 The Cavalcade of America sponsored by the DuPont Company, maker of better things for better living through chemistry. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. This is the Cavalcade of America sponsored by DuPont presenting Ralph Bellamy in The Flying Tigers. Our radio dramas inspired by incidents recorded in the recently published book of the same name by Russell Whalen. Its story is one of that small brave band of American aviators who at this time last year were fighting in China against the Japanese. Miss Li Ya-ching, the famed Chinese aviators, is with us tonight as a member of the Cavalcade players. Miss Li will also be heard at the close of our program in an interview with Mr. Bellamy, starring Ralph Bellamy as Al Fisher, pilot in The Flying Tigers on the Cavalcade of America sponsored by DuPont. One year ago, as the dazed and stunned America awoke to the full realization of the infamy of Pearl Harbor, a small band of gallant men produced a tiny ray of hope in a world blacked out in gloom. They were the Flying Tigers, whom Madam Chiang Kai-shek called my angels with or without wings. With too little ammunition, with planes taxed to the last ounce of endurance, with food and shelter where they could find it, they made history by defending the Burma Road, lifeline into China. It is their valor that we salute tonight, the valor of the Flying Tigers. The time, January 1942, the place, the officer's quarters of a battered airport in a clearing just outside Rangoon. Hey, Nori, how about checking on the weather before flight B gets back? Stick around a while, Randy. It's early, Ed. I want to get the Tokyo news report on the radio. Is it five o'clock already? Yeah, that's right. Time for our daily laugh at those Jap announcers. Hey, I wonder if they... Tokyo Radio reporting. The American Volunteer Group, commonly known as the Flying Tigers, at one time constituted our most important enemy in Asia. This ought to be good. The thousands of planes they brought with them from America represented a serious threat to our campaign in Burma. But today, January 29, 1942, we are happy to announce their utter and complete destruction. Listen to that, will you? Oh, turn that guy off, Nori. Oh, shit, he reads for those Japs like a Dodger Plan. Yeah, that's the fourth time this month. Tokyo has reported our complete destruction. Yeah, I wonder where they got the idea we had a thousand planes. Well, I guess they figured we wouldn't try to defend Rangoon without them. Well, I'm glad they think we've got plenty. It might be really tough if they knew we only had 18 of these old crates on the field. I don't think we got 18 anymore, Randy. That ship I came down in yesterday won't go up again for a long time. Well, do you think we're going to get replacements? Replacements. With the Japs right around the corner in Malmaine, it's going to be hard to get ammunition and parts into Rangoon to say nothing in new planes. Yeah, I guess that's right. The only replacements we'll get are transfers from Squadron 2 up in Kunming. They won't get many of those either. They need all the planes and men they got. Didn't they send down any pilots today? Yeah, three of them landed a little while ago. Three, is that all? Well, that practically doubles our personnel. I don't know their names. That friend of Smitty's is one of them. You mean the one that's always talking about Smitty's sister? Yeah, Al, somebody. Al Fisher? That's right, Al Fisher. Boy, I'll bet he doesn't recognize Smitty after seven weeks of Rangoon. Uh-oh, Black Bee is back. How many? Two, three, four, five. Five. It's tough. One down. Well, maybe bailed out. Maybe. Bentley got back once after bailing out. Yeah, Stevenson didn't. Wonder who it was. Well, quit talking about it, will you? We'll find out soon enough. Come. Hi, everybody, your troubles are over. I just flew down from Kunming to take the situation in hand. Oh, are you one of the new replacements? That's right, Al Fisher, wingman from Squadron 2. Hey, do you birds actually live in a dump like this? What do you think? Up in Kunming, we keep chickens in this kind of a shack. Well, this isn't Kunming. It's Rangoon. You sound kind of grim. Well, tell me the Japs have been giving you boys a shellacking. Never mind the small talk, Fisher. What's the good word from Squadron 2? Nothing much. Still haven't shot down a Jap yet. You'll get your chance down here. That's what I was thinking. You guys have been getting all the breaks. What do you mean? Well, figure it out. At that rate, Rangoon must be a gold mine. Not exactly. You sound like you haven't had much luck. What's your score? Four Japs and three fingers off my left hand. They play for keeps down around here, Fisher. You better keep your nose out of the arc of those Jap turret guns. Yeah, so those monkeys have a remote-controlled cannon in the tail. No kidding. I'll bet they shoot real ammunition. Get him. Where's my old friend, Smitty, having a workout in the local barbershop? He's Squadron Leader Smith. He's on the field. He just landed. Oh, is that him leading the flight? Doesn't he do a victory roll anymore when he buzzes the field? No, not anymore. Well, how about some food? I'm starving. Don't expect any fancy menus down here, Fisher. In the past three days, we've been eating nothing but cauliflower. What's the matter with the markets? Nobody to run them. Jap bombs chased half the civilians out of Rangoon. Killed most of the rest of them. Are you guys trying to frighten me? No. We're trying to tell you that things are a lot different than they were a couple of months ago. When the contracts we signed with China were new and shiny. This isn't a contract job anymore. What it wore. Sure, I understand. Only I didn't sign up with China because I thought it would be an easy job. I signed up because I needed the money and I still do. Well, tell it to your Squadron Leader. He's coming in now. That ease, man. How'd it go, Smitty? Oh, fair enough, I guess. Fourteen planes and all. Nine big rats, five little ones. Haynes didn't come back. Like you got away? No, I'm sure he didn't. I saw him land. Haynes, huh? Yeah, that's tough. We were wondering who it was. Yeah. Got a rotten break, Norrie. What do you mean? Trying to tackle too many of them at the same time. The first dive, he picked off two of the rats and then when he came up again, he tried to get another from underneath. He got it all right. The ship practically blew up in his face. Motor and the wings dropped down on him like a ton of bricks. How many did you engage? About sixty. Forty in the first wave, twenty in the next. Well, don't feel too badly about it. That's a pretty darn good score, fourteen to one. The loss of that one means more to us than their fourteen due to them. The three new pilots come down from Kunming yet? Here's one of them. Well, hardest blower of them all. How do they happen to send you down, Fisher? I guess they wanted you to have the best man. You probably were trying to get rid of him. Now, Smitty, that's no way to greet your future brother-in-law. Future brother-in-law. What are you talking about? Well, Carol and I are going to get married the day I get back home. Well, when did you decide that? Long time ago. We didn't want to tell anybody until we made sure it was going to work out. And you're sure now? Just as soon as I can run up some dough out here, I'll be sure. Rangoon's the place for it, isn't it? Yeah. How many ships did you knock down today, Smitty? I don't know. You don't know? Five hundred bucks a plane and you don't know how many you shot down? Well, things have changed a lot, Al. You'll understand why when you've been here a little while. You still try to keep score, but for another reason. A better reason than five hundred bucks? Yeah. You know this fellow Haynes who was shot down today? You heard about him? Well, he wasn't killed because that bomber blew up in his face, Al. He still had time to bail out of his ship. Well, what happened to him? Japs waited until he was floating down with his parachute. Then the machine gunned him. Attention, men! There comes Smith. I asked you to come to the ready shack this morning and tell you a few things about the way of been flying lately. Now, for one thing, we're taking too many chances, not paying enough attention to fundamentals. For instance, when you were Andy... Yes? You're not extending your dives enough to outrun your opposition. That's what Stevenson did, and you know what happened to him. Yes, sir. Now, you've got to make sure you're in the clear before you level off your dive. If you don't, you turn around one of these days with a handful of rats in your tail. Okay, Smithy. I'll watch out for it. Okay. Now, you, Al... Ah, don't rub it in, Smithy. I know I haven't scratched the score sheet. You don't have to call it everybody's attention. Well, the reason you haven't connected is you're too eager. You open fire long before they're in range. You can't outmaneuver them. So wait for them to make a mistake. Take it easy, Al. Wait for your advantage and then go in and make the kill. One more thing, fellas. Get low on ammunition so don't spray it all over the Gulf of Marta, man. Make sure every shot counts. All right, man, that's all. You know what's in trouble with you, Fisher? Yeah, I know. You've been shooting through a dollar sign instead of your gun sign. Look, Randy, I'm the guy that's losing the dough, and if you don't mind, I'll lose it the way I please. Just quiet a minute, man. Message coming in from patrol flight A. What's the story, Gordon? It's a disease coming in at 5,000 feet. That's it, boys. Scramble. All right, sir. Scramble. Well, what's the matter, Fisher? Why the sound of push? You hear what happened? For two hours we chased those lousy jabs, 20 of them. We never really got a square shot at one of them. First they ran low to keep us from diving and they ducked behind the clouds and they played the sun. They were trying to make us waste fuel. They were doing more than that, Al. Those bombers were decoys. While you were chasing them, 60 more came in high and headed for town. We only had five planes left to go up and meet them. Oh, that was their plan, was it? Half of us out in a wild goose chase and while we're away, come back and force for the kill. Did you get many of them? 14. The other 46 came right on through. 14. There were 14 rats right over ahead and I had to go chasing all over the Gulf of Mataban for the cheese. That's my luck. Did you hear what I said, Al? 46 got through to Rangoon. Oh, what? 46 planes bombing Rangoon. You've got the nerve to talk about the score you missed. Well, I got a tough break, didn't I? About the people in town. You ever stop to think what kind of a break they got? For crying out loud, Smitty, don't lose your sense of proportion. Just because you've been here a couple of months and you have to break your heart for a bunch of coolies. They're used to these rats. Let me tell you something, Al, nobody's used to an air raid. Well, what's the difference? Look, I want to ask you a question. Can't we get 500 bucks for shooting down planes over the Gulf of Mataban? You quit thinking about money all the time. Aren't you out here to get the dough? I'm out to get every jab I can lay my hands on, whether it's in the air or the water or the ground. Get wise to yourself, Fisher. Outside of you, there isn't a man in this squad who wouldn't give 500 bucks to shoot down a jab plane. Why don't you lay off of me? Now, Finn, I told you I am so anxious to make dough. If I weren't in love with your sister, I... Oh, what's my sister got to do? Everything! Why do you think I signed up to fight Japs before America got into it because I like getting shot at? Why did you sign up? Because I wanted to make a pile of dough this year so I could ask your sister to marry me. I didn't think I had a right to without it. Listen, if I were in my sister's shoes, I'd have to have a lot more than money to marry a guy like you. Look here, Smith, I don't want you to let this get personal. Now, never mind that, Fisher. I've got some bad news for you. The next couple of days, we're going to have to help out the Chinese army along the Salween River. That means strapping raids without a chance of shooting down jab planes. Everybody has to take his turn. Those are orders. Okay, Commander. Only it's a rotten way of getting even with me. Randolph to all pilots. Randolph to all pilots. Gordon and Moran get to 20,000 feet and cover us from the top. Fisher, Clayton and Headstrom need us to draft the field. On the first pass, hit them from north to south. Let's go, you birds. Headstrom to Randolph. Watch the south end of the field. It's loaded with machine gun nests. Randolph to Fisher, Headstrom and Clayton. Nice going, Lance. Now, let's do it again. That does it, boys. The jab planes in those two swipes. Too bad this doesn't go on the score sheet, Fisher. You're de-cleaned up. But grounded ships don't count. Fisher to Randolph. Take your hand, Randy. Fisher, your engine's smoking. What's the matter? Are you in trouble? Just a wooden log fire here. I'll have it out in no time. 10 rats coming in from the east to 10,000. Randolph and I are going down to meet them. Want your step, boys? Randolph to Fisher. Come along, guy. Got to get up there and give the boys a hand. What's your altitude? Can you limp home? I can try. No use now. Pressure down to zero. My position, will you? We're about 55 miles from the border. When you land, head northwest steadily. You can make the Salwin River that way and run into Chinese soldiers. Best of luck to you, Al. Okay, Joe. See you around, sir. You are listening to Ralph Bellamy as Al Fisher flying tiger on the cavalcade of America in fact of our play. Fisher is staggering through jungle brush after having bailed out of his flaming plane. A group of Chinese soldiers mistaking him for a Jap fire on him as he approaches. Hey, wait a minute. Don't shoot at me. I'm an American. I'm on your side. I'm an American, brothers. Flying tiger. Me, American volunteer group. Now, wait a minute. Hey, look over my arm. You think I am a Jap? My name is Fisher. You're making a mistake. Look at the back of my jacket. There's a message on it from Chinese. Oh, now you've got to believe me. Wait a minute. I'll prove to you I'm a flying tiger. Here, look at this. Look at this bank note. Look at the signatures on it. Joe Finley, Scarsdale Jack, New Kirk. Scarsdale Jack? Yeah, I'm a friend of his. You know Scarsdale Jack. Yeah, look, this is his signature on the bank note. Look, this is his signature. Look at the bank note. Yeah, flying tiger. I'm your friend. Flying tiger. Oh, you guys are talking. Okay, okay. Thanks for helping me, boys. Feel kind of weak. I should pick me to a farmhouse or something. Need a drink of water. Savvy. Water. Farmhouse. Water. You're a flying tiger. Don't shoot. You've got to fly. You must be right. You must rest. What's happened? Where am I? Do not worry, flying tiger. You are safe now. Wait a minute. What am I doing here? In our house. Because you have been very ill. Soldiers bring me here? Yes, that's right. The soldiers brought you here. Oh. Ellie. Where did you learn English? Oh, I studied with others at Mission School. Oh, thanks a lot for taking care of me. What's that? That's guns. Japanese guns. But you will go before they come. Yeah. I've got to get back to headquarters. My father has gone to tell the soldiers to bring ox cart. And they will take you to Lashio. To Lashio? That's where I've got to go. If I can get back there, I can tell the other... Oh, my leg. You must not try to walk. Your leg is badly burned. I guess it was, all right. Well, nothing to do now, but wait. Hey, I'm not a very polite patient. I haven't even asked my nurse her name. My name is Lao Ming. Lao Ming. Do you live here with your family, Lao Ming? Yes, I live with my father. Oh. Got any brothers or sisters? My brother is in the army. My mother is dead. The Japanese killed her. Oh, I'm sorry. Air raid. No, not air raid. The Japanese used her for practice with machine gun. Oh. I see. Oh, I think the ox cart is here. We must put you on the stretcher. Yeah, I guess we better get going. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. All right, all right. Don't get excited, boys. We're coming. Hold on. Hold on. Easy, easy. Easy does it. Just slide me under the cart. I'm holding on. There. That's swell. Lao Ming, come on. Get your father and get on. Oh, no. My father and I are not going. Not going? No. There's no more room on that cart. Well, you can't stay here. You can't stay behind and face those jabs. I won't let you. No, you must go. You can help win the war. Don't be a fool. I'll kill you. You will shoot down planes. And we cannot. You're flying tiger. I won't let you do it, Lao Ming. Please, you're wasting time. Oh, no, no. No, wait, Lao Ming. I'm not the one you want to save. Not me, Lao Ming. Not me. Get well flying tiger. Get well soon. And come back and fight for China. Well, Doc. How's the patient? Extremely well, Smilly. For a man who was burned as badly as Fisher was, he's getting along fine. Remind us of soap, Doc. When am I going to fly again? Well, we'll see about that in due time. Tomorrow? Hey, take it easy. You've been through the mill. As a matter of fact, I still don't see how you got yourself back to base hospital. You thought, sure, we'd never see again. Listen, Smitty, I got to get up in the air again. Now, you do like the doctor tells you to do. Stick around a couple more days and see how you feel. I can't wait a couple more days. The group will be disbanding in a week, and I've got to get at least one more ship before then. Only one? I thought you needed two to collect your quarter. Hey, what's up? I don't know. Got to find out. It's like a raid on the field. It is a raid. It's been a smart time to come over. Only got three men to go up in the air. See you later, Al. Yeah. Well, there's no point in trying to get to shelter. We're in a fairly safe place here. I wasn't thinking about that. I was thinking about... Doc. Huh? I've got to get out. What? I've got to get up in the air and help out. Get back in that bed, Fisher. Didn't you hear what Smitty said? He's only got three men to go up in the air. I've got to make it four. I've got to get up there and join him. You'll get back in that bed. I can't hear you, Doc. Keep the bed warm. I'll be back in an hour. Let's take class together, man. Only three of us. Got to break up their formation before we do anything else. Correction, please. There are four of us, Smitty. Al Fisher reporting for duty. Fisher, what are you doing out of that hospital? Coming up to join you. Let him have it, Smitty, and I'll pick you up on the next dive. This is no time to show up, Fisher. Get back to that hospital. Not right now, Stipper. I've got to take care of my score. Okay. If you're that hungry for money, come out upstairs. We'll get full credit for this one off the store. You'll have to share these rats with us. That's all right with me, Smitty. I've torn up my scorecard. What are you talking about? Torn up your scorecard? I don't get it. I don't blame you. But I mean it, Skipper. I didn't get it for a long time either. It took a ride in an ox cart to convince me. Uh, I'll get you now, Al. Thanks, Smitty. Well, let's get those rats. Let's get them for Haynes and Stevenson and Skarsdale Jack. Smitty? Yeah. Now we're about it. Let's knock off a few for a Chinese girl and her father. They're special friends of mine. Thank you, Ralph Bellamy. In a few moments, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Bellamy will return to the microphone to present our special guest, Miss Li Ya-ching. Meanwhile, we have a story of chemistry. From New Delhi, India, Sonya Tomara, a famous foreign correspondent of the New York Herald Tribune reports that at night the temperature falls below 40 and that American troops have donned a new winter uniform, dark olive green shirts and trousers with wool-padded field jackets. Those are army field jackets. Behind these jackets, worn by American soldiers, is an interesting story. The blouses worn by our soldiers in the First World War were heavy, heavy and so tight in the sleeves as to cramp a man's arms. No more of that, said the Army. This time we want something new and better, a jacket that gives a soldier freedom of action. It must resist wind, it must shed water, and it must be able to take a lot of punishment. The job of finding or creating such a jacket was given to the quartermaster corps. The quartermaster depot of the United States Army in Philadelphia maintains the largest fabric testing laboratory in the world, a laboratory that can handle 4,000 samples of material a day. Experts in the quartermaster depot went to work. They studied modern sport jackets and took all the best points. They tested fabrics for thread counts, strength, resistance to wind and water and so on. For their fabric, they chose cotton poplin because it's a good tight cloth that lends itself to mass production. Last but not least, they wrote specifications for water repellency. What was needed was a durable water repellent finish, something that could withstand cleaning under field conditions. There, DuPont was able to be of service. DuPont Zeeland is one of the few water repellent finishes, one of the very few able to meet the exacting specifications of the Army quartermaster corps. A field jacket, in fact, any good garment treated with Zeeland may be washed or cleaned many times without losing its ability to shed water because Zeeland isn't merely a surface coating. It combines with the fibers in a really durable bond of protection against water. So during the past year, DuPont production of Zeeland has multiplied many times. More civilians too need protection against the weather. There are men, construction crews working out of doors, air raid wardens. In fact, all civilians can wear Zeeland treated clothing. With so much wool going to the armed forces, more and more clothing is being made of cotton. And Zeeland makes cotton more practical for all weather wear. Worn over light wool clothing, Zeeland treated jackets enable the wearer to keep warm and dry even and wet wintry weather. So Zeeland serves not only the armed forces, but is one of DuPont's ever-useful better things for better living through chemistry. And now, ladies and gentlemen, the star of our play tonight, Ralph Bellamy. Thank you. There's someone here tonight from whom I'm sure you'll like especially to hear, Miss Li Ya-ching, who played the part of Lao Ming in our play tonight. Miss Li is an expert aviator. In fact, I believe she's the first Chinese woman in history to pilot an airplane. Miss Li has been through bombings in her native country. For a long time, even before the war, she was on the Japanese blacklist because of her antagonism to Japanese infusion. Being a woman of China and a pilot as well, she should be able to tell us something personal about what the flying tigers have meant to the Chinese people. Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Li Ya-ching. Thank you, Mr. Bellamy. I think the Carvergate play tonight has shown better than I can tell how the deeds of the flying tigers uplifted the hearts and still the fighting spirit of my countrymen in China. Those brave American boys show the Chinese that we were not alone. They came when most needed in one of China's darkest hours. They fought at our side. They struck fear in the hearts of our enemies. Fear of American power when awakened. Fear of what American wings will someday bring to Japan itself. Madame Jean Gai-shek called the flying tigers my angels with or without wings. Truly, they were guardian angels to millions of my countrymen. I salute them and throw them all the American people. I hope and believe we will be friends in victory and peace as we have been allies in war. Thank you. Next week, ladies and gentlemen, the Cavalcade of America sponsored by DuPont will present the popular screen player Joseph Cotton in a new radio play to the shores of Tripoli. It is the story of eight United States Marines in Africa, eight Marines who raised the stars and stripes over Tripoli. Our play is not of today, but 138 years ago. Be with us again next week when Joseph Cotton plays William Eaton into the shores of Tripoli. Tonight's play was written by Robert Sloan based on material from the book The Flying Tigers by Russell Whalen. The orchestra and original musical score tonight were under the direction of Don Burry. This is Clayton Collier sending best wishes from Cavalcade sponsor the DuPont Company. This program came from New York. This is the National Broadcasting Company.