 Anderson. Private. Three, two, six, two, four, four, seven, four. Have one? Well, they're American cigarettes. Private Anderson, come now. There's no harm in taking a cigarette. One wrong move. That's all that it takes. One move that'll mark your week. And they'll be at you with everything they've got. An official report produced for the armed forces and the American people. You have just seen part of a film used to introduce the discussion topic in the United States Army's monthly character guidance training. Now, it may seem puzzling for a vast military organization to establish such a program, but the reason is a very basic one. The character of the American soldier is representative of the character of this country, and the strength of character of any country may well be its most precious possession. Firm character, good character, starts in the home. Parents today, as always, have the initial responsibility to build character in their children. It's not the Army's business to do this job for them. The major part of the time a man spends in the service must be devoted to his military training. That's what he's there for. But the Army does accept the responsibility for furthering his awareness of moral issues, his sense of responsibility, his knowledge to discern right and wrong. Our entire character guidance program aims to develop in the individual an understanding of the dignity of man, an awareness of individual moral responsibilities. A respect for authority, pride in the proper performance of duty, and a recognition of obligations and opportunities inherent in military service. On today's big picture, we should like to show you some of the ways by which the Army carries on the vital job of character guidance. There are training aids for the discussion meetings, and one of the latest methods used in character guidance instruction is the open-end film series. These films present a problem or a question to the soldier on an ethical subject which plays or might someday play an important part in his life. The films are purposely left unresolved so that after watching them, the soldiers may evaluate for themselves the behavior of the characters and provide their own solution to the problems presented. The scene we have just shown you is from a character guidance film entitled Self Control. Now we should like you to see the entire film just as it is presented during character guidance instruction, a regular part of your Army's training program. They can get a move on. That bug of yours ain't got a chance. Come on, Fleet Legs. You got it made. Go, girl. Go. Kick it, you cockroach. Kick it. Come on, run this way. Hubba, hubba, hubba, girl. Let's go. Let's go. Come on. Run, you roach. Run. That's the laziest cockroach I ever did see. Get up. Come on. Chop, chop, roach. Come on. This way, baby. Go, girl. Go. Go. I'm going to put a saddle on you. Come on. Get. Get. Come on. Come on. Get up there. He's coming. Come on, you roach. What you want to go and do that for? Yeah. We ought to be nice to them little critters. A few more days in this hut with no decent food or heat, and their cousins are going to be having us for supper. You joke about it. We're dying here. All of us and you two made jokes all the time. You've got something better to do. If you do, just pass it on to us. It's all your fault anyway. If you hadn't made so much noise and tipped off that patrol. Quail couldn't help what happened, and you know it. Well, I'm not going to take any more, I tell you. I'm cold, hungry. They said they'd take care of us if we did what they want. We'd have heat and food. I ain't signing no phony confession. And neither is anybody else in this outfit. You got some other idea? So what harm could it do? So we signed that phony paper. You make me sick. Anything is better than this. I'm cold. I gotta get warm. I don't care what happens afterwards. I gotta get warm. I'm going out that door. You take one step toward that door, and so help me, I'll kill you. Okay, you guys. Knock it off. Anderson is sounding off again. He wants to play footsies with the commies. You remember what I said. Let him alone. You hurt me. Let him alone. I'll just say it. Anderson, you're as good a man as anyone in this outfit. Maybe a little better than some. You're wasting your time, Sergeant. I know what the fellas think of me. Well, maybe they're right. No, they're not right. I think you're okay. You're okay at the beachhead and all the way up. You haven't done anything that you need to be ashamed of. You think I'm going to? No. The important thing is what you think. Back there in combat, it was different. I knew it was ahead of us. The whole army was backing you. I don't know what's ahead. I'm alone. No, we're all in this together. It's not knowing it's so awful. The things you hear, the men they drag out never bring back. Now, you listen to me, soldier, and listen good. And you see this? It's nothing compared with what they would have done to me if they thought they could really break me down to make me sign that paper. Everybody's not like you. I don't understand you guys. What difference does it make if we sign? We know what we're signing isn't true. Look, kid, you can't split yourself six ways from Sunday and expect to come out whole. First, you sign your name on a paper. Then they get you to make speeches to the other prisoners. First thing you know, you're selling their bill of goods, and you keep on selling it because you like being warm and having food in your belly. And in no time at all, you'll sold yourself out and you've got nothing to lose. But a dirty word. Suppose they make you sign. Suppose they do things to you. I'm scared, I'll tell you. Well, don't let them see it. Do or say anything that'll even give them a hint that you can be had. Just one wrong move. That's all that it takes. One move that'll mark your week and they'll be at you with everything they've got. And they've got plenty. Cigarette. I've only had a cigarette. Go ahead. Take it. Thanks, Sarge. I can't make you out, Sarge. I've seen you look at that cigarette but a dozen times today. Like it was uranium. It was your last butt and you tore it away on a character like that. Now, don't be too hard on Anderson. He's going to be okay. You keep saying it like you're trying to make yourself believe it. Well, some guys are made different, that's all. Well, I don't like the kind with a built-in yellow streak. Bones me. I'm giving him your last butt. Stop worrying about it. Anyway, haven't you heard? Smoking's bad for you. And the wind sure did blow out on that prairie, I tell you. There was a couple of hound dogs chasing a rabbit across the field and they just about had him caught when that wind came up and blew that rabbit clean out of sight before those hounds ever missed him. And talk about speed. For many a time, I started off for town with the wind at my back and met the same wind coming back to meet me before I got more than halfway there. Well, you're wasting a great talent. Well, I ain't wasting it, Sarge. I'm just keeping in practice till the right opportunity. Well, Sergeant, how's your little troop getting along? Well, there's room for improvements. But you wouldn't be interested in that. Oh, but I am. I am very much interested. We would only be too glad to make things a little more countable for all of you. It all depends on you, Sergeant. Let's stop playing games. Let's stop playing games. Let's stop playing games. Let's stop playing games. I won't sign your phony paper. Or haven't I made that clear? Very clear, Sergeant. Perhaps some of your friends might not be so stubborn. And you can't beat any of them into doing what you want either. They won't sign. There are many ways to make men cooperate. Don't waste your time. I know my men. I wonder, Sergeant. I wonder if you do. No, not this one. Now, this one has an interesting face. A cooperative face. I told you. You're wasting your time. What's your name? Anderson. Private. 3-2-6-2-4-4-7-4. Ah, name, rank, and serial number. Very efficient. Private Anderson. Have one? Well, they're American cigarettes. Private Anderson? Come now. There's no harm in taking a cigarette. One wrong move. That's all that it takes. One move that'll mark your week. And they'll be at you with everything they've got. If you were Private Anderson, would you take that cigarette? Or would you refuse it? Is Sergeant Crawford's point of view valid? Or do you think you could accept that cigarette without doing any harm? The films are a means of getting the men to discuss subjects of vital interest to them under the guidance of the chaplain. Now, here is a film used in the character guidance and instruction on the subject, How Free Am I? The word freedom covers a lot of ground. There is political freedom. Religious freedom. Freedom of speech. Freedom to select our job. Choose our friends. Spend our spare time any way we want. In the routine of our daily lives, we enjoy many little freedoms that we never even stop to think about. But some of us never stop to think about them. Without really meaning to, many of us do thoughtless, selfish things that cause inconvenience to others. In civilian life, as well as in the service. But it isn't always so easy to determine just where our personal freedom has to stop. It's almost nine o'clock. Brother, did I have a day one thing after another to stop everything off just at the last minute I hit mud on the river road? Oh, yeah? I'll say I hit it. Got myself in a ditch mud up to here. Looks like Bertha's going to need a bath, eh? Bertha and me both. First, better get yourself over to the mess hall. I'm saving some chow for you. Okay. What's eating you? Some of us are trying to sleep, or haven't you noticed? What am I supposed to do, fold up just because you guys do? Look, Bertie boy, we've been on the range all day and we got to go out again tomorrow. What do you think I've been doing, picking pansies? You try jockeying that oversized kitty cart through mud all day and see how you like it. I'll turn that thing off. It's only 9.30. I got a right to play it till 10. You got no right to keep me from sleeping. That goes for me, too. And me. Say what gives with you guys anyway? Can a fella enjoy life a little if he wants to? I work as hard as any man in this outfit. Nobody says you don't. Well, you got no right making a racket in here like you own the place and waking everybody up. What did I do? Whistle a little, play a little music? What are we running here, a concentration camp? You guys had the whole evening to yourselves while I was still out there wrestling with two and a half tons of ordinary truck. And I mean ordinary. She'd done you turned over in the mud on me. So you worked hard. We all worked hard. You're nothing special. I didn't say I was. All I'm saying is I've got a right to have a little fun if I want to. As long as I'm not breaking any regulations. It's only 9.30. So it's 9.30. You got it in writing someplace where it says you can whistle and play your radio at 9.30 and everybody else is trying to sleep. Yeah. What about the company rules? It's not lights out yet. And besides, I got it in writing in another place too. Do you ever hear of the Declaration of Independence? The Bill of Rights? Yeah, I heard of them. Well, it says there I got to write the whistle and play my radio. The suit of happiness, it says, right? Right. But what about me and the other fellas? We got our rights too, you know. Those privileges don't just apply to you. I notice you got no objection to my radio when you want to hear the baseball scores. Then you can't play it loud enough. What's baseball got to do with it? Everything. Suppose I didn't feel like listening to the scores. That's crazy. You're as nuts about baseball as the rest of us. But suppose I wasn't. Would that make any difference any of you guys? Would it make any difference to you whether I want to hear those scores or not? You turn them on just the same. Hey, look, this could go on all night. Now, what do you say we get some shut-eye? That we'll have no more music and no more talking. Yeah? You heard the man? Okay, okay. Because there's a bunch of you. Does that make you right and me wrong? All right. Just how free is Burt? Where does one man's right to freedom stop and the next man's begin? The film designed to stimulate discussion is just one of the methods used by your army in character guidance. The chaplain, while he is a key man in this area, is just one of the people responsible for character development. To create a well-adjusted, responsible soldier who will stand up under the circumstances of military life takes teamwork. Parents are the first character guidance team. They build the foundation. The teacher joins the team, helps expand the structure. Athletic activities contribute to a sense of fair play. Religious training builds an awareness of honor and decency, a sense of man's relationship to God, to his neighbors, to his country. To create a good citizen, all the influences of community life combine to build in the individual a sense of responsibility, a secure character structure that will stand up under the tensions of life. To the young men of America falls the responsibility for preserving our nation's freedom. Fundamental to the character development of these men is an understanding of the reasons and purposes involved in military service. In cooperation with educators in the community, the Army brings its message to the schools and answers directly the questions uppermost in the minds of the students. When our young men fulfill their Army service, they are equally provided with constructive influences by all their military leaders. The chaplain as a member of the Army's character guidance team helps the commanding officer in problems concerning the soldier's moral and welfare. Frequent character guidance council meetings are held on every U.S. Army post. Your ideas are exchanged and methods of improving the mental and moral climate of the soldier are developed. The medical officer enlists the aid of the troop information section in planning health programs. The military and the local civilian community cooperate on problems of mutual interest. On adequate housing for military personnel living off the post. Unwholesome recreational facilities in the community. Soldiers are encouraged to participate in a savings program and are told about the U.S. Army career guidance program and how it functions. Company commanders as well as the chaplain visit the men when they are hospitalized. Adequate provision is made for those who come into the Army without basic education. Diversified educational and craft programs are arranged. These are some of the things which tend to give the soldier a sense of identity and contribute to his character development. The soldier who is made to feel that he as an individual matters makes the better fighting man because he can see his stake in the battle. Our Army today is being equipped with new and more powerful weapons to deter any aggressor, but the caliber of our weapons alone will not win a war or even defend our nation successfully. It is the caliber of the men behind the weapons that will decide any future conflict. We can't tell by looking at a man if you'll make an efficient soldier, but we have discovered that in today's world of conflicting ideologies it takes more than knowing military techniques to make a good soldier. The understanding of a man's needs as an individual. The military leaders who make up the character guidance team recognize the importance of this fact. They know that their obligation to the soldier is a continuing one from the moment he enters the service. The object of their concerted efforts in character guidance is to turn out capable soldiers with a sense of moral principle and responsibility who will perform their military mission effectively. Today on The Big Picture we have shown you some of the ways in which the soldiers of your army are provided with a healthy mental and moral climate during their service through the constant effort of the United States Army's character guidance program. The Big Picture is an official report for the armed forces and the American people. Produced by the Army Pictorial Center presented by the Department of the Army in cooperation with this station.