they'll be without a leader for a while. It'll buy us some time to try and work out a better defense system. Agreed. What's your plan? Give them some of their own medicines. Hit and run raid. Four of us will go in. We'll take submachine guns and a bag full of grenades. Sneak up on their camp and wait. When Telogg shows himself, we'll cut loose and make a run for it. That's cutting it pretty fine, Bart. Well, I can't see it any other way. It's either that or you forget all about it. I see it's jolly worth a good try. Which one of us is going to go? Well, Van here doesn't exactly strike me as a woods runner. So, I'll flip a coin. It'll be either you or this lad. Call. Head. Looks like you're the lucky fellow. You have all the fun. You can take care of Miss Burke while I'm gone, Ricky. Ricky, get your two best men and... Well, it's time we hit the road. Come down that one. Good. We'll spread out here and wait for it to get light. Remember, don't let go till I give the signal. Then one blast, throw the grenade and run for it. They may have a couple of house posts close by, so keep your eyes open for anything. Good luck, Ricky. Now. Yeah, Sniper, but I got him. Get going. I'll hold him off as long as I can. We get all trails tied in jungle. No, no, no. Get out of here. Put me down. Ricky, come here from moist. Oh, they have a fight up in here. Here they come. Don't you think you should come in and have some supper? No. No, thank you, old girl. I'm not really hungry. You really mustn't give up hope. Perhaps they hid in the jungle. Afraid not. Afraid Bart and Ricky have bought it. Other two chaps heard shooting behind them. They've run into one of their blinking outposts. Yes, but wouldn't they have run into it when they first went in? I don't know, Karen. Where's Ben? Took a walk down by the gate. Think your readers will enjoy this little tale? Bart Krogan. One more man who went down fighting to hold what was his. There's been a lot of Bart Krogan's out here. Men who wouldn't quit. Well, Van and I won't quit either. We'll stay here and hold this place till they burn it down on us, and then we'll stay here in the ruins, and we won't try and grow a rubber and fight at the same time. We'll just fight. Well, I just... Cover! Cover! Come on. Bart! He was the hand. He's been hit. Here, let me take him. You all right, Ricky? This fella, Jim Dundee, saved my life. Put me down. I can walk. Sure, you can walk like a daisy. You get all the luck. Now look at the nurse you're going to have. What do you think I let myself get shot for? You'll be the one to take orders now. But he meant the living room. You know, if this sort of thing keeps up, I'll start losing weight. I wonder why anyone ever invented rubber. So you could play hero. As his nurse, Karen, would you tell him to shut up? Bart, huh? Be quiet. If you don't do as I say, I'll leave you out of my story. Terrible woman, Cobber. All of your fault, Van. She'll probably get it all wrong. Say, growing rubber is as easy as bouncing off a log. Be quiet. We'll return in a moment with a word about next week's show. Next time you see a soldier of your United States Army, take a good look at that uniform he wears. That uniform is the mark of a man. From the buff and blue uniforms of General Washington's Continentals to the uniforms proudly worn by the combat soldiers of today, the United States Army insignia has been worn by many generations of men. They're good soldiers who have faced with quiet courage the dark days of Valley Forge, Shadow Thierry, Bhutan, and the Pusan perimeter. The man who puts on the United States Army uniform joins the good company of those stubborn Americans who never admitted they were elect. But the man who wears the Army uniform needs help. The help of all young Americans who can measure up to the mark of a man. Join him now. Go to your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Station and list in the Army today. This has been another program on proudly we hail, presented in cooperation with this station by the United States Army and the United States Air Force Recruiting Service. Proudly we hail, Stars Lee Tracy. Story at 10 Direct was written by DeWitt Kopp. The music was composed and conducted by John Guarnieri. This program was produced under the supervision of Charles and Roger's productions and directed by Charles Wilk. This is Kenneth Banghart speaking, and here again is your host and star, Lee Tracy. Join us next week over the same station for proudly we hail, won't you? Next week we go to Egypt for an adventure involving a mysterious traveler, a secret mission, international complications, and three planes to Cairo. Until then, goodbye.