 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 for your Army and your Air Force to bring you this story as Proudly we hail the United States Air Force. Our story is entitled, The Little Bridge That Wasn't There, an intriguing tale of deception and perception in Korea. Our first act curtain will rise in a moment, but first the music in the background is recognizable to anyone as the song of the United States Air Force. Its words ring with the mighty story that began in the era of the flying flivers and continues in the modern jet age. Newer planes mean newer techniques which in turn must be taught to the new generation. Here is your opportunity, young men of America, and a chance to strengthen the defense of the nation as part of the great Air Force team. Enlist now in the Aviation Cadet Training Program. You have the preliminary qualifications if you are between the ages of 19 and 26 and a half and have had at least two years of college. Inquire today at your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Station. Ask about the Aviation Cadet Training Program. Your Army and your Air Force present the proudly we hail production, The Little Bridge That Wasn't There. It's late afternoon. You've been back an hour from a routine mission over enemy territory. You're sitting with a bunch of other pilots having a cool drink, swatting flies and listening to the breeze being wafted your way by Jim Prescott. Trouble with you, Hastings, what you can think about is getting back to New York and grubbing a few bucks with that ten-cent magic act of yours. You know, Prescott, if it wasn't so hot, I'd pull those ears of yours over your eyes so fast your head wouldn't know which leg to run down. Oh, snappy dialogue. Does that go with the act, too? Prescott buries his face in about a copy of a magazine and you sit there shuffling and reshuffling a pack of cards and sheer boredom. Someone starts playing the piano. You look out toward the white concrete runway and the heat waves make the distant hangars dance and sway like grotesque bloated ballerinas. Even the thunder jets, poised and ready along the runway, waver and weave, wings fluid and moving like molten waves. Prescott puts down his magazine and looks across at you, his face red, perspiration streaked. As expected, he delivers another profound cliché. Oh, it's hot. Take a card. Oh, look, Hastings, you've tried every trick in the deck. I just don't go for your hocus-pocus stuff. Why don't you get yourself a new straight man? This is something new. Take a card. Alright, shuffle the deck first. I shuffled it. Well, shuffle it again. I didn't see it. Prescott, are you doubting the word of an officer? Shuffle the deck, Lieutenant. Any excitement today? Oh, usual stuff. A little flak dust over Kuntang. I think I took care of one of their sending stations, though. It was all dressed up like a native hut, real fancy. Well, they have more tricks than you do. You gotta watch them very close. The right hand may be in plain sight, but the left hand's sticking a knife between your shoulder blades. They're real hocus-pocus, kids. Okay, take a card. Alright, now what? Look at it. Then put it back on the deck. Anywhere. Wait a minute, you did this trick yesterday, and I didn't like it then. No, no, no, not this. When I told you it was something new. Now take your agent and subtract 10. I thought this was a card trick. I had 15. You with me so far? Yeah, I'm afraid so. How much change have you got in your pocket? 20 cents. Why? Alright, subtract that from what you've got so far. Now what's the number left? Seven. Cut the deck. So? Well, it's a seven, isn't it? If it is, it has two heads, like a one-eyed jack. Jack, it can't be a jack. Hocus-pocus, it is a jack. What's the matter? Did you get your wires crossed, Mr. Houdini? I don't understand it. You sure you subtracted 10 from your age? Oh, my, how the mighty have fallen. A jack instead of a seven. Prescott, oh, man, you better watch out before the commies start pulling some of their hocus-pocus stuff on you. Prescott the Houdini. Haven't seen a thing in an hour. Let's call it a day and head home. Meet for something cool in a seven-foot glass. Over. Order two. Let's swing up that river on the left for final check. Colonel Allen says they're getting tanks across the river somewhere in this area. I just want to make sure they haven't waved a magic wand and got themselves a bridge of some sort. Over. Alakazam, boy. Over and out. Prescott tips a saucy wing in your direction and together you head up river. You wonder what went wrong with that trick yesterday. But you'll try it on him again today. Maybe he just counted wrong. It worked with the sergeant in supply and the corporal who drives the jeep. It's got to work with Prescott. As soon as you get back, get cleaned up. Hey, wait a minute. That thin, dark line across the river. There shouldn't be anything like that in this area. You push the jet's nose down and die for a closer look-see. The ground comes rushing towards you like a fast freight. The thin, dark line broadens, thickens, lengthens. Lengthens into a makeshift bridge that commies have thrown up almost overnight. A bridge to transport tanks into the battle area. And there's got to be a stop to this here and now. You keep your nose headed right for the bridge. You see little figures running for cover. Black fuzzy balloons start appearing in front of you. On both sides of you, but their aim is bad and your finger's on the bomb release. Then, you're right on target and bombs away, you say, and pull up steep. You cock an ear till you hear. Well, no hocus pocus about that bullseye, brother. Turn 11's G2 is wrong. They must be wrong. I wiped that bridge off the face of the earth yesterday. My bombs demolished it completely. Show me again on the map where you saw the bridge. This is Kung Po. That's where we got that sending station two days ago. Now, this is the river that borders the town. Runs through these foothills and then winds down near Korsi. Now, the bridge was approximately there. But it's not there anymore. Two men from G2 saw enemy tanks on this side of the river just after dawn this morning. Then they swam across the river. There's no bridge. Suppose you go back and take another look this morning, Lieutenant Hastings. Yes, sir. I take it your interview with the Colonel wasn't entirely the liking. There are times when I... Oh, well. Look, you say there's no bridge. All right, he obviously doesn't take no for an answer. Jim, I knocked that bridge out yesterday. The commies couldn't have brought tanks across it by dawn today. Well, he clever these commies. Oh, pipe down. Take a card. Hey, maybe that's it. Maybe it's a new trick. They've got up their sleeve. Well, I've got a trick or so in store too. Here, take a card. Why don't we go out together? You've got a day off. Live it up, Jim. No, no. I don't mind going. Hey, you know you act like you think that bridge will be there. Well, could be. Could be. You've got marbles in your head. Jim, I saw it demolished. There was nothing left. Nothing. You think G2's wrong about the tanks they saw? Well, I'm as much in the dark as Colonel Evans, but there's one thing I do know. That bridge isn't there. If those tanks are getting across the river, they're getting across some other way. Now, take a card. Careful of that first. Before you go out on your morning mission, you stop in to see a sergeant who's been a buddy of yours ever since you arrived on the base. You put your heads together. He does a little hocus pocus stuff on his own. And now you're all set to show a certain Air Force Colonel a few concrete facts about the little bridge that definitely isn't there. The rain of the night before has washed the sky a brilliant blue. A few scattered clouds lift their white skirts and step aside as your thunder jet glances upwards into clear crystalline space. Yes, even the weather's in your favor. You level off at 10,000 feet, point your nose towards the northwest and let her ride. A country below unwinds like a movie in slow motion. Roads dissolve into paddy fields, then into roads again. Tiny villages whisper beneath you and skip over the horizon. The mountain range, waffle-riched. Makes the boundary between liberty and oppression. Between a place where a guy can sit down and play piano or do card tricks or read a magazine. And a place where a guy doesn't even dare to take a deep breath without looking over his shoulder first. A mig swings into view, takes a look at you and makes tracks southward. Probably doesn't want to take on a couple of thunder jets without a few pals to back him up. And you don't blame him. Now you're almost to the river. You check your map to make sure the exact location and drop down 1,000 feet or so. You check equipment. This time there's going to be no mistake. This time there'll be proof positive, like they say in the ads. This time, if the colonel won't believe what he hears, he's going to believe what... Suddenly strain forward in the cockpit. Wipe a hand across your eyes and stare down, looking towards that river. And for a moment you think maybe you've gone slightly off your rocker. Maybe you really have got marbles in your head because there it is exactly as you saw it yesterday. There below you is stretching confidently from shore to shore. Spanning that swirling muddy river in exactly the same spot as yesterday is the exact same bridge. I expected your report yesterday directly after your return from your mission, Tanner Hastings. If the colonel will excuse me, I was preparing a rather special report. The bridge was there? Yes, sir, it was there. You still claim you demolished it the day before? I saw the bomb's hit. Somehow by some magic it was repaired during the night. But I don't think that will happen again, sir. You're certain, Lieutenant. I approve, sir, with your permission. Sergeant Angel here installed an automatic camera in my jet before yesterday's mission. I have the film on this projector. Go ahead, Lieutenant. I'd like to see this miraculous bridge that's been causing everyone so much trouble. I started the camera just as I began my bombing run, sir. Now that's the bridge directly ahead. Looks like you ran into a little opposition. There was anti-aircraft on both sides of the river, sir. They must have moved in a few more during the night while they were repairing the bridge. I dropped a full bomb load approximately... now. Then I climbed, banked around, and took this shot of the bridge just after the bomb's hit. Now that's it, sir. Very convincing proof, Lieutenant. Makes the problem even more puzzling than before. I don't understand what you mean, sir. As you saw yourself, the bridge was completely destroyed. G2, unfortunately, doesn't agree with us, Lieutenant. This morning there reported five additional tanks across the river, and all five crossed precisely where you destroyed that bridge. You are listening to Proudly We Hail. We'll bring you the second act of the little bridge that wasn't there in just a moment. Now, here's an important message. Hey, that's one of those new Air Force jets. It must be some fun to be up there. Gee, I'd sure like to fly when I grow up. Young men of America, yesterday you said it. Today you can make it come true. Today the United States Air Force is offering you the opportunity to apply for the Aviation Cadet Training Program and become an important part of America's jet age. You'll be given the finest training possible and graduate as a fully qualified pilot, navigator, or radar observer. What a thrill to wear those silver wings that identify you as a member of the United States Air Force Flight Team. You'll feel a real surge of pride when you're assigned to your plane. Perhaps it'll be a speedy F-94 Scorpion jet or the vital flying boxcar cargo plane. No matter what your job in the Air Force, you as an aviation cadet have the satisfaction of knowing that you're serving your country when it needs you most. If you're a young man between the ages of 19 and 26 and a half, have successfully completed two or more years of college and are otherwise qualified, you should visit your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Station today. Ask about the Aviation Cadet Training Program. And now your Army and your Air Force bring you the second act of the proudly-we-hail production, the little bridge that wasn't there. That morning you leave the Colonel's office and walk slowly down the hall toward your billet. Questions chase through your mind like busy mice. How was it possible for the Reds to rebuild that bridge again overnight? Could they be ferrying the tanks across the river some other way? Or could you have been mistaken about the location and bombed another bridge? How? How? How? How about a cup of coffee, Houdini? You look up and Jim Prescott is standing by the entrance to the office's mess. You smile, pat him on the shoulder and push through the double doors. You like to tell me about it? I don't get it. I just don't get it. Sugar? It's not just the commies. I'll end up the laughing stock of the base if I don't get rid of that bridge and get rid of it permanently. Cream? G2's really giving the Colonel a tough time. I guess you can't blame them. Enemy tanks in that sector can give our guys an even tougher time. I thought I knew all the tricks. Remember what I told you about that left hand? You may have something there. We'll take off just before dawn. I'd like to be there when G2 is all the activity goes on. We'll finish your coffee and we'll go ask the Colonel about it. Okay. Someone's trying to poison me. I hate coffee with sugar and cream. Prescott the Hastings. How am I coming in, Houdini? Over. Clear as a crystal, old man. Sure you know how to handle that king-size Roman candle? With one hand tied behind me. Think you can keep up with me? With one foot dragging. Lead on, Macduff. Late night swallows your ship as the lights of the base sink into the blackness below. Above you, the stars stretch like a diamond canopy. And the steady, low roar of the jets sings in your heart. You watch the instrument panel. The airspeed indicator swings across the dial. 200 knots. 300 knots. Along the horizon ahead, a thin gray line predicts the coming dawn. Prescott the Hastings. Prescott the Hastings. Let me know when we're near the target, Houdini, and I'll drop behind a little more. You go in for your run as usual. Over. I'll give them just a couple of eggs this time in case some of those tanks are in the vicinity. Watch out for ACAC on both sides of the bridge. I'm safe. I'm wearing my long johns. Let's start down. It won't be long now. A dawn is a milky ghost hoard creeping across the sky. Then, a warm crimson hand pulls the sun up and out of the mountains ahead. The earth below comes into focus. And you see familiar landmarks slowly appear. You nudge the jet's nose a little further down. The river rushes into view. And then, the bridge. Hastings to Prescott. Hastings to Prescott. Jim, it's there again. Same place. I'm going in on my run now. Over. Well, lay a couple smack in the middle. I'll keep tabs on what happens. Lower and streak for the river toward the target. You can see anti-aircraft guns barking out from either side of the bridge. The commies know what's coming. And they're giving you everything they've got. But you're over the target now and... Bombs away, Jim! I saw the whole thick matchsticks. And that's just what it is, matchsticks. It's a decoy. They must nail it together every night. They want us to concentrate on blasting it over and over again while they sneak those tanks across some place else. But where, Jim? How? There's no other bridge on the river. I don't know, Sir, for you just a minute. Maybe they'll think you're headed for home and it's business as usual. I don't think they spotted me yet. Well, they must know the jig is up by now. Three strikes and you're out in any language. Not with those monkeys. The woods about a hundred yards from where the bridge was. And they're headed right for the river. I'm coming back to join you, Jim. And they're at the edge of the water now. First one started across on top of the water. Yeah, it started across on top of the water. Let's go get them, boy. Yeah, I'll go behind me and this'll be one operation they'll wish they'd never started. Hey, Jim, watch out. Two migs, nine o'clock. Remember what I told you about that left hand? You gotta watch them close... Jim! You're watching horror as the migs dive in for the kill. You jettison bombs. Push the throttle full open and close in. Your guns bark a staccato challenge. You hear a dull explosion and one of the migs disappears in a puff of smoke and flame. Now you look for Jim's plane. But there is only you and the enemy. You bank left. You rocket toward the sun and bank again. The migs swings into your sights and your guns speak. Now the sky is empty. The gym is down there. And so is the enemy. The tanks lumber across the bridge. The tanks wallow in the water towards the far shore. And you come in low, almost on top of them. You fire a few futile bursts and then you head for home and help. This is the last time that bridge will be used. I wish there was something I could say. I know that you and Lieutenant Prescott were very close friends. Why don't you take a few days leave? I'd rather not, sir. Please let me know if there's anything I can do. Yes, sir, I will. You sit at the table where you've sat so many times before. You sit at the table and stare out across the runway. And your hands shuffle the cards automatically, mechanically. They shuffle the cards over and over again. And someone begins playing the piano. And you want to turn around and tell them to shut up, because there's a deep pain in your throat. And your eyes blink hard, but the tears are there. And there's a voice. A voice you know so well. Shuffle the deck, Lieutenant. And you listen. You gotta watch the left hand, Houdini. And you listen. The left hand, Houdini. Lieutenant Hastings. The left hand. Lieutenant. Huh? Oh, yes, sir. I've just received a message, Hastings. They found Prescott's plane. He's going to be all right. You mean he... He crash landed about a mile from the river on our side. Air rescue is bringing him in now. You'll be able to see him in the morning. Wouldn't you know he'd pull a smart trick like that? I understand you're the magician around here, Lieutenant. How about showing me what you can do? Well, I don't know. Why not, Colonel? Yes, sit down. Take a card. Shuffle the deck, first, Lieutenant. America is depending on her leaders in the air. If you're a young man between the ages of 19 and 26 and a half, have had two or more years of college and are otherwise qualified, you are eligible to join the ranks of America's leaders in the air. You can become an aviation cadet. The defense of our nation hangs heavily on our air strength, the finest in the world. But we cannot relax our efforts. The Air Force still needs pilots and aircraft observers. If you have the primary qualifications, visit your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Station today. Ask about the Aviation Cadet Training Program. Do it now. 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 Bureau for the United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Service. This is Kenneth Banghart speaking and inviting you to tune in this same station next week for another interesting story on Proudly We Hail.