Monday, Apr. 05, 1943
The Army Hour
Ain't it pretty, sir?
That's not precisely the word for it, but it's certainly going to be useful.
Yes, sir. Take some Jap's buck teeth out right by the roots.
If this bit of shoptalk between a Fort Bliss cavalryman and his commanding officer made any listener's stomach twitch last week, that was exactly what the U.S. Army wanted.
The plain-spoken colloquy turned up on The Army Hour (NBC, Sun., 3:30-4:30 p.m.). The "pretty" weapon was a mean-looking steel blade about eight inches long, forged out of the fast disappearing horse shoes of the cavalry. Most U.S. cavalry men have these gougers. They are handy for infighting.
Plain facts like this are one good reason why more than 3,000,000 U.S. radio homes tune in The Army Hour on Sunday after noons. The show has the authority of a headquarters communique. It ignores ho kum, heroics, gags. One year old this week, it has given the home front a pretty good idea of how the Army has been put together, how it uses its materiel.
The visit to the 1st Cavalry Division was full of the sound & fury of horse dismounted and mechanized cavalry training.
Listeners heard the voices of the cavalry's rifles, machine guns, mortars, pack howitzers (jackass batteries) peppering a prepared position, the roar of flame throwers as the outfit took over a village named Little Tokyo. The accompanying explanation of cavalry's role in modern warfare was succinct and pointed. The all-Army cast was first-rate.
Colossal Cast. The Army Hour's cast of characters comes close to fitting Hollywood's never-attained definition of colossal. Only the Army could supply it. Ranging around the world on almost every show the program has presented scores of personages and plain people, from Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek through United Nations generals to fighting men in the ranks. Colonel Warren J. Clear, of Genera MacArthur's staff, wept at the microphone when he told the firsthand story of the fighting on Bataan. Profane soldier-talk often sneaks into the prepared script. Because the Axis would like very much to know that General Sir Archibald Wavell, for instance, would be on the air from a certain place at the broadcast time, audiences never learn the show's personnel until it is on the air.
The Army Hour is a skillful blend of Army and NBC talent. The Army provides the cast and the military props. NBC pays the costs ($3,500 a week) and supplies the broadcast facilities. A staff of seasoned radiomen (Writer-Producer-Director Wyllis Cooper, Studio Director Eddie Dunham, Liaison Man Captain Ed Byron) put the show together. The man who conceived it is Lieut. Colonel Edward M. Kirby, chief of the radio branch of the War Department's Bureau of Public Relations.
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