The DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware, makers of better things for better living through chemistry, presents the cavalcade of America. Tonight's star, William Bendix. Tonight's story, the Marine who was 200 years old. 200 years old? Ah, what a joke. Joke? He joined the Marines in the Revolutionary War. And what do you think of that? Back in 1775? Yeah, and he won't stop fighting since. Brother, that's a Marine. That was me sounding off, Corporal J. Savage, United States Marine. It was back in 1942. I was talking about the darndest leatherneck that ever lived, my sea daddy, Master Gunnery Sergeant Lou Diamond. Us Marines that he trained swore old Lou had to be 200 years old. He looked that old too. He had a pot belly and bow legs. And he had a straggling white beard, maybe five, six inches long. Against regulations that beard, but nobody opened his trap. Old Lou could get away with murder. Let me tell you about it. It was a blazing hot summer back in 1942. Us Marines were slopping through the mud on a North Carolina base. Every man of us ready to knock it off. Everybody that is but Lou. He was fresh as a daisy. All right, you nutheads. This is a gun drill, not a taffy pull. Next time get the lead out. Stop chipping your teeth. You nutheads are Marines. You're Lou Diamond, boy. I don't want you looking like a bunch of vets. Okay, secure five minute break. Hey, Sergeant Chambers, stand by. What is it, Lou? Run the show for me. If I don't get back in time, Pete, I got a date with the skipper. What's he want? Who can figure what a lieutenant's thinking? Anything to matter with you, Lou. Last couple of days, your beard's been drooping pretty low. Me? I'm in great shape, never better. That's what you want the skipper to believe, isn't it? Shove off, Docs, and you're loaded. You've been beating us over the boondocks ever since we got that scuttlebutt about shipping out to the Pacific. You trying to prove you're on top of the heap? Okay, so what? Somebody snowed Powell into thinking I'm too old to ship out. He slipped his anchor chain. Too bad you can't tell him that. Yeah, I wish I could. But why can't I? Lou Diamond ain't never been known to keep his mouth shut. Was it paid to keep it open? Lieutenant Powell, you can't do this to me. You can't do it to me. Look, Lou, there's nothing personal in this. Tell me, how old are you? Well, I'm only... So, what's my age got to do with it? The records say you're 52, but you've never told anybody how old you really are, have you? You've seen me out there every day, Lieutenant. On the double, everything. On the double. Yes, I couldn't miss that. I can fight rings around any Marine in the Corps. You've been at it for 26 years. That's a long time. So what? I know that you're the best mortar man in the Marines, but... What is it then? Lou, this is a young man's scrap. Lord knows it's never soft in the Marines, but combat in the Pacific is liable to be the roughest assignment the Corps ever had. So who's worrying, Lieutenant? I'm worrying. You have to be able to take it, physically. I got a lot of fight left in me. You don't have to worry. Look, Lieutenant, those notheads of mine, they... Well, they can't get along without me. Don't have to draw me pictures, Lou. I know what your men think of you. Yeah, but it's more than that, Lieutenant. I... I can't get along without them. Look, Lou... I don't go around shooting my mouth off about it. I would want them kids to know, but... Lieutenant, we belong together. They're all I got. Well, I... You've got to let me ship out with my boys. Okay, Lou, you win. At least I don't have to worry about your spirit. I know that'll hold up. I just hope the rest of you does as well. Right after that, our outfit pulled out for the Pacific. It was August 7th, 1942, when we hit the beach at Guadalcanal. And it was tough going. Guadalcanal was no picnic. But for old Lou Diamond, there were two battles. One against the Vanzai's, the other to keep that old frame of his from falling apart. For instance, Lou got two broken ribs from an exploding mine and a fat case of malaria. The Docs knew all about that. But one thing they didn't know. They didn't know Lou was just about crippled with rheumatism. He could hardly move, but he stayed in there to fight. And he never let on to nobody, not even to us guys around him. Hey, Savvett. Front and center. You'll pipe me, Sarge? What's the matter? What'd you do with them clover leaves? They need one. Ammo? Over there. I'll get one for you. Secure. Ain't no cripple. Okay. Over there, Sarge. Disturb it. Yeah, that's it. Okay, okay. I see him. Hey, wait a minute, Lou. I'll help you. What do you want? Ammo? Get your hooks off that chamber. What do you think I am, a dame? I can still handle a clover leaf. I'll help you. I'll help you. I'll help you. I'll help you. I'll help you. I'll help you. I can still handle a clover leaf. I ain't no cripple. Yeah. I heard you tell Savvett. I'm sorry, kid. I didn't mean to blow my pipe. It's okay. They pulled us out of line for a couple of days, and the quiet gets on my nerves, I guess. Maybe the rest will do you good, Lou. You look beat. Oh, me? I'm in great shape. Hey, Sergeant! Here comes the skipper. Maybe something's gonna pop around here at last. Sergeant Chambers, I want you to check our ammo supply. Get me a report on the double. You stick around, Lou. I want to talk to you. All right, sir. Have it for you right away. Where's the scoop, Lieutenant? I got some scuttle bud a few minutes ago. We're heading back in. Is that it, skipper? Yeah, maybe tomorrow or the next day. Good. They're swinging us over to reinforce the right flank. Holy smokestack. It's about time. I thought maybe we was the lowest battalion or something. Pretty anxious to get back in there, aren't you, Sergeant? I'm a Leatherneck, Lieutenant. I didn't ship 10,000 miles just to rest my oars. Then you're squared away? Top notch couldn't be better. I thought maybe you might be worried about something. Worried? Combat plus Guadalcanal. That's a tough combination to take. Oh, really, yeah. Yes, skipper, I have been kind of worried. What is it, Lou? Well, it's them three cases of beer you owe me. That's what's worrying me. What? Yeah, Lieutenant, you're a good C.O. but you're sure one lousy pinnacle player. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Hello, Mortar Platoon, Dog Company. Hello. Hello, Dog Company. Diamond here. This is Mortar's. Is that you, Powell? He's on the way. This is Sergeant Diamond. Lou, you old butcher. This is Hank Oliver. Ollie, how are you? What kind of dress you wearing, tough side? Gold leaves, Lou. Major, huh? Oh, that's great, Ollie. That's ding-haw. Stick around, Chambers. I mean, why don't you... Here's the skipper now, Major. Here you are, Lieutenant. Major Oliver up at regiment. Oh, thank you. Lieutenant Powell, here. Major Oliver. Well, how's about that? You know him? Oh, no, and we were sergeants in China. That's so. Lou, they say you've been off the commission maybe a dozen times. How come you always turned it down? It'd take more than Congress to make a gentleman out of me. Sergeant Diamond, looks like we've got a detail. What's cooking, sir? Colonel Edson's raiders. They're in trouble. What kind of trouble? They're over on Matanakau Ridge, and they're surrounded. Edson's men can't get through. Well, then let's get through to them. Oh, no, not a chance. They're going to be wiped out unless we can lay down a pinpoint barrage, and that's tough to do. Well, why stand by, Lieutenant? Let's go. Headquarters says that you're the man for the job. Well, sure. Who else? Let's go. There's only one hitch. From here to Matanakau Ridge, that's a bone-breaking march. It's cross-country all the way. So? So you could never make it, Lou. Let's not kid ourselves any longer, Sergeant. Wait a minute. I'll make it. I didn't want Major Oliver to know about you. I should have told him anyway. Stand by, Lieutenant. Here. Look at this map. Is there any way for me to get there by truck? What? Well, let's see here. Yeah. Yeah, there's a way we might make it. Oh, okay, then. Hoist me on a truck. Give him Lou Diamond on wheels. Come on. We've got some shooting to do. Okay, you're not heads. Hold it. Chambers? Up 100. Right 150. Give me three degrees elevation. Traverse to right. Let's put it in their laps this time. We ain't got all day. Misfire. Number three gun. Misfire. Misfire? Holy smokestack. Secure that piece. Take cover. Chambers, get out of range. Right. Okay, you're not heads. Just take it easy. I got a date with number three gun. Hello. Wait a minute. I'm coming with you. Now, look, kid. I told you to get out of range. Lou, you're nuts. You can't hardly move. How are you gonna do this by yourself? Shove off, kid. There's a live shell in that tube. Don't worry about me. My baby's never let me down. I'm staying with you. I told you. Okay, okay, kid. What do you want to do now? Turn the tube upside down. That shell inside me. If she blows, you won't never know it, kid. Let me talk to her, and then we tilt her. And the shell? I'll catch her when she falls. What about you? I ain't never dropped one yet. Now, stop your worrying. Okay. Oh. Uh, come on, sweetheart. Come on, you little doll, baby. Spit it out, baby. Give it to Daddy. Spit it out. Catch it, Lou. Catch it. Yeah. Oh. You got it. Get that safety pin back in. Got it. Oh. Oh. Okay, you nutheads, we're in business. Let's get back in here and shoot. Dying Chambers? Yes, sir, lieutenant. How's Diamond this morning? Are you just coming out? I've just been talking to him, sir. He's all right, I guess, but he still can't get up. Can't even move. Lying there helpless in that sack, lieutenant, it breaks my heart to look at him. Yeah, yeah, I know. Well, I'm going inside to see him now, sergeant. If anybody wants me, you know where to find me. Aye, sir, I'll pass the word along. Lou? Lou, who's that? It's Lieutenant Powell. Oh. So confounded, dark in his tent, you wouldn't know your own cousin. How are you, skipper? I'm all right, Lou. Question is, how are you? Me? I'm in great shape, ever better. That's not what the doc says. Eh, what does he know? I just got shook up coming back from a tentacar, that's all. I'll be squared away tomorrow morning. We just received a personal commendation for you, Lou, from the general. Huh? Colonel Edson's men got out all right, thanks to that beautiful barrage your boys had up. Want me to read it to you? Oh, don't strain your eyes, lieutenant. I'll read it myself in the morning. I'm afraid not. Huh? Tomorrow morning, this time, you'll be in a hospital in New Zealand. Hospital? Me? You're joking, lieutenant. I wish I was. The doc says you're through, Lou, no more combat. Why, why, they can't... There's rheumatism of yours. It may be weeks before you're able to navigate again. No, Lou, this time it's final. Lieutenant, they can't do this to me. This is where I came in, Lou. Remember back in Carolina? I wasn't worried about your courage. It was the rest of you. I guess I was right after all. Loosen your leggings, Lou, and do what they tell you. No, no, you're still wrong, lieutenant. You're rocking the boat. Am I? How? Because I'll be back. No matter where they ship me, just tell them not heads of mine, Lou, time it'll be back. You are listening to the Cavalcade of America starring William Bendix, sponsored by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware, makers of better things for better living through chemistry. Tonight on Cavalcade of America, William Bendix is starring as Sergeant Lou Diamond in The Marine Who Was Two Hundred Years Old. This is his story as told by one of his buddies. On Guadalcanal, the docs told us our gunny, Sergeant Lou Diamond, was crippled with rheumatism and too old to fight. Lou screamed at them, they were slipping their anchor chain, but they loaded him on a hospital ship just the same. And eight weeks later, in a naval hospital down in New Zealand, Lou was rock happy, just about ready to blow his top. Take that away, I don't want no orange juice. I want out of this joint, that's all I want. Now, Sergeant, be nice, won't you? Orange juice. Now, this is pretty special. Bring me a case of beer. Sergeant. Okay, you and me will split the case, huh? We do not serve beer in this hospital. Well, that's what's wrong with the joint. You want to get me out of here, give me my beer. You know, you're the most cantankerous. Girlie, Lieutenant, I ain't happy here. Combat fighting, that's all I want. It's not going to be easy, is it? What ain't? By going back to... Oh, Commander Haynes did tell you, didn't he? Haynes? What's the CO of this trap got to do with me? Why, nothing, nothing at all. You want to get paddled, Lieutenant? Open up. Come on, what gives? All right. You're not going back to your outfit, Sergeant. In about a week, they're shipping you back to the States for good. What? Now, now, take it easy. What do you mean, take it easy? Commander Haynes says you can't go back to combat, and that's it, Sergeant. What can you do? What can I do? I'll... I'll tell you... I'll tell you... I guess you're right, Girlie. What can I do? Oh, you're trying to argue with them. Oh, of course not. What good would it be? Oh, sure, what good? Are you all right, Sergeant? Oh, sure, Lieutenant. I'm in great shape. Never better. Come in. You got those orders out, Corporal? I just sent them on to... Move! What, huh? You and me is a couple of bad pennies, Ali. Keep turning up. Are you a patient over in the hospital? Well, I ain't wearing this bathrobe for no beauty contest. They got my duds locked up. I didn't even know you were around, Lou. I just got transferred here myself. Yeah, I heard about it. Major Hank Oliver, the new adjutant. You got here just in time, Ali. I need you. What are you up to, Lou? Well, I gotta get back to my outfit. I gotta have my orders. Orders? You're at the hospital. You're coming to Commander Haynes. Yeah, but he comes under you. You're the big boy's man, Ali. Lou, I don't think I... Ali! Remember that time in China? Remember? When the MPs were on your tail and I... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Never mind, Lou. I remember. Uh, what kind of orders? Back to my outfit. Guadalcanal. No, Lou, that's against regulations. I just can't... Ali, boy! Yeah? There's buddies and, uh, and buddies. Yeah. Okay, Lou. How fast do you want them? Ali, I ain't never been in such a hurry. Once he got orders, old Lou really moved. Nothing was gonna stop him now. He was gonna get back to us guys in his old outfit. From New Zealand, he argued his way aboard a Dutch freighter bound for Guadalcanal. The day they put him to the harbor, Lou shoved his way ashore. Hey, man! Hey, you, man! Are you calling? Yeah, what's going on here? This place is loaded down with dog faces. What you talking about, Grandpa? Hey, where'd you come from? You a Rip Van Winkle? Listen, you army pup, don't give me no trouble. Where's the 5th Marines? Marines? Yeah, Marines. Fighting men, boy. Hey, let go! What's the matter with you? Where's the 5th? They moved out. Shove it off. Where to? How should I know? What's the matter with you anyway? Out of my way. I gotta find them. I gotta find them. I gotta find them. Lou Diamond tackled one dog face after another, but always the same answer. The Army had moved in, us Marines had moved out. Nobody knew where. That was when old Lou got rolling. Us notheads weren't on Guadalcanal, so he was moving around the whole South Pacific till he found us. And that's the way it was. Island hopping across thousands of miles. Pleading, begging rides by ship or plane. And everywhere he stopped, the same question. Have you seen them? Have you seen the 5th Marines? 5th Marines? And Tulagi? I never heard of them. 5th Marines? They ain't no Guinea, you can bet on that. The 5th are no habedays. You lost or something? So now I'm in New Caledonia and still no luck. Nothing but Army. The Marines do the cooking, you guys come in to lick the pot. Look, will you, wait a minute, I'm trying to tell you something. I got news. Your outfit I just found out there in Australia. Australia? You know where Darwin is? I know every port in the South Pacific, I gotta get out of here. Easy, easy, easy. Did you ever run across a Navy guy named Haynes, a commander? Haynes? Yeah, I met him. I just saw him down at headquarters. He heard you was around here somewhere, so he was sauce a boil. What's he got on you? I ain't waiting to find out. Hey, hey, wait a minute, where you going? Darwin, Australia. That's 2,000 miles from here. What's 2,000 miles? To a guy that's going home. 2,000 miles, that's a lot of steaming. But it didn't matter peanuts to Lou Diamond. It was in a side street bar in Darwin, Australia that Lou found the payoff. The end of the long weary road. United States Marines? Yeah. At the fairground? Yeah. Oh sure, sure there about, Yank. Where, where? Well south of here, I think. In the brush, 50 miles to south. Oh thanks. Hey, you have a tough time going though. Not any transportation from here. Oh, you see these two boondockers, Horsey? That's all I need. 50 miles, huh? I'll walk it. And Lou did walk it, straight across the hot Australian plain. That straggly white beard of his got caked with dust and sweat. But Lou just kept on walking, adding up the miles and getting closer to home every minute that went by. And then suddenly in the distance, up a long steep hill, mortar fire. That was music to old Lou's ears. It was us practicing firing. And in between rounds on top of that hill, Anderson and me was arguing the same old thing. 200 years old, now you're rock happy. Look Anderson, nobody can prove it, you dope, but I tell you old Lou must have been there when the Marines got started. Well, it looks like he ain't going to be around for the finish of this little party. We sure could use him. Funny going back into action without old Lou. Wonder where the old raps... Hey, stand by. What's up? Coming up the hill. Hey, you see that guy? What does that look like? Looks like? It is. Hey, Captain Powell, Lou's back. Captain Powell. What is it, sir? What's the matter with you? Look, sir, steaming up the hill. Lou. Lou Diamond. Hey, you guys, look, it's Lou. He's back. Well, you know, if you're back there on New Diamond, this hill ain't no picnic. What do you want, folks? Speed ahead. Oh, you old son of a gun boy. Okay, okay, give me some air. Lou, what the deuce? Lieutenant, I... Oh, another bar. Congratulations, Captain Powell. Sergeant Diamond, sir, reporting for duty. I should have known you'd be here, Lou. We're going back into action. Don't I know it, Captain. I can smell it a million miles away. Good boy. Take over, Lou. All right, you nutheads. What are you standing around for? Marines don't fight with yak-yak. Let's get back in there and shoot. All right. And that's the story. Old Lou Diamond, the darnedest Marine who ever lived. Funny thing, you know, we never got around to asking him how old he really was. And now we can't, because old Lou died last October at the Great Lakes Naval Hospital. The records said he was 61, but I still say old Lou was 200 years old. You just couldn't get to be that much of a man in 61 years. No matter where Marines fight for freedom and for liberty, the Lou Diamond legend lives on. Any Leatherneck will tell you that, but we know. We know that old Lou is always around. Our thanks to William Bendix and the Cavalcade players for tonight's story, The Marine Who Was 200 Years Old. Next week, the DuPont Cavalcade will present Breakfast at Nancy's, the exciting story of Nancy Hart, who one summer day shot her way into history. Our star, Susan Hayward. Be sure to listen. Tonight's DuPont Cavalcade, The Marine Who Was 200 Years Old, was written by Robert Mason Pollock. Original music was composed by Arden Cornwell, conducted by Donald Voorhees. The program was directed by John Zoller. With Mr. Bendix, our Cavalcade cast included Jeffrey Bryant as Sabbath, Stotz Cotsworth as Major Oliver, Don Briggs as Lieutenant Powell, and Chester Stratton, Dan Ako, Ann Tobin, and Bob Hastings. We wish to thank the United States Marine Corps, especially Major L.A. Gilson and Lieutenant C.F.X. Houts, for their cooperation and technical assistance. This is I. Harris speaking. Don't forget next week, our star, Susan Hayward. The DuPont Cavalcade of America comes to you from the Velasco Theater in New York, and is sponsored by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. Makers of better things for better living, through chemistry. Music.
