 I'm Lieutenant Bob Berry. I know about Navy gunners. And I'm speaking for the ten of us who started our armed guard training at the time baton was being blown to bits. The National Broadcasting Company, in cooperation with the Council on Books and Wartime, presents another program of Words at War, which brings to radio important war books. Tonight we present a radio play based on the recent book by Lloyd Wendt. Gunners Get Glory. I'm Lieutenant Bob Berry. I know about Navy gunners. And I'm speaking for the ten of us who started our armed guard training at the time baton was being blown to bits. We knew we were going to be rushed through our training, because the Navy needed us. And needed us bad. All right, men. I'll show you a few things you've got to know. There was no time for formal education in our streamlined armed guard school. There was no time for theory. They just pointed and said, This is a four inch gun and this is a three inch gun. If you don't believe it, get a ruler and measure them. They made no bones about our purpose on a merchant ship. We got our instructions straight. You aren't supposed to attack, only defend. That's the hard part of the job. If you hear a sub or a raider, you're supposed to run away and fight only if necessary. And of course, last but not least, they taught us how to tell time. Greenwich time, civil time, zone time, local time, chronometer time, watch time. You know what? They got me bowled up to the point where I can't even tell what day it is. Hey, what day is today anyway? The men were up to their ears in sea talk. The only cry that interrupted work was, When are we going to get out of here and on a ship? Well, it wasn't long actually. Soon we got aboard a ship. We got back to port again and in three weeks time our orders came through just like that. I saw my wife Anne. Guess I didn't tell you I was married. We went out that last night I was in port. We went to a little restaurant where there's a guy at the piano who'll play anything you asked for. Anne asked him to play Blue Heaven. On account of, well, we sort of felt it was our song. What, with the baby coming and all? Bob. Yeah? I, well... What is it? Nothing. More coffee? You'll be all right. I mean... Hey, hey, wait a minute. You got this all mixed up. I'm supposed to say that to you. You, uh, you might have the baby while I'm gone. Don't you worry about the baby. You worry about you. Gosh, I love you. Gosh, I love you. Hey, listen, he's playing our song and we haven't even heard it. I heard it. So did I. On course 163 to the right, mate. 163 to the right. We put the last of our cargo aboard and there was no doubt about it. Steady on course 163 sir. We were off to the wars. We were part of a convoy. An amazing long line of ships. I set up a permanent watch bill and a schedule of gun drills that would have knocked us out back at school. But mister, when you're out on that ocean and all you see is black night and black water and you're looking for something that looks like a gas pipe jutting up out of nowhere, you're not kidding. Nervous? Huh, you bet you are. And you get picky. Anything will set you off. We were only out three nights and on that third night we were pelted but good by a rainstorm. You couldn't see two feet ahead of you. I was feeling rotten. Wondering why in the name of John Paul Jones I'd picked the Navy. I went up to the after-gun. I was just checking to understand. And I couldn't see Goddard. He was on watch but where the devil was he? Then it occurred to me that maybe he was swept overboard by a wave. Goddard! Goddard! Goddard! Man overboard! Man overboard! You call me, Mr. Barry? I thought you were on watch. I am, sir. Where were you? Right here, sir. I just wrapped a tarpon of the gun around me to sort of keep dry, sir. Keep dry? You realize you're obstructing your vision? Well, sir, I... That's for keeping dry your properly and warmly clothed and you'll carry out your duties without the help of the tarpon. You understand? Yes, sir. But I think if any submarine comes out on a night like this don't you say? You can think that over tomorrow while you're doing extra duty swabbing the decks. Yes, sir. He'd given me such a scare I wanted to boot him in the pants. Now that I think of it, I guess he might have preferred the boot to swabbing the decks. There was fun aboard Shiflow, too. We had a great bunch of guys. And in spite of watches and drills and cleaning and painting guns, there was time for a bull session every now and then. Naturally, the main topic of discussion was women. Women? Ah, what good are they? No, I mean it. That was a motto, the fair-haired boy they ought to think. He had no use for females. That is all females except one. Oh, I mean it. You can take all the women in the world and drown them as far as I'm concerned. That is all except Albertina here. Albertina sticks by me. She's with me all the time. She sure is. One of these days I'm going to toss her to the fish. You do, and you'll answer to me, see? Come here, Albertina. Come on. There you go. Oh, she's only a cat. I'll take a real-life doll any time. Okay, okay, so maybe she's only a cat. But you can trust a cat. Can you trust a woman? Who say they about trusting a woman? I just like them, that's all. Yeah. Well, the last time I was in Philly, I meant the cutest babe. Five feet two, see? Blonde, blue eyes. So what, God? Blonde or not, all the dames are alike. All they want is a meal ticket. That's all that cat is looking for, ain't it? Well, Albertina, well, sure, but she don't bother me while she's looking for it, see? That's the difference, Frank. Difference? Yeah. What difference is it between a cat and a woman? They purr if you treat them nice, and they scratch if you make them mad. You're a sap. You're a sap. You're arguing on my side now. Oh, I ain't arguing on anybody's side. You're all saps. You guys in the Navy are the world's prize saps. That was Ellison, one of the crew. He was one of the few merchant seamen on board who just didn't take a fancy to having Navy guys on deck. Even the guys he worked with didn't like him. But he picked the wrong guy when he picked the motto to needle. Are you talking to me, brother? Sure. You already admitted it. You don't like women because you don't never go out with them. Not when you're in the Navy. You ride around in some scour, you're getting to port with no dough, you're having no play. So what? So what do you Navy gunners get out of it anyway? Gunners get glory. Glory? It's a hot one. What kind of a bonus is that? A little pink and blue ribbon, huh? Hold it. You wear it across your chest. That and a nickel will get you a cup of coffee. Hold it. For your information, I'm in this because I want to be seen. I like being in the Navy and I'm proud of it. If you so much as crack your face around me again with that kind of talk, I'm going to bust it wide open. See? Yeah? Yeah. Okay. Okay, have it your way. Gunners get glory. Well, here's where we go at alone, Mr. Barry. Alone, yet? As alone as you can be with Nazi subs all over the place looking for you. Mate, force 2-5-0 to the left. 2-5-0 to the left, sir? Yes, the convoy broke up and we were in a danger zone. Scared? Sure we were scared. Of course, steady, sir. It's like sitting on a firecracker that your nose is going to go off, but you just don't know when. We didn't have much opportunity to go below for Chow, but Sam, he was an ebony skin colored boy who worked in the stewards department. Sam had come galloping up to the guns bringing us Chow and Comfort. Yeah, you heard correctly. Chow and Comfort. You boys will get them. Yes, sir. They don't stand no chance at all with you boys on them guns. I wouldn't give nothing for no submarine's chance. No, sir. And when a guy got homesick or fed up, Sam used another approach. What is the matter with you, man? Ain't you sailing around on one of the best ships on this ocean? Nothing happened yet, is there? You've got no call to be worried. Yeah, you need the little food in your stomach. That's all that matters with you. And that's about how it was. Until that firecracker went off. It was about seven o'clock that night. I was with the captain topside. I left him and I went below to check on the blackout lights. I walked along the companion way, two decks below the bridge. Frank, all the lights out? Yes, sir. Mr. Berry, I don't like it. I got a feeling that something's going to happen. It was too quiet down here. I wish I were on decks. I suppose something happened. I suppose we got trapped down here. Hey, slow down, Frank. You've been seeing too many movies. Not lately, sir. We've been hit. We've been hit. Mr. Berry, where are you? Are you all right? This is it, Mr. Berry. All right, let's get on deck. This is our second. All stations. Yeah, look. All stations. The water's coming through that passage. Come on, come on. Get up the ladder. All stations. Yes, Rudy. You think we're sinking? Get up that ladder. Yes, sir. Up there we don't ship. What do I do, Mr. Berry? What do I do? Get into your life, Jack. What do I do? Get into your life, Jack. What do I do? Frank, come out of it! Up there we don't ship. Yes, sir. Get to the lifeboat, man. To the lifeboat. Up there we don't ship. My boat's been spanned. Don't bother me. Go to the first station you can find. Get to the lifeboats. Ellison. Smith. Who else is in this lifeboat? Ward. We'd picked up three men out of the sea. No mean achievement in the darkness. I'd been swimming through oil and muck for two hours before I got picked up. In the morning we all sort of lay there thinking our own thoughts. Funny thing, my blue heaven kept going over and over in my mind. Just the two men over and over. I knew the words, but they wouldn't come. Just the two men, like I said. I wonder if Hennessy made it. I saw Hennessy at his station. I guess he made it. Did the captain make it? No. I was on the boat deck. I was on the boat deck when she hit. I was scared. So was I. If they'd have showed up, you boys would have shot him. You'd have fixed him. You most certainly would have fixed him. Yeah, that's right, Sam. Only they didn't show up. What kind of rations have we got, men? Oh, some chocolate. A little bit of water. We've got some cigarettes, too. We'll have to divide them up and see what we get. Divide them up and make them last. A motto. Yes, sir? That wouldn't be Albertina putting in her two cents worth, would it? Yes, sir. Oh, no. Ain't we got enough trouble without a cat, too? Keep out of this, Frank. Mr. Berry, I'll take care of her, sir. All right, a motto. We had to hold up this boat so he could go back and get that animal. She ain't bothering you, is she? Well, you've been giving her water, ain't you? Yeah, my water. Chocolate, too? My chocolate. Well, how long you think that stuff we got is gonna last? You realize we might be days? Even weeks and months without food. Yeah, nothing to eat. All on account of your old Albertina here. Just on account of... Albertina? Hey, Goddard, you ever taste a cat meat? Oh, no, you don't. Oh, no, you don't. Stop writing a motto, man. Don't worry. I don't think we'll have to eat Albertina. Ward, you see anything at all? No, sir, Mr. Berry. I don't see nothing yet. Well, we'll keep on rowing. We can't be too far off the patrol routes. We should be found sooner or later. I hope it's soon. Dear Frank, let me take over on that art for a while. Yes, sir. You're getting a bad burn, Frank. The sun's pretty hot, sir. Albert, this ain't so bad. You should have seen me two years ago. I spent the day at Coney Island. When I came off the beach... Barry, I think... What is it, Ward? I ain't sure. I think a plane, sir. A plane. Where? Portside, sir. Looks like a speck in the sun, but I'd swear it's a plane. I don't see it. I don't see it. Ward, where are you looking? Sorry, sir. I guess I've been looking so long. I'm seeing things. Better let Frank take over. Please, sir. Let me do the lookout a little while longer. All right, Ward. Hey, this... this quiet's driving me nuts. Why don't we sing or something? Who could sing? Who cares whether we can sing or not? Let's just sing. What do you want to sing? I don't know. Oh. How about singing... She'll be coming round the mountain When she comes She'll be coming round the mountain When she comes She'll be coming round the mountain She'll be coming round the mountain Wait a minute. Shut up, listen. Hold it. What? I don't hear nothing. Well, I do. It is a plane. It's a patrol plane. Hey! Hey, don't stand up, man. You'll capsize this. Hey, look! What do you want to do? Drown us after all this? Yeah. Yeah, that's not all. You're stepped on abatina. There's the ship. Yeah. The plane must have given our bearings to it. I know it would be safe. The Lord's taking care of us. That's what. The ship that picked us up was a little merchant. We were taking a board, and that's all we were asking for. Lieutenant J.G. Berry, sir. The merchant ship's Scotty. I'm Captain Hall. As soon as your men are able, you'd better drill them in the sign life stations. We've had three sub-warnings in the last two days. Yes, sir. We're pretty handicapped. Trouble with the engines. Only three-quarter speed. Oh, but that means that we're wide open for attack? Yes, sir. Unfortunately, you're correct. Mr. Berry. Yeah? Look over there on the horizon. Do you have a steering? Where, Kelly? Just a sliver of light, sir. What is it? I don't see it. Is it a ship, sir? One of ours? What does it mean? I hope it doesn't mean what I... What's been hit? That means there are subs right around us. We're bound to get it now. How can they miss us? Just hold tight, guys. Hold tight. And hold tight is what we did for the longest hour I've ever been through. We got so we were wishing a torpedo would hit us. The commander of that sub could pick us off anytime he wanted to. He knew it, we knew it. He was just making us sweat it out, I guess. Then at 2100 hours it came. Instead of being scared, we were mad. That is the voice of my commander. The general opinion was, Now we've got to do it all over again. Shit. And in the short space of 12 hours, we were right back where we started. First an hour or two floundering in the sea, hanging on to anything you could grab, then into the lifeboats again. We were wet, sick, and disgusted at being sunk for the second time, without having a chance to get the sub. None of us had much to say. We didn't kid around and try to laugh it off. Maybe on account of a motto. We didn't know, you see. That is until Frank brought it up. Hey, where's the cat? Yeah. Where is the old Albertina? I couldn't find her. I looked, but I couldn't find her. She never ran away before. She always stuck close by. I looked, I couldn't find her. About 12 noon the next day, we sighted smoke to the Southwest. Either we were all too tired to stand up and cheer, or maybe we shared Frank's opinion. If that's another merchant ship, I'll be hanged before I get aboard. I'd rather take my chances in the lifeboat, even in this one. You're not kidding. But this time it was a small Navy patrol craft, which came over quickly to pick us up. Just after we got aboard, I turned to Goddard and said to him, you all right, Goddard, you okay? Okay, Mr. Barry. But if we get sunk just once more, I'm gonna get mad. What about me? About... About how glad I am that you're home. That's right. The same restaurant I was telling you about before. Ann and I just had to go back, if only for a few minutes. I don't know, it was sort of like a ceremony. And besides, all the time at sea, I kept hearing that guy playing that song. And I wanted to hear it again. We were so happy to be together, we didn't know what to talk about. No kidding. I told Ann what happened at sea, but after I told her, I didn't feel like talking about it much anymore. I guess we talked most about the baby. The baby who was due to arrive in less than a month now. That is, we talked about the baby till Doug Schlosser, an old Navy pal of mine, saw us and came over to the table. Hey, I thought it was you, Barry. Hello, Ann. How's things with you? Couldn't be better. What are you doing around these parts? Well, I got a hard-earned leave coming to me. And the Avarils... Hey, I've got an idea. You remember the Avarils, don't you? Helen and Bill, sure. What about... Well, they're having a few of the old gang up for the weekend. No, are they? Sure. Why don't you two come along? Well, I don't know, Doug. You see, I... Oh, listen, you just got back from sea, didn't you? Well, you deserve to have a good time. Come on, they're going to have a swimming party. Oh, no. No, no, no. Well, what's the matter with you two anyway? What's wrong with going on a swimming party? You better get out of here, Doug, while you're still in one piece. Wait a minute. Almost forgot. Just in case you're interested, the baby was a boy. You've just heard a radio play based on the recently published book Gunners Get Glory. Lieutenant Bob Berry's story of the Navy's armed guard is told to Lloyd Wendt and adapted for radio by Ruth Brooks of the NBC script staff. The part of Lieutenant Berry was played by Richard Widmark and his wife Anne by Timmy Heiler. Other members of the cast were Stacey Harris, John Lawson-Zerby, Bill Quinn, Larry Haynes, Julian Noah, Arthur Cole, Owen Jordan, Jim Bowles, and Juano Hernandez. The music was arranged and played by William Meader and the entire production was under the direction of Frank Papp. Words at War is brought to you in cooperation with the Council on Books and Wartime by the National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated independent stations. What does R-A-D-I-O spell besides radio? R for relaxation, A for amusement, D for drama, I for information, O for opportunity. Because American radio is a free enterprise built by free people, all radio listeners have the opportunity to enjoy a variety of programs each day. What is better than listening to good music when you're tired, laughing at your favorite comedian, hearing the stories of a great drama? Listeners can learn much from radio too. There's no better source of accurate instant information today than radio. NBC and the independent stations associated with the network are radio. 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