 The cavalcade of America sponsored by DuPont, maker of better things for better living through chemistry, presents Preston Foster, John Hodiak, and Eddie Maher in a ship to remember, the saga of the Hornets. Before we begin our play, here's news about DuPont's speedy-Z wall finish. DuPont's speedy-Z wall finish is the new paint that covers dingy wallpaper and other interiors in one quick coat. Speedy-Z thins with water, dries in an hour, and comes in 11 cheerful pastel colors. You can make your home more livable by redecorating with DuPont's speedy-Z wall finish. And now for our play, a ship to remember, starring Preston Foster, John Hodiak, and Eddie Maher. This evening our DuPont cavalcade tells the story of a magnificent American ship, the Hornet. An aircraft carrier built in manned with pride and faith and hope. A ship that was great not so much because of the iron and steel and wood that went into her broad beams and sturdy sides, or because of the stinging planes that rose from her flight deck, but great because of the extra indefinable something in the hearts of her men. The men of the Hornet grew to be a partner, gave her some of their own dreams until she was more than a ship and was, in some strange way, a companion who sailed in her. DuPont presents a ship to remember, written for radio by Edith Summer and based on the book by Alexander R. Griffin, starring Preston Foster as narrator, John Hodiak and as Bill and Eddie Maher as Joe, two members of the Hornet's crew on this evening's cavalcade of America. I saw the birth of a queen. 20,000 tons of steel, rivets and bulkheads, turbines and dynamoles. A giantess. All strength and challenge. And when she slid down the ways and plunged her armored body into the sea, they christened her, the Hornet. They gave her speed to span the oceans, eyes to pierce the darkness, and arranged on the proud sweep of her flight deck her band of hooded falcons. Then they gave her life and a soul. How kind of looks like we're gonna be the first guys aboard, huh Bill? I guess we are Joe. Did you ever think when you were drilling oil wells down there in Texas three months ago that you'd be out on a Pacific Ocean on an aircraft carrier? Well, I've done everything else in my time and got away with it. And the way I figure one job's as good as another. Right now, Uncle Sam says my job's gonna be fighting this war. So I fight. Any job I do, I do good. I got letters from guys I work for. I'll show you some time. So that's the Hornet, huh? Pretty isn't she against the sky. Brand new and waiting for us. I wish I could get a picture of her. Yeah? What for? To send her the folks back in Omaha. My father's the pastor of a church back then. He'd like to show all the folks what the ship looked like I was on, you know? Yeah, yeah. Come on, you're meant to board the shoreboards. Come on, put a nickel in this tub. Don't get in the hurry, Boat. Get me one sail to your aboard. Nice, nice. You know, Joe, I'm glad we drew a birth on the Hornet. Why? One ship's just like another. Well, a Hornet isn't trim like a destroyer or a PC. But at least there's one thing about her you can't beat. What's that? She's ours. The Hornet that day gave her a heart, a soul, and something more. The same something the British had when they swept the Nazis out of London sky. The thing the Germans couldn't beat at Stalingrad. The indefinable something that kept Wake Island American until the last Marine had fallen. What is this something? Heart? Spirit? Yes, but those are only words. And this at which we speak is as big and as important as the victory it alone can bring. All without this quality men can fight. Certainly they can fight. But with it they win. This heart, this spirit that keeps America the great free country she is. This something the Hornet had. The day the Hornet started on her shakedown cruise, it was cold. Biting cold. And a chill deeper than the day itself lay like a smothering cloud over America. For this was the day after Christmas, 1941. Nineteen days after Pearl Harbor, and America for the first time in her history was feeling the chill of cold fear. And the low-hanging clouds the Hornet drove through a black windswept sea and plumes of stinging spray arose with each fall of her proud to be snatched by the gale and whirl across the flight deck. Come on Joe, number seven's breaking away. Ah, how you gonna hold these planes down on a wind like this that blows any harder there's gonna be nothing on this flight deck including this. Get hold of the wing. Now pull it back, lean on it. Come on you baby. Hatch higher down. Got it. Relax. Hey Phil, wait a minute I want to talk to you. All right but let's go below, we'll freeze up here. No, no. I don't want the other guys listening. They might get the wrong idea. What's brought on you Joe? Well look, you think better than I do. What goes with this war? Hey fellow, we getting licked. Do you think we are? If somebody sneaked up behind you and knocked you down would you be licked? Not if I could get up and take a poke at them. Well I guess that's the answer. The Jap sneaked up on us at Pearl Harbor and we went down. We can get up and fight, we're not licked. We'll get up all right. All we gotta do is slain how to make with the guns on this baby. How to shove these planes into the air. This ship can fight if they'll only show us what makes a tick. They will Joe, they will. Look Sailor, this gun has made a shoot fast. And that's the way you'll shoot it. When I say load, don't pick up that shell and cut it into the breach. Grab it up and slam it in. I'll try it again. Okay, load. How was that? When the Japs are diving in from all over the clock you'll do it ten times that fast. All right Blue Boy, you next. I'm ready. Load. Keep going. Load. It took just five weeks to make a bunch of eager green kids into a fighting team that could put the horn into action with split second precision. They were steady eyed brown faced men with plenty of muscle and confidence in themselves and their ship. And more than anything else, they wanted to get into the fight. They wanted to give the Jap a taste of hot American steel. The Hornet sting was razor sharp. They wanted to drive it home. Their chance came. It started at a west coast port where the Hornet was peacefully lying at the dock. Nearby a flight of Mitchell Bombers landed. That was all right. Nothing to get excited about, but... Hey Bill, what's cooking here? Oh, load in those B-25s on the Hornet. What about it? Maybe some army. What's the idea of stacking them on our carrier? I suppose I have a good reason. We're probably going to deliver them somewhere up the coast maybe. Yeah? Why don't they fly them up? I don't know. It does look kind of funny, doesn't it? Yeah. And did you get a load of them guards around here? I tell you, there's something on the fire. Hey Joe, I have a hunch we're going to war. The next day the Hornet with her flight deck crammed with 16 army bombers put it in the last wing to wing, cast off under sealed orders. A little group of army pilots aboard knew no more of their destination than the men of the Hornet. The ship became a great floating ark of tension, eagerness, and scuttlebutt. The rumors flew. We're going to reinforce Hawaii. And a pig's eye. We're going to save Java from the Japs. That's what we're going to do. Hey listen you guys, I know where we're going. Yeah. We're going to New York. Where'd you get that? I'm sure. I got it straight from the third cook. They're going to turn the Hornet into a Fifth Avenue bus. Yeah, that's for you. Scuttlebutt, speculation. One man's guess was as good as the next. Every man on the ship wondered and talked. And the Hornet knifed her prowl into the Pacific with her great turbans deep down in her, rumbling with a soft, satisfied sound, as if she secretly knew her destiny. And then a few hours out of the harbor, show look what's coming over the horizon. Destroy it. We're picking up a convoy. Wherever we're going with these B-25s, the Navy's making pretty sure we get there. I'd give a month's pay to know where we're headed. Hey Bill, do you think... Do you suppose it... No, no. Now it couldn't be. What? Ah, nothing. Even we couldn't do that. Could we? I've been wondering the same thing. But how could we be sure that so... Hey, listen. The reasons of security and the nature of our mission, our destination has not been disclosed. However, for the information of you all, the Hornets will carry Colonel James Doolittle and his men to a point as close to the coast of Japan as is advisable. There they will leave our deck to bomb Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, Nagoya, and Tokyo. I thought we couldn't. We're gonna lay eggs right in Tojo's hat. And now that all the men knew that the Hornet was going to help pay back the jabs for Pearl Harbor, that they were going to sail right into the jabs' backyard, the ship became electrified with a new tension and alertness. And as the days passed and the Hornet drove on into enemy waters, every dip of her bow bringing her closer to the shores of Japan, the men slept less, talk less. A sharp, unexpected sound of the men jumped as if moved by springs. And on deck, their eyes searched the horizon that rose and fell over the bow of the ship. Then came the morning of Saturday, April 18, 1942. Hey, Joe, something's happened. Yeah? What's the matter? Well, feel the deck and the bulkhead. Listen, listen to the turbines. They've got a wide open. Come on, let's get out on deck. Captain's buzzing, cousin. They've got the old gal turning to the wind. Here comes one of the army boys. Hey, Mac, hey, come here. What's up? They've got to take off. Good little sir, they've got to get going. He's taking off first. Keep your heads down, Swab. He's just going to see some fancy flyers. Well, how are they going to get off with a ship hit and get a load of that little hunk of deck they've got to take off of? The whole ass of deck is full of planes. Joe, that's still little ship. And he's all set. They're pulling the wheelcharts. Joe, look at this. Remember everything you see right now because your kid's going to read about this in history books. And it's going to hit American headlines a foot high. Pass the signal. He's got the flag. Hold it down. Let's slot Jimmy. Keep him on that white line. Pull her up. Pull her up. He's off. Look, he's off. He's climbing. Oh, beautiful baby. Keep going. Tokyo, right over there. That way, fellas. And God go with you. We got him here. We got him here, Bill. Us and the Hornet. Bless your old eye and hide. Hey, what are you lying down for? I'm going to kiss her. Right on that great, big, beautiful deck. Those planes reached Japan and left a trail that proved America had awakened. This mission now over, the Hornet is speeding from the shadow of Japan through the Pacific toward Midway Island. Along with the escort of cruisers, destroyers, and her sister carrying the Enterprise, she is beating up the ocean, trying to get to Midway in time to stop a Jap invasion. And all over the ship, the men are beginning to tingle with the thrill of their first real battle. Her engines pound away for all their worth as they carry 2,000 American boys toward the Battle of Midway. On the bridge Captain Mitchell confers with his aid. Lieutenant. Aye, sir. Hold your course and speed. Yes, sir. Helmsman, hold your course. Aye, sir. Excuse me, Captain. Yes, sir. What is it? Well, sir, I... I was wondering... I hope we get there in time, sir. I just hope we get there in time. So do I, Lieutenant. So do I. Listening to Preston Foster, John Hodiak and Eddie Marr in a ship to remember on the cavalcade of America sponsored by Dupont, maker of better things for better living through chemistry, among which are long-wearing nylon bristles used in toothbrushes, hairbrushes, and paintbrushes for the Navy. Our cavalcade play tonight is the story of the great American aircraft carrier, the Hornet. And particularly, it is the story of the men who manned her and made her great. Preston Foster is heard in the role of narrator. John Hodiak and Eddie Marr are heard as Bill and Joe, two members of the Hornet's crew, through whom we get to know the men of the Hornet as they grow to be a part of her. As our play continues, the Hornet has completed one job, carrying Colonel Doolittle's planes to bomb Tokyo. And now, once more, she's plowing through a heavy sea on still another dangerous mission, the Battle of Midway. Hornet drives on, pounding through the night, headed for battle. All over the ship, the men are tense, eager, waiting for the word that will send the planes hurtling into action. They wait. This is it, Bill. This is it. Yeah. It's funny, but that's the same rhythm I'm feeling inside, too. This is it. The wind's saying it to me. You can almost hear it as it comes sliding past the gun turret. This is it. My blood's saying it. It's a good tune, Joe. A good tune. And the Japs are going to dance to it, baby. They're the ones who are going to dance. You know, I wish... I wish we could be... I know. I know. So do I. But somebody's got to stay back here and keep the big girl out of trouble. Besides, when our flyers get through with the Japs, those that come back won't want to get their feet wet. And it's our job to see that they don't. The Hornet's got to be here waiting for them, safe and sound. You know, I... remember it's something today. Yeah? What? It's a passage from the Bible. I've heard my father quoted from his pulpit. It's on the seventh chapter, Deuteronomy 20th verse. It goes, Moreover, the Lord, thy God, will send a Hornet among them until they that are left and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed. No, kid. Is that what it says? Yeah. The Lord, thy God, will send a Hornet among them until they that are left and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed. Fourth sighted. Three carriers, six cruisers, ten destroyers. And there it is. The enemy at last. Three separate Japanese fleets traveling in three separate columns are plunging toward Midway. The biggest challenge ever hurled at the United States Navy. The Hornet slashes her way forward to meet that challenge. Very well. Stand by. Engineers, man and ready. Stand by. All guns, man and ready. Very well. Stand by. Air department, man and ready. Very well. Stand by. Ready on Bullhorn? Aye, aye, sir. Bullhorn standing by. Go ahead. Launching system. One, two, three, four. Very well. Ready on the warning alarm. Testing flight deck warning alarm. Testing flight deck warning alarm. Very well. Pilots, man your planes. Pilots, man your planes. This month we've been waiting for this five months. At last the Japs are going to get stung by the Hornets. Yeah, look at all our planes, torpedoes, bombers, fighters. All of them going up. The same kind of heart the Marines had at wake. The Russians at Stalingrad. In our first battle, the battle of Midway, her planes and her men helped defeat the largest force of enemy ships in American naval history. Is she a ship to remember? You bet she is. Ask the Japs. Now it's October 20th, 1942. The Hornet is one year old today. Accompanied by her escort, she's down for Santa Cruz, one of the Solomon Islands, there to stave off the attack of a vast Japanese convoy. Meanwhile, it's her birthday and the entire personnel of the ship is celebrating with a party. Settle down. Captain Mitchell, which is to say a few words? Man of the Hornet, this is the first birthday of our ship. You have made this ship one of which our generation and generations of Americans to follow may well be proud. I know you all well enough to say that I'm sure that you will make the Hornet one of the greatest ships in the tradition of our Navy. Six days later, the Hornet sank. The end came quickly. The carrier was just off Santa Cruz. All of her planes were in the sky. Most of them had searched forward to bomb and strafe. The Japs ships headed for Guadalcanal. Not long after the striking force took off, the bullhorn rang with a call. Wave upon wave of Jap dive bombers and torpedo planes came in against the Hornet and at escort. And the Hornet was hit. Again and again she was hit. Smoking fiercely, she rocked and reeled like a drunken man and kept on fighting. Jap planes fell from the sky like autumn leaves. They fell, but others took their place. And these others bombed, torpedoed strafed and knocked the Hornet all over the ocean. And still the American boys kept on fighting. Even the wounded tried to crawl off their stretchers for another crack at the Japs. But it wasn't any use. The great ship was done for. And finally came the saddest order a ship's company ever hears. The Hornet was sinking. But she had company. She took Jap ships with her. Two cruisers and three destroyers went down the same day. But now it was all over. The men transferred to a nearby destroyer store. The Hornet was sinking. But she had company. The men transferred to a nearby destroyer stood and watched as the Hornet slipped gently over on her side and slowly began to slip beneath the waves. Bill. Bill, listen. Shut up, Joe. Shut up, I said. Bill. What does a guy say when his ship goes down? It's like someone dying. He can't do a thing. The Hornet wasn't beaten. The Japs could never beat her. But she's sinking. And here I stand talking like a fool. I can't seem to stop talking. Listen, Bill. There's so many things I don't know. That's what war does. When I was a kid, I was taught that killing was wrong. Well, it is all wrong. But there are worse things than war. The Japs and the Nazis taught us that. And that's why you and me and the other decent guys have to kill and be killed. We're going to keep on fighting until we win. See, maybe 10 ships will be shot out from under us. OK. We'll just keep on fighting, see? Sure, Bill. I see. Thanks. The Hornet slipped under the water like a perfect lady. Her men lined the rail of the destroyer and watched the ship go down. They stood there and they watched and they cried. The day was a long day and they cried. The day was a long day and they cried. The day was October 26, 1942. And on that day, America suffered a loss and gained a memory of one of the greatest ships of all time. Remember? Yes, you remember the Hornet. And the Japs, the Japs will never forget her. Thank you, Preston Foster, John Hodeac, and Eddie Maher. Preston Foster will return to Cable Kid's microphone in just a few moments to tell you about another important group of men who serve our nation on the Seven Seas. Now, here is Gain Whitman speaking for DuPont with the latest information about nylon for women's hosiery. Upon completion of its projected nylon expansion program, the DuPont company will supply nylon in a variety of forms for a wide range of products. But here's the latest news on nylon for women's hosiery. Nylon hosiery yarn shipments completely shut off in February 1942. Since then, not one pound of nylon yarn has been manufactured and sold by DuPont for hosiery. DuPont could now deliver to hosiery manufacturers alone three times as much yarn as the company was delivering before the war. Nylon production has steadily increased. Although it is now being manufactured entirely for critical military purposes, DuPont plants are geared to make hosiery yarns as military demands let up. Assuming satisfactory conditions after the war, DuPont will further enlarge its nylon yarn production at two existing plants and will build a new plant, all of which may take a year to 18 months. The production estimates are interesting translated from pounds of nylon into stockings. A dozen pairs of women stockings require about six tenths of a pound of nylon yarn. So if a million and a half pounds of DuPont's current production were converted to stocking yarn, they would make 30 million pairs of women stockings. The annual figure would be 360 million pairs or enough for nine pairs for each of the estimated 40 million women in the country. DuPont contemplates 22 to 23 million pounds per year of hosiery yarn alone after the war, enough to provide about 11 pairs a year. That's the latest news about nylon from DuPont, a maker of better things for better living through chemistry. And now here is Preston Foster, co-star of tonight's Cavalcade. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for John Hodiak, Eddie Marr, Cavalcade's cast and myself. America will never forget the hornet and the men who made her what she was. A great and gallant fightin' ship. Like the men of our armed forces, merchant seamen represent a cross section of the nation, and they too are doing a tough, hard-working, dangerous job. The Merchant Marine is the lifeline that supplies our fighting forces with the tools of war on every vital front. The President has proclaimed today as National Maritime Day, and I'm proud to be able to add my humble tribute to these men of the Merchant Marine who are upholding the brilliant traditions of all our seafaring men everywhere. Next Monday evening, Cavalcade presents Sing-A-War Song, an unusual musical program of the songs which American civilians on the home front and our soldiers, sailors and marines on the war front are singing. These songs depict a nation and its people that can still sing as they fight their way to victory. Sing-A-War Song will feature Deems Taylor, the famous Golden Gate Quartet, Kay Arman, Ray Blocks Chorus, and the Cavalcade Orchestra under the supervision of Don Voorhees. Cavalcade is pleased to remind its listeners that Preston Foster is currently filming the 20th Century Fox Technicolor production Thunderhead Son of Flicka. John Hodiak appeared through the courtesy of Metro-Goldman Mayor Studios, producers of White Cliffs of Dover. Tonight's DuPont Cavalcade music was composed and conducted by Robert Armbrister. This is James Bannon sending best wishes from Cavalcade sponsor the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware, and inviting you to next Monday evening's Cavalcade, Sing-A-War Song with Deems Taylor, the Golden Gate Quartet, Kay Arman, Ray Blocks Chorus, and an augmented Cavalcade Orchestra. Monday evening is good listening over NBC. May we suggest that next Monday you tune in your NBC station to hear the Firestone program, information please, the Bells telephone hour, and the DuPont Cavalcade of America. The Cavalcade of America sponsored by DuPont came here from Hollywood. DuPont Cavalcade Company.