 The Cavalcade of America sponsored by the DuPont company presents Edward Arnold in a dramatization of the Saturday evening post-story fat girl Good evening ladies and gentlemen This is the Cavalcade of America sponsored by DuPont maker of better things for better living through chemistry This evening it is our privilege to announce that for the service it has given in dramatizing events and personalities Which most effectively epitomized the spirit of a democratic people? The Cavalcade of America has won first award in the field of radio drama and the annual poll conducted by the women's national radio Committee among club women of the nation Tonight with Edward Arnold as Captain John B. Phillips. We bring you the story of one of the ugly ducklings of our Navy Mr. Arnold appears through the courtesy of MGM In whose production the youngest profession he is now starring Our radio play adapted from a Saturday evening post article by Charles Rawlings and Isabel Layton was written by Paul Peters Later on the program you will hear from miss Layton and from captain Phillips of the uss neo show whose historic escape Inspired our program tonight The Cavalcade of America presents fat girl with Edward Arnold as captain John B. Phillips of the uss neo show And the narrator of our program A Name was the uss neo show An auxiliary oil tanker attached to the pacific fleet Do you hear that? That's the voice of a horn That's our bell And that's our cry of alarm when attacked That's the throb of her engines deep within our stern The great steel heart that propels her plunging but unafraid through a wilderness of ocean Between her engines and her bridge. She carried in the vast uninhabitable reservoir 150 barrels of gasoline and oil Her duty was to suckle the haughty warships But the men on the proud fighting ships would jeer at her ungainly shape And when she heaved alongside their slim sleek decks They would call out in contempt. Here comes the fat girl December the sixth daybreak the fat girls slid into dark at Hickam field pearl harbour She pumped 500 000 gallons of octane gas into Hickam's tanks Late evening she shifted across the bay to ford island All night her pumps pounded sluicing another half million gallons into the navy shore tanks December the 7th 755 a.m. Captain John s philips and his executive officer lieutenant commander francis j furth Stroll down deck. It was good out here captain. Uh Cool, but the sun's nice. Yeah One of those navy flyers must gotten up early today. Yeah Say is he gone crazy dive bombing over a live target before eight o'clock on sunday morning They're dropping something. What's those markings on his wings? Say that isn't one of our planes And the sun red sun jabs. They're bombing our battleships quick frankie on the bridge sound gentle quarters Gentle quarters battle stations Tell the gunnery officer to man all out of aircraft batteries. Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown This is brown Japanese planes bombing our ships man all into aircraft batteries Japanese get the engine We've got to get out of here fast cut the mooring lines of the rail with axes. Mr. Wabuki. Mr. Wabuki Stand by down some bells. We're backing out of here. They're taking access to mooring lines. All right. Well, sir Arizona at the end of the jetty roll up and burst into flames Tell Wabuki to get those engines going 815 the fat girl backing away slowly slowly past the sunken oklahoma Past the wounded Tennessee in west virginia past stricken arizona racks of bombs straddle the big gray oiler As she slid through pearl harbors watery inferno But her skipper brought her safely to merry point without losing a man or a chip of paint He wears a navy cross today to help him remember it Next night he was walking on deck He was talking to his officers old gentleman We're the only fleet oiler left in the mid-pacific For the next few months we'll have to fuel all the ships the lexicon the sims of Yorktown all of them That means sailing day and night through drained dangerous waters and sailing along The navy can spare no escort for an oiler It's going to be tough just going gentlemen But I know that the fat girl can count on you On every last one of you A few months past It is May the 7th the fat girl has had an rendezvous with a big task force 450 miles off the coast of australia At daybreak when she reached the appointed spot the skipper and his executive officer were scanning the horizon Well, you can see an awful lot of pacific in this early morning like captain. Yeah, no task force in sight now Something to do with that night report from the commander-in-chief perhaps I'll tell you Frankie, but keep it under your hat. There's a strong japanese naval force nearby Right now, there's probably a big battle starting in the core of the sea The close ones, huh draggy get the crew to battle stations man the entire aircraft batteries Miss brown miss brown man all india craft stations. Oh, there he is up in that cloud Single engine comma headed north Now he'll be back with 50 more I suspect mr. Bob rookie mr. Bob rookie I'm going to bring the ship around the head of northwest Give the engine all we got 10 a.m. The first of the japanese bombers went over flying high in formation They scorned the neoshoes puny gunfire half a mile too short 1035 12 more planes they dropped three bombs, but the fat girl dodged 12 noon on deck the gun crews ate their midday stew from canisters Hey kid key your eyes on that southern horizon pop. I got him glued there Seems to me I see something like a string of flies up against the sky Manhole and aircraft stations manhole and aircraft stations You be here they come bring that gun around kid come right at you pop and bring that magazine to 20s over All right, you nips. Come on in and see the fat girl see her quiver while she fights Come on. Come on. They're going into attack formation lead planes peeling off Boy and that bird travel shut up and get a beat on it Kid are you hurt? Look at him Look at him. He's don't look He was joking only a minute ago get back to your gun. There's another one coming in go on now get back Look kid I got it for you Two more bombs gave the fat girl a mortal womb One whistled through the fire room hatch exploding among the boilers in the steam lines A second mangled the fat girl a midship a power gun She stopped in a cloud of steam and lurched to the starboard with a 30 degree list 1218 seeing a shattered burning hulk below the jet flew off A sailor plunging through smoke and flames stumbled over a body commander first commander first. Is that you? Are you hurt sir? I guess I just knocked out by the concussion. Yeah, let me help you out sir Better now Now you go the captain you tell him we're sinking and ask him what he intends to do about abandon ship He's already answered that sir the captain sent me to tell you Hang on a wire Below the fire room where the fat girl's engines harrell bratt machinist made first class picked himself off the floor And swung his flashlight up the steel ladder that was the only exit into a volcano of roaring live steam Then he turned and faced his four dead companions You hear that steam that last bomb got the boilers How are we going to get out of here chin? We can't get out now boy We're cut off. We'll have to wait a while wait. What's for we got no more engines. We can't go. I tell you we'll never get through that fire room alive Where's that water coming from? Oh, it's round Down in this rotten black hole. Let me out of here. Joe. Don't get away from that ladder. You two friends. Come on. Come on. You're back I listen to me both of you The chief water tender's up there. Do you know Oscar Peterson? He'll turn those steam bows off even the children. We can count on feet a few minutes. We'll be drowned Down like rats in a trap I'm going up now. I'm going with you get out of my way chief. I'll wait a minute Chief you're too far away. Oh, I'm all right Where's the flashlight? I took you with him chief. Oh those sacks those poor sacks Right in the obey orders that steam will kill him. There's water up around my feet now chief. All right. All right. We wait a while I can't stand it We wait a while Oh god a couple if you don't water up to my knees Listen Listen Do you hear that? What? The steam stopped. Peterson's done it. He shut off the bows. I knew he would. I knew it I did find some rags. There's a pile on them on the bulkhead shelves Well, I got them here. Let me have some now cover up your hands and faces quick now It's already Mr. Bennett chief You set now. I'm going up. Paul you follow close to me down. You follow Paul steady north of the city Here's the escape hatch Careful now Yeah, sure. Pick up here Chief what is it? What is it? See if you can find my flashlight Here it is. I got the flashlight chief Oh Toy Joe There's Fred in the corner. All right. All right. Get him out of here You two go on ahead. I'll light your way. Didn't you come in chief? Don't worry about me I'm going back to look for Peterson He found Peterson And when he brought him into the blessed open air, he knew the water tender had sacrificed his life that others might live Two days later, Peterson died Mercifully the ship supply of morphine lasted just two days 6 p.m on the bridge captain philips scanned the fat girl with bitterness in his heart A deck smoldered like a volcanic reef A starboard rail rolled under water Her foredeck was awash The gunnery officer tom brown joined him The chief radio officer says it's set in opposition every five minutes. No answer. No answer. Well, tell him to stop a while What should we do with the wounded sir? How many are there? 26 and lifeboats three sir The rest were shelled or burned Of course, there's the big motor sailor, but she's jammed in her chocks on the high side. There's no power for her winches Think a solid day's work to get her over side Oh What do you think captain? Well, if that girl lasts that long, I don't know She's dying brownie She's dying under my feet Hadn't we better bury our dead and run down our insides, sir? We throw together some rafts for the rest of us. No No brownie if she must go down let her go with colors flying She'll make a good coffin brownie Yes, sir Get those lifeboats alongside and load the wounded in them Put on a skeleton crew for the watch and a good hand for the tillers and a man of two for bailing Have them lay off about a hundred yards. Keep us inside all night. No flashlights. No signals The rest of us, sir The rest of us will stand by Anything I can do cap Frankie is that you? Sorry captain. I was burned a little burned a little Can you see out of those eyes enough to get around sir? Oh, come on brownie get him off his feet put him in one of those life on the captain. All right. All right, Frankie You can take charge of a batch of wounded. Will that make you feel better? Very well see never mind saluting Better get that arm bandage. Thank you, sir Quartermaster says the list has improved sir. She's moved up to 25 degrees 27 to 25 sir. She's moved Up to 25 degrees. You say she's trying to help herself. Oh good old fat girl good old fat girl Still fighting for us. Aren't you still going to carry on for us? Don't you well by all that's holy. We'll fight for you listening to fat girl on the cavalcade of america sponsored by a dupont Our play tonight stars edward arnold as captain john s phillips of the uss neosho An auxiliary oil tanker that miraculously escaped pearl harbor and for weeks and months gallantly carried on with her duties Then one day jap bombers spotted her As our play continues they have left and the fat girl is mortally wounded Sundown may 8th the fat girl struggling valiantly but settling inch by inch Now her crew paused in their labors for a sum but duty We're ready to bury the dead captain phillips. Yeah, well did you find the bible brawny nosy Glass scene in the mess hall and bias clean that up Well, I suppose I'd better make up a prayer, huh? I suppose so sir How about that little jab little jab? Yeah, I want to crash down deck. Oh him He's still up there sir leaning against number four gun base Boys go up and take a look at him once in a while Mr. So sorry they call him sort of a mascot You don't want him buried. No, no not with our dead But don't let anybody disturb him certainly not sir Oh a brownie Will you do me a favor favor? Yeah Make up a prayer and say it for them will you Golly skipper. I I'm not very good I wish you'd say that me All right brownie, I'll do the best I can Dear god These men were our friends and comrades They were good men god They serve their country faithfully And when they died They died a fine death Defending their ship Now we're going to lay them to rest in the sea Give them peace oh lord And have mercy on the dear ones at home Amen May the ninth ship drifting helpless in a heavy swell list 24 degrees Upper deck and starboard side of wash The fat girl was sinking her hours were numbered Well well brownie commander the motor sailor she launched yet any minute now, sir Well, tell him to hurry tell him to hurry very well. No, no wait a minute wait a minute You don't have to tell him that I don't think so as soon as she's in the water loaded with stores You and I will board her with a wounded The others will man the lifeboats with square sails will be the only boat with power They'll use the motor to round them up every morning and keep the boats together There's to be no separating I understand, sir We'll run with the wind for will as islets and then under trun to the opening in the great barrier reef How about guns, sir side arms on offices stack a two of rifles in the big boat no guns in the little ones It's going to be a long hard run brownie We want no crazy men with guns quite yours Yes, and our big trouble will be the sun from zenith on we'll be looking straight into it It's going to be hell A trip through purgatory for our burned men brownie Funny we don't hear anything on the air. Oh, forget them I saw gun flashes last night toward the coral sea We're on the fringes of a big battle brownie Maybe nobody can spare time for us. Maybe they have nothing to send Hey, hey, they're cheering. You know what that means. Thank god They've launched the motor ship and thank the fat girl too 2 30 p.m First sound gel quarters siren siren siren dynamos the bell then ring the ship's bell Here give me those glasses. You can't see with those swollen eyes one minute, sir Red on the underside of the wings. All right. All right. All right. What? That's no nip sir. That's us. That's us. Like bummer royal australian air force He's circling sir circling overhead. Oh, there goes his searchlight signal A SIGLEMAN SIGLEMAN Yes, sir. Y O U Stand by the emergency battery signal lamp I N T R O U Says are you in trouble? SIGLEMAN. Yes, sir. Answer yes I'll give him a latitude and longitude. What's the matter? No answer? That's all it is SIGLEMAN again latitude and longitude No acknowledgement. Just going away Well back to work We'll just act as if nothing has happened. Maybe nothing has May the 10th food ration offices and men assigned to stations in the four lifeboards After end of the fat girl dangerously low in the water final preparations to abandon ship 1 p.m. It's a destroyer sir. What do you make of her? What do you make her out to be brony? She might be either sir. I No, wait a minute Yes, that's our end sign. That's one of our 400 skipper SIGLEMAN SIGLEMAN Yes captain Believe neo show an immediate danger capsizing what instructions she's answering sir N O I N S T R no instructions SIGLEMAN Tell him lay off 100 yards will come to you Brownie every man has has five minutes to get his belongings wounded first in the motor sailor Hold one of the whalers now hurry. We can't hold that destroyer in the fasted waters 1 40 p.m. The commander of the neo show left his ship the last man off Having transferred safely to the uss henley his officers and enlisted personnel At 2 22 p.m. He stood on the bridge of the destroyer watching a gun crew pump shells Into the red fragged fat girl Oh hitter a stern. I tell you hitter a stern. We're trying captain No torture like that get it down. Yes captain. We'll get it down. Just get her um Get her under for me And so the gallant fat girl went bow down Thank you, edward arnold Ladies and gentlemen in a few moments. Mr. Arnold will return to the microphone to present our guests Miss isabel leighton co-author of fat girl and captain john s phillips who commanded the uss neo show Meanwhile, we have a story of chemistry that will be of interest to everyone Here is gain Whitman to tell it No matter how many machines america has producing for war The most wonderful and important machine of all is still the human hand that guides and controls them For a number of years dupont has made a protective hand cream sold under the trademark protect Painters and mechanics used it to keep paint and grime from sticking to their hands Factory workers used it to protect their hands from grime and solvents that might cause skin irritation When the war started dupont began to get a flood of new orders for protect from many industrial centers Behind those orders lies an interesting story Skin ailments in industry even in peacetime cost the nation something like seven million dollars a year in lost man hours In wartime there is vastly more production There are many more workers and many of those workers are women or men recruited from white collar jobs These men and women taking factory jobs for the first time often have soft hands Hands sensitive to cutting oils solvents and other irritating compounds used in many industrial operations In some plants workers can't wear gloves because gloves are liable to get caught in the machines or interfere with delicate operations So more and more war workers are now using protec As an invisible work glove to protect the hands and arms against grime and other skin irritants Protec is a soft greaseless cream that looks and smells like vanishing cream But unlike a vanishing cream it forms a dry transparent film Which is not dissolved by oil paints grime or straight cutting oils, but will dissolve in water If a worker applies protec to his hands and arms before starting work It helps to protect his skin against irritants All he has to do after work is wash his hands in running water and oil grease grime and paint rinse off In one plant girls who were lacquering gun stocks used to clean their hands with lacquer solvent The solvent took the oil out of their skins and caused a severe skin irritation On the advice of their plant safety director the girls now use protec Skin ailments are one of the most important occupational diseases Because skin infection can slow up production just as easily as a lost time accident If you have this problem and want to help men and women workers avoid skin irritation Write to DuPont radio section Wilmington Delaware for additional information Protec will not solve every such problem And it should not be used if you're dealing with a chemical which can be absorbed through the skin But it may help because it is one of DuPont's better things for better living through chemistry And now the star of tonight's cavalcade Edward Arnold Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen tonight Other players on cavalcade and I have attempted to reenact for you a true and great story In the finest tradition of our navy The man who inspired others to fulfill that tradition is captain John S. Phillips of the U.S. Navy Miss Isabel Layton co-author of the fat girl will now present him to you from new york city When Charles Rawlings and I were assigned to the story of the uss neo show We felt it was privileged enough just to be allowed to write it In the writing we grew to know captain Phillips and felt additionally rewarded But to be able to introduce him to you tonight On behalf of chuck rawlings who's in the south pacific and myself Is a happier experience than any writer can hope for I wish you could know captain Phillips as we do Though a lifetime of knowing him wouldn't induce him to talk about how he came to win his navy cross If I know him at all of one thing i'm sure He's here tonight only for love of his men And his desire to acknowledge his death to them Captain John S. Phillips Tonight I have again relived the death struggle of the uss neo show in the coral sea May I take this opportunity to pay tribute to my heroic men Who so gallantly defended their ship in the battle for her life To those of them at sea or on land who may be listening in tonight I send my warmest greeting To the families of those who are no longer here Who paid with everything they had so the neo show might live I want to say their sacrifice was not made in vain And they are tonight remembered and sorely missed This courageous group of patriots who went forth to do their part in restoring to the world at large Those inalienable rights of freedom for which this country stands From these men from all men who are out there facing death that we might live There is a threefold message to you First work as you have never worked before to make our country strong in unity That unity which alone can bring a speedy victory and preclude the unnecessary loss of life Second have faith in all of those men Faith in your associates faith in your government and faith in your god and third See to it that when victory has been won We use it to build a world in which the future generations Will not again be called upon to pay in blood for the freedoms that are ours and which we enjoy Thank you captain phillips Ladies and gentlemen, you have just heard captain john s phillips of the uss neo show who spoke to you from new york They dreamed of a day when they could again enjoy the little everyday things of life fresh clean clothes Lipstick ice cream sodas bobby pins They dreamed of these as they waited for the ship that was to take them from the inferno of vatan Next week with geraldine Fitzgerald as our star cavalcade presents Nurses under sealed orders a new radio play about the gallant young women who tended the wounded on baton Be with us next week when cavalcade presents the popular stage and screen player Geraldine Fitzgerald in nurses under sealed orders The musical score on tonight's program was composed and conducted by robert armrester This is james bannon sending best wishes from cavalcade sponsor the dupe hunt company of wilmington delaware Dick comes home on furlough tonight. His room looks a sight Well, it's too late now to have it repapered mother My boyfriend says dupe hunt has a wonderful new paint called speed easy that covers old wallpaper in one coat It drives in an hour. Yeah speed easy. Yes. I remember that's the paint you thin with water Well, our sailor will have a fresh clean room to sleep in tonight This program came to you from new york and hollywood. This is the national broadcasting company