 Proudly we hail. New York City, where the American stage begins, here is another program with a cast of outstanding players. Public service time has been made available by this station to bring you this story, as proudly we hail the United States Air Force. The fortunes of war deliver a member of the United States Armed Forces into the hands of the enemy. It is his duty to continue to resist by all available means. In today's story, Hole in the Sky, we present the fictional account of how a group of airmen, prisoners of war, refused to be defeated and struck a blow at the enemy's defenses. First, if you're a veteran, chances are you know about the United States Air Force re-enlistment policy and the opportunities it offers to all former servicemen, especially those with technical experience and backgrounds and critical skills. But here's important news you may not have heard. The Air Force has now liberalized its policy to bring you even further benefits. Here are some of the important advantages. A wider range of skills is now accepted. There's a choice of U.S. and overseas assignments. Also, a paid 30-day delay in reporting if requested. And think about this. If you qualify on the basis of an aptitude test, the Air Force may be able to guarantee technical training. Yes, guarantee you this even before you enlist. So it makes good sense for a veteran of any service to inquire about this new liberalized Air Force policy. Contact your nearest Air Force recruiter right away without obligation, of course. See why we say, today and tomorrow, you're better off in the United States Air Force. And now your Air Force presents the proudly-we-hail production, Hole in the Sky. He broke the left, but I kept my sights on him all the way. Did you get him, Sergeant? It was my first oak leaf cluster. Oh, go on. Then I see this big MIG coming in from six o'clock high. Yeah, what did you do? Well, I wait, see. No use wasting the taxpayer's money. Besides, Charlie Dixon, our armament NCO, was always... Oh, that's Master Sergeant Dixon, the armament inspector at this airbase now? Yeah, he was a little younger then, but just this armament happy. Anyway, this MIG is closing in fast, see. All right, all right, back to Earth, Lyons. Well, well, good Sergeant Dixon. I was just talking about you. Oh, you're kidding. When you hang a fly, there's only one man you talk about. There I was. Well, before you came up, I was just about to tell Airman Weaver here how well you speak Korean. Oh, fine, I make one mistake, just one. I know of at least one other mistake. All right, will you forget it? You're a senior weapons mechanic now. You were assigned to work on Lieutenant Martin's bird. Now, is she in commission and armed for the gunnery test? Weaver, tell the good Sergeant what we did to Lieutenant Martin's F-102. We boresighted her, checked the wiring, made a couple of replacements in her electronic system. We armed her with rockets. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Well, those et cetera's had better be right. Right enough to blow a pretty big hole in the sky. You always do do a good job, I have to admit that. Why, Charlie, how nice. Will you knock it off, will you? One mistake. All right, two mistakes. He's got a memory like an elephant. He's a funny guy. He's a wonderful guy. Yeah, it's hard to imagine him making any mistakes. As it turned out, it was lucky for the Air Force he did make two. Oh, yeah, is that why he was given the Distinguished Service Cross? Yeah, and if he hadn't flown with my crew, he might never have been awarded it. Well, that's just it. I knew he'd been an arm of a man in your outfit during that Korean business, and when I asked him if he'd ever flown any combat missions, he gave me a funny answer. How funny? Well, he said, yeah, one half. That's right. I don't get it. How can a man fly half a mission? I mean, how could he get decorated for it if he did? Well, I'll tell you. Move over and give me a little flying room. Oh, there I was. Oh, wait a minute. Wait a minute. I thought this was about Sergeant Dixon. Am and Weaver, don't vector in on me when I'm hang a flying. Now, where was I? There you were, see? Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, as you know, during the late unpleasantness in Korea, I was a gunner on a B-26. Well, one day, our armament NCO, the same Sergeant Dixon, decided to go along for the ride to make sure we dropped his bombs and shot his bullets the way he wanted us to. That was his first mistake. Because on the way home after air-conditioning a factory up by the Yalu River, both our props ran away and we found ourselves floating gracefully to worth under parachute power. Dixon and I landed a few hundred yards apart in a rice paddy. We shucked our harnesses, got together, and took off. Hold it, Charlie. Let's take a breath. Yeah, OK. Into these bushes. You feel like an infantryman. We must have covered more than 20 miles. No, I'd say less than five. Oh, it must be more than that. No, no, no. We lit almost an hour and a half ago. I figure we've averaged about three miles an hour. Simple time-distance problem. The question is less than five miles where. We've got any idea where we are. Oh, about 20 miles south of the 38th parallel. You sure? Maybe we should have asked the navigator before we bailed out. Time-distance again. We were over the target at 11-43. We bailed out around 13-15. That's an hour and a half. The B-26 is cruising speedway well into South Korea. Your figures still put us about 30 miles on the wrong side of the lines. His area must be crawling with red. Yeah, yeah, but the people are friendly. I speak a little Korean, so all we have to do is make contact with somebody. He'll tell us where the communist troops are and just help us evade. So, what's the first move? Well, just before we flopped here, I saw a paddy terrace ahead. That means there's a house nearby. The survivor will have to announce ourselves and trust they'll hide us until we can signal their rescue helicopter. How does it look to you? From what I can see through this hedge, I'd say it looks harmless. Ah, let's go. Wait a minute. Hold it. There's a man coming out of the house. Anyong Hashibnika? Mikuk Saram? You see, he knows we're Americans. Oridol on Mikuk Saram umnida. Kim Yunseek Bali Oshimcheep. The farm had turned out to be the local Kami bigwig, entertaining a couple of North Korean soldiers. They escorted us to the nearest headquarters where a couple of communist interpreters kept themselves busy asking a lot of questions which I answered with William Lyons, sergeant 33035856. Dixon gave them the same thing. After some routine interrogation, they decided we weren't important and passed us on to one of their prisoner-of-war camps. After we'd been there quite a while and had been really looked over, we found out that the senior American NCO was also in charge of the escape committee at the camp. The only American officers had been hurt and were in the so-called dispensary. I think I've talked to all of you before. My name's Harris, Ed Harris. Bill Lyons. Charlie Dixon. This is Mel Yarski. Hi. And Tom Holland. Hi. There's really only one thing that interests me. Oh, that. Well, it interests all of us around here. In fact, it's a way of life. Tom, go on, Gruckgaard. All right, now here's the story. The Kami's want to make this particular camp escape-proof, but that doesn't discourage us. Now, we try to keep digging tunnels faster than we can keep them in. We have three going on a 24-hour schedule right now. By being hard to convince, we keep a lot of communist troops out of the front lines. Now, look, why do you say this particular camp? Mel, get the layout diagram, will you? Hey, somebody give me a hand with this stove. All right, both together now. Push, push. That's enough. What's that? Our bulb. Now, the cooks are a little narrow-minded about some of the knickknacks we like to have around. Korean clothing, wire cutters, escape maps. Now, here we are. You can play our plan. All right, here. I'll show you what I mean. Okay. Now, this camp is an old Russian garrison. Now, we're in the north compound. That's right here. Now, this section to the left is a west compound. And over here, the east compound. All compounds are separated by double barbed wire fences. These circles represent guard towers. Now, this section, almost surrounded by the three compounds, is a communist area. Right here is their administration building. Now, this is the mess hall of guards barracks and so forth. So, what's this long building beside their mess hall? Ah, that building contains the reason they want to make sure no one escapes. What's in it? A dry cleaning plant. Dry cleaning plant? Yeah. They captured it from our post-exchange when they took soil. See, this camp is guarded by elite troops. And the number one boy likes them to keep neat. Well, I don't get it. What's so strategic about a dry cleaning plant? Usually nothing. But if you're hiding a radar observation post in the same building. A radar station? Hey, they can't do that. It's against the rules of the Geneva Convention. They have a military installation near a prison or a war camp. You know it, I know it, and they know it. But these commies make their own lousy rules. Oh, boy, that radar must be an important part of the North Korean defense. Well, there are a lot of men here who wouldn't be if it wasn't. And that's why we want to do something about it. Cook up! Not quick, there's a commisolder camp. So, all clear. All right. There we were at 30,000 feet. Three engines out. A fourth one smoking. On our backs and still climbing. Sergeant Harris. Why? It's Sergeant Chang Ho Sung. Sergeant Harris. Why is it every time I walk into the prisoners' backs there's a man outside who shouts, Cook up. Oh, oh, oh. Cook means government official of Korea. We like to have things tidy when you visit us. Or perhaps you want to stop saying things you would not like to have overheard. Oh, Sergeant Chang, I'm beginning to think you don't trust us. We have a good reason. We have just uncovered another one of your tunnels. It was almost under the wire by Barracks Nine. How about that? This has ceased to be a game, Sergeant Harris. We will not tolerate any more escape attempts. Now, you don't think we'd tell anyone about your special installations, do you, Sergeant Chang? So you know, do you? That really doesn't matter. Even if your people knew of it, they would do nothing. Not as long as you are here. We figured that was the reason it was placed in a PW account. Clever, aren't you? Here we have the best protected radar warning post in Korea. Your people cannot destroy it without blowing you up with it. And we know they're too soft-hearted to do that, don't we? There will be no more escape attempts. You understand? Sergeant, I don't know what you mean. Perhaps you will better understand this. It is something I will give you to help you remember. Take it. A machine gun cartridge? Yes. I think it is better to give it to you like this than the more obvious way as you are attempting to escape. This is my last warning, Sergeant Harris. Just so you don't get any foolish ideas, gentlemen, the charge has been taken out of that cartridge. It is obsolete in any case. Why, that dirty... Just a minute, let me see that cartridge. It's no good. You heard what he said. The charge has been taken out. I know, I know. Let me look at it. You can have it for all the good it'll do us. Professional curiosity. Charlie knows all about bullets and stuff. He's an armament man. An armament man. Armament men don't fly. How'd he get here? Professional curiosity. Thought he'd fly a combat mission to see what it was like. All he got was a half-o-one. He should have remembered what they say about the shoemaker sticking to his last. It's a good thing this shoemaker didn't. I'm the boy who's going to solve all your problems. You see this cartridge? He said the charge had been taken out, so it couldn't be fired, but he also said it was obsolete. All right, what makes a cartridge obsolete? Change of charge? Could be. Change of bore? Sure, but this is a standard 7.6 millimeter cartridge. This little purple-nosed beauty is obsolete because world opinion made it obsolete. What do you mean? You fly boys do all right up in the air, but when it comes to a simple ground problem like blowing up a radar station, you have to call for an armament man, don't you? You're going to blow up the radar station? I'm not. The commies are going to blow it up all by themselves. I'm going to arm one of them just like I'd arm a plane, and when I do, he'll zero right in on the target. I always did like a good fire. You are listening to Proudly We Hail. We'll return for the second act of Hole in the Sky in just a moment. They took the blue from the sky and the pretty girls eyes and the touch of home glory is new. And even through the men who Proudly wear the U.S. Air Force Blue. The U.S. Air Force Blue. Yes, the men who Proudly wear Air Force Blue. And if you're a qualified veteran with one of the many vital skills needed in the Air Force, an enlistment may win you higher pay and a better grade than you realize. Check into the new opportunities available now. Reenlistment bonuses are bigger than ever. There's a choice of U.S. and overseas assignments. And these are only a few of the reasons why you're better off in the U.S. Air Force Blue. And now we present the second act of the Proudly We Hail production, Hole in the Sky. And we'll listen to an Air Force Armament man tell about his job. Talk about hangar flying. That ought to sort of slow and casual on aerial mines that weigh a couple of tons. Then they pick up speed as they work down through bombs, jay-toe rockets and fuses. And by the time they get to the science of trajectory, their eyes light up and they stand on tables dropping imaginary plumb bobs and squinting through a piece of pipe that's supposed to be a surveyor's transit. That's the way it was with Dixon. We just had to sit back and wait for him to get around to telling us how he intended to blow up the communist radar station with an empty, obsolete cartridge. The advantage to thermite as an incendiary is its persistent burning at a very high temperature and its safety in hauling. On the other hand, white phosphorus is a very unstable element will ignite spontaneously when exposed to the air. Does he always go on like this? He knows a captive audience when he sees one. All this together with the fact that phosphorus is soluble in only two or three compounds and one for one only in carbon disulfide is to our advantage, as you can see. See what? Mel, you weren't paying attention. Sure I was. I liked that part about the late fuses, but I can't see what that's got to do with the cartridge Chang gave at. Look, Charlie, you're specialty is armaments and ordnance. We're gunners, radio operators, and engineers. Why don't you tell us your plan as simply as possible? All right, all right. We'll now begin with this cartridge has a purple nose. You understand that? That means it's an incendiary. The only kind of obsolete incendiary I know is one used by the Germans in World War I. They probably had a few laying around. They gave to the Japanese Manchurian, well, later captured by the Chinese Reds after World War II. You mean the nose of this cartridge contains... That's right, white phosphorus. I still don't get it. Well, Charlie's right, Mel. You weren't paying attention. White phosphorus bursts into flame when it's exposed to the air. So all we have to do is... Well, what do we have to do, Charlie? Fine, now here's the scheme. First we get a bucket of water and those wire cutters out of the vaults. Then we take some. We all set? Yeah, Holland's on a good guard. Did you get the thick grease? I tapped the medical supplies for some petroleum jelly. Well, I don't... Oh, yeah, that'll work fine. All right, let's get started before Chang decides to drop in for a visit. Oh, look, it's a very delicate operation. You ready, Bill? Yeah, I guess so. Okay, I'll dunk the cartridge into the bucket. All right, now that's it. Now hold it tight, eh? I'm gonna split the brass casing with the wire cutters. Just a little more on the side. Yeah, there we are. You see that yellowish blob? That's the phosphorus. It looks like taffy. Yeah, it looks harmless enough. Well, if I took it out of the water, you'd see how harmless it is. We'd have a fire in less than a minute. Now what? Give me a dab of that petroleum jelly, eh? Okay, that's plenty. I look still holding it underwater. We just coat the phosphorus like this. And there we are. Won't it catch fire in your hand? Not as long as that coating of grease keeps out the air. Here, put it in this empty can. Seems hard to believe that little chuck is gonna blow up a radar station. But it will. All we have to do is get some comi guard to plant it for us. And just how do we go about doing that? Well, somehow we get hold of one of the guard's blouses. We cut a little hole in the lining and slip in the phosphorus. Oh, I'm beginning to get it. When the blouse goes through the dry cleaning tank. Now I see. The nap the cleaning fluid dissolves the grease from the lump of phosphorus. Yeah, and when they take all those uniforms out of the nap the... Yeah, we still like a good fire. Any luck? Nah, I've been following those kimchi kids around all week. They don't even take off their hats. They almost had a blouse this morning. You know that little interpreter, the one with the buck teeth? The warmest, Ned? Yeah, that's the one. He caught a button on a wire and I offered to bring his blouse over here and sew it on. He wouldn't bite. Nah, they'd get Court Marshal Silly if they handed part of their uniform over to a prisoner. Now we'll just have to wait until one of them gets overheated or something. Where's the phosphorus? Up there on the shelf and we can get at it fast when we need it. Guk up! Who's that? Relax, Sergeant Harris. There was no one outside so I decided to announce myself. Guk, a government official of Korea. Right. It certainly fits you, Sergeant Chang. Dada hi, Gamsah. I'm Nidao, Sergeant Harris. Oh, Chun-Man, Marciam. What can we do for you? I've come to congratulate you on your behavior this past week. I believe the little reminder I gave you made you think. Oh yeah, it certainly gave us some hot ideas. I was happy to be rid of it. I had a hole in my pocket from carrying it. Oh, a hole? Yes, a nuisance. Objects fall through it into the lining. But it would be repaired when I have my brass clean next week. Not until next week, you say. That's right, next week. Well, well, try clean. Of course. Warrior now. Oh, by the way, Sergeant Chang, that bullet was German, wasn't it? Our Chinese brothers captured many German weapons from the Japanese. Oh yeah. Perhaps even the V-1 and V-2 rockets. If so, we may use them against your bases. How would you like that? Oh, V-1 and V-2, don't worry us. They're obsolete. Do you have something better? Oh, sure. You've heard of our industrial center of Detroit, haven't you? Of course, everyone has. Well, the V-8 is being made there. The V-8? You mean you didn't know that? I thought everybody knew that. Don't be foolish. We've known about it for a long time. Communist intelligence knows everything. Oh, you mean they know how it's used? Of course. You have no secrets from us. Oh, I suppose they are right. There's no need to show you how we're going to win the war with a V-8, is there? No need at all. However, as one soldier to another, I have no objections if it would amuse you to demonstrate. Oh, all right. Seeing as how you know about it already, it'd just be shot talk. Sit down here at the table, Sergeant Jack. Yes. Yeah, that's fine. Now, let's assume that this fork is the launcher, huh? And we'll set the bowl of the spoon over its handle, like this. Now, that's the V-8, OK? Very good. Now, we need a target. This pan of rice flour we'll do. I'll place it right here in front of you so you won't miss anything. Now, there. That's our target. So, now we just dangle off the Spanish and straddle down on the launcher like this. Oh, look out. Oh, oh. You idiot. Look what you have done. Oh, Charlie, the spoon landed in the bowl and splattered flour all over the sergeant. Oh, it was an accident. I guess I just got carried away. Look at me, you fool. Oh, but my uniform... Oh, I'm very sorry, Sergeant Chang. Hey, Bill, help me take the sergeant's blouse off so we can brush it for him, huh? I can't tell you how sorry I am. Ed, you and Mel brush off the rest of the uniform while Bill and I take care of his blouse. Come over by the window, Sergeant Chang. Well, I thought he did that intentionally. Oh, he's just clumsy like you said, you know? Which pocket? I don't know. He's right-handed. Oh, that's enough. Quick, you found the hole. Just a little more. Turn this way, Charlie. I got it. I got it. Just the right side. There you are. That's enough. Enough, my say. Hurry, Charlie. Hurry. Okay, it dropped into the lining. All right, give me my blouse. We did the best we could, but it's still pretty blotchy, I'm afraid. I shall put you all in solitary. Look at my uniform. And you're going to have to wear it like that for another week. Idiot. I was sent to our cleaning plant in the morning. Oh, I hope you'll forgive me. It was worthwhile, Sergeant. Oh, how do you mean? I trick you into telling me something Communist intelligence will be very happy to learn. Thank you, and good day, gentlemen. I have the feeling Communist intelligence is going to put the good Chang in a pair to sell when he reports that. What's your play? Oh, oh, oh, sorry. What's Trump? Spades. Remember, you bid them. What time is it, Charlie? 11.36. It's two minutes later than it was the last time you asked. How long does it take to clean a little flower off a blouse anyway? You know, you fellas haven't taken your eyes off that coming compound since Sunup. How about paying some attention to the game? What would you say, was Trump? Oh, no. You know, maybe he didn't send his blouse to the cleaning plant today. Ever think of that? The thing that bothers me is that maybe it won't work if he did. It's got to work, so stop worrying and play the game, will you? Look, I led the ace of hearts. Ed finally got around to playing the nine. Now, it's up to you, Bill. Oh, my play. Let's see. Bill, will you look at what you've done? Huh? That's my ace of hearts. You've drunk my ace. Oh, I guess I wasn't concentrating. I was thinking... There's the blouse. Man, alive. Look at those flames. Hey, that knife sure burns briskly, doesn't it? You did it, Charlie. You did it just like you said you would. I always did like a good fire. Well, I guess it's all over. All that's left of that radar station is a beautiful pile of scrap. Those commies sure look sad, but somehow I just can't seem to feel sorry for them. That was so easy. Oh, yeah, sure it was. All you needed was an armament, man. Hey, what if Sergeant Chang figures out how we did it? Well, if he doesn't want to get into big trouble with a Kremlin, he'd better not figure anything. Come to think of it, we've got him over a barrel, don't we? That's right. We'll just let him know that if he doesn't cooperate, we might do a little talk. Hey, Mel, make out a list of improvements we'd like to see around here. All right, look, now it's all over. How about getting back to our game, huh? How can you play bridge at a time like this? Hey, listen, listen. Listen to what? Listen. Oh, boy. Hey, look, B-26s. Lots of B-26s. Hey, look at them come hundreds of them. Hey, that's even more beautiful than the fire. Hey, look. It's not a Megan sight. They're coming in without interception. Of course. There's a big hole in the radar warning system. That's it. We burned a hole in the sky for them to come through. The fighters and bombers poured through there every day, all day. And the night fighters used the hole we made all night. By the time the commies got around to plugging it up, it didn't matter much. They had to move everything back across the Yalu River. And that's how Sergeant Dixon got decorated for a half a mission. Half a mission and two mistakes. Oh, by the way, I noticed that you wear the ribbon for the bronze star. Were you awarded that at the same time? No. As a matter of fact, I got that in World War II when I was with the Eighth. You see, at that time, we were... Oh, well, I think I better go take another check. Wave, uh... I'm back here and sit down. Now, give me a little flying room here. There I was, see. 25,000 feet over the sub-pens of Keele when all of a sudden... If you're an ex-serviceman experienced in a critical skill needed to keep America's air defense strong, you're in luck. The Career Incentive Act opens up new opportunity in the Air Force to veterans of all the armed forces. Yes, if you possess one of the skills the Air Force needs, you may be qualified to enlist in the United States Air Force and in a grade that will be a pleasant surprise. The Air Force needs men skilled in many important fields. So put your service-earned experience to work to your best advantage as a member of the Air Force team. Make the credits you've earned toward a comfortable retirement pay-off. For complete details, write or visit your Air Force recruiter. Ask for the special Prior Service Man's folder. See what a return to the service as an airman can mean to you. Today and tomorrow, you're better off in the United States Air Force. This has been another program on Proudly We Hail, presented transcribed in cooperation with this station. Proudly We Hail is produced by the Recruiting Publicity Center in New York for the United States Air Force. This is Ralph Roland inviting you to tune in this same station next week for another interesting story on Proudly We Hail.