 proudly we hail 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 for your army and your Air Force to bring you this story as proudly we hail Patrick Henry loved his country of a man who was wanting to live and die by that love yet his was no blind emotion but a clear disturbing thing he knew why he loved America to him her name was an ideal how that idea was revealed to him and with what agony he struggled to uphold it that is his story we all share freedom help share its defense join the army team yes now as always the United States Army is dedicated to the defense of freedom your freedom you can do something about it the time for decision for action is now the need for trained technicians in every field is urgent and you can be trained in the most advanced techniques using the world's finest equipment visit your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force recruiting station for full detail remember we all share freedom help share its defense join the army team and now your army and your Air Force presents the proudly we hail production no life so dear of the early years of your life you remember only fleeting moments warm casual glimpses of the places you knew your family your friends you remember the sunny day spent on your father's farm in Hanover County Virginia back in the late 1740 it wasn't a very large farm there was a lot of open country where you could go trapping and hunting there were caves to be explored and the South Anna River flowed just a few yards from the house yes you remember Hanover County you remember your father and his nightly tirades at the dinner table believe me if this taxation continues I I swear I'll burn my tobacco on the wolves before I'll send it to England some more vegetables that thank you every day the news goes tighter and tighter every day our chances of earning a living wage becomes more difficult I won't stand for it you hear stand for it father you mustn't raise your voice at the dinner table think of the children that's just what I'm thinking of and just why I'm raising my voice perhaps if we all raised our voices the king of England would hear our protest and curb this taxation your father's words had no particular significance for you at that moment you were too busy just being a boy too concerned with the pleasures of growing up but in the years to come his words would echo in your heart perhaps if we all raised our voices words to someday shape your destiny yes you remember your father very well you remember to the soft smile of your mother and you remember another smile the smile of a girl with hair like molten gold and eyes the color of a blue Virginia sky she came to visit you one summer's afternoon when you were sick in bed she came to visit and she stood shyly in the doorway and you heard her say I I brought you some wild jasmine Patrick I found it in the woods below the dam no what's the fella want with flowers that sissy stuff oh I just thought you'd like to have them oh they're fine Sally honest I was just fooling you're only saying that to be nice oh no I'm not a real pretty and how school Sally oh fine we miss you all of it how's miss weevil oh you mean oh well we will wrinkly old and evil you know we said the same thing at the same time come on link fingers you're ready what goes up the chin smoke what color is it blue your wish and my wish I always come true what do you wish for me oh yeah well it won't come true I'll tell you mine if you'll tell me yours someday someday Patrick I'll tell you my wish more words than you would remember and a wish you would hear someday but not just then you first have to learn to walk alone in a young and growing nation and it was a long road which you walked long and difficult and when you were still young you met failure for the first time Patrick Patrick come here a minute yes mother sit down here on the porch I want to talk to you yes mother Patrick the summer's nearly over have you thought at all about September about what you'd like to do well when father opens his store I thought I could run errands for him after school and on Saturdays I could learn to be a clerk but Patrick suppose you don't go back to school oh I want to go to school see that's important and this year I'll be in the seventh grade we start ancient history this year and miss weevil says that Patrick miss weevil came to see me yesterday while you were visiting your aunt miss weevil came here to see you you know dear this year there are 14 more children joining the school it's going to be more than over crowded and miss weevil says he'll only be able to take care of the boys and girls who are showing real progress in their studies he had a list of names and my name wasn't on the list never mind Patrick we'll study here at home you and I together every day we'll read together and your father can help you with your arithmetic it'll be just the same as school no no it won't Patrick oh I am sorry I'm so sorry but don't worry everything will be all right just wait and see everything will be all right just wait and see but waiting is hard when you're young waiting is loneliness in the bitter taste of disappointment and a lack of faith in yourself you sat by your mother and she listened while you read aloud and your father helped you with your son and you were growing and never knew of the coming glory which would be yours years past you were chief clerk in your father's store as you turned 17 then more years of learning at home and learning in your father's store but storekeeping was not as interesting as talking with the villagers who would come in to pass the time of day fill the local printer and Jasper the amiable crackerbarrow philosopher I tell you Patrick unless we stand up in our two back legs and fight we're going to lose everything we've gained so far well that kind of talk and late you into a parcel of trouble Jasper someone's got to speak their mind we can't just sit back and let him trodden our toes and pushes around like we were nothing but a sack of flour father says there's a new tax he had a friend up Boston where they've even put a tax on tea in Boston Patrick they'll be putting a tax on the air we breathe for very long but what can we do how can we stand up against the country as big and strong as England or size don't mean a might son not a might if a person or enough people make up their minds to do something then if they stick to it no matter what happens they stick to it they'll win out in the end but where does a person start where does it begin we need a voice now a good strong voice to speak for us for us the common the little people we need someone who isn't all dressed up in a white wig and satin breeches smart young lawyer who's one of us that's what we need a lawyer that chance of running a lawyer here in Hanover County Jasper morning father if it isn't the old storekeeper himself pull up a chair by the fire and set a spare we have been talking about something you'll be interested in in just a moment just Patrick may I see you in the office of course five watch the stop on me will you bill oh sure oh father what is it is anything happened at home no no not at home Patrick I've just been to the bank trying to get a loan they refuse to give me any more money looks like we're going to have to close the store close the store but I thought we were seeing as the store seems crowded with customers but we're losing money talk won't pay our bills Patrick there's no hope we'll close at the end of the week I'll go back and work on the farm and you son what are you going to do with your life I don't know I just don't know and you weren't to know for several more years years that might have been bleak and terrible except for one person someone with hair like molten gold and eyes the color of a blue Virginia sky and a soft unspoken wish I Patrick take the Sally for better or worse or richer or poorer in sickness and in health you settle down after your marriage on a small tract of land near the outskirts of the village to try your luck at farming but something always seemed to go wrong the first year it was bad seed the next season you planted too early and there was a sudden frost it was always something in the evenings you and Sally would walk in the field and she would hold your hand tightly and smile at you and say Patrick Patrick darling you mustn't worry though now stop worrying about the crop Sally don't you think I should give up go to work for Mr. Brady he offered to give me $25 a week to work in his filing office he put me to a test he said my figures were good Sally I'm I just don't seem to be a very successful farmer but this is a fine crop Patrick your father said so yesterday he said it should bring a good price and if the frost comes early how will we get through the winter we'll get along remember a year back when we saved 20 happers of beans why I should have taken that money and put it in the bank but I spent it on seed we needed that light killed four acres overnight there's no blight now or seven Sally there aren't many men who could be as lucky as I am I love you if only I knew what sort of a future there was in store for me for us look at me Sally no schooling of failure as a storekeeper a failure as a farmer you're not a failure and I won't have you say things like that Patrick Henry you're not a failure but you must be something will turn out you must have faith faith faith in what surely not in myself you've heard what everyone says that no good Patrick Henry and even make a decent living for his wife and child and they're right to their right darling don't you know that I love you and have all the confidence in the world I know you have greatness in your heart and someday all the world will know your name Patrick you must believe you must believe in our love and in yourself you must listen isn't that the fire bell in the village certainly sounds like it we Patrick Patrick look there's smoke coming up from behind the barn it's our house it's our house Patrick you are listening to the proudly we hail production of no life so dear we'll return to our story in just a moment those who enjoy freedom must help support it and in these uncertain times we must remain strong and alert to the dangers that surround us if you are qualified you can join freedoms team by becoming a member of your United States Army there's an urgent need for technical specialists in every field you'll receive the world's finest training and at the same time build an interesting and rewarding career visit your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Station for full information you are listening to proudly we hail now we present the second act of no life so dear before dawn the fire had burned out the fire had burned out and with it the last vestige of hope within your heart you took Sally and your child in the few pitiful possessions you'd save from the fire and you went to your father's home but that evening as you all sat around the big dining room table you haven't touched a mouthful of food please you must eat I'm not hungry mother leave the boy alone mother it's been a bad day a bad day that's a complete understatement Patrick in a bad week a bad month yeah my whole life has been a series of bad years one after the other you know it father all of you know it you found your way Patrick yes I'll find my way but when that's what I want to know when I heard in the village today that they need men in Philadelphia they're going to open up a new shipyard a storekeeper a farmer a ship builder well why not jack of all trades master of none if you'd like to go to Philadelphia Patrick I don't know where I want to go I don't know what I want to do I just want to be left alone I just want to be left alone Patrick Patrick you walked away from the house and into the night you walk down along the banks of the South Anna alone you walked through the night along the banks of the river a million and one thoughts world through your mind mingled with the sound of the river and the sound of the night a million and one thoughts discouraging thoughts and there were voices voices you knew voices coming back across the year if this taxation continues I'll burn my tobacco on the walls your father and Jasper someone to speak for us the common people the little people and Sally always the voice of Sally what are you going to do with your life son smart young lawyer that we need I'll burn my tobacco on the walls taxation too much taxation no one to speak for the little people you must believe in your smart young lawyer what are you going to do with your life son someone to speak for us the little people that chance to find an alloyer in Hanover County a lawyer taxation a smart young lawyer believe in yourself a lawyer yes a lawyer and so at last you found your foothold in the future at last the ultimate shape of your destiny became clear and complete two years went by long years years of study English history Roman law hours of burdensome study Patrick dear don't you think you should go to bed it's way past midnight a little while dear just want to finish this brief hours of work hard work but work you knew you must do to achieve your goals you were 24 when you passed your examinations to practice law at the bar of Virginia oh Patrick I told you so I knew you could do it oh just think my husband is a lawyer Patrick Henry is a lawyer two more years went by over a thousand notations in your fee book moderate charges for a country practice your name became known respected by everyone two years of building a foundation two years of learning and listening listening to the sound of unrest feeling the bonds of oppression growing tighter hearing the tiny voice of freedom echoing across your new and growing nation we shouldn't stand for it Henry we should fight there'll be war mark my words there will be war how do the English there to try to rule our lives in this manner that was in 1764 and in 1765 you were elected a member of the House of Burgess where you introduced the Virginia resolves against the tyranny of the Stamp Act that it be resolved therefore that the General Assembly of this colony have the only and sole exclusive right and power to lay taxes and impositions upon the inhabitants of this colony and that every attempt to best such power in any person or persons whatsoever other than the General Assembly aforesaid as a manifest tendency to destroy British as well as American freedom he has his fruit is the first his crumble and George the third may profit by their example if this week the most of it historic words to ring down through the years down through the pages of American history it was only a moment from your speech before the House of Burgess until another great moment and another speech before the first Continental Congress in Philadelphia it was the fourth day of the Congress for long weary days of arguments of attack and counterattack and still no definite plan the thunderclouds of war were gathering quickly some action had to be taken and taken quickly or the new nation would be trampled under the heel of English sovereignty four days then at last your opportunity arose a committee of five important Virginia planters proposed an alliance with England at that moment you knew you must make the delegates face the facts for the first time you rose slowly to your feet Mr. President Patrick Henry has the floor I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British Ministry for the past ten years to justify those hopes with which so many gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the house is it that insidious smile with which our last petition was so graciously received ask yourselves how this reception comports with those war like preparations which cover our waters and darken our land our fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation let us not deceive ourselves these are the implements of war and subjugation the last instruments to king resort we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature has placed in our power three millions of people armed in the holy cause of liberty and in such a country as that which we possess are invincible by any force which our enemy can spend against us what course others may take but as for me or give me a magnificent a magnificent speech mr. Henry thank you very much you speak with eloquence mr. Henry you speak also with a conviction can only be born of a genuine love of America a love which I'm sure is shared by all of us here at the Congress and by the people of our 13 states excuse me a moment gentlemen yes mr. Henry you must come at once the wire is desperately ill Sally I knew it was you I felt you kneel at my bedside while I was dosing Sally why didn't you tell me mother says you've been ill for a month why didn't you tell me I wanted to wait until your work was finished my work is finished now they say in the village they say there'll be war yes my darling there will be war there's no other solution and will you go too no no no I'm to stay home now just as you've always wanted I'm going to begin practicing law again coming home for lunch every day getting under your feet again being a terrible nuisance around the house but you won't mind too terribly will you hold my hand darling I know you think your responsibility is here with me and your family but you have a responsibility too with the family next door and all the families who've come to know this great land it must always be home to them always promise me that you'll go back and fight promise me Patrick you have my promise Sally but now you must get some rest we can talk again in the morning Patrick you remember a long long time ago you remember a wish we made when we were children I think I would like you to know my wish now I've known it for a long long time Sally because to know and share your love is all that any man could wish my very dear as you knelt there in the still darkness and the tears of sorrow were wet upon your face deep within your heart you felt a new strength which you'd never known before a strength which would lead you forward through the years of war to become the governor of Virginia itself a strength born of the wish of a boy and a girl to live and love and find happiness together in a free land it's defense the motto is new but the call it sounds is as old as the history of our country today as we stand strong and alert against communism the United States Army is calling for qualified young men and women who join the freedom team and become Army technical specialists you'll be trained in the latest techniques using the finest equipment and you'll be building a rewarding career for yourself for full information visit your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Station the time is now they'll present a transcribed in cooperation with this station by the United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Service this program featured a cast of outstanding players this is Kenneth Banghart speaking and inviting you to tune in this same station next week for another interesting story on proudly we have