 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 Albert James Meyer soldier founder of the United States Weather Bureau our story is entitled profit with honor and is based on the career of General Albert J. Meyer whose foresight and fight against public disinterest finally gave our Army and Air Force the vast network of signal communications now extending to every part of the globe it was a difficult fight as you will see after this important message young man why not let a thought for tomorrow be your thought for today right now your United States Army the senior service needs qualified technicians in such varied and interesting fields as radio radar meteorology photography and many many others yes you can be trained to do a job and acquire a skill that will be of great benefit to you for the rest of your life you can also take pride in the fact that you answered your country's call in time of great need why not let our thought for tomorrow be your thought for today visit your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force recruiting station and then list in the United States Army and now your Army and your Air Force present the proudly we hail production profit with honor my name is Catherine Meyer my husband used to say quoting the Bible it shall come to pass that your sons and daughters shall prophesy your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions I knew Albert for years before he had a chance to make his visions materialize I knew him even before he gave up private practices a doctor to enter the army I was Catherine Walden then Albert and I were engaged to be married in 1858 when I was visiting friends at the army post where he was stationed it must have been around 6 30 at night as I recall I was pretty angry I went to Albert's office in the station hospital I could hear loud voices on the other side of the door and I know hello darling what brings you here Albert Colonel Wellbrick Albert I thought you were escorting me to Colonel and Mrs. Payne's for dinner tonight oh my dear I forgot you forgot Albert's been working on that memorandum to Washington about signal communication yes dear I got so engrossed in this new letter I'm sending to the Secretary of War I suppose I forgot for the moment for the moment you spent four years in college and four years in medical school to learn to be a doctor for what because my dad wanted me to be a doctor well then why all this nonsense about signal communication well can't I change my mind about my own future are you intending to change your mind about me too well no of course not darling I'll always love you now here look at this practice telegraph key here this was invented by a man named Samuel Morse he started out to be an artist but when he found out he'd never be a first-rate artist he turned inventor like me in surgery I'm not 30 yet my future is still ahead of me will you stop that I'm sorry doctor I didn't know what annoyed you now listen let me tell you something else it'd better be quick all right now one of my first assignments in the army was in Texas we used to sit on the side of a hill and watch the Indians send smoke signals to each other across the valleys and what were our men doing tumbling around with wagon loads of colored penance kind of Navy uses on its ships all right so I said to myself why wouldn't it be more practical for the United States Army to take a page out of the Indians book and cut down equipment to just one pole with a flag on top or maybe a torch for night well now look pretend this pen is a pole four or five feet long I held in this position it would mean a like this be and so on some positions could even stand for whole phrases now for instance so you decided to sell the government on the idea of simplifying and coordinating the whole army signal system and you like the job I guess I have mentioned it before not more than 30 times well we have 30 minutes late for dinner already I'm going and you needn't try wig wagging me from now on I'm way out of your sight wig wagg wig wagg that's a good word for it wait Kathy I'm coming Albert and I were married in that same year 1858 and if I thought Albert would change with marriage I had anticipated far too much he still carried a torch not one that burned brightly with any flame of love it was a signal torch which no one was able to ignite for him there were brief flutters of the flame he sought the time he heard the military board had been authorized to consider his plan for simplifying the army signal system but the fire that had flickered for a moment blacked out again as for medicine that was the furthest thing from his thoughts he just wasn't meant to be a doctor the endless backaches sore throats and flat feet were just too much for his preoccupied soul but doctor my back hurts awful bad it's nothing but a slight touch of lumbago corporal take two of these pills every four hours you'll be all right and go back to duty back to duty come in I'm sorry I didn't it's all right Catherine come on in is that all sir yes that's all corporal yes more backaches darling there's backaches and flat feet you got a letter I thought you might want to see it so I brought it over where's it from Washington here to form you to proceed without delay to Washington DC reporting upon arrival to the office of the secretary of war for further assignment by order of the secretary of war what does it mean Albert means this may be it come on darling let's get going now just keep calm Kathy everything's going to be all right yes I'll send for you just as soon as I find out what's what probably tomorrow or the next day yes don't forget to bring my telegraph key when you come I won't think of this anything else I have something to say too yeah what is it you keep calm too me why shouldn't I keep calm I know it's been a long time you've been angry at me lots of times in the past two years when you've had all this on your mind please darling don't be angry at the secretary now I won't darling there we are goodbye I'll see you within the week in Washington I hope sir Albert and God bless you don't worry darling he will now this is how it works mr. secretary let's pretend that this pen here on your desk is a four or five-foot pole with a flag on top and the message sender holds it like this and it means a like this be and if you should I know captain I've read your memorandum oh you have let's get down to cases the Congress of the United States has seen fit to add one signal officer to our staff here why I don't know they've gotten on pretty well so far with that one yes but you don't understand I understand perfectly now then the act authorizes you the rank and pay of major that's that's victory yes sir for a start for a start well I have a lot of other ideas you don't say yes sir for instance I think this is Friday Major Mike you find a place over the weekend for you and your family to live well I hope so very well report back Monday morning and Sergeant McKelvin and the Chief of Staff's office will find space for you here today and good luck thank you sir and this is your office Major Meyer this is my office sergeant yes sir well at least you'll have a nice view of Washington Monument if they ever get around to finishing it what about my staff what staff sir there's no room in here except for me you don't think I can coordinate signals throughout the whole United States Army without somebody to help me do you I'm sorry major but my orders mentioned no space for a staff now I see well did they even authorize me a chair to sit in oh yes sir here you are sir thank you sergeant is there anything else sir no nothing sergeant just tell them to resume work on Washington's Monument so I'll have something to look at Major Meyer reporting to the secretary come in major come in have a chair sit down thank you sir if I may use the vernacular I am completely boxed in and something has to be done about it do you want me to talk to you as a friend major I'd appreciate it you probably disliked me from the way I treated you last week I liked you the minute you walked in the door but I didn't want you to get up any hopes when Congress created your job they made no provision for anybody to help you understand yes sir until Congress does make provision I can't do anything about it we've never had a signal service on the staff so I presume Congress thinks we don't need one major I suggest you request to transfer back to the medical corps I want to be in signal sir signals I haven't had a chance to look over this latest report from the adjutant general let's see you know anything about Navajo Indians well I served in Texas not far away you know you can still stay here by an act of Congress I prefer the Navajo sir hey well I'll pass this information along your order should be ready about the day after tomorrow I saw Albert when we pulled into Washington terminal before he saw me I wondered why he was carrying a kid back Albert oh my darling hello Kathy is this your luggage yes a porter take these bags to the hack entrance but where are you going why are you in such a hurry you Mexico darling my train's leaving right now now you remember the address on Northwest Q Street the front apartment on the second floor the soaps are in the kitchen cabinet the towels are in the bath remember I love you goodbye you are listening to the proudly we hail production of profit with honor we'll return to our story in just a moment it shall not happen here that is the unspoken prayer of every man in the United States Army that is the unspoken reason for our growing military might but the time has come to speak the time has come to tell of that small phrase those five words it shall not happen here let us speak only to those young men of America who have not taken pause to think let's shout it in a voice that will reach into every city and village across the length and breadth of this great land young man you are needed you are needed to help preserve the peace you are needed to serve in your United States Army to ensure for your loved ones that it shall not happen here you are urged to visit your local United States Army and United States Air Force recruiting station today and enlist in the United States Army the need is urgent do it today and now your army and your Air Force present the second act of the proudly we hail production profit with honor Albert only stayed in New Mexico a few months because shortly after he left there was an explosion it was the start of the war between the states as a result of our conference here in Washington tonight gentlemen I gather we're all agreed upon the need for organized signal services and the present emergency furthermore we seem agreed at the one man to handle it at this critical moment on the recommendation of the Secretary of War is a major Albert J. Meyer who is the only one up to now who was shown wholehearted interest in it I assume then that this body recommends his recall from General Canby's command in New Mexico to handle a job so Albert came back to me in Washington in the front door one moment out the back door the next good afternoon captain no lieutenant afternoon well the last time I held a meeting in this office there was me and no one else I was a majority plurality and unanimous vote all rolled into one they didn't want a signal service as a separate defined unit in here they've gotten along so far with a helter-skelter of different signal procedures in as many divisions as there are scattered from Maine to Texas so why change you know the saying in the Bible old men dream dreams young men see visions yes sir old testament isn't I was a good guest lieutenants anyway I still consider myself as one of the young men with vision and while I hate to take advantage of an all-out war to press a point I still think that signals are important enough to be considered as a separate branch along with combat and supply and that all the signal services from wig wagging to the telegraph to be coordinated along the line from the ward apartment in West Point to the last squad and the last rank in the junction city home guards now that's my basic idea gentlemen do you agree I do sir yes sir well we three are probably the smallest military unit on the face of the earth at this point do we have anyone in the outside office yet they gave us a stenographer this morning now there are four of us but don't you count our people in the field major you mean signal personnel in addition to other duties well yes captain I think the handling of communications is a full-sized job and deserves full-sized recognition as such particularly here in Washington our job is a big one and it's going to be bigger we need more qualified personnel and we have now that's why I want you captain to hit every post camp station division and brigade from New England to the Mississippi and set up signal schools set up schools that's a good chance to exercise your ingenuity isn't it yes but I know you're essentially a technician working with Samuel Morrison as telegraph and if you can master that you can master anything else now do you know anything about wig wagging wig wagging what's that the name is my wife's the idea is mine it's a method of signal communication I've developed I may sound silly but it sure saved a lot of lives when I was out in New Mexico recently I want every unit in this whole army to know the same code you will have to teach me sir teach you I intend to make you thoroughly sick of the whole business before you're through oh and by the way yes sir while you're calling on all those camps and stations you might inquire about qualified telegraph operators wouldn't be a bad idea for the army to have a tactical system of its own what are you going to use to send it on oh I think I can find a little wire and how much five or ten thousand miles worth well now you're talking my language sir what about me sir where do I come into the picture well you're going to stay right here lieutenant you're going to be my standing your voice is my voice and as for me I'm going with the army of atomic I want to show them what a separate signal call can do have a nose Albert was willing enough Albert was brave they wouldn't have made him a lieutenant colonel after the battles of Hanover courthouse and Malvern Hill if he hadn't been it was that five thousand miles of wire that did it one evening when he happened to be home from the front there was a knock at the door my husband answered it Colonel Meyer yes I'm Colonel Meyer what do you want I'm George Gillespie from the assistant secretary's office oh come in Mr. Gillespie I have some papers for you Colonel first about that five thousand mile communications network secretary thinks has been some mistake I understand your Gillespie with the military telegraph service that's right Colonel Mr. Gillespie the secretary and I have discussed this time and time again can't you understand that we're tactical and you're purely administrative that's the same Colonel we're taking over your five thousand miles of wire these are the papers backing it up these what are these orders relieving you of your command Lieutenant Colonel Meyer Captain Riley Lieutenant Fulton the connoisseurs of the Mississippi River who engineered this I wouldn't know sir I'm just a clerk just a clerk dropping in to pay his chief's respects I suppose you might put it that way sir well I return the courtesy and you can tell the secretary that the captain the Lieutenant myself have not received our orders as yet until we do we intend to keep a tight hold on the range as well as those five thousand miles of wire good night sir sorry sorry for whom Catherine those orders were official all right my copies will probably reach me in the morning I'm going west with you Albert no no you aren't you're going to stay here and keep this house running because I will return Albert returned from the Mississippi a brigadier general no less of course it was only temporary a breved rank but those stars on his shoulders look good to me so long as he could wear them I was proud of my husband then shortly after the last shot of the war was fired Albert's perseverance began to pay dividends who do you think made personal recommendations to Congress none other than general Philip Sheridan and general Ulysses S. Grant gentlemen if there's one thing that the war between the states taught us it's the need for a separate signal service on a par with all the other combat services and services of supply I'm not saying that we didn't have sufficient signal personnel but sometimes they reminded me of the sons and grandsons of Noah in the Old Testament they were all trying to do the same job to build a tower of battle but there was a confusion of tongues many and many a time they weren't speaking the same language gentlemen the signal services must be coordinated under one command and the one to do it is Albert James Meyer with an adequate staff to do the job that has to be done Albert James Meyer with the authority invested in me I proclaim you the first chief signal officer of the United States Army Signal Corps may you meet the many challenges it offers and God bless you thank you general Sheridan the only ironic thing about it was that it dropped Albert back to Colonel again that's what the job called for but I was just as proud of him if not prouder he'd finally one out and I was especially happy about that one little phrase an adequate staff to do the job now he could relax a little or at least that's what I thought at the time it was the night of the hurricane Albert and I were invited out to dinner but a bad storm came out of nowhere the roads were flooded Albert stood at the window watching it I don't know why you keep saying Catherine that the storm came out of nowhere but storms don't come out of nowhere they have to start somewhere well this one certainly ruined tonight it gives me an idea what I have an idea oh no no more ideas please it's been a long time it's been a hard time and I seem to recall those words in some place before when you were leaving for Washington the first time June the 26th 1860 if you're keeping a diary we have everything we need you've gotten where you wanted to if I could only sell some congressmen on this idea I don't worry darling this time it's going to be different now gentlemen we know from research carried on by the Smithsonian Institution before the war and before circumstances beyond their control limited their activities but they found out that storms follow pretty much of a pattern for a long good and bad weather comes from the Northwest and Southwest hurricanes from Florida blizzards from eastern and central Canada agreed therefore by the same token if we had known the night before last what the weather was in other places we could have anticipated the deluge that hit us here in Washington I have a suggestion to make the chief of the United States Army Signal Corps I have some 24 stations spread over the face of this country I have 5,000 miles of telegraph wire connecting them which incidentally I had to fight to get and fight to keep now why can't I give my personnel in each of these stations one small additional duty every day to report the weather in their own localities we could gather all the data here in Washington plot weather movements and granted your permission to establish a coordinating agency send weather forecast to every part of the United States we could even call it the United States Weather Bureau it turned out just the way Albert said it would it was different this time he started with those 24 signal core stations by the time he died in 1880 as a Brigadier General again I might add they were over a hundred you know when I think about that phrase he used to repeat your young men shall see visions I know now he was a young man until the day he died very aptly put Mrs. Meyer but a bit of an understatement Albert Meyer was the father of the Weather Bureau now under the Department of Agriculture the Bureau which forewarns farmers against floods and hurricanes as well as sailors against the storms out at sea he was primarily responsible too for our present streamlined system of signal core communications on a worldwide basis second to none the signal core his vision serves you and me in both peace and war today in the very shadows of the nation's capital there is a military post helping to guard our national future that post bears the name Fort Albert J. Meyer that tribute was earned plan ahead to get ahead there's sound advice for you young men of America and here's how you can act on that advice your United States Army is offering a bright future in such interesting technical fields as radio radar electronics mechanics meteorology photography and many many others perhaps you're not qualified in any of these urgently needed skills well here's the answer to that the United States Army through its many fine technical schools is prepared to train you in the field for which you show an aptitude now there's a great opportunity your opportunity to plan ahead to get ahead for full details visit your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Station now this has been another program on proudly we hail presented transcribed in cooperation with this station proudly we hail was 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 the same station next week for another interesting story on proudly we hail