 proudly we hail from New York home of the American stage another dramatic documentary of our country and our people featuring a cast of outstanding players public service time has been made available by this radio station so that your army and your Air Force can bring you now a tale of scientific precision as proudly we hail the army map service for those who think a map is something to crumple in the glove compartment of the car for the soldiers who followed them all over the world and who figured they'd always been around for those who would tablet of a business here is a story we call maps by the millions it started a hundred and five years ago yet it's as young as today it stands unmatched for sheer courage and genius the story in a moment right now a message of interest an important message for the young men of our country if you think you can hold down a man's job there's a man's job waiting for you in your country's rapidly expanding United States Army go to your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force recruiting station and get all the facts today it's summer in Washington the year is 1950 the hot stickiness of the night is only relieved by an occasional gust of human wind off the river on the southern tip of land but just into the Potomac is a military reservation the lights that blaze the staccato slapping of hurrying footsteps are in sharp contrast to the slumbering quietness of the surrounding city deep in the military reservation is a rambling building parts of it windowless it probes with the muffled pulsating of frantic machinery a tall figure hurries down the path inserts a key in the lock opens the door and passes through the welcoming rectangle of yellow light he identifies himself as Fred Cowan two armed guards paces along subterranean corridors and enters a vast closed room shaking with the gyrations of rows of giant printing presses lockers line one wall the man hurries to his unlocks it shakes himself out of his light summer coat hangs it on a hook and follows with other pieces of clothing he pulls on a pair of ink smeared pressman's overalls and walks to number five litho press another man stands beside that press as sheet after sheet is ejected he scans the finished product his right hand high on a series of control buttons ready to halt the printing the instant any variation is noticed his name is William Connors Hi Bill what's on oh hi Freddy your guess is as good as mine I got the same phone call you did well I live out further you know that don't you sure sure I didn't mean nothing what they're all excited over nothing like a since the war all candle on the phone said it was top priority I haven't seen him since I got in the press was all set up in Roland what's the map run Louisiana maneuver area again now now this is a large-scale country in the Far East which one it's here on the identification box some place called Korea if you fight a war these days you've got to have maps and they've got to be good they've got to be detailed and accurate when aggression from the North forced United Nations troops into Korea in June of 1950 the maps they had of the area were the best in the world the powerful presses of the Army map service in Washington started rolling that hot summer night to supply additional thousands that would be needed as the war surged up and down the Korean Peninsula and as details filtered back the maps were altered a misplaced coal a hill where none had been shown on the map a new railroad spur precise up to the minute flown by air to the men fighting their way up a foreign coastline field units setting up presses in the Pacific as they had during the war to make the myriad maps of fighting army requires the quick sweep of speedy photo planes the incredible calculations based on the aerial pictures the detailed maps that so speedily result but it wasn't always this way once when our nation was young when the great distances of the West were all but unexplored the Congress of the United States authorized an expedition to chart the unknown to mark the trails that only explorers and guides like Kit Carson knew to such an assignment was ordered John C. Freeman Lieutenant United States Army we set out in the summer of 1842 from Shoutu's landing on the Missouri River we traveled about a hundred miles along the core river and then struck out overland to Fort Laramie on the way a new mountain peak was discovered the party insisted on naming it for me we returned to St. Louis along the plat in Missouri rivers we mapped as we went as accurately as our instruments would permit a quiet narrative of a hard laborious journey that was just preparation for the job to come the surveying of the trails to the Pacific Coast over the Rockies across the salt desert to the Great Salt Lake along the trail of Lewis and Clark on the Columbia River back southward through Nevada to the eastern base of the towering Sierra Nevada Mountains where the party paused for a moment in January 1844 then as Fremont's own diary reports it February 2nd 1844 traveled 16 miles elevation of camp 6,760 feet February 9th snow five feet deep putting on snowshoes which we made ourselves the glare of the snow has rendered many of our people almost blind we're fortunate in having some black silk handkerchiefs which worn as veils very much relieved our eyes February 20th we end camped with all our animals on the summit of the pass in the dividing Ridge elevation 9,338 feet February 22nd tonight we killed another mule now our only resource from starvation February 23rd going ahead with Kit Carson to reconnoiter the road we reached in the afternoon a creek which made the outlet of a lake what now kid cross it direction all right follow me the salt shot coming oh oh oh this water is cold all to the rock John are you hurt hold on now no no no don't Kit I'm all right my guys colder than I thought hold on to me now I'll get you out I'm all right just can't catch my breath that's cold as well I came in after you I lost my muscle I gotta find it no you don't not back in that water you can afford to lose the gun but not you first things build a fire swinging an axe to keep the blood running warm anyway after we had partially dried ourselves we went back to meet the camp we afterwards found that the gun had been slung under the ice which lined the banks of the Greek February 27th we grew very anxious as the day advanced to no grass appeared for the lives of our horses and mules depended on finding it tonight the day was nearly gone when towns one of our men I would keep on this way I think I'll be going home now yes I will go home now it's back up in the mountains town what do you think you are only a little ways from home I'm hungry I think I'll go home for supper now the town stop it don't you know who I am who am I for your you're our baker at least I think you are but you don't have any bread out here it's back in your shop I'm going to your shop for bread and I'm going home for supper towns come back you fool you freeze up there you'll ask and take this pack I'm going up to town so I'll bring him back somehow towns wandered off into the woods not knowing where he was I was able to bring him back but he had to be strained until he recovered sufficiently March 6th 1844 reached Sutter's Fort today of the 67 horses and mules with which we started across the Sierra only 35 arrived at Sutter's Fort but the maps were made the trails were blazed in spite of cold and even madness a section of the earth was charted John Fremont had done his job better than he knew for as he drew his maps he was also drawing the outlines of a rich tradition that would be followed through the years by the army's topographical engineers by the daring pilots whose flying cameras were to chart great portions of the world by the far-reaching organization of the army map service although born of war it will achieve greatness in peace it is doubtful that there were many times in our history when our country's needs were as desperately urgent as in early 1942 in the east over Europe the engine noise of a few b-17s was a weak promise of what was to come in the other direction out over the limitless Pacific the thunder of the first naval engagements were echoing to the shores of Japan and then silence settled over the vast area where would the United States strike the enemy wondered and the answer was in the making but veiled in silence and dark with the word secret all right then gentlemen you have the target we agreed on the d-date we all have a lot of work ahead of us i want to see troop dispositions available transport air support plan and full tactical maps of the area as soon as possible that would be all gentlemen oh matthews yes general about the maps will they be ready i haven't said anything about it but i'm afraid there's trouble oh what sort of trouble oh that target island yes never been mapped much less the sea approaches oh i know better all there are some navigational charts and area maps but the engineers say there are tremendous discrepancies between the different ones available some of them are 20 or 30 years old some have harbors where others show straight coastline it's that bad can they get any kind of a map from what they've got to you know how short time is not the maps we need with accurate enough details for amphibious beach operations and for pre-assault air bombardment no sir we find ourselves pumping high explosives into some uninhabited back jungle matthews you've got something going or you would have brought this up before they're working on it and it ought to wind up in time to give us a set of maps for this target that'll match the best aerial mapping operation that's right sir air transport command is flying in some of the air force staff that did the aerial mapping in alaska on the alkan highway are you set up to run them in quantity once the area has been photographed in the maps planet a complete engineered topographic mapping battalion is ready draftsman play shop presses whole works good all right carry on with it matthews but understand any hitch and i'm to be immediately notified without maps these troops these ships these guns without maps they're all useless these were the blue chips boats guns trucks tanks and men not one of them could be tossed in the pot a hand couldn't be raised to draw a card until they had their maps but they did move and as so often is true in war a great moment of history depended on the courage of a single man in this case his name was carl polifka captain united states air force in a moment more about maps and the men who make them more about the unsung work of the army map service now we pause in the proudly beheld production of maps by the minions for this important message you young men of american know that the united states army has been expanding however that expansion must continue when your health is needed it's needed right now you yourself can get ahead in the army because there are many opportunities for advancement if you have initiative courage and leadership ability so visit your local united states army and united states air force recruiting station and enlist in the united states army today you are listening to proudly we hail a dramatic documentary saluting the army map service a story we've called maps by the minions you sent for me major yes captain prolifer relax sit down spare me the treatment sir just uh just tell me the bad news it's bad all right maybe you can change it i'm human there's limits to what you can expect you're my boy carl anybody can swing at you can let me know what it is am i supposed to fly a b-17 down somebody's chimney in a sense what i'm going to tell you is top secret okay the task force assembling now for our first counterattack well it's the best news since december i feel the same way you do carl there's a hitch yeah there are no maps of area x we comb the islands state side they've turned the files upside down nothing the missionaries the arcy planters what have they been using to navigate steamships on those waters not accurate enough for an amphibious landing operation a campaign to take an island you know what these island sketch maps are location not accurate within several miles they want the area mapped that's the story specialist team was headed in from the states their planes down project was set for a flight of p-38s rigged for aerial mapping f-4s they call them those planes were lost on a sub picked off the freighter carrying well what do i use uh a b-17 that's a bum joke because you're right that island has to be mapped 17 is the only thing i've got for you with range enough to get there and back well i'll try it but listen uh yeah if the pictures aren't in focus don't make me go back sergeant strip all armament load extra fuel tanks in the bomb bay we're flying light but fast okay corporal you're the photographer rig the cameras any way you want and tell me what you have to have pom pom tower this is army 8753 airborne at 0614 destination area x army 8753 flew almost a thousand miles to area x and over the island that was its target the plane set a new course straight down the backbone of that brown and green oval on the blue pacific fighters rose to protect the enemy base black pups of anti-aircraft polka dotted the length of the island the fortress banked turned and made another run puzzled enemy pilots hesitated long enough for the big plane to find cloud cover and head for home army 8753 did come home in time came this announcement and associated press bulletin august 7th 1942 dateline somewhere in the pacific united states troops have successfully landed on a strongly fortified enemy base in the salomon island's group american troops have taken the first step back on the road to the philippines that map made history you could say it made freedom it was the map for the entire campaign in that area it was the first reliable map ever made of the island and the speed with which it was made proved once and for all that aerial mapping was a vital key to victory in a global war now global that's a good word it means a lot when you start talking in terms of maps i had a man ask me the other day maps what about them during war any army just goes on through things or these days over them in the air what's all this about maps well will you admit it's a good idea to know where you're going well sure but there are always maps around you heard what happened out in the pacific at the start of the last war oh yeah yeah that's true but uh well you need maps for uncivilized pastels out there but you mean europe yeah oh why didn't they use road maps from the gas station they got them in europe seems to me they do just as well except the tank isn't a private car and you can't calculate the height of hills the depth and width of rivers from a roadmap and look mac a clover leaf intersection near durham north carolina doesn't look like much from an airplane 30 000 feet in the air no maybe you're right but not convinced uh well answer me this can you read a roadmap from a gas station in a blacked out tank or plane can you figure how to coordinate artillery fire with infantry movements how to figure in advance where the enemy would be likely to hide 60 millimeter mortars all right all right don't don't get excited what's more you don't plan a global war on a map from a geography book any more than you plan an invasion of france on a map made for napoleon you're kidding me for napoleon no that's the truth when we began to prepare for d-day the only military map in existence of the french coastal areas was one that had been made for the little corporal huh well uh what'd they use in uh well the first world war for example well most military operations even in the first world war were localized in required little mapping oh sure the aef had maps but by today's requirements they were pretty crude before the first world war most military operations mapped as they went along and most military decisions were made from information secured from advanced troops scouting ahead well then you mean that on december 7th in 1941 we almost had to fight from a roadmap well almost but not quite you see the question you asked was answered by the creation of the army map service one week of december had barely passed before the call started to come into washington vital we have a map of luzon philippine islands at once have to have a map of the south pacific scale one to fifty thousand send out by air at least a dozen copies of maps for the dutch east india find a map of someplace in the pacific called tarawa the existing sources of maps both military and civilian couldn't handle a war of this size the need was for some major agency to collect maps to compile maps to print maps and to distribute them where they were needed and so was born the army map service we understand ma'am you did some missionary work in the south seas for some time yes i did for over nine years did you have any maps of your area i don't think so no not that i remember but my husband and i did draw a sketch one of the trails in new guinea with water courses and all i may still have it in the attic somewhere young man you wait right here and i'll look you could help us quite a bit if you will captain sure i'll help you why would i sail my ship through those islands that's it sir that'll be the information we need and if we can have your charts for that part of the pacific sergeant williams reporting sir we've located an entire series of somatra area maps at the offices of an oil company in california lieutenant vote sir calling from seattle as an old trader up here used to sail into the harbour a truck his charts are going to be a gold mine it's a real break the information was coming in snapshots postcards diaries letters it was analyzed checked and recorded but map requirements continued to mount and so a revolutionary concept in map making was suggested produce maps on an assembly line basis despite history's contention that it was laborious specialized handwork the argument was advanced that there weren't even enough available personnel to staff a production line the army map service had the answer they turned to the women of america and they got the colleges of the country to give courses course 511 mapping topography cartography one semester five points professor malone this course is indoctrination for cartography will include the latest methods from photographic mapping to high speed lithography note to those interested government employment assured on completion of course 20 colleges and universities gave such a course to their women 500 came to washington and went to work in a secluded secret building where even the waste baskets had locks here was a vital part of america an enemy knowing what maps were being made would know where the united states was going to launch its offenses often the young women knew before the generals where amphibious landings were contemplated they did a variety of jobs my name is Dorothy Tis I run a high speed lithograph press it can turn out 3000 maps an hour day in and day out night in and night out we had a swing ship before factories knew what the word meant I take pictures with just about the biggest camera in the world I'm terry hayward and I come from mobile alabama and the cameras for making the plates that they print the maps from not all of the women came from the schools many had done civilian drafting had worked in highly skilled positions in photography all wanted to help during world war two the army map service made 500 million maps we figured it out that's a pile higher than the washington monuments 70 million maps 3000 kinds for france alone 40 000 different maps during the war 70 000 atlases gazetteers glossaries yeah that's a lot of maps you could say that again they'd weigh as much as 83 pulmon cars and if they were spread out they'd cover new york from the battery to central park yeah that's a lot of maps it's figured that mapping began in prehistoric days when a hunter scratched out a crude diagram in the dustivus cave to show some neighbor where he had pounded that dinosaur into steak in america the great tradition of such men as mapmaker john fremont reached a peak during the most terrible wars the world has ever seen certainly one climax was the morning patents racing army awoke to find that they had outrun the limits of their maps and sent up a howling that only ceased when 10 tons of maps were parachuted down to them oh very interesting but uh where do they go from here a good question the answer is everywhere the demands of peace are in many ways as pressing as those of war the world has grown smaller we have neighbors now where once we had only acquaintances new developments scientific marvels to keep pace with the time fluorescent maps for use in the dark and under special lights emergency cloth maps for aviators forced down at sea they'll withstand water and exposure then there's the use of radar as an aid in mapping with a promise that someday it may be one of the basic means for computing maps new methods and equipment for aerial mapping an amazing new camera with a piece of film nine and one half inches wide and 200 feet long built for 600 mile an hour jets and so accurate that the pictures show a golf ball on a t photograph from 20 000 feet this then has been the story a brief introduction to maps the men and women who made them during the war and who make them now and the army map service it began in america with john freemont and his men laboring through the mountains over a hundred years ago it came down through work and legend to the lumbering b17 carrying a crew and cameras away from an island in the enemy infested pacific the nimble fingers keen eyes and minds and stout hearts of the men and women in the squat building near washington this has been the story the tradition and the service to the nation of maps and the army map service they make them by the millions proudly we hail now brings you an important message the united states army the senior service of our armed forces is expanding rapidly and need your help by enlisting in the united states army you'll not only get the finest training in the world but you'll have the special pride that goes with wearing a united states army uniform if you have the qualifications the army will train you in such interesting career fields as radio radar electronics mechanics meteorology and many others why not get full details by visiting your local united states army and united states air force recruiting station today this has been another program on proudly we hail presented transcribed in cooperation with this station by the united states army and the united states air force recruiting service this program featured norman rose as narrator this is kenneth banghardt speaking and inviting you to tune in this same station next week for another interesting story on proudly we hail