 for better living through chemistry, presents Francis Langford, June Lockhart, and Tony Romano in G.I. Valentine. Most of the products recently developed by chemists are doing more jobs now. There is one new discovery, however, that is available to help you keep your home bright and cheerful. It is speed easy, the new DuPont wall finish that so many people are using to paint over faded soiled wallpaper. DuPont speed easy covers in one coat. It dries in an hour. It comes in eight attractive colors. DuPont speedy is inexpensive, too. You can do over an average room for less than $3. Tonight, February 14th, Cavalcade delivers a Valentine to the home front from the hearts of our service men and women overseas. The bearer of this Valentine is Francis Langford, who has recently returned from a 50,000 mile entertainment tour through the theaters of war. Francis Langford with Bob Hope, Tony Romano, and other great troopers carried song and laughter to more than 5 million of our men and women on fighting fronts from the Aleutians to Sicily. Assisted by Tony Romano and his indispensable guitar, and with June Lockhart as a pilot sweetheart, Ms. Langford gives us an account written by Frank Gabrielson, the highlights of those 50,000 miles of singing through the war, telling us particularly of American women at war, of the wax the Red Cross workers in the Gallant Army nurses. DuPont presents GI Valentine starring Francis Langford with Tony Romano and June Lockhart on the Cavalcade of America. My ladies and gentlemen, my private James Tomaselli, and I sang it for Jimmy's girl as a kind of Valentine from him. He brought the song to me one day after a show we gave in an American camp somewhere in England. I tell you, Francis, my girl at home worries about me and about the war, so I've been trying to write a letter explaining the war and how I'm okay and all. But you can't say much about war that's good, even this one that we know we got to fight. The way I can't say anything, she can't read better in the papers. I guess what I really want to say to her is that I love her, and not to worry about me because I'm coming back to her, if I can. But I can't write it like I feel it, and so seeing music used to be my hobby, I wrote a song to tell her what I feel. Would you sing it sometime, Francis, when she could hear? If remember, you shouldn't feel so blue. Back to the summer of 1942 and a phone call. We'd like you and Bob Hope to make a tour of bases in Alaska and the Aleutians. What do you say? What would any woman say? I'd love it. But what do I wear? For the purpose of building morale in the armed forces, you're advised to take a fur coat, slacks, heavy sweaters, woolen socks, and woolen underwear. If desired, one heavy, practical, warm wool dress may be taken. So that was the wardrobe I took. And the first night we went to Alaska, we were asked to a party at the Officers Club in Fairbanks. They wore their uniforms, and I was the glamour girl who was supposed to uplift morale. I felt like Cinderella at five after twelve. Seriously though, it was wonderful to see those girls in their neat dress uniforms. That same afternoon, I'd seen them working endlessly in their wards. But tonight, you see, Francis, we work quite hard and we don't get much chance to remember life like it was, and we hope it's going to be again. So when we get an excuse like this dance, well, we go all out feminine. Personally, I'm in this war so I can call my lipstick as well as my soul, my own. That nurse was up before light the next morning and worked all day at the hospital. Besides her regular duties, she assisted at an emergency operation. She wrote four letters home for wounded men. She kitted constantly with the men in the convalescent ward and lighted several cigarettes for a bombardier from the Aleutians who had lost both arms. She went to bed that night, dead tired, considering it an average day. I don't think anybody's going to get her lipstick, and I know nobody'll ever get her soul. We went Alaska about a week, flying to as many camps as we could. We played to audiences of thousands, and we played to little groups of bearded men at out-of-the-way landing fields, hacked out of the forest. In some of these places, the men hadn't seen a woman in over a year. From Alaska, we flew to the Aleutians, to Nac-Nac, Col-Bay, Pasta, Charber, on out to Omnac. At Omnac, they told me I was the first white woman ever on the island, and everyone began calling me the Virginia-Dare of Omnac. There wasn't a building large enough to hold all the men, so we gave our show outdoors and the pouring rain. They had built a kind of stage for us, but naturally there were no seats. The men in the offices just squatted down in the mud to watch us. What an audience they were. Homesick, probably. Bring him around afterwards, Antoni. Okay, let's take it again. A one, a two. Thanks, Colonel. I hope the boys liked it. They liked it. They loved it. Francis. Francis, can I see you a minute? Yes, Tony. Well, you excuse me a minute, gentlemen. Why certainly, Miss Langford. I found the kid you wanted to see, Francis. Oh, good. Franny, this is Eddie Riggs. Hello, Eddie. How do, ma'am? You better call me Francis. Ma'am really makes me feel like Virginia-Dare. Yes, ma'am. You're in the Air Force, I see. Well, um, meteorology. We take care of the weather. You must have your hands full up here. It's rain. 261, 6-10 inches a year. Is it interesting work? Yes, ma'am. Uh, for Francis. Say, where are you from, Eddie? Shenute, Kansas. You know, I'll probably be in Kansas this winter. We play camps all over the country at home, you know. Say, would you like me to call up your folks and tell them I saw you? Oh, that'd be a bother for you. Oh, no. I'm making calls for a lot of the boys. Well, if you really could, it'd be fine. Just look in the Shenute phone book. There are numbers under Dr. George Riggs and asked for ma'am. Uh, Mrs. Riggs, I mean. I certainly will, Eddie. And I'm sorry my song upset you. Oh, I liked your song, honestly. What were you crying about? Sorry, you noticed. Didn't think anybody would in the rain. Anything wrong at home, Eddie? No, everybody's fine. Otherwise, I'd have got a letter from ma'am. Of course, she's pretty busy, so she doesn't write much unless something specials happen. Of course, Pa hasn't got time to write his prescriptions hardly. When I call your mother, Eddie, shall I tell her you might like a letter, even if there isn't much to say? Just say you saw me. I think a lot about home. That wasn't why I was crying. Why then? Well, I guess it's just the idea you folks coming all this way to make us laugh and feel better. It's great to know people at home haven't forgotten all about us. Last June, we started out again, this time for England. Bob and Tony and I. We were there six or seven weeks giving shows in American camps all over the British Isles. For the first time, I had the sense of seeing a whole country at war. For every shortage we have at home, the English have a dozen. It's pretty hard to be complacent about a war when you've had it in your own backyard, and the English have. What I remember most vividly about England is the day we spent at one of the American air bases there. Before sunrise, we stood on the field and watched 45 fortresses take off on an undisclosed mission. We counted them out one by one as they moved down the runways and took the air. 45 went out. How many would come back? That afternoon, we again stood beside the runways to wait for the returning planes and count them in. We weren't the only ones that waited. They were the ground crews. There were officers anxious to learn the results of the mission. There were a few wives and sweethearts waiting. And there was a row of ambulances, all waiting. Just before the schedule time of return, the suspense gets almost unbearable. Everyone on the field gets it too. Next to me was a girl in a Red Cross worker's outfit. She lit a cigarette and I could see her hands shake. This waiting can be tough, huh? Every time I come here, I swear it's the last time. All 45 go out this morning. And you know, I have a hunch they're all 45 coming back. They'll figure out a 5% loss and you'll be about right. Two or three planes probably. Say, are you connected with this base? Only unofficially. I'm engaged to the navigator on the fortress Popeye. And the Popeye sounds unbeatable. If they don't run out of spinach, meaning luck. Why is everybody so quiet all of a sudden? Well, they're just about due back. If nothing went wrong, listen. And they were coming back. Fortress after fortress. One, two, then five, then 10 of them. Are any of those the Popeye? No. Then it was 20 of them and 25 and 30. Is the Popeye here yet? Not yet. Then it was 32, 35, 37, 38. Are you positive the Popeye hasn't landed? Positive. Oh, look. Look, here comes 39 and 40. But that's not him. How can you tell from this distance? I know his plane. After number 40 hit the field, they seem to stop coming. Oh, they can't have lost five. No, no, here's another and one more behind it. That's 42. That's three lost. Well, that's not too bad. Is his plane one of those two? I can't tell yet. Oh, wait. There are another two back of them. That's 44. Out of four. One is bound to be the Popeye. Looks like they finally ran out of spinach. Oh, come on. I'm sure they'll make it. Well, they'd have been here long ago. Anyway, they all don't come back. Well, thanks for waiting with me. I'm sorry. Well, every trip somebody's left looking at the empty sky. What? Well, one out of 45 is a very good percentage of... Listen, do you hear something? Oh, it's the Popeye. They found their spinach. The Cavalcade of America sponsored by Dupont, maker of better things for better living through chemistry, is bringing you Francis Langford with Tony Romano and June Lockhart in G.I. Valentine, a first-hand account of Miss Langford's travels on free continents to sing for our fighting men and women. She has told us how, with Bob Hope and Tony Romano, she visited our forces in Alaska, the Aleutians, and the British Isles. From England, they headed for North Africa, where Francis resumes her story. Africa was everything I expected, but more so. More heat, more sand, more strangers. At our first show there, the temperature was something over 130 in the shade, but there wasn't any shade. After the show, we had about two hours before we left. I was tired and wanted to rest, so some wax station there took me to their barracks so I could have a nap. A nice, long nap. How about these ration points? Can you or can't you get nail polish? Dresses are about to... here. Can you get nail polish? Well, that's not too tough. But face tissue was murder, huh? Murder is right. You know, when I get out of this girl's army, I'm just going to a beauty-polar and stave. Who's a big star of entertainment now, Francis? President Company accepted. Well, I'd say Sinatra. Who? Frank Sinatra. What does he do? Well, he's a singer. I never even heard of him. Me neither. Show's ya. Time goes by. Uh, Francis, why aren't more girls at home joining the way? Oh, do we have to talk shop? Well, I want to know. Why aren't they, Francis? Oh, pay no attention to Ryan, Francis. She thinks it's smart to gripe. She's only the best soldier in the outfit. What's tough about that? Well, last month she could have had leave home. She wouldn't take it. Why should I go where I can't get face tissue or bobby pins? That's too tough. Don't let her kid you, Francis. She's crazy about the outfit. Say, Francis, you got a picture of yourself you can spare. Sure, Ryan. I'll autograph one for you. Oh, no, no. Don't sign it. I'll do that. You'll sign my name on the picture? No, my own. I want to send it to a guy I'm corresponding with. Send it to somebody you've never met? Yeah. His large rights to whack. But what'll happen when you meet him? How is he going to like you signing my picture? Oh, he won't have any kick coming. You know what he sent me with his name on? A picture of your husband, John Hall. Say, what time you got? Uh, 10 past. Holy cow, I got to write my letter. I'll see you after you had your nap, Francis. You bet, soldier. A real G.I. Josephine, that girl. Is she really going to write to that man? Oh, that's just for laugh. She's going to write her brother now. He's got a bum lung or something, so the army wouldn't take him. It feels kind of bad about it, so Ryan is always writing. Her brother is why she joined up. She figured if he couldn't fight, that she should. Then Ryan really likes the rags, huh? She loves it. And if only they'd let us use guns, she'd be the happiest girl in the world. These three are strong, healthy women. Any war plant in America would pay them almost as much for a week as the army pays them for a month. In this country, of course, they would have to face point rationing, gas rationing, shortages of non-essential goods, and the income tax. But they would be home and they would be safe. Instead, these girls, on their own free will, chose a job that brought them to blistering Africa, and air raids, and no extra pay for overtime. Private Ryan, even before you get to that beauty shop, you look mighty good to me. From Bizzerta, we flew to Sicily, where in a single show, we performed to 19,000 men. Our stage was a captured Nazi tank. One day in Sicily, we played a hospital show. Walking down the corridor, on our way to the ward, we heard Latin coming from one of the small rooms. It was a Catholic chaplain administering the last rites. But we went on to the ward and did our show, and the wounded men enjoyed it very much. In the same hospital the next day, a nurse walked by me carrying a tray. Here, let me help you. I'm all right. Sit over here. Thanks. I'll get a doctor. No, don't. Don't. I'll be all right in a minute. I'm going to get a doctor. No, please. Please. I just need to rest a minute. You need to lie down, and you need a doctor. No, wait. Please. I don't want a doctor. What do you mean? I mean, they might send me home. Maybe they should send you home. No, no. It's nothing serious. Just that I guess I'm getting older. Please, let me get a doctor. No, no, look, Miss Langford. I'm a nurse. I've been a nurse for 25 years. I know what I need and what I don't. Oh, thanks for being worried, but nothing's going to happen to me. Give me a hand up, please. Well, at least you can rest a while. You're married, aren't you, girl? Yes, I am. So is I. My husband died in a French hospital in the last war. I don't know quite how he died, but maybe if he'd had a little better carry with him. If I sit here resting, what happened to my friend might happen to some of these boys. I see what you mean. I talked with one kid in the ward who'd only been married a month before he came overseas. A month? If Fred and I were married just a day before he sailed for France. Nice. Nice. Coming. But of everything I saw and did, what moved me most happened not once, but every day. In every camp. At five o'clock. Attention! The flag was lowered. And in the faces of men, you saw what this was. It was home. It was Main Street. It was why. There goes some resurrection. No, no, that's not the Popeye. Come on, your Swami. So when we get the chance, we go all out, feminine. She could have had leave and she wouldn't go. I guess what I really want to say is that I love her and that I'm coming back to her if I can. And appreciates the fine work you and all the entertainment world are doing to brighten the days of our fighting men. Ms. Langford has something to add to her report and will return to the microphone in just a few moments. Meanwhile, here is Gain Whitman speaking for DuPont to tell us of an interesting chemical treatment for seeds that benefits us all whether we are farmers or not. Eating, somebody has remarked, is a habit. It certainly is. And it isn't limited to any one country either. The men and women and children of all nations have a firm fixed habit of eating. So food must be grown for them to eat. And we've learned in this war that every extra ton of food we can produce is precious. Here is good news for the farmers of North and South America. And good news for all of us. Who eat with the farmers grow. Realizing their vital importance, this year enough mercury has been released to enable DuPont and other chemical companies to manufacture a full 1944 supply of mercury seed treatment compounds for farmers. Whether you are a farmer or not, this affects you. It affects both the amount of food you will have in 1944 and the price you will pay for it. Take cotton, for instance. Cotton isn't a food crop. Oh, yes it is. Cotton seed is every bit as important as cotton fiber because cotton seed is used in manufacturing many cooking oils and kitchen shortening. Cotton farmers can plant their seed earlier, getting ahead of their dreaded enemy, the bull weevil, by using a seed disinfectant like DuPont Cirassan, which gives the seed a protective coating. This coating safeguards the seed even in cold damp soil in the early spring and makes it unnecessary for farmers to replant their cotton several times when soil conditions are unfavorable. Seed costs money, so does fertilizer, so does labor. All of them in wartime are hard to find. Seed treatment, treating seed with chemicals before it is planted, usually means bigger crops of better quality. Wheat, corn, beans, potatoes. Practically every food plant known has its own diseases. Carried in many cases on the seeds themselves. If nothing is done to combat them, these diseases reduce the amount of marketable food produced per acre. Now there are available not only different mercury seed disinfectants, but also a new seed treatment which contains an organic product and no mercury. This is arosan seed treatment. Arosan is an effective product for peanuts, corn, and certain vegetables. More and more farmers everywhere in the world are learning the value of seed treatment. So it's good news that in 1944, enough seed treating compounds to fill our needs will be available. Seed treating chemicals help to increase the United Nations wartime supply of food. Deserve honorable mention among duponts better things for better living through chemistry. And here is the star of tonight's cavalcade. Francis Langford. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Tonight I told you about a time in England when I saw 45 planes go out and the same 45 planes returned. That was last summer. Yesterday I met an officer who was at that field that day of those 45 planes to remain. Is it really so tough to buy that airplane? Is it really so tough to buy that extra war bond? Next week on the eve of Washington's birthday, Dupont presents Guy Kibbey, Dick Foran, and Wendy Barrie. In The Purple Heart comes to free meadows. The warmly inspiring story of a young sergeant just returned from the war and a New England village eager to honor the first village boy to win The Purple Heart. It's a dramatic story, too, of the significance and brave tradition of the original Purple Heart awarded by General Washington. Francis Langford appeared on cavalcade tonight through the courtesy of RKO Pictures. June Lockhart appeared through the courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, whose current production is Madame Currie. This is James Bannon sending best wishes from cavalcade sponsor, the Dupont Company of Wilmington, Delaware, who invites you to join cavalcade's audience next Monday when Guy Kibbey, Dick Foran, and Wendy Barrie will be starred in The Purple Heart Comes to Free Meadows, a story of the Purple Heart and the brave tradition that rounds it down to the present day for Broadcasting Company.