 Proudly, we hail. From New York City, where the American stage begins, here is another program with a cast of outstanding players. Public service time has been made available by this station for your Army and your Air Force to bring you this story. As proudly we hail, Women with Courage. Our story is entitled, To Freedom. A true story of a troubled time. Our first act curtain will rise in a moment, but first... Young woman, how about your future? Does it include an interesting and important job? A job that will take you to the exciting places of the world? Places where tomorrow's history is being made today? Right now, young women like yourself are urgently needed to serve their country in the Women's Army Corps. Here's your opportunity to secure your future. Go to your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force recruiting station and get all the facts today. And now, your Army and your Air Force present the proudly we hail production, Flight to Freedom. Okay, we'll take it in 60 seconds. Stand by to record. Are you ready? I'm ready. Control stand by. Take it straight up in 55 seconds. Flight for cue. In a soundproof room, many floors up in a building in Manhattan, a young and pretty woman sits before a microphone. Engineers stand ready to record her voice in 60 seconds. Many thoughts cross the mind of Melita Gaber during that silent 60 seconds in which time appears suspended. And nothing moves but the hand of a stopwatch. Bring the cue that will be the signal for my first words. This country is transmitting thousands of miles overseas. Places and scenes where freedom once was lost, where freedom is again in jeopardy. I wonder if the signs are the same or can freedom ever again slip from the grasp of those who remember the first time? You saw the first signs in the faces of the people, the growing uncertainty giving way to constant fear. In the many-story grooming house my mother and I had fled to in Vienna. I remember how the terror told in the faces of the occupants that night. When I returned to find them huddled in frightened groups on the landings, listening for any echo the stairwell might carry up to them, I hurried past the groups and up the stairs and finally reached the last landing. Mother, let me help you out a bit. Melita, dear, what's wrong? I remember the police. Their police is in the house making a search of the rooms. Who is he looking for? I hear the mother steps. He's coming here to this room. This? That does have a door. I must go to the door. Say nothing. Let me in. No. Don't touch me. Tell me what you want with us. My mother's very ill. Frau Geber. It is you. Carl Edmondsdorf? Yes. Who has not seen you in so long? Carl. The uniform. It is not a joke you're playing, honest. I think the faces of the people on the stairs would tell you that Carl's visit is no joke. I could not come straight to this room. I had to make my visit to this house appear routine. Routine under the new system is the daily terrorizing of innocent people. Melita, wait. Let Carl tell us why he's come. It is possible for a man's thinking to change. Is it? From the invaders have done their work on the forest where the trees ever grow again as they once did, Carl. Working with father would have taught you that at least. Even if all the rest he had to say was wasting, Melita. I thought you and Carl were too many. I'm sorry, mother. You never told you why Carl went away. I begged father not to tell you. I was so ashamed. Talk to her, Carl. Will you listen if I do, Melita? When I explain to you the danger you are in. Our danger wasn't being born. No doubt it is what you were going to explain to us. You know it isn't. I have a 24 hour leave. It will be up this time tomorrow night. By then this section of the city will have been covered. Covered? It is the next to be searched, Melita. Frau Geber, surely you can see it. My mother's too ill to run if that's what you're telling us to do. We have a hiding place here. Here in this building? Is that what you started to say? Please go. Melita, listen to me. You must believe what I tell you. You are no longer safe here. But kindness is soon discovered. And the people who own this building are now known to be offering help to people. And it has become a crime to help. I want to help you. I have two documents here. Both are careful for juries. One authorizes me to transport Hilda van Hesse, a political prisoner to the Italian border for trial. The other... Wait, Carl. It's a document you just mentioned. It is to be used for Melita? Yes. But it never minds the other one, Carl. It will not help. At the border we can surely get medical help for you, Frau Geber. No, Melita. I have only the strength to raise my hand to you. Give me yours, Carl. I can feel the strength in it. You have turned your young strength to a task. You've grown ashamed of it. God will bless you for offering the help. Melita, you will not refuse it. Mother, I cannot leave you. Yes, yes, you must. It's a senseless sacrifice to stay when free. Free you can do so much more good. The world needs the free. Freedom is a promise that only the free can bring to the world Mother. and escape. Guard your identity. You'll stay into the character. The precious thing that gives way to your word and promise. Will you still help me to escape, Carl? Of course. You must hide. So, very soon now, I will be free. Take care. The couch doesn't move. Always used to say, walk quickly through the night. If it frightens you. She would want us to hurry. Walk quickly through the night, Mother. Come, Melita. I'll step out on the landing, but don't start down the stairs, my chair. A pair of handcuffs? They do. This paper says that you are Hilda van Hesse, a political prisoner. Oh, I see. Your wrist. You know the other one? Free on the express from the Barnhoof, Barn South, the Italian border. Outside the compartment, the corridors were crowded. Faces stared through the glass at us. Then, as exhaustion overcame me, the faces became a blur. My head fell forward and I slept. Melita. What? Your sleep seemed troubled. Yes, Carla. I know what's wrong. Those faces at the window of the compartment, one of them, Carl, did you notice a man standing just behind us while you talked with the guard on the platform? Yes, he followed us aboard. Then I wasn't imagining it. He's been watching us. You weren't imagining anything? Who is he? I don't know. Someone who knows they're here? Hilda van Hesse? It could be. We mustn't appear to be talking. Leaving things unsaid is nothing new, is it? For us. The express was deep in the Alps by now, climbing over snow-covered roadbeds. We sat motionless, not daring to speak, wondering what meaning lay behind the expressionless, looking those narrowed, watchful eyes. Then, taught dawn, we reached the border. Compartment three, routine check. Do you have papers for the prisoner? Here they are. Well, there'll be a long wait here. We'll try and get you on the next train for Vienna. Vienna? I've just come from Vienna. My orders are to take the prisoner into Italy. These papers give you authority to bring her only as far as the border. But surely that includes crossing the border? To cross the border requires a written authorization which you do not have. You'll be happy to take the prisoner off your hand. I do not intend to lose sight of the prisoner. I'm sorry, but your present authorization... Well, unfounded, how do I go about getting another one? These matters are not our concern, Lieutenant. It happens to be very much my concern. I cannot relinquish my prisoner to anyone. I couldn't help overhearing. Perhaps I can set the young lieutenant's mind at rest. The man who stepped into the compartment was the same man who had watched us during the journey. I can well understand the lieutenant's concern. Apprehending the prisoner as he did reflects a great deal of credit on him. It would on anyone. So I propose the prisoner be handed over to me. I do not wish to do that. The prisoner belongs... To anyone whose authority extends to crossing the border into Italy. Mine does. I'm Eric von Hammer, special agent. Therefore, from this moment, Hilde von Hess is my prisoner. The prisoner will proceed with me. As soon as I receive complete information about her from Vienna, her file is being checked now. Expect a call at any minute. Captain Hammer, I ask you once more. In view of the fact that it was I who captured the prisoner, have I not the right to take her to trial? A technicality stands in the way of that. Which makes it possible for you to... Take credit for the arrest of Hilde von Hess? Is that what you are about to say? Let me caution you about making impetuous accusations again. Ah, there's the call I'm expecting. Yes, von Hammer speaking. You have the information on Hilde von Hess? Good. Give it to me slowly. Eh? See? Yeah? What? Say that again. Are you sure? Impossible. No, never mind. I will call you if I need further information. Yes, fine. What is it? What did you learn? I have learned. Not here. Come through this door. We'll talk in the other room. Were these papers identifying the prisoner in her possession when you apprehended her? Yes, yes, they were. And it didn't strike you as strange that she would have them with her? What have you learned? I have learned that Hilde von Hess died two days ago in the prison hospital in Vienna. What? The woman in the other room is an imposter. Probably a refugee who needed papers and somehow came by these. What do you intend doing with her? Do it. Sir, I apologize for any embarrassment this may have caused you. I will contact my superior. No, I don't advise you to do that. But if a mistake has been made... It is not up to us to correct it. At least I want nothing to do with it. I don't want any arguments of this sort, ruin careers. I have no desire to find myself a laughing stock or worse. The spoils of this woman, I don't care what is done with her, but I wish this woman had moved at once. You are listening to the proudly we hail production of Flight to Freedom. We'll return to our story in just a moment. Have you noticed the new trim, whack uniform worn by the young women who are serving in the women's army corps? This new uniform not only stamps the wearer as being smartly dressed. It also indicates that she is doing her part to keep America strong. If you are a young woman between 18 and 34 and can qualify, you are urged to do your part in making unity, strength, freedom, a reality. Go to your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force recruiting station and enlist in the women's army corps today. You are listening to proudly we hail and now we present the second act of Flight to Freedom. Young, pretty Austrian-born Melita Gaber sits before a microphone awaiting the queue that will be her signal to record a message to be sent abroad to places still in her thoughts. In the remaining seconds before getting her queue those thoughts continue. A seaport on the Adriatic. A ship riding at anchor in the fog provides to receive the boatload of human cargo silently filling a small craft beached at the water's edge. Refugees seeking a friendly shore. They're getting ready to roar out to the ship. You'd better get in, Melita. I know. But Carl, I want to say... Melita, don't say anything. Don't try. No, Carl, you've arrived too much. You've been left unsaid between us. Melita... Carl, do you miss this room in that boat for both of us? Melita, I wish I could come with you. Start a new life with you. There's something holding you to the old life. No, Melita. There's... something I must do. They are beckoning to me from the boat. You believe me, don't you, Melita? I want to, Carl, but how can I... Melita, the greater part of love is trust. I know. If you can believe strongly enough in my love, then you will find yourself trusting in what I tell you. I'll try. Carl, I must go. When all this is over, we'll meet again. In the lane that leads from your house. We'll meet. We'll find one another. Goodbye, Carl. Watch from the shore. Stay on the shore where I can see you. I'll watch from the boat. The water was under my feet. And as I climbed into the boat, he seemed very far away, standing on the shore. I kept my eyes fastened on the shore and Carl, until the fog closed over them. On board the ship, I stood by the railing as the anchor rose noiselessly to the deck. As I strained my eyes through the fog, I was suddenly aware of someone standing beside me. I did not mean to give you a start. You didn't. Well, not big stuff. I'm afraid we're all conditioned to jump at the slightest sound. There's someone out there in the fog. Yes. Yes, there's someone. It is hard to sever ties with the past. You must be an Austrian. I'm part Egyptian. Drodma is my name. I'm Militia Geber. And you're right. I'm Austrian. And he, out there, a countryman of yours, it's hard to tell what makes a countryman. One will share the common danger, or one who shares a common hope. You are afraid there is more standing between you than just a fog in the growing distance. The human mind is so given to doubt. I too seek to hold to a belief, not in one person, but in all my people. You see, I've been away from them so long I could not obtain a passport to return, and so I am on this ship. I must know if they are resisting this ideology that is spreading. And that is why you are going back? Yes. We dock in Alexandria. Then I will travel overland to El Alamein. A five-day journey brought us to Alexandria, where my newfound friends suggested I make the journey with her to her home in El Alamein. It would be a journey of several weeks, made in the company of a wandering tribe travelling across the desert. We were many days into the journey, and far out on the desert, when the caravan stopped at a small oasis. And for relaxation, Radma and I took the children from the caravan to play at some distance from the group. Then I noticed a strange thing. Radma, why the children suddenly so silent? They are frightened by something they've seen in the sand. What are the treads of tanks? They were put there very recently, probably during the night. But I remember hearing the British maneuvers for over two days ago. The enemy is here on this shore. This news must be taken to the nearest town. A runner can be sent ahead of the caravan. How many days to El Alamein? Three more. And when we get there, Melita, we must make a decision. It's no hiding. We haven't the right... Mother said that before she died. There's a large British contingent ready to defend El Alamein. There are women in their ranks, recruited from these shores. They call these women the ATS, the Auxiliary Territorial Service. What do you say, Melita? I say we cannot wait for the winds to wipe those tanklets out of the sands. The war in Africa began and the tanks came, digging their treads into the sands. While England was fighting for its life in the Battle of Britain, the enemy advanced safely into Egypt, as far as Sidi Barani. Only El Alamein stood in the path of the push toward Cairo. Radma and I, now privates in the British Army, awaited our assignment as Rommel's advance began. Our assignment came. We found ourselves part of another caravan, finding its way into the desert. A caravan made up this town of trucks and jeeps, taking us to the desert oasis of Tel El Kabir, the hill of goodness. If Rommel was to be stopped, it would be at El Alamein. The English and American supplies destined to do the job were to come from Tel El Kabir. The battle for Egypt was a battle of supply. After the fall of Tobruk in December of 1941, it seemed that nothing could stop Rommel's advance. But there were General Sherman tanks, a maze of minefields, long-range American bombers, taking heavy toll of enemy supply lines. In October of 1942, Rommel was defeated in the final battle of El Alamein. And the Middle East was saved. They came to Tel El Kabir, the prisoners of war. Radma and I were among those assigned the responsibility to the welfare of these battle weary men who had come from the hell of war to the hill of goodness. Don't understand. You're in charge of a case here in the hospital? Yes. He was brought here because no one could tell what was wrong with him. It isn't his body that's broken. It seems to be his spirit. I don't know enough of the language to get through to him. I'll see what I can do. This is the bed? Yes. Melita, what is it? I think I know him, Radma. The neighbor's son whose only ideology was the sporting way to win at a game. Rudy? Rudy, if you can catch the way Carl shows you, you'll make the team at the gymnasium. They'll be proud of you. They? Your family and Carl. You remember Carl? His mind is frightening. I think he recognizes me. Carl can't show me anymore. Carl is dead. Dead? Rudy, how do you know Carl is dead? They killed him. They? At first, they gave him an important job clearing the forests. He knew the forests could do the job. Yes, Rudy. Till they learned Carl was conducting escape route for refugees. Helping refugees out of the country? Through the forests. He knew the forests. What did they do to him? He was shot. I... I saw it. They shot him. He was whom I had shared the joys of childhood. They shot him. But known. If I had but known, the war in Africa was over, but the rest of the world fought on. And from the hill of goodness, supplies went out to help speed the day when thousands could return to homes they had left. And when that day came? Milita, what would you do now? You are welcome to remain here, but it would be difficult for you among people whose customs are not your own. And yet, for I to return to Vienna, I'd be but a lonely stranger. There's a lane that leads from our house through the woods of Vienna. I was to meet someone. Milita, you left Vienna with the promise that you would use your identity in the fight for freedom. If you have patience, I think you can be sure of keeping this promise. Patience to do what? To wait a year, perhaps two. There are limited quotas under which persons displaced by war can go to America and freedom. Do you think? I know, Milita, and I know that there you will find a way to continue the fight. I know you will ask yourself a hundred times over if you have kept faith, and eventually you will find the answer. Have I kept my faith? What other question could I, now an American citizen, ask myself sitting here, in America, before this microphone waiting for the cue to speak, the signal for my first words, words that will fly through forests struggling to grow again, in a country whose people are struggling to understand freedom again. This freedom is a great promise to be able to bring them, and I know that my new identity will give weight to my promise. All right, Miss Gaber, 10 seconds. Stand by. Hello, this is Corporal Milita Gaber, Women's Army Corps, of the United States of America. Here's an opportunity for you young women of America, an opportunity to get in step with the smartest. Today, the rapidly expanding Women's Army Corps, proud newcomer on the team of defense, needs qualified young women between the ages of 18 and 34. This is your chance to do an important job. The pay is good, with excellent prospect of rapid advancement. Why not check with your local United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Station today? You'll find that it's easy to get in step with these proud American women who are serving their country in the Women's Army Corps. 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 a cast of outstanding players. This is Kenneth Banghart speaking and inviting you to tune in this same station next week for another interesting story on Proudly We Hail.