 Presenting The Doctor Gets the Answer on the Cavalcade of America sponsored by E.I. DuPont and the Morrison Company of Wilmington, Delaware. There's a hint of fall in the air, and before we begin our play tonight, here's a hint for you. It's DuPont's speedy-z wall finish. Now's the time of year when the serious business of home decorating really begins. On the long list of better things for better living, DuPont brings you speedy-z, the finish that covers almost any wall surface. It covers wallpaper in one easy coat and dries in an hour. It'll make you re-decorating this fall the pleasantest you've ever done. Speedy-z is just what its name says. It's speedy, dries fast, it's easy, easy to apply. Remember speedy-z made by the DuPont Company. Now for our play. I'm a major in the Medical Corps Army Air Forces. I'm here tonight to tell you a pretty important story. Pretty important because it concerns how we're treating soldiers who, to give it the scientific name, have suffered traumatic neurosis of war. They used to call it shell shock. Today it's known as battle fatigue. By any name, it's a difficult problem. Tonight, by detailing the case history of Sergeant Doug Bennett, waist gunner in a V-17, we're going to tell you part of the story of how we're handling it. Listen to the case history of Sergeant Doug Bennett. The DuPont Company presents The Doctor Gets the Answer, an original radio play written by Peter Lyon and based on documentary army material featuring Donald Bucher as Sergeant Doug Bennett and Edwin Jerome as the Medical Corps major on the Cavalcade of America. You are a privileged visitor to an Army Air Force's hospital where the convalescent training program has been going on for some time, a year and a half or so. You are sitting in the shadows of a hospital amphitheater, one of about four dozen people looking down from the circular rows of seats to the brightly lighted stage where sit an Army Air Force's doctor, a member of my staff, and a patient, a convalescent, technical Sergeant Doug Bennett. Everybody present but you is a doctor. Their interest is professional. They listen carefully, jot down notes in their loosely books. They are learning about psychiatric therapy from a case history. That of the convalescent now about to be discharged. You watch the doctor below, my assistant, as he gestures toward the patient. Gentlemen, this is Sergeant Bennett. He has been told that he would answer questions before you this morning. Sergeant, would you tell what medals have been awarded you? I got a purple heart or an air medal, a couple of leaf clusters. How many battle missions Sergeant? Forty-six sir. I'd like you to tell us about the complaints you had when you came here. As a patient, I mean. Complaints? Yes. Were you upset? Nervous? Yes sir. Well, can you describe it? In what way were you upset or nervous? Well, I couldn't sleep. Did you have dreams? Yes sir. Nightmares? Yes sir. Can you describe what sort of dreams you had? I dreamt about battle missions. Dreamt of flak. Dreamt about men fighting off the Nazi pursuit ships. About men yelling and screaming. Dreamt of some Germans. Were the dreams in color or black and white? In color sir. Any other complaints Sergeant? You, uh, you said something about your speech. Yes sir. I used to stammer instead of for quite some time. As a matter of fact, I still do. Just once in a while. Were you nervous before all this happened to you? Did you consider yourself a nervous person? No sir. Were you nervous the morning of your last battle mission? The 46th? Yes, the 46th. Suppose you tell us the story of what happened that day. Just tell it in your own words. No, I wasn't nervous that morning. No more nervous than usual that is. The assignment was over Augsburg. Pretty clear sailing on the way in. A lot of flak over the target. We got our bombs off OK. Then just as we came off our run, the Nazis hit us pretty bad. The intercom went out on the third pass at us. About that time Shorty, he was my buddy, the guy at the other waste gun turret. Shorty came over and told me the navigator ordered us to hit the chute, abandoned plane. And we did. Just the two of us jumped out and cleared and started over here. Hang on, baby. I'm coming. Shorty, how you doing? That crowd lost, he got you. You hurt, kid. Where are we, Doug, have you got any idea? Yeah, Germany. We're in Germany. It's after 1 o'clock unless the time bell is different here. My watch says 120. Germany. Look at the mountains. It's lucky we land in these woods. See any houses or any people? No. Got my eyes on those mountains. That's West Shorty. That's where we're going in a few hours when it gets dark. What are you talking about? I can't walk. Look at me. We're going there kid waiting to see. Well, it gets dark. We'll be on our way. Hang on, Shorty. Keep your hands locked, kid. We'll be there. You're cold. You're cold, Shorty. I don't answer me, kid. Save your breath. We can make it at the border in another four hours. Before dawn, baby. France. Get you. The Germans did. I have a friend. American. America? You're an aviator? Yes, that's me, American. Can you hide me? Come with me, quick. Patron allemand, the Bosch. They will come here soon. Follow me, quick. Here, food. And here, money. The money is not so valuable as the food. When you get to the next town, go to this address. They will be good to you. How far away is that? 32 kilometers. Keep off the roads. Travel only at night. Go only this far. From here, you will have to go by yourself. I understand. You, uh, you have an angle? Well, that's one way to say it. Under the blanket, here comes a motorcycle. A friend, hold your fire. Come towards me with your hands folded on your head. Quick, don't worry, buddy. I'll be as quick as I can. What surprises are you doing? Coming from that direction. Lost are you, Yank? Not me, Tommy. I'm found. DFC, Warren Monroe. Check. Concussion, shock, severe shrapnel wounds. Right. Lieutenant James Condon. Check. Multiple facial wounds, shock, blindness. Right. Sergeant Douglas Bennett. He looks OK. Severe shock, fatigue due to lack of sleep and continuing physical exertion, mild malnutrition, traumatic neurosis. I take it all back. He needs to trip back to the States, all right? 28. Still comes out. 28. 1, 2, 3, 4. What's the game, soldier? Proving you know how to count? No, nurse. You see it's my first day here. I wanted to get used to how many nails I'm going to be looking at in the ceiling. I make it 28, I think. You think? The trouble is when I get tired, I get this busy double vision. You see, nurse, I'm not sure. Maybe less than 28. They're 28, all right. I know. Only they're hooks, not nails. What you got there? Plain models, 28 of them. We're going to hang them up on those hooks and let you do a little home course in plain identification. OK? Sure, nurse. Better than just plain nails, I guess. OK, fellas, the next exercise. Be depart like this. On one, left fingers touch right toe. On two, back up again. On three, right fingers touch left toe. On four as you were. Ready? OK. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, and four. All you men with red cards, that's enough for you. Back to bed with him. You mothers, the same exercise. One, two, three, four. What's this red card stuff? You two? That means we quit. Back in bed and watch the other guys. I don't get it. Well, us guys with red cards, they figure to be pretty sick. We only get five minutes of calisthenics. With the yellow cards, you get five minutes more. And with green, they figure you're pretty strong. Again, you can take a full 20 minutes. You and me, we're sick. Yeah. And after they finish these exercises? Training film. Pretty good sometimes. Lectures. Wednesdays, a guy comes in here and lectures on American history. No kid. Where'd you get yours? Me? Oh, I was, I was, I was in a plane. What do you mean you were in a plane? I, I, I don't know, soldier. Skip it. OK, OK. Right in there, soldier. Go right in, the doctor's waiting. OK. Sergeant Bennett, sir, the nurse told me to come. All right, sure. Sit down, Sergeant. How are you? Pretty good, sir. You can skip the sir while you're here with me, Sergeant. Relax, you look a little tense. Nice tells me you've been crying at night. I, I don't know why, sir. Oh, it's nothing to be ashamed of, son. You'd be a freak if you didn't cry. Remember when you were a kid and you'd fall down and hit a chair or something? Start bowling? Your mother would come up and comfort you? Yeah. You weren't height then either, at least not badly. But they'd fall, scared you. So you cried. Did you good, letting off steam, right? I, I guess so. Sure. You dream much? Yes, sir. Bad. You look a lot bad when you got here. They, they kept me busy here. All the lectures and learning a lot of new stuff. Can you remember what your dreams were about? Any of them repeat themselves? There's one, sir. Tell me about it. It's not even when I'm asleep, sir. At least I don't think it is. You see, that's what makes it worse. Just before you fall asleep. That's right. You see, it's, it's just about when I'm asleep and it's, and it's like when you're, you're sitting in an automobile and you're looking in one direction. And behind you, someone steps on the running board, you, you know? Just that, that little motion. It makes you turn your head around and look. And? Well, I, I turn around. And there behind me, there's two Germans. Nazis with swastikas and all. They got knives in their belts and they, each holding an open knife in their hands. Just looking at me. And? And? Nothing. I can't remember anymore. I'm awake, but I, I can't move. They're standing right there by the bed. I figure if I can just jump out of bed without their realizing I'm not asleep. And so all the time I'm, I'm breathing regularly. I pretend that I am asleep. I figure I'll be able to get up and get out of the door and lock it behind me before they come and get me and... Same two Nazis every time? Yes, sir. Then what happens? That's all. The rest? There's no more you can remember. No, sir. Well, now then, Sergeant, I'm going to ask you to slip into this bed over here, if you will. Into bed? Yep. Just slip off your bathrobe and pajamas. Hang them on that hook there, that'll do. And then pop into bed. Yes, sir. I, I always hate to have anybody do something to me when I don't know what it is he's doing. So I'll tell you what I'm up to now with you. I'm going to take this hypodermic needle and shoot a little of this liquid into your arm. Not much. I can promise you it won't hurt much. Matter of fact, all it'll do is put you to sleep for a bit. I, I don't mind that, sir. I haven't been sleeping very good lately. That's a fact. Well, this stuff will do the trick. We call it Prentothal. Now hold your arm up like that. Steady now. There. And we just shoot a bit of it into you. Now in a minute or two, you'll be sleepy and you'll drop right off. Comfortable? Yes, sir. Fine. I'll leave you for a moment now if you don't mind. I'll be back directly, but I don't think you'll even realize it. You'll be asleep. You hear me, Sergeant? Yes, sir. Count after me, Sergeant. One. One. Two. Two. Three. Three. Four. Four. Five. Five. Six. Six. Seven. You are listening to The Doctor Gets the Answer, featuring Donald Buker as Sergeant Doug Bennett and Edwin Jerome as the medical corps major on the Cavalcade of America, sponsored by EI DuPont de Nemours and company of Wilmington, Delaware, maker of better things for better living through chemistry. Our cavalcade play tonight is the story of Sergeant Doug Bennett, waste gunner in a flying fortress who has suffered traumatic neurosis, battle fatigue, and is now in a hospital under treatment for his shock. At the moment, Doug Bennett lies unconscious in a twilight sleep induced by a new drug called pentathor. He is unaware of his surroundings, but able to talk clearly, able to answer any questions put to him. And yet, when he awakes, he will remember none of what has happened. Later, because of what the major is about to learn of Doug Bennett's mental troubles, he will be able to treat him, cure him. Right now, the major is ready to question his patient. Sergeant, you can hear me? Sure, sir. Skip this, Sergeant. I want you to tell me about your last flight mission. That was my 46th. Yes. What was your objective? The Messerschmitt assembly plants at Augsburg. It was a lot of flak, but we got our bombs off OK. Right on the target. Shorty Psalm. Shorty? Who's Shorty? Shorty was my buddy. The other waste gunner. And what happened after your bombs were dropped? That's when the Nazis came at us. They killed the pilot and the copilot. The navigator ordered us to jump. Ordered who? Just Shorty and me. We were the only ones that got out. How was that, Sergeant? The plane exploded right after we jumped clear. We were the only ones that got away. And then? What happened then? The Nazi Laus machine gunned us on the way down. Shorty didn't see him till too late. He was shot up pretty bad. I found him on the ground. Was he dead? Shorty. No, he wasn't dead. But we were way inside Germany, and I had to get him out. And me? What did you do, Sergeant? I couldn't get him out with me. I couldn't carry him. I carried him for a couple of days. Then he died. I carried his body for a couple of days more. What happened to Shorty, Sergeant? There were the mountains and the snow on him. It was cold. I was carrying him over my shoulder, but I couldn't keep going. I had to leave him. I had to do it. He hated to. I had to. I buried him in the snow. Shorty. And then you were alone? I marked the place where I buried him. I know where it is. I stuck a little cross up. I tried to remember a prayer. I couldn't remember any prayers. Sergeant, listen to me. What happened after you buried him? After I went on down the mountain. That was when I got to the border. And you crossed the border? Yeah. I crossed the border all right. Did something happen at the border, Sergeant? There was two Nazis there with knives. Nazis with swastikas on their sleeves. What happened, Sergeant? I murdered them. I took my own knife and I crept up behind them and I murdered them. I know it was wrong. I was hungry. It was cold. I had to get back. I know I shouldn't have murdered them. I prayed to God to forgive me. It wasn't murder, Sergeant. A guy like me doesn't stab guys in the back. A guy like you kills your country's enemies, Sergeant. You killed two of them. It was your job. You did it well. It wasn't wrong. I dream about those two guys with their knives and their swastikas. You did right to kill them, Sergeant. You did perfectly right. Now, you go to sleep, Sergeant. You need it. And now you sit a privileged visitor watching the face of young technical sergeant Doug Bennett as he sits in a hospital amphitheater in his maroon GI bathroom, talking to a medical officer before a still audience of some four dozen doctors, all taking notes in their notebooks. Now he has finished the story of his rehabilitation. The officer puts in one more question. By and large, you feel better now, do you, Sergeant? Me? Oh, I feel fine, sir. Fine. Dreams about gone, aren't they? Haven't had a bad dream in two weeks, sir. But there's just only one thing. Yes, what's that? Well, sir, I feel like I'm wasting my time here. My wound is OK. My nerves are OK. The major explained to me all about what happened and why. And I feel like it's all over with. We're glad you feel that way. Yes, sir. But now, well, I thinking about getting yourself a job, Sergeant? In a way, yes, sir. What I mean is I'd like to put in for active duty again. You see, sir, I feel like I'm missing the best part of the fight. Thank you, Donald Bucher, Edwin Jerome, and members of the Cavalcade cast. Now here is Ted Pearson speaking for the DuPont Company to tell you of an interesting way chemistry is helping to preserve and increase the nation's fruit crop. Around this time of year, in many parts of the country, you see apple and pear trees colorful with fruit. And you may have noticed some on the ground. This fruit on the ground, pre-harvest drop, as it's called, represents a loss of several million dollars a year to fruit growers. Fruit that stays on the tree until the proper stage of maturity is larger, tastier, and generally, a better color. The problem is how to keep the fruit on the tree until just the right time to harvest, how to keep it from falling. This problem has now been solved by chemistry. Several years ago, a scientist of the United States Department of Agriculture found that holly treated with naphthalene acetic acid did not shed as readily as untreated holly. This led them to try it for preventing the dropping of apples. Only a few apples dropped from the sprayed trees. Under the trees they didn't spray, the ground was covered with fallen fruit. So the DuPont Company and several other chemical manufacturers went to work to make commercial sprays. Again this year, many thousands of acres of apples and pears will be sprayed or dusted with DuPont Parmone. Certain experiments station horticulturists report that apples treated with DuPont Parmone and harvested eight days later are heavier, have better color, taste better, and keep longer. Apples and pears fall because of a chemical change resulting in the breakdown of a layer of cells in the stem. Parmone acts chemically to retard these changes. Its action is so potent that four grams of it make a hundred gallons of spray. Because of Parmone, growers will be able to use their labor more effectively this fall, an important gain at a time when labor is so scarce. Much more fruit and of a better quality is added to our national fruit supply. Parmone, synthetic hormone spray, and Parmone dust are products of the DuPont Company, maker of better things for better living through chemistry. This is your cavalcade announcer, Roland Winters. For many weeks past, this spot in our program has been used to tell you of the following week's play. This evening, I wish to tell you not only of A play and its stars, but of entire series of great stars and great radio plays. Beginning next Monday evening at this time and over this station, cavalcade will inaugurate for the fall and winter season a series of outstanding radio plays performed by the formal stars of stage and screen. The plays in this series have been written by outstanding authors in the literary and entertainment world. And the performers starred in these plays include Clark Gable, Walter Pigeon, Rosalind Russell, Paul Muney, Edward G. Robinson, Bob Hope, Francis Langford, Tallulah Bankhead, and Robert Walker. As a special feature of this series, the eminent actor of stage and screen, Walter Houston, will serve as your host each week. To Rosalind Russell has fallen the honor of raising the curtain on this series next Monday evening in a fascinating and unusual role, Him from the Night. In the weeks to follow, Bob Hope, Francis Langford, and Jerry Colona will give their first complete report to America on their recent Pacific Battlefront tour. Walter Pigeon, Edward G. Robinson, Clark Gable, Tallulah Bankhead, among many others, will appear in stories of high adventure, of romance, of science fighting to save lives. A series of quick glimpses of America's heroic past to reassure us for our future and to help us set our sights for the world to come. Next Monday evening's cavalcade, starring Rosalind Russell in Him from the Night, will be an exciting evening in radio. The first of many such evenings in store for you during the coming fall and winter season. A season of great entertainment brought to you by great stars in great radio plays on the cavalcade of America. The orchestra and musical score this evening were under the direction of Donald Burhees. This is Roland Winters sending best wishes from cavalcade sponsor E.I. DuPont, who was in company of Wilmington, Delaware. The cavalcade of America came to you from New York. Company.