 Family Theatre presents Gene Cagney and Barbara Hale. From Hollywood, the Mutual Network and Cooperation with Family Theatre presents the Cowards starring Gene Cagney. And now, here is your hostess, Barbara Hale. Thank you, Tony Lafranco. Family Theatre's only purpose is to bring to everyone's attention a practice that must become an important part of our lives if we're to win peace for ourselves, peace for our families, and peace for the world. Family Theatre urges you to pray. Pray together as a family. And now, to our transcribed drama, the Cowards starring Gene Cagney as Helen. Pre-perceiving hospital. What's that? All right, give me your address. Yeah? Yeah? Yeah. Got it. Is that an air of freeway turnoff? Two blocks east to the Benton Way turnoff. All right, I got it. Now let me read it back to you. 25530 Stockton Street. Two blocks east to the Benton Way turnoff. Right? All right, we'll have an ambulance there in ten minutes. Bye. Pardon me. Yes, ma'am? I was told my husband was here that he was in an accident. Name? Albert Dana. I hope it's nothing serious. Right through that door, lady. He's not... No, no, no, he's not dead. Right, I think he's gonna be all right. Why don't you go and talk to the doc right through that door? Thank you. Thank you, officer. This one? That's right. No bother, knock. Just go right on in. Thank you. All right, just please. I'm Helen Dana. The officer outside said... Oh, yes, Mrs. Dana. Come right on in, won't you? Let me close this door. Won't you sit down? Doctor, all they told me on the phone was that Al had been in some kind of an accident. Yes, Mrs. Dana. It was I who called you. Sit down, Mrs. Dana. Thank you. I would have informed you of your husband's condition when I phoned you, except that we didn't know ourselves at the time. He arrived here in such a day's condition that we thought at first he might have suffered a concussion, even possibly a skull fracture, in addition to his other more obvious injuries. But there wasn't. Oh, no, no, no, no fracture, no Mrs. Dana, and no concussion either. But frankly, we're very much concerned about the fact that, well, his condition hasn't changed. You mean he's still dazed? That's right. And it's not only shock. It's almost like, well, a withdrawal from reality. It was an accident with the bus, wasn't it? Oh, quite an accident. Was anyone killed? Three people. Driver of the other vehicle and two people on your husband's bus. If it was Al's fault. Or for that matter, even if it wasn't. Wouldn't he blame himself for it? I mean, maybe we could just tell him that it wasn't his fault. You know, to a bus driver, his passengers are a big responsibility. Yes, but Mrs. Dana, I doubt if he even knows about the other casualties yet. Oh. Doctor, you spoke of other injuries. Oh, yes. The palms of both hands and both knees were severely burned. And he has a few cuts and abrasions from the accident itself. Burnes? When I gathered, there was a fire following the wreck. I'm afraid I don't know all the particulars, but most of the passengers we treated here had some burns. May I see Al, Doctor? Oh, yes, certainly. But I want to warn you, I doubt if he'll know you. Right through this door here, Mrs. Dana. Don't you think he might have come out of it by this time? I mean, it's been almost an hour and a half since the accident, hasn't it? Mrs. Dana, I just don't know. This may be the kind of a thing that he'll just come out of. Or it may be that we'll have to do something to bring him out of it. You mean you think there might be something wrong with his mind? That's what I have to find out, Mrs. Dana. Oh, Doctor. Now, it's very unlikely that it would be anything that might be in any way permanent. Oh, just a moment. We'd better stop by here for a second. Oh, yes. Sergeant Miller. Yes, sir. Have you got a report on that 8th Street tunnel wreck yet? We'll have the TI report in a few minutes, Doctor. It's being transcribed now. Uh, how about that, uh, what's his name? Said he was in the second seat. Lester L. Haynes. Yes, sir. He's still being treated. Would you have somebody get his story, please? And, uh, I want particular emphasis on the activities of the bus driver, Albert Dana, before, during, and after the accident. I'll get it myself. I'm off the desk in ten minutes. Fine. Thank you, Sergeant. Now, as I was saying, Mrs. Dana, there's very little chance that your husband's condition would be anything but a temporary one. But sometimes, in cases like this, the, the right first aid can be a hundred times more valuable than any later healing treatment he might get. Doctor, you speak of my husband's condition as if it were a wound. It is a wound, Mrs. Dana. Only the name is different. A mental wound is called a trauma. Is he, is he in here? Yes, ma'am. He may be all right now, but I don't think so. So once again, don't be surprised if he doesn't pay any attention to you. And try not to. I, I won't lose my head. I'll be all right. Fine. Well, honey, doctor. Yeah, Mrs. Dana, this is Miss Peterson, your husband's nurse. Mrs. Dana, all those bandages. Is he in much pain? Oh, I don't think so, Miss Dana. At least, none that he's conscious of. Any change? Yeah, none that I can see, doctor. I'm almost certain he hears me and he knows where he is, but nothing seems important to him. Mm-hmm. May I? Well, certainly. Al. Al, it's me, Helen. Al. Mr. Dana, your wife is here to see you. Al. Al, please. It's me, Helen. I'm afraid it's no use, Miss Dana. Please. He's just staring at the ceiling. Has he been like this since I left? Well, he's spoken a few times. Something about the Red Beach, at least that's what it sounded like. And once he said Omaha. Omaha? Mm-hmm. Does that mean anything to you, Mrs. Dana? Pardon me. Does the word Omaha have any special significance? I can't think of any. And he said one other thing. It sounded like a name. What name? Huey. Just Huey. Mm-hmm. I didn't hear anything after that. Huey. Quiet. Huey, I'm not a coward, but I don't want to be dead, Huey. If I go out there, I'm dead. Like you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Oh, Al. Al, come out of it, Al. Come out of it. I think we'd better go now, Mrs. Dana. Uh, Miss Peterson, I'm going to take it to the kitchen if anyone calls. Yes, Doctor. Mrs. Dana, would you like a cup of coffee? I don't know. I guess so, Doctor. It was so long ago. So long. Your husband was referring to something that happened a long time ago? At first it didn't make sense, that business about Red Beach and Omaha. But then when he mentioned Huey, Doctor, maybe we'd better have that coffee, and I'll tell you about it. All right. Hey, Doctor, just a second. Oh, yes, Sergeant. I got the report from traffic investigation. Thought you might want to look at it right away. You haven't talked to Hames yet? He's still getting treatment, Doctor. He was one of the last ones to come in. It'll be a few minutes yet. I'll talk to him. Yes, sir. Would you like to look at the TI report? Oh, yes, thank you. I would. It seems like the lady's husband was the hero of the affair. My husband? He and his fellow Hames pulled all the passengers out of the wreck. I take it you've already read this? Yes, sir. What happened, Sergeant? Well, ma'am, according to that report, your husband's bus was going through the 8th Street Tunnel when an oil tanker coming in the other direction jackknifed. Your husband hit it. There wasn't any choice, and he and this other man Hames pulled out all the people, all but the driver of the tanker and two of the bus passengers. And is that all? All except, well, things like skid mark measurements, things like that, Doctor. Oh, there was one other thing. When the ambulance crew picked him up at the scene of the accident, he was sitting in the street crying. Would you like some more coffee, Mrs. Naener? No, thanks. Now, what about Red Beach and Omaha and Huey? Huey was a buddy of ours during the war, Second World War. They were a medical corps team and the Omaha is Omaha Beach on the Normandy coast. I don't really understand about the Red Beach. It was something about different designations for different sections, you know, like red, green, blue. Something to do with logistics or tactics, I think I don't know much about things like that. Won't you go on, please? You know how you read about men who've been in war not wanting to talk about it. Al's not like that, or he loved to talk about it. He'd bring it up at the drop of a hat. But you know, when he told me about the landing at Omaha, well, it was a big thing to him. Now, just how do you mean? I mean, when he told me it was... it was like, well, he had to tell me just because I was his wife and he owed it to me. Like he was confessing to some terrible crime. And I guess to him it was. Al and Huey went in with the first wave and Huey never got any further than just the beach. He got his less than three hours after the landing. See, Al told it, I could almost imagine I'd been there myself, hearing the sound of firing, breathing the salt air mixed with the smells of burning powder and sweat and death, feeling the fatigue that comes from trying to be ten places at the same time, feeling the hopelessness of trying to keep up with the casualties and the strain of having to keep those feelings to yourself. After a little more than two hours, Al and Huey had used up all their supplies and the two of them ran back to one of the empty landing barges for more. You get all right? Yeah, I think so. Better sit down for a minute and get my win. Yeah. Oh, man. I never knew I could get so tired, so quick. I think I'll take a look around. I guess if there's anything here, it'll be toward the back end. They call it the stern. Man, don't you know anything? Wait a minute, I'll help you. I think that's the supply lock over the left there. It's empty. Likely everything's empty. Hey, look. Another wave of boats coming in. Man, look at them. Huey, you're going to wind up with no head at all if you keep it up over the side like that. You've got a point there. Boy, this boat sure is empty. Well, we might as well sit down and wait for that new wave to get in. Yeah, I suppose. You got a better idea? No. No, I just feel like we ought to be doing something. That's all. I know what you mean. Not much like the movies. No, not too much. I've got a box of K-Rations. This might be a good time to eat. No, no thanks. Might not get another chance. Well, you go ahead. I couldn't keep it down. I saw you losing your breakfast. When you saw me, I was losing yesterday's breakfast. Huey, I've never been so scared in all my life. It's the same with me. You sure don't show it. Those barges are getting any closer. Are they? Three or four hundred yards out yet. No, you talk about being scared. Being scared doesn't matter if you don't show it. Yeah? Besides, there's different kinds of scared. Why'd they make you a medic? I don't know. One day they took away my rifle, handed me the armband and said, hey, you're a medic. Well, with me it's because I don't believe in killing people. I was in divinity school before I joined up. I'm just different kind of scared than you are. If I was too afraid for my life, I wouldn't be practicing what I preached. You believe in God, don't you? Sure. But I don't want to die. Afraid for your wife or yourself? For my wife, I suppose. No, that's not true. I'm afraid for myself. I wouldn't worry about it. No man's a coward until his fear shows in his actions. Sounds like those boats are getting a little closer. Let's take a look. Looks like they're here. Yeah, I guess we better get ready to go. Hey, Huey, they're zeroed. The cruts have got them zeroed in. Lord help. Cut them dead center, the whole barge. We gotta get out there. Get out there. Come on, we gotta get out there. Huey, there's nobody alive in that barge. Is there a chance of a thousand? Well, maybe one in a thousand. All right then, let go of me. We got no supplies even if there was someone alive. We couldn't do anything. I gotta try. Now you let go of me. Aren't you afraid? All right, stay, but let go of me. Don't be a fool, Huey. Better a fool than a coward. Now let's go. So Al stayed in the barge and watched Huey run right into the middle of a shellburst. And you know something, Doctor? I don't think Al has ever forgiven himself for not being there. For not getting killed with him. But he lived to help other people in other battles. I told him that. He patched up people all the way to Berlin. But, well, he never got over the, I guess you'd call it the shame of being afraid at Omaha Beach. Did he talk about it much? That first battle and Huey's death? Just once. Like he was confessing to a crime. I told you that. According to his own conscience, he did commit a crime. But it wasn't cowardice. What is it in a man that makes him judge himself so harshly, Doctor? What is it? Maybe he didn't really know there were no survivors in that barge. I don't know, Mrs. Dana. In your husband's case, something at the scene of the accident reminded him what happened at Omaha Beach. Let's go talk to this witness, Mr. Haymes. Maybe we can find out what it was. All I can do is tell you what happened, Doctor. But I think I can give you a pretty good picture. Sure didn't miss anything. You were usually riding Al's bus? Yep. I usually finish up just as he's pulling up to 8th and Loganbury. That's the way it was today. And I was mighty glad it was because it was raining pretty hard and I was tired. Man alive, I was tired. Man, am I glad to see you. A little wet out there, Les. Oh, you better believe it. Coming through my slicker. Bitty the poor mailman on a day like this, huh? Yeah, you can say that again. Well, I shook some of the water off, and took the seat right behind Al. There's a sign that says no talking to the driver, but Al and I usually chatteled it on the way downtown anyway. That's what we were doing when we went into the 8th Street Tunnel. And then up ahead I see this oil truck. I guess we both saw it at the same time because Al started giving her the brakes. Oh, she sure was a big job. Tractor and trailer and coming at us kind of funny. The pavement in the tunnel was wet and it looked like the trailer was trying to pass the front part of the truck. Well, sir, in less time than it takes to tell about it, she filled up all the tunnel, except a little piece about four feet wide. Al hit the brakes and pung it for it. I got up off the floor, the inside of the bus was a shamble. In the back I saw some fellow push open the emergency door and jump out. Then when I looked around for Al, he wasn't there. And I saw that the windshield was gone. I looked out in front, and there he was picking himself up off the pavement. I tried to open the front door, but it was jammed up against the side of the tunnel. So I got out through the hole Al made in the windshield and ran over to see if he was hurt. And then I saw it. Al, the oil. The oil from the tanker, it's all over the street. Come on, Les, we gotta get those people out of there. That starts to burn, it'll be too late. Better than half the people who were already out. There was plenty inside who just couldn't make it. Some with broken bones, some knocked out, some just as scared they couldn't move. We got in all but two people off the bus when the oil went. There she goes. There are people still there. Come on, we gotta hurry. No, I don't think we can do it, Al. Wait a minute. Hey, wait, I said. This bus is another one. We'll never make it. We gotta try, we gotta try. Come on, we gotta get them off that barge. Barge? Al, wait. Oh, all right. I'm coming. Come on, up for the front. Let's stay close to the floor. Come on. Oh, good Lord, help us. This floor is hot. We got to a man who looked like he was more than half dead already. Between us, we dragged him down the aisle of the bus to the door. The time we got him there, I saw that his clothes were smoking where we dragged him on the floor. The rubber was melting off my slicker and Al's pant legs were charred. When I looked down at my own, they were the same. And we both got burned getting over the metal edge of the emergency door. But we got the man away from the bus. Then after we'd set him down, Al turned to go back. Al, you crazy fool, you'll never make it. You'll get killed. It doesn't matter. It's my job. Now let go of me. Those people look like they were dead anyway. If there's one chance in a thousand, I got to get them out. Al, you'll only get killed. That's no way to die. I got to try. Now let go. Al. By the time we got there, the bus was full of fire. He stopped at the emergency door. A couple of times, he tried to go into that wall of flame. Then after the third try, he backed off from it. He backed off and he sat down on the pavement. I went over to him and I started patting the sparks in his clothes. He just looked up at me. I was afraid. You did your best, Al. That's all any man can do. I was afraid. I'm not a coward, Huey. But I don't want to be dead. If I go in there, I'm dead like you, Huey. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I tried to comfort him, but I don't know. I just couldn't seem to get through to him. He kept talking to somebody named Huey, and he kept saying over and over again, I'm sorry. And that's about all I can tell you, doctor. Mrs. Daener. Thank you, Miss Dames. Basically the same kind of thing. Same decision to make, but this time... Doctor? Oh, Peterson. I was hoping Miss Daener was still here. Has there been any change, nurse? Yes, there has. A few minutes ago, Sergeant Miller dropped a copy of the final accident report off with me, thinking Mr. Daener might take an interest in it. Then he did? I didn't think he was even listening until I got to the last paragraph. The last paragraph? It had the autopsier report on the two people left on the bus. Both of them died instantly at the time of the wreck. If he'd pulled them out, it would have been for nothing. Did he say anything? Yes, he kind of smiled and said, I was right. I was right all along. And then he went to sleep. Oh, doctor. Doctor, may I wait with him until he awakens? I think so, Mrs. Daener. Hey, what's all this about? Al's not burned much more than I am. He's going to be all right, Eddie. Yes, Mr. Hames, Al's going to be all right. Now that he's proved his point. You mean about being a coward? Oh, shoot. I could have told him he was no coward. But others tell him he's not nearly so important, Mr. Hames, is what he must tell himself. Al just found out that, well, there really is a time to be afraid. That discretion is an important part of valor. This is Barbara Hale again. I think no one will disagree that as far as worldly goods are concerned, there are, roughly speaking, two kinds of families. Those who have enough and those who haven't. There may be many degrees in each category, and the dividing line isn't always obvious, but roughly that's about the way it stacks up. The same is true regarding family happiness. We know that some families are unhappy, even though they have millions. While on the other hand, there are families who cling closer together in their poverty. Love lights the hearth even when there isn't a fire. The point of all this is that none of us is self-sufficient, and even the closest family isn't sufficient unto itself. If we have enough, we may lose it. We know how precarious health and fortune can be. If we haven't enough, we need the serenity and the peace that only prayer, daily family prayer, can give us. It won't necessarily guarantee health or immediate success, but it will bring its blessings. And if family peace is all but a stranger in our homes, it could be because our Heavenly Father is a stranger there too. This is why we are urged to pray. To pray together daily if possible as families. Family theater tells us each week this very simple but very mighty truth. The family that prays together stays together. More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. From Hollywood, Family Theater has brought you transcribed The Coward starring Jean Cagney. Barbara Hale was your hostess. Others in our cast were Barney Phillips, Harry Bartell, Alice Bacchus, Herb Alice, and Ralph Moody. The script was written and directed for Family Theater by Robert Hugo Sullivan with music composed and conducted by Harry Zimmerman. This series of Family Theater broadcasts is made possible by the thousands of you who feel the need for this type of program, by the mutual network which has responded to this need and by the hundreds of stars of state screen and radio who give so unselfishly of their time and talent to appear on our Family Theater stage. To them and to you, our humble thanks. This is Tony LaFranco expressing the wish at Family Theater that the blessing of God may be upon you and your home and inviting you to join us next week when Family Theater will present the first voyage of Columbus. Donna Atwood will be your hostess. Join us, won't you? Family Theater has broadcast throughout the world and originates in the Hollywood studios of the world's largest network. This is Mutual, the radio network for all America.