 Family Theater presents Jeanette McDonald and Robert Stack. From Hollywood, the Mutual Network in Cooperation with Family Theater presents A Different Drummer starring Robert Stack. And here is your hostess, Jeanette McDonald. Thank you, Tony LaFranco. Family Theater's only purpose is to bring to everyone's attention a practice that must become an important part of our lives if we are to win peace for ourselves. Peace for our families and peace for the world. Family Theater urges you to pray. Pray together as a family. And now to our transcribed drama, A Different Drummer starring Robert Stack as the Corporal. And does not keep pace with his companions. Perhaps it is because he hears, A Different Drummer. The not too distant future, 1964. My home, a small city in the Caucasus. That's right, 1964. I've had ten years to think over what I did. Ten years since I decided to lead Korean and American uniform and disappear behind the iron curtain. You probably wonder as a lot of Americans did, what made us do it. Why'd we stay behind when the other PWs went home? Why'd we become traitors? It's not easy to answer, and I can only speak for myself. But maybe if I tell you how it happened to me, you'll understand a little. I remember it was December 1951, about a month after I'd been captured. When word got around the stockade that some of us were going to be transferred to another PW, a camp farther north near the Yalu River. I wonder what's the deal, Mike? Beats me. Maybe they figure somebody's getting set the bust out of here. Didn't you know? Somebody is. No kidding. Two of the guys in the next touch. Good luck to them. They'll need it. They're looking for a compass. Yeah? Now, you know where they could get one? I know where they could buy one. Boy, you're always hustling, aren't you? Who's hustling? I don't have the compass. Who has? A little guard on the west gate. You know, the guy with the Air Force boots. Are you punchy trying to get a compass from a red guard? He's not red. He's one of the rocks they captured right at the beginning of the war. He's just doing what he's told. How do you know he's got the compass? He showed it to me. He hooked that and the boots off an Air Force guy came through here last month. Any idea what he'll take for it? Well, I think a couple of bottles of that curry and apple jack your buddies are making a do it. Yeah. You want me to talk to him about the compass? Okay. You tell him you can give him the bottles tonight. If it's a deal. It was a deal. Boats said he'd sell the compass and I promised to deliver the bottle. One bottle that night. The other one was for me. Commission. Boats, it's me. I got the bottle. Bring over two fence. See? How about the compass? Your hand bottle through wire. I taste first. You give me the compass, I give you the bottle. Same time. Oh, I know that good stuff. It's bloody good stuff. There. I'll pull out the cork. You take a snap. Okay? Okay. When you bring over the bottle. When's all I could get? You got two bottles for compass. All I could get was one. Besides, that was a deal. My friend tell me you got two bottles for trade compass. Yeah, friend is wrong. He own half compass say one bottle two. He hear soldier body say you get a two bottle. All right. Let's forget the whole thing. No, no, no. You stay. All right. We trade one bottle. Let's see the compass. See? Okay. I take hold bottle two wire and you compass. Go bottle. Good enough. Take hold. All right. Now hand me the compass. All right there. Now you let go. Take it. Go, go now. Go away. Sure. So long boots. Happy new year. Happy new year. That's all I know. I suppose it's crazy now to say this, but if I could go back back over those last 12 years to that December night in 1951, you know what I do? I take that compass and smash it to pieces instead of what I really did. You got it, Mike? Sure. Here. Looks okay. A lot of views. Made in Rochester. Yeah. Well, thanks. Hey, what's the rush? I'm going to give them the compass. They're going out tonight. Right now? That's the best time. Those two guards are working on the bottles you gave them. Two guards? Sure. We got it on a grapevine. That X-Rock guard only owns half of the boots and one half of the compass. Yeah. You know the Red Sergeant and fat guy with the mustache? Yeah. Well, those Air Force boots he wears during the day are the same ones your friend wears at night. Are you sure? Sure. That's the whole idea. They go to work on that Applejack together tonight as soon as they get it. Two guards will be halfway back to their own lines. Yeah, but what if they don't drink the stuff tonight? Well, why shouldn't they? They each got a bottle of peace to work on. There's nothing to argue about there. Right then and there I knew I'd done it. I knew I'd wrecked every chance that the two guys in the next hutch had a break-in out. I didn't have the nerve to admit it, not even to myself. I kept telling myself that maybe Boots would be able to talk his way around the Red Sergeant forgetting only one bottle for the compass. I lay there in the dark, trying to sleep, trying to convince myself that my two countrymen were already over the fence and on their way south, free and clear, using the compass I'd gotten for them. I'd almost done it. The first gray light of dawn had started to move across a cool dirt floor on which I was lying, and I heard a sound that told me how wrong I was. Later it was all over the camp. The Red Sergeant found out Boots had sold me the compass. I carried him to the OD. The rest was easy. The Reds just set up machine guns around the stockade and waited. That's all there was to it. Until late that afternoon, when Noel and another guy from the next hutch came over to see me. Frank? Yeah? You know Bill Bowling? Yeah. How are you? I'm okay. It's pretty rough what happened to those guys this morning. It was too corporal. We think there's something funny about it. Take it easy, Bill. What's the matter with him? I just want to ask you about those bottles, Mike. What about them? Reds got that guard you bought the compass from locked up in one of those rock prisoner pens. Hey, you should have been more careful. Maybe you should have been more careful. What are you talking about? That God says you only give him one bottle for a compass. That's how come the Red Sergeant turned because he didn't get his cut. He's crazy. He's just trying to cover up make himself look good to you guys. There wouldn't be much sense in that. Why not? He goes in front of a red firing squad this afternoon. That's a rough break. We think maybe it's more than just a rough break, Corporal. We think maybe you didn't give him that second bottle. Not just a minute, Bowling. It's not just Bowling, Mike. A lot of us think that. We have a hustler who might try. Are you figured wrong? We don't happen to think so. Take my word for it, Bowling. You're dead. I tell you what we'll do, Mike. You let us look through your stuff. And if we don't find that other bottle, then we'll take your word for it. No dice. I don't want anybody rummaging around through my stuff. We ain't gonna touch anything. You just show it to us. That's just the stuff in this bag. Socks. Couple of bars of soap. That's it. Mm-hmm. Looks clean to me, Bill. Yeah. How about you a straw mattress? Anything in there? Just straw. Mind if I feel rough? Yeah, wait a minute. Put that down. I do mind. Who do you think you are anyhow? The Inspector General? You got something in here that you don't want me to see? No. But I'll make you an offer, Bowling. Yeah? Yeah. You want to be a policeman? Okay. You feel around that mattress to your heart's content. And if you don't find anything, I get the club you're right in the face as hard as I want. All right? Let's call it off. Bill, he sounds pretty sure of himself. How about it, Bowling? Take the offer. You're willing to have your teeth knocked out for nothing? All right, Corporal. I take the offer. Easy. Put that thing down, will you? I made a deal. If I'm wrong, you can knock my teeth out. I'm telling you, put it down. Hold on to him, Jim. I got him. There's nothing in there I tell you. Put it down. Oh, no. What's that? You stinkin' hustling. Listen, you guys, you don't understand. What's the matter? Didn't you get a chance to drink that last time? Let me explain, will you? You were going to knock my teeth out. No, listen, listen. Let me tell you what happened. When I came to, it was dark. It really worked me over. I was all alone in the hutch, and the way I figured it, I was lucky to be alive. I've had time to think it over these last 12 years. What I did next. Time to think it over hard. It wasn't the right thing to do, but I wanted to stay alive. And I knew my chances to do that were next to nothing if I stayed where I was. Sit down, Corporal. Thank you. Major? That is correct. What happened to your face, Corporal? I got beat up. By your own men, eh? That's right. For being an informer. I wasn't any informer. What does it matter? They think you are. Look, I wondered if you could transfer me to another stockade. I suppose I could be arranged on certain conditions. Like what? You would have to cooperate. I don't know what you mean. Are you at all familiar with the writing of Karl Marx? Look, I just want to transfer. I've been marked lousy by everybody in this camp. I know what you want. I ask you a question. Are you familiar with the works of Marx or Lenin? No. Then you have no understanding of Marxian philosophy. I almost had my head caved in the night. I want out of here. Would you be willing to study Marxism in exchange for transfer to another camp? I am no student. You have a quick mind. My agent tells me you are a schema. That is why you are in trouble. It's not the same thing. In your schools at home, you read the works of Thomas Jefferson. Did you not? Benjamin Franklin? I wasn't a great reader, Major. I'm not the guy you're looking for. I'm no intellectual. No, I'm a couple. Intellectuals make poor communists. They are much more interested in analyzing our doctrines than in accepting them. Major, you're way over my head. I just want to get out of here to another camp. Let's forget about Marx, huh? Well, I'll send you to another camp and you need not accept my offer. You're not losing much. But I promise you, Corporal, wherever you go, your reputation will follow. Reputation? Your reputation as informer. I told you I'm no informer. That will matter little if your comrades think you are. And I will see to it that they do think exactly that. That was in December 1951, over 12 years ago. But I remember everything that happened up and afterward just as if I were reliving it all over again. The Major was as good as his word. He transferred me to another stockade and my reputation followed me. It followed me to three more camps in the next year and a half. Hey, you! Keep your distance, soldier. I don't get panicky. You're the no man the guy's worked over last night back at the Meshack? That's right. If you're looking to continue the treatment, I'll bounce this rock off your head. Take it easy, soldier. Take it easy. I don't want any trouble. Just want to talk to you. Stay where you are. I won't come a step closer. What outfit were you with? None of your business. You're a smart boy. They told me you were a smart boy, Mike. How do you know my name? I have ways. How do you like the food you're getting? Food. You call that slop food. I know where you can get better. Yeah? Yeah. And no strings. Meat. Green vegetables. Milk. Very funny, soldier. On the square. Knock off, will you? Let me alone. You can prove I'm lying to you, you know? Like how? Come on, I'll show you. I followed him. I didn't even know his name, but I followed him across the compound around the back of the guards barracks and up to a small barbed wire gate at the south end of the stockade. There was a red soldier standing by a sentry box just outside the gate. He opened it up like we were a couple of Russian generals. Come on, it's just down the road. Hey, who are you, mister? Kim Il-Soon? Nope. Just a guy who got tired of being played for a sucker like you're being played. You mean that guard lets you out of here any time you want? Any time I want. Well, how come you don't try to escape? Get back to your lines. I don't think I have any future back there. Crazy. Not the way I look at it. Everywhere I go, I get the treatment. What'd you do? Never mind what I did. If I go back, I'm in for a court martial and a DD at best. That's rough. No rougher than what you get. You sold out two of your buddies? I did not. What's the difference? Everyone says you did. Prove you didn't. I can't. Of course you can't. So why fight it? You know the old saying. What's that? If you can't beat it, join it. I still didn't know what he meant. Not for another ten minutes when we walked up to a long one-story building down the road about a half a mile from the stockade. He went up to the door, opened it, and ushered me inside. At first I couldn't believe I was seeing right. Hey, what is this place anyhow? Accommodation PX and mess hall. Yeah, but it's full of red soldiers. Not just reds. Look up ahead, standing in the chow line. Yeah, a couple of GIs. Just like you and me, kid. Grab a tray, let's eat. I don't get it. There's not much to get. Every so often the reds get a hold of someone they can beat, common or gone. Someone like me or you. Like I told you, if you can't beat it, join it. You mean become a communist? I don't know. From communism all I know is I can't go home and I'm tired of being pushed around by my own team. What do you mean you can't go home? Once this is over, we gotta go home. Not anymore. Voluntary repatriation. You won't have to go if you don't want to. I never heard of that. You will. You know what's stalling, those truce negotiations? Yeah, the reds. Sure. But why? All right, why? So they'll have enough time to soften up guys like you and me. We think they're gonna make commies out of us? Nah. Well, maybe a couple. But they're just using the stick and carrot method on most of us. What do you mean? Well, like you say, they mark your lousy everywhere you go your own buddies dish out the stick. Yeah. Well, this is the carrot, this chow line. And if you want, there's a warm bunk waiting for you too. I still don't get it. What's their angle? You're their angle. When this is all over, you don't go home. You stay voluntarily. They'll make it worth your while. You'll be good propaganda. What are you gonna do? Well, me first. I'll have some of that pork. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that. And some potatoes there. And gravy. Thanks. That looks good. Yeah. What are you gonna do, Mike? I guess not. Yeah, you all have some of that meat and potatoes too. 12 years ago. 12 years. And you're thinking he sold out. He sold out his country for an order of roast pork with potatoes and gravy. Well, maybe that's right. Maybe it was that simple. It's hard for me not to tell how it happened. But I lived up to the bargain most of us did. You probably remember reading about our triumph at arrival in the red capital after which we slowly dropped out of sight. But of course that's something you didn't read about. Sit down, comrade. Thanks. Your party credentials, please. Here. One of the 20. That's right. Very interesting. That's interesting about it. I want a job. I'm surprised that a person of your notoriety would be seeking employment as a manual laborer. All right, comrade, you're surprised. Do I get the job? The date of your application is March 10, 1906. That was the first time I applied six months ago. The interviewer told me to come back in August. Yes, I have that information on your form. Have you developed any factory skills since the time of your original application? Skills. Look, I've been working in the stock room at the state exchange. Where would I get skills? You are authorized to enroll at the Polytechnical Institute at Typhus. 800 miles away. Who's going to feed my family while I'm there? It's your family, comrade. Look, what is this? I came here in 54. I was a big man. You are a big man to know, comrade. What do you mean? You're a traitor. I'll report you. To whom? The propaganda minister whose idea you were has been dead for two years. Yeah, well, I have friends. Not in this city. You're despised. Despised? I'm one of you. I've chosen your way. You chose nothing. Do you think we're fools? You came here to save your skin. All right. All right, suppose I did. I've still got to live. I've got to eat. I'm sorry. There's nothing. Look. Look, you've got to help me. I've got a wife. She's a countryman of yours. We have children. You're an American. Why not apply to your country's embassy? I can't do that. Yes, you can. What would happen to me? Go back to the States after all these years to jail sentence for desertion, maybe for life. You'll know something, comrade. What? I have a good job here. And I'm a party official. And this minute, I would trade places with a convict serving a life sentence in America. That did it. I knew how wrong I'd been. I knew how little sympathy I'd get when I came back home. But from that minute, I started working toward the day when I'd get back to the United States. It took time and patience and nerve, but I kept at it. But what you don't understand, sir, is that you are no longer an American citizen. You have renounced that right. Look, I know that, Ambassador, but I want it back for three years I've been trying to leave this country. What about your family? I've got them across the border to Italy. They'll be waiting for me. You know, of course, that if this can be arranged, as soon as you're on free soil, extradition proceedings will be taken to return you to the United States for trial. I don't care. I'm guilty. I've just had enough. That's all. Do you admit everything? I admit everything. Desertion. Responsibility for the death of two American soldiers. Desertion. What was that second point? Back in Korea. I sold out two of my buddies. I didn't mean to, but they got killed. Just a moment. I have your dossier here. Ah, yes. Was this the incident you speak of? The betrayal by the Korean guard? Yeah. Boots. I only gave him one bottle for the compass. That's how he got turned in. His red buddy got sore at being shortchanged. According to my records, it wasn't quite how it happened. What do you mean? Apparently, the Communist newspaper here censored every reference to this story, not that I'm surprised. What story? It became quite evident not long after the prisoner exchange was completed in 1954 that most of you men, the ones who stayed behind, were duped or terrorized into making the choice you did. I can't deny it. In your case, it was conclusively established that the guard from whom you bought the compass was in fact a North Korean lieutenant planted in the stockade to catch a fish like you. He had no accomplice. That was a complete fabrication, buddy. What? Before a red firing squad? I'm afraid not. That rumor was just part of the plan to turn your comrades against you and in turn to send you running to the camp commandant. You mean it wasn't my fault that those two Americans were killed trying to escape? Not in the sense you think. If you hadn't lost faith in your fellow countrymen, you'd have learned that long before now. Yeah. Yeah, I guess I... I lost faith. That's the only time they can get you, isn't it? I beg pardon? The commies. The only time they can get you on their side, whether they trick you or sell you a political bill of goods is after you've lost faith. In your friends in your country in God. This is Jeanette MacDonald again. You know, a birthday is a great event. I know it's true in my own family and it's true in yours too. A birthday means that you're growing up, that another year has passed and another lies ahead with many opportunities for doing good. Well, a few days ago Family Theater celebrated its birthday and it's been celebrated a few days ago Family Theater celebrated its birthday. Seven years ago it came into existence over 116 stations and for one purpose to bring entertainment into your home with also a reminder of the power of daily family prayer. Today Family Theater is heard over 400 stations in the United States. It's heard in Canada, Australia and many other countries throughout the world. So Family Theater is really growing up and its opportunities for good? Well, from the many letters received week after week we know that thousands of you have found the productions entertaining and have experienced the happiness and peace that comes from daily prayer. So Family Theater begins its eighth year on the air in a spirit of birthday rejoicing and reminds you, as it does each week that the family that prays together stays together. More things are brought by prayer than this world dreams of. From Hollywood Family Theater has brought to you transcribed a different drummer starring Robert Stack. Jeanette McDonald was your hostess. Others in our cast were Gene Bates, Larry Dobkin, Ben Wright, Jack Krushen and Tom Holland. The script was written and directed for Family Theater by John T. Kelly with music composed and conducted by Harry Zimmerman. This series of Family Theater broadcasts is made possible by the thousands of you who feel the need for this type of program, by the mutual network which has responded to this need and by the hundreds of stars of state screen and radio who give so unselfishly of their time and talent to appear on our Family Theater stage. To them and to you, our humble thanks. This is Tony LaFranco expressing the wish of Family Theater that the blessing of God may be upon you and your home and inviting you to be with us next week I will present Past Imperfect starring Jack Haley with Frank Leahy as host. Join us, won't you? Family Theater is broadcast throughout the world and originates in the Hollywood studios of the world's largest network. This is the Mutual Broadcasting System.