 Proudly, we hail! New York City, where the American stage begins, here is another program of the cast of Outstanding Players. Public Service Time has been made available by this station for your Army to bring you this story. As Proudly, we hail the United States Army. Our story is entitled Collector's Item, and this is the story of a sergeant and a squad facing their first critical test. As Proudly, we hail the United States Army's Infantry. Our first act curtain will rise in just one moment, but first, young man, let's talk about your future, and America's future. They're important to each other, you know, and to you. Today, your United States Army is charged with a vital responsibility, and to meet this responsibility, the Army is rapidly expanding its forces. They have a job for you, a job that must be done by men of courage. You can get full details of how you may best serve your future and your country's future by visiting your nearest United States Army Recruiting Station. Remember, team up with the Army, and you team up with success. And now, the first act curtain of the Proudly, we hail production, Collector's Item. One thing about the Army, it's a good way to see the world. And like all travelers, you sort of collect things. Mementos of places you've been, people you've known. Right here on my desk, for instance, a Japanese samurai sword, a witch doctor's mask for the Philippines. And this, a silver cup. Must be hundreds of years old. See, around the rim engraved Detour Dignori. And beneath it, four names. Cook, Carpanetti, Zabo, Barnes. How did names like these get on such an old cup? Well, to explain it properly, I'd have to go back about 12 years when these names meant as little to me as they do to you now. I was a buck sergeant then, and just reporting into the Sergeant of the 1st Platoon of Company D, 274th Regiment at Fort Wood, Missouri. So you just got in from Camp Blending, eh, Sergeant Hollis? Yeah, that's right. What'd you do there? Heavy weapons instructor, I was there about two years. Well, you ought to know the 30 caliber heavy machine gun backwards and forwards, right? Sure do, Sergeant. Fine, just what I need. See, the 70th Division is just in the process of being activated for overseas duty. Well, we've got a big job ahead of us. Yes? Now, you're going to be the leader of the second squad of my platoon. Well, I've been waiting a long time for this. Okay, here's a roster of your men. You've only got four men now, but we hope to fill it out to the authorized allowance of six. But I don't know when that'll be. Carpanetti, Zabo, Cook, Barnes. How are they, good men? I can't say. They've only come in during the past week. All I know is they've just finished their basic training. The rest you ought to find out for yourself. They're yours from here on in. I was naturally curious as to what kind of men were in my squad. But how do you get to know someone? I come from Connecticut, Hartford. Used to drive a laundry truck. Good or right. But it's done better, I guess. Carpanetti, PFC, my number one gunner. Could eat the heart out of a silhouette target a thousand yards away. Being in the Army has been a breeze for me so far. I guess that's from being raised on a farm. But if you think I'm husky, you ought to see my father. Yes, PFC Barnes. I knew you were husky enough to lug a machine gun around, but was that enough to know about you? Yeah, I always get asked about my name. Zabo. It's Czechoslovakian. My folks came from there. Maybe someday I'll be seeing their hometown. Who knows? Yes, Private Zabo. You weren't so far wrong then, but as you said, who knows what's ahead of them. So, when I'm dancing with this chick, she asks me how old I am. And I says 19. And then she asks my weight and my height. How many operations I had? I couldn't figure her out. Until she told me she worked for an insurance company. So I called her Miss Vidal Statistics of 1944. Vidal Statistics, as Private Cook called them. Those were the only things I found out about my squad during the next few weeks. It wasn't much time to learn anything else. We were so busy training, by the time our orders came for overseas duty, we were as ready as we'd ever be, as far as training went. But for the real thing, that's something time will tell, Hollis. Yeah. Say Sergeant Baxter, do you think you know all the men in the platoon? Not as well as you squad leaders do, or should. Well, doesn't that worry you? No. My squad leaders are the men I must know. And do you? I do, up to a point. A point, that's it. Just what is that point? When you get to really know somebody? That's a good question. Yeah, and that's what has me going. I think I have my men sized up to that point, but is that enough? Well, Hollis, here's the way I feel about it. If there's anything in this world that'll strip a man and let the light shine on him as he is, it's when somebody's shooting at him. Then you'll know. Yes, but I'd like to know before then. Maybe you will. As I said before, it takes time. For us then, time was a train to Boston, a ship to France in the month of December, a staging area on a barren hillside outside of Marseille. Wind swept, treeless, grassless. So this is Southern France. I always thought it was a resort section. Oh, there it is, Carpennedy, the last resort. Looks like it, doesn't it? Well, I don't think we'll be here more than two weeks just until we draw our combat equipment. Hey, Sarge, is it okay if I wash my socks and my helmet? Sure, Cook, go ahead. Any of you guys want your laundry done? Fifty francs a piece. Hey, Sarge, maybe I can start a little business, huh? Cook was one for a joke, but this was one time the joke was on him, but literally. I was sitting in front of my tent later that evening and thinking how much it was like a Civil War photograph I'd once seen. Well, our pup tents lined up in rows all along the hillside bivouac. Soldiers at rest, peaceful, quiet. I'd have fallen asleep in a few more minutes, but suddenly... Hey, hey, what's that? Hey, Sarge, what's going on? I don't know, but you guys grab your helmets in front of me. Hey, Cook, come on, get out of your sack. We're being barred. Yeah, I covered my helmet here somewhere. Hey, is anybody... Oh, I got it. Here it is. I'll be right with you as soon as I put it in... What the heck? All right, look at Cook. Oh, no. It's okay. That's the ACAC and Marseille practicing. Oh, yeah. Okay, Sarge and Bexter. What's so funny? Well, look at Cook. Ho-ho-ho! What are you doing with those socks draped around your neck, Cook? I was soaking my laundry. Oh, well, I needed a shampoo anyway. Hey, come on, you guys, help me dry off. Well, at least he's got a sense of humor. Yes, that he has. That he has. In a short time, the camp was once more settled down, and as I sat before my tent again, I knew I'd learned something important about one man in my squad. Yes, Cook had a sense of humor, all right, but it was the best kind there is. When a man can laugh at himself, you know you won't have to worry about him when the going gets tough. Those two weeks in Marseille passes all things must, and we found ourselves one day in our squad jeep rolling along the Rhone River Valley Road. Well, we hadn't, Sarge. To the front, I guess, Cook. Yeah, yeah, that I know, but where is that? Well, we're in the 7th Army, and that's fighting us somewhere around Strasbourg. How long will it take us to get there? Maybe three days. Just relax. We've got a long way to go. We stopped near an abandoned French army barracks, and we were assigned a room in it for our squad. There's nothing in the room but a cold, empty fireplace. Is there any coal or wood around to make a fire with? Oh, look, there must have been 100,000 soldiers come up this way before us. Do you think they left any around? Sergeant Hollis, oh, yes, Sergeant Baxter. Our mess truck broke down about 30 miles back. We won't get any hot chow at all in the morning. You got enough sea rations? Oh, yeah. Okay, you better come along with me now. The commanding officer wants to see us. The meeting was a briefing on the next day's trip and took about half an hour. When I got back to the room, I found myself in for a surprise. Hey, Sarge, come on. She's just about ready. Chow? And there's fire. How come? You're number three man, PFC Zabel. Yeah, he disappeared for about 15 minutes, came back with a load of coal, some empty cans, a little bit of wire, and peristo. Homemade stove. He even found some old onions, and boy, just smell the sea rations, too. Nothing to it. Just have to scrounge around a little. That's all. Zabel, you're a genius. Going to sworn this whole area was bare of anything. Say, that stew sure does smell good. What are we waiting for? Stew is as good as it smelled. And an hour later, basking in the light and heat of our cheery fire, we sure felt a lot better than we had when we arrived. At least I did. For I'd learned something about another of my men, Zabel. He'd shown that if he was anything, he was resourceful. And I knew resourcefulness was something we could use where we were going. Cook, Zabel. Two down, two to go. The next morning, we continued our trek northward, and a few days later, found ourselves moving in a position on the front line north of Strasbourg. We left our jeep behind and were moving slowly on foot along a road, leading through a valley. Sure, beautiful country around here. You'd hardly think there was a war on it. Yeah, you're not kidding, Barnes. Hey, hit the dirt off the side of the road! Where'd he come from? Hey, Barnes, give me a hand here with a tripod. Sure. What do you want, Captain Eddie? High mount. That's more like it. Hey, here he comes again. Give me that gun, stew, Zabel. Let him come. That guy's going to be sorry he ever got out of bed. Baptism of fire. And Carpanetti, quick thinking, calm. I made a mental check mark beside his name, alongside Cook's and Zabel's. Three down and one to go. After that, we kept moving and finally ended up in the high bank of a creek which flowed in the flatlands along the Rhine River. Your squad will dig in here, Hollis. Your field of fire will be to the front, in this direction, To the Rhine, now, Sergeant Baxter? Yes. Now, we're about a thousand yards away from the river. Our troops control about ten miles of it. Right now, there are no troops from here to the Rhine but us. No rifle troops, even? None. They don't expect anything to happen along here, I suppose, and we're stretched pretty thin. I suppose they were needed in the bulge up north, huh? Yeah, still, we're going to have to be alert. You can never tell. Now, remember, Hollis, this whole area to your front has been mined by our engineers. Anti-tank, anti-personnel, anti-everything. Right, Sergeant. Okay, men, let's unpack our shovels and picks. We've got to make ourselves a hole in the ground. From our position, we could look across the meadow to our front, only about 700 yards. The mists from the river kept us from seeing farther. About a thousand yards to our left were the few houses of the village. To our right, snow-covered flatlands. If we get a phone wire strung up to the command post, Sergeant. Good. All right, men, take a break. We've got the emplacement dug. We can camouflage later. Oh, good Lord. Got a cigarette cook? Oh, yeah, here. Hey, Sards, look. What is it, cook? Somebody's coming. Hey, it's kids. A boy and a girl. I'm pulling a sled yet. Don't they know there's a war on? They must be from that village. Hey, you kids, come here. They don't understand English. Well, that's my language book. Yeah, here it is. Uh, bonjour, mon petit, sa va bien. There's no use. Pigeon French or no. The kids would have nothing to do with us. We tried chocolate bars, chewing gum, everything. But they just kept on sleigh-riding down the creek's bank, not paying any attention to us. Maybe it was because of the intensity of our situation. First time in action, the bulge at its height, I don't know. Somehow those kids ignoring us sort of got me. Well, how do you mean, Sards? Well, this barn's... Hasn't anybody ever told these kids why we're here in their country? From the way they acted, you'd think we were Nazis. Well, maybe they're shy. I don't know. I don't think so. I'll tell you what, Sards. Let me try once more. What can you do that we haven't done already? Look, you see how they're sleigh-riding? Sitting upright? I'm gonna show them how we did it at home. Belly-wopping. Hey, kid! Barns approached with a big smile while the kids stood looking. Then as he stretched out his hand for the sled, the boy who was holding it suddenly turned and ran. I bent over and started to fill out my range card when all of an instant I thought of it. Hey, kid, come back here! Come back! But he kept on running straight out to the front toward the run, with nothing between him and the river, but a couple of thousand booby traps. You are listening to the proudly-we-held production of collector's item. We will return in just one moment for the second act. I suppose all of us at one time or another have seen the principle of strength through unity demonstrated by a handful of sticks. Singly, they can be broken very easily, but when bound together, well, then it's practically impossible to break them. And so it is with our America. Working together as a team, we can be certain that our democratic way of life will never be broken. One of the most important members of democracy's team is our United States Army, a highly-spirited organization that offers unequal opportunities to modern young men and women. Today, the Army has a new career program and operation, one that permits you to choose your own course of training in the skill that best suits your aptitudes and interests. So we kind of suggest you find out about it real soon. And how do you do that? Go down to your local United States Army recruiting station and talk it over with the real friendly folks down there. There's complete information without obligation. So plan ahead. Face your tomorrow today. Team up with the Army, and you team up with success. And now the second act of the proudly-we-held production collector's item. Thought much recently about those days back there in Alsace-Lorraine. Being a First Sergeant now keeps me pretty much in the present, but looking at this cup and remembering out loud like this brings it all back clearly. I can feel it now. The cold shiver that ran down my spine as I saw that kid run toward the Rhine. But before I could take a step, Barnes had lunged out and thrown himself to the ground in front of the boy. And by the time I got there... Sergeant! Pull that kid back. Quick! Yeah, I've got him. Hey, what's going on? Cook, keep your eye on this kid. What you got there, Barnes? Booby track. I was just able to grab the string and hold the pin when he stepped on it. Lucky. Nice work, Barnes. Okay, kid, listen. No good here. Boom, boom. See? Now, alle, alle. Come pray. Go home. That was a close call, Barnes. Yeah, you must have reached that pin at the same time the kid did. If it had been one second later, whammy. That took a lot of nerve, Barnes. Oh, just happened to be there. Any of you would have done the same. Maybe any of us would have, but the fact remained that it was Barnes who had stuck his neck out a long way. And we all knew what it took to do something like that. As I went over my range card later, I realized that now I knew my whole squad. Each man in it had one quality at least that I was sure of. And those qualities were enough to set my mind at ease. Now, I completed my card. And, Sarge, what do you want us to do now? As they boasted there, looking at me expectantly, it suddenly struck me I'd been forgetting one thing all along. Maybe the biggest thing of all. Myself. That's who I'd been forgetting. For the three stripes on my arm, my 24 years of life experience, my knowledge of my job enough to prepare me for leading four men into combat, would the orders I'd have to give them be the right ones? Now, before you settle down, we'll have to get an emplacement, Doug. An emplacement? You mean we've got to dig as a ditch? That's right. Come on, Sarge, give us a break. What? What do you say, Sarge? We're ready for anything that comes now. The gun's all set up. I don't know what word. It was the end of a long day. Their tired faces stubby with beards looked at me as if they couldn't believe I meant what I said. I was face to face with what I'd been thinking about but a few minutes before. What was the right order for me to give? What was more important, the comfort of my men or doing what my training told me was right? But, of course, there was only one thing I could do. What's the verdict, Sarge? This. See down along the creek, the little ridge leads from here to that knoll about 100 yards. Yeah? Give us cover all the way. We'll dig the emplacement there. Let's go. Position was dug, however reluctantly by the men. I set up guards. We had chow and finally crawled into our sacks. So fell asleep while I could think out with the hostile faces of those Alsatian kids and the disgruntled faces of my men. By the next afternoon, though, with all our work done, something happened that made me feel a little better about things. Hey, look at that cardinal. They got the same kind of birds over here that we have wrong. Yeah, sure. Sarge, what's the latest? How long are we going to stay here? Who knows? Look. There come those kids again. Yeah, there's a boy that Barnes saved yesterday. He's carrying something. Looks like a pot. Bonjour, kiddo. Comment ça va? Bonjour. Well, he's got a smile on his face today. How come, kid? I bring café for you. You speak English, bone. Yeah, good. Oui. Mama, she told me. I tell her, soldier, he saved me yesterday. Oh. Hey, Barnes. Carpignetti, come on, get some coffee. OK. Hey, take a look at this cup the boy's got. Looks like it's brass or copper or something. Let me see. Good. Yeah, it's copper. And it's ancient. Hey, there's an inscription on it. What does it say? Detour d'Igniore. What's that? Is that French? I don't know. It could be Italian. Maybe Latin. It's a beautiful cup. You like it? I sure do. Hey, come on. Let's fill it up with some of that good Alsatian coffee. Here you are, Barnes. You first. Ah, thanks. How is it? Yeah. It's fine. Boom. Wonderful. They call this coffee. That's probably a substitute. Now, let me taste it. Mm. Yeah. Great. Boom, kiddo. Boom. It was bad, but it was hot. Still, most of all, it made us feel that we were accepted by the kids and their folks as friends. And somehow that made all the difference. In a few minutes, Barnes was showing them how to sleigh ride Wisconsin fashion. And some American and Alsatian-made snowballs were flying around. And as I watched, I couldn't help but think that all this looked more like a Christmas postcard than a front-line position. So there was nothing to our front, but the mist and shrouded river. There was no danger in moving around freely so far. Red dog, how I speaking? Red dog. Oh, Sergeant Baxter. How are things, Hollister? Quiet. Nothing doing. We have to pull out to reinforce them, so stand by. Okay, Sergeant. You'll get some hot chow in half an hour. Over and out. The hot chow came down and you can bet that the kids got some to take along with them. That night was again uneventful, but early the next morning... Listen, big guns up north. Like it won't be long until we'll be going there. We better start packing up. As such, that comes that little kiddo, Henri. Hey, bonjour. Bonjour. Well, Henri, what can we do for you? Sergeant, Mama, she wants to ask you something. Sure, go ahead. What is it? Mama is afraid the Germans will come back again. I see. Well, what makes you think we're going? Well, I do not know. Well, Henri, you tell your mama, I do not know if we go away. But if we do, tell her we'll be back, okay? Okay. Now, you run along. We have some things to do. It turned out we had things to do all right, but not what I thought for about an hour later. What's that? Artillery, it's not ours. Look, a bracketing barrage and coming right toward us. Man your positions. Red dog calling crocodile blue. Crocodile blue to red dog. Go ahead. Sergeant Baxter, this is Hollis. Listen, we just... Sergeant, you still hear me? Sergeant Baxter? Hello, hello? Hey, Zabo, our phone line must have been knocked up. Trace it back. See if we can find it. Okay, Sergeant. For the next half hour, the barrage continued, but then finally it started to diminish. By that time, my phone was in working order. Crocodile blue. Yeah, Hollis. We're having a barrage on our position. Bracketing. I know. We heard it up here. Let's keep in touch. Wilco, Roger, and out. Here comes Zabo. Hey, boy, how was it? Pretty rough. It was a big chunk of the wire was cut out. I didn't have enough spare wire to reach both ends. What do you do, Zabo? Well, you know that abandoned farmhouse down there? There was an old radio area wire running along the wall as I ripped it off. I spliced up the break. Good boy, Zabo. That's using your head. The resourceful Zabo, just as I had him figured he came through. And he also showed he had marxie to dodge all those shells and continue with his mission. But I didn't have much time to reflect on my men's abilities because another enemy barrage started, and as we stared through the smoke, what we saw pulled us up sharp. Look, soldiers. Yeah, enemy soldiers. Range 800. Right front. Adjust. Commence firing. Zabo, get on the phone and tell Sergeant Baxter what's up. Right, Sergeant. That thing's happened fast after that. The enemy came over the fields and wave after wave, even in the face of 500 rounds a minute, and the fire of our mortar and artillery support, which Sergeant Baxter had alerted. Then suddenly it stopped. They've stopped coming. Where'd they go? They ducked. I'm not sure they've stopped coming, but I'll give us a chance to cool off old Mini here. Hand me the old cans, Zabo. Come on, come on. Hurry it up. We haven't got all day. Well, hold your horses. I'm doing it as fast as I can. Lay off them. Alex, don't hand me any lip bonds. They've got enough to contend with. You think you're all alone just because you're pulling the trigger? All right, all right. Break it up, break it up. It's getting into you guys at a time like this. Now, come on. Settle down. They were as tight as knots. They had better get untied fast. But then somebody get me some water. Hey, Cook, you got any water back there? Water? Yeah, water. H2O. Oh, gosh, Captain. Eddie, I just remember I used it up. You what? I washed my socks in it. Again? Yeah. That's the second time in three months. The guys are fanatic. Can I help it if I'm clean? Clean socks. I'll give you a couple of socks in the head. Now, give me that water. Can you meet Bob? Oh, at your service, sir. At your service. Once more, the men were themselves thanks to Cook. We didn't have much time to relax for about half an hour later. Just as it was getting dark, they jumped us. They must have been crawling up the creek bed, and they came in two sides. Barnes was on the gun at the time, kept it going, while the rest of us worked our M1s. Still, they came until they were almost on top of the gun. But Barnes didn't budge. I guess the only thing that saved him was Carpanetti's quick action. He threw two hand grenades at the man. When the smoke cleared, we saw that we were alone. It wasn't over yet. The next morning, they looked tags, tigers. And they're coming right at us. Carpanetti grabbed the gun and tripod. The rest of us will take the ammo. We'll move to the emplacement. We duck. Keep your heads down. Let's go. Good. This is fine. Now we'll just lay low and don't fire until I tell you. Form a position. Then when their infantry came to mop up, we hid into them with flanking fire, thoroughly disorganizing them. Oh, boy, Sergeant, am I glad you made us dig this emplacement. Hey! Hey, look! Look, tanks! Hours! And they're moving up! It didn't take long after that. The army was repulsed completely. Within a few hours, a new division moved into Relivis. We boarded our jeeps and started north toward the Bauge area. On our way, we passed through the little village. That's all right. Sergeant. Sergeant. Oh, bonjour, Henri. What is it? The cup. Mama said it is for you to keep. For me? Oui. It is to thank you for what you do. You do not go away. Okay, Henri. Okay. And thank you. Merci. It's been a long time since we rode through that village and on through Germany to the end of the war. A long time. Cook, Zabo, Carpanetti, and Barnes. The Joker and the Fixer, the Quick and the Brave. But their names are engraved here on this ancient Roman drinking cup. Detour digniori, says the Latin inscription above their names. Detour digniori. Let it be given to the more worthy. This cup was given to me that day in Alsace-Lorraine. But it will always belong to those four names there. Today, you're rapidly expanding. United States Army needs intelligent young men with ability and ambition. Men intelligent enough to recognize the vital need for a strong armed force. Men with ability enough to be trained in a necessary job. Men with ambition enough to secure the future for themselves and their loved ones. Well, now tell me, fellas, does this description fit you? Can you qualify for full information on how you can fit in with the finest? You check with your nearest United States Army recruiting station. Go down there and talk it over with the real friendly folks down there. Remember, there's complete information without obligation. So plan ahead. Face your tomorrow today. Team up with the Army and you team up with success. This has been another program on Proudly We Hail, presented transcribed in cooperation with this radio station. Proudly We Hail is produced by the Recruiting Publicity Center for the United States Army. And this is Richard Hayes speaking, inviting you to tune in to the same station next week for another interesting story on Proudly We Hail.