 The Johnson Wax Program, Words at War with Clifton Fadiman. In cooperation with the Council on Books in War Time, again bring you Words at War, another dramatization based upon one of the significant books to come out of this great world conflict. And here with us as usual to introduce our program is one of the keenest judges of good books in America, Clifton Fadiman. Good evening. When do you think we will defeat Japan? Allied leaders are divided on that question. Estimates range all the way from one to three years. Everyone has his own idea. But one distinguished war correspondent, a man who spent a year in the Pacific, has a very definite idea and has written a thought-provoking book about it. I'll tell you more about the book and its author after a word from Jack Costello. Friends, during a month that's as exciting and significant as this October, it's hard to put our minds to the simple everyday tasks of life, such as housekeeping. And yet our homes were never more important than right now and during the next several years. We want as much beauty in them as we can have. But that beauty doesn't depend upon having expensive things. Modest furnishings can have that rich wax-polished look if they're regularly protected with Johnson's wax. When floors, furniture, and woodwork gleam with wax beauty, the entire home takes on a different look. And Johnson's wax has many extra uses in your home for protecting window sills, lampshades, leather articles, ornaments, Venetian blinds. The list is almost endless. And each one is another chance to save yourself work because wax things clean so easily. The coat of Johnson's wax, though invisible, acts like a shield to keep dirt from penetrating the surface. The wax itself takes the wear. The surface underneath is safe. Mr. Fadiman. Although the war in Europe is far from one, Americans are becoming increasingly conscious of that other war we have to win, the war in the Pacific. Tonight's book directs our attention to that war. It's called Pacific Victory 1945. It was written by the New York Herald Tribune's world-roving correspondent Joseph Driscoll. Driscoll himself is now with the advanced forces of General Patton's army somewhere in Germany. But before he went to Europe, he spent a year in the Pacific Theater, living with the officers and men who were fighting the Japs. What he saw there led him to put the title of Pacific Victory 1945 on the story he had to tell. This is Driscoll's story. We can beat Japan in 1945 if, yes, naturally there are ifs. If we beat Germany in 1944, we can beat Japan in 1945 if there is no slackening of the war effort anywhere along the line. If the home front does its job as well as the fighting front, if... Wait a minute. Let's meet a few of the reasons why I think we can look for Pacific Victory 1945. Let's meet McNimsey. McNimsey is not one person, but three, as you shall see. One day in December 1941, a blue-eyed, ruddy-faced, silver-haired, medium-tall man entered the club car of a transcontinental train. A companion followed him, and as they walked through the car, one of the passengers jumped to his feet. Well, well, good God. Imagine seeing you here. How are you? I am sorry. I think you've made a mistake. Oh, no. Why, you must remember me, Professor Roberts. We had a great chat tonight. You addressed the college. My name is Wainwright. No, no. I am very sorry, sir. You have me confused with somebody else. My name is Wainwright. Excuse me, please. Wainwright? Oh, certainly, Mr. Wainwright. Forgive me. Not at all. Johnson, shall we go back to the compartment? Of course. I'm very sorry, Mr. Wainwright. Did he really know you, sir? Yes, of course he did. I guess we'd better stay out of the club car. Yes, it wouldn't do for the word to get around to this stage of the game. Well, he'll keep his mouth shut. He caught on. Well, shall we have a look at these papers? Yes, sir. By the way, sir, that's a nod-looking bag for you to be carrying those precious documents in. So I can find we left in such a hurry. My wife's sewing bag. Still clutching his wife's sewing bag. Mr. Wainwright and his companion arrived in Los Angeles. Your car, Mr. Wainwright. Oh, yes, thank you. Hop in, Johnson. Yes, sir. They went on to San Diego. Mr. Wainwright. Yeah? The plane is ready, sir. Thank you. Let's go, Johnson. They flew on through the day and night. And when their plane landed, there was no longer any reason for remaining incognito. As Mr. Wainwright stepped off the plane, navy men snapped to attention. Mr. Wainwright, better known as Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, one-third of Mack Nimsey, had arrived at Pearl Harbor to take over as commander-in-chief of the Pacific. Americans ought to know this man who set out from Washington in December 1941, as Mr. Wainwright, and took over at Pearl Harbor as four-star admiral, Chester W. Nimitz, able administrator, stern disciplinarian, good fighting man, good family man, a man who walks to headquarters with a little snouser dog, tagling along behind him, and dedicates each waking hour to the task of killing Japs. He doesn't like killing anything. He wouldn't kill a fly in peacetime. But he thinks that the killing of Japs is his particular business now, because he wants to see as few Americans killed as possible. Yes, that's Chester W. Nimitz, one-third of Mack Nimsey, one reason to hope for Pacific victory, 1945. Now, listen to this. Hirohito, your time is short. Admiral Yamamoto, you will be present at a dictated peace in the White House, but it won't be as you envisaged. Tojo, when you unleashed the attack on Pearl Harbor, you started something which will make you wish you died when you were a baby. Who's that talking? Another member of the firm of Mack Nimsey, one of the toughest fighting men the world ever saw, selected by Admiral Nimitz to command the attack in the South Pacific. And having assumed command, he said this to the soldiers and sailors and Marines fighting under him. Gentlemen, we are the South Pacific fighting force. I don't want anybody to be even thinking in terms of Army, Navy and Marines. Every man must understand it. If I have to take off all uniforms, he should cover all and imprint the insignia South Pacific fighting force on the seat of the past. The men got the idea. The men from captain to ship's cook from general to private got the idea. Does the fighting progressed in those rugged early days of the war? Their respect and confidence in their leader grew day by day. Maybe it was because... You know, I figure this way. If he can take it, so can I. Yeah, me too. Say, did you hear what happened today? Now what? Well, you know Butch, the cook. Sure. Well, after dinner, the old man calls him over and says, Butch, I want you to know that's the best meal I've eaten for a long time. Yeah? Well, Butch gets so flustered, he says to the old man, Oh, horse feathers, sir. What the old man do? Just about bust his sides out, laughing. He's for me. Yep, me too. I just hope he knows what he's doing, the old man. Ma'am. Yes, sir. I resent being called old. Yes, sir. Hey, who was that? Oh, holy, catch, that was him. That was the old man. It happened just that way. The old man never got too busy to enjoy a laugh on himself. Even during the bitter days of Guadalcanal when he first took over. Even in the days when he stuffed the southward march of the Japs toward Australia and New Zealand. Yes, he has a ready laugh, but the smiling lines of his mouth vanish into gritted teeth when he faces our enemy in the Pacific. Then he looks as tough as a bulldog. Then he's the daring, ruthless partner in the firm of McNimsey. The name? Admiral William S. Halsey. I met the last partner of McNimsey face to face for the first time in Brisbane. I talked about him with my fellow correspondents hundreds of times, because he's a man that you just naturally talk about. He's an anaconda, yeah. Yes, he is, and a good one. He's strictly army. Perhaps, as an army man should be. You know, I asked him if Japan could be defeated by bombing and blockade alone. Yeah. He said absolutely no. The strongest element in Japan. He said there's a army which must be defeated before our successes are assured. This can only be done by the ground forces. He said it's useless and misleading to think of shortcuts. They do not exist, he said. Yeah. Well, he designs his own caps, so I hear. And he admits it. His communiques. Oh, God. That's a little rough. Yeah, I know. Yes, his communiques are famous. He has a flair for the poetic. You know, he looks 20 years younger than he is. He sure does. All of that. He's hard to get to for an interview, you know. Right. Well, the men swear by him. I'll say so. They've seen him take the same chances as the Marist Buck Private. He gets their sick when he flies. Yes, he does. But he flies when flying will do the job. And didn't you ever hear of a seasick admiral? Things he can win with just an air force and land forces. And perhaps he can. He's sworn that he'll retake the Philippines wouldn't do it. I think he will. I know he will. He hasn't had too much to work with. You're excited. No. Nazi Germany was number one on our list. I heard a story about him today. Seems he got an orderly from down south. The order came in one day and said, Sir, what hat do you want me to bash down today? A bash down army cap looks pretty wreckage. But the story is probably manufactured. Just like the story that he has orange juice and three communiques for breakfast. Mr. Driscoll. Oh, yes. The general will see you now. Will you come with me? Thank you. This was in Brisbane. I'd heard the legends, but this was the first time I'd met him face to face. It was all I'd expected. Dramatic? Yes. He strode forward and shook my hand vigorously. Then he sat on a window seat and talked, punctuating his remarks with a thrust of his long stemmed briar pipe. He's good to look at. He looks like what Hollywood would conceive him to be in casting a picture. His eyes are clear and sharp. He's immaculately dressed. I listen. I can't tell you what he said, but I can tell you what it adds up to. He hates Japs. General Douglas MacArthur hates Japs and won't rest until he has done his share to defeat them. And so that's MacNimsey. A word I coined in one of my dispatches to sum up the leadership of our war in the Pacific. MacArthur, Nimitz and Halsey. MacNimsey. They run the show in the Pacific. Their commands are thousands of miles apart, but they are united by a common purpose. Shall we call it victory? Well, they're more realistic. They call their job the job of killing Japs. That's right, killing Japs. You coin your house finding phrases if you want to. But these are fighting men. MacArthur, Nimitz and Halsey. They say we'll kill Japs. MacArthur, Nimitz and Halsey. MacNimsey. Prime reason why I call my story Pacific Victory. 1945. This is Clifton Fatiman. Tonight on the Johnson-Wax program, Words at War, we are bringing you a dramatization based upon Joseph Driscoll's book, Pacific Victory 1945. So far, Mr. Driscoll has introduced us to the firm of MacNimsey, composed of Admiral Nimitz, Admiral Halsey and General MacArthur. Their leadership in the Pacific, according to our author, is one reason to hope for victory over the Japanese in 1945. We continue now with Joseph Driscoll and Pacific Victory 1945. We've met the leaders. Now let's meet the men. A marine told a sailor on Guadalcanal. The army is coming. Just think of it, pal. The sailor he answered. Well, let's build a nice clubhouse for our fighting men. What men? I can't begin to tell you what kind of men we have out there. Kids, most of them. Kids with a God-given sense of humor. They can have inter-tay-a-play recreation advisors from the WPA. U.S.O. hostess says, yee-hee, and sweet nurses galore for the army gives morale a very high score. The leadership to win in the Pacific, and we've got the men. Marines, soldiers, sailors, sea-bees, all fighting for America. Gryping about it, sure, but doing the job. Did I say griping? Oh, how they gripe. Marines against sailors, sailors against soldiers, soldiers against fliers, and especially those long-suffering members of the Air Force who are tied to jobs on the ground. Here we go with a file case yonder diving deep into the drawer Here it is buried away down under the gosh-darned stuff we've been searching for Off we go into the CO's office where we get one heck of a roar We live in miles of pain We'll stop the army chair call How do they do it? The American boys who lived through hell every day in the Pacific managed to preserve a sense of humor I lived with them and I still don't know I don't know how they can take what they've been taking for these years and still write their songs about each other Still kid each other Do you ever stop to think who these boys are? They're kids just out of school Kids who perhaps started to work on the first job of their lives Insurance salesmen, clerks poor men's sons, rich men's sons What are they doing out there? Dying Being spattered, get the word spattered to death by hand grenades Being blown to bits by bombs blown to bits, get that? Nothing left of them, not enough to bury What did you do today my friend from morning until night How many times did you complain that rationing is too tight When are you going to start to do all of the things you say A soldier would like to know, my friend what did you do today? That's not a very good poem, you couldn't sell it for a nickel The only reason I quoted here is because the author is a rather interesting American He gave it to me He was a little bit unsteady at the time You see, he'd been wounded and had to amputate his own right foot with a jackknife He would like to know, my friend what did you do today? Will you come in gentlemen? It was a press conference with a public relations officer He had guests, some wounded men who had just returned from action at Macon Island Right in here gentlemen We went in, there were the wounded men from Macon, they were the lucky ones just wounded He could almost smell a gunpowder in blood One of us asked a foolish question Well, soldier, do you want to return to combat? The boy and he was just a boy looked up with tired eyes and said without fear or braggadocio If I'm ordered to go, sir I'll go What did you do today, my friend to help us with a task? Did you work harder and longer for less or is that too much to ask? What right have I to ask you this? I guess that's what you'll say Maybe now you'll understand You see I died today Not much of a poem, you couldn't sell it for a nickel It's only interesting because the author, as I told you wrote it after he had cut off his own foot with a jackknife We've got the men men who would blush and stammer of being idealistic yet men who are fighting for you and me at home That's no empty phrase These men in the Pacific have kept the jabs out of our front yard We've got the men and we've got the leadership The firm of McNimsey MacArthur Nimitz and Halsey Men, leaders and weapons We've got them now We've got the greatest fleet in world history assembled in the Pacific A fleet that has risen from the ashes of Pearl Harbor A fleet that spells the doom I think of Japan in 1945 Once I was a civvy happy as could be But along comes the drab board a looking after me Greetings said the letter Your country's needing you If you haven't got a better spot you know what we will do So they sent me to Camp Allen where I became a boot They handed me a rifle but the dirt thing wouldn't shoot That's all there is for now We've really just begun But you'll hear from us again before the war is won A bum song you couldn't sell it for a nickel It's just a little thing one of the boys dashed off before the Japs sent a hundred screaming planes diving on them I've called my story Pacific Victory 1945 I didn't choose that title casually I thought about it a great deal as I talked to the officers and men in the year I spent roving around the Pacific I thought about it as I smacked mosquitoes as I lay a bed with fever as I ate the eternal tinned meats you get when supplies run short I looked at the men and at the leaders of the MacNimsian Company Just consider what MacNimsian Company have accomplished since December 7th, 1941 when the Japs made their sneak attack on Pearl Harbor Consider what they have accomplished while we've been swinging a powerful right hand against nasty germy leaving a comparatively feeble left to jab at the Japs What's going to happen when we start slugging them with a big left and a big right with the British fleet added to ours and with a further likelihood we'll join in the attack once the bears devour the Nazi but forget everything else but MacNimsian Company Give them everything they need and I say it's still a good bet If we beat Germany in 44 MacNimsian Company to win in 45 Just one final word I want you to stand with me on Guadalcanal Street Guadalcanal Street is the name that has been given to the cemetery on that island in the Pacific an island we never heard of before the war but which now has buried hundreds of American boys who died for America Walk along with me Look at the inscriptions on the wooden markers Dear brother may you rest in peace and may I never until your death is avenged Here's another to the memory of a gunner whose life was taken at the completion of a mission we had volunteered to carry out his memory will be retained by every member of his squad and this one Here lies in glory an American flyer known only to God There they lie row on row American boys who died please get that they died they gave the only real thing we have on earth they gave their lives for you and me as you hear this I'm off on another front with General Patton and his advance forces in Germany but at night I think back to Guadalcanal Street where the plain wooden markers stand row on row let's not forget those American boys however soon or late we win in Europe let's not let down let's make this our goal Pacific Victory 1945 This is Clifton Patton Tonight on the Johnson-Wax program Words at War we brought you a dramatization based upon Joseph Driscoll's Pacific Victory 1945 you will recall Mr. Driscoll saying that he based the title of his book on several ifs perhaps the most important being that we could win in the Pacific in 1945 if we won in Europe this year however the fortunes of modern war change swiftly and now according to Mr. Churchill and other allied leaders it appears possible the Germans may hold out longer however I think if Mr. Driscoll were here with us tonight he'd still say and I think we'd agree that Pacific Victory 1945 is a goal worth shooting at with every ounce of energy we have with everyone on the home front backing to the limit our fighting men around the world I'll be back after a word from Jack Costello when people walk into your kitchen what do you think they see first well try it yourself in some other kitchen and I think you'll agree it's the linoleum floor covering it comes right up and hits you in the face either because it's clean and sparkling with a rich polish or because it isn't of course I'll always take my kitchen floors with a beautiful glow coat shine the kind that's easy to maintain the kind that offers solid protection against wear Johnson's self polishing glow coat keeps millions of floors beautiful saves countless hours of work because it needs no rubbing or buffing you simply apply glow coat and let it dry it polishes itself it brings out the full colors and pattern of the linoleum and it's a real economy because the regular use of glow coat makes linoleum last six to ten times longer need I say more than Johnson's self polishing glow coat and now Mr. Faderman what about next week's show next week, well next week at the sour your old friends, Fibre McGee and Molly return to the air after their summer vacation and may we of words at war take this occasion to say that we've been happy and proud to present our program these 15 weeks under the sponsorship of the Johnson Wax Company we're grateful for the interest of our listeners and the many letters you've written us speaking of letters, we've had a lot of inquiries about future words at war programs they'll continue to be heard on Tuesday nights over most of these stations two hours later at 1130 Eastern war time now this is Clifton Faderman inviting you to be on hand next week at this time for Fibre McGee and Molly and the Johnson Wax program good night tonight's dramatization of Pacific Victory 1945 by Joseph Griscoll was written by Gerald Holland and featured Bartlett Robinson as Joseph Griscoll the music was composed by Tom Bennett and conducted by Milton Catons songs were sung by Tom Glazer the production was under the direction of Anton M. Leder Jack Costello speaking this is the National Broadcasting Company