Speaker 1: Welcome to the Great Adventurers of Old Time Radio from
Speaker 1: Boy Sadah. This is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment,
Speaker 1: we're going to bring you this week's episode of Cloak
Speaker 1: and Dagger. But first I do want to encourage you.
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Speaker 1: Detectives dot net. Well now, from October sixth, nineteen fifty
Speaker 1: here is Delay en Route.
Speaker 2: Are you willing to undertake a dangerous mission behind the
Speaker 2: enemy lines knowing that you may never return alive.
Speaker 3: What you have just heard is the question asked during
Speaker 3: the War of agents of the OS s ordinary citizens.
Speaker 3: So to this question answered yes, This is Cloak and Dagger,
Speaker 3: black warfare, espionage, international intrigue. These are the weapons of
Speaker 3: the OSS. Today's adventure Delay Our Route the story of
Speaker 3: an American OSS agent who found himself between two fires
Speaker 3: and fascists held Italy is suggested by actual incidents recorded
Speaker 3: in the Washington files of the Office of Strategic Services,
Speaker 3: a story that can now be told.
Speaker 4: That was a big night in Sturtzer. We liberated the
Speaker 4: town that morning, and everybody was drunk, but not on Veno.
Speaker 4: Those Italian partisans were drunk on something they hadn't tasted
Speaker 4: since Mussolini's Blackshirts marched on Roman freedom. There were only
Speaker 4: three fascist officials left in town, and all of them
Speaker 4: were down on the village square, hanging from a scaffold.
Speaker 4: I should have been celebrating too, after all, that was
Speaker 4: why the OSS had sent me into Italy to help
Speaker 4: Guido Gordoni and his partisans wipe out fascists. But sitting
Speaker 4: there in the turned that night with Rosa widow's sister,
Speaker 4: my mind was several thousand miles away.
Speaker 5: So Robert, you're going to leave us tomorrow?
Speaker 4: Huh?
Speaker 6: Oh, what rosa boat comes for you tomorrow night, No, the.
Speaker 4: Night after tomorrow night, Rosa, just forty eight hours, it's
Speaker 4: going to pick me up below Savona.
Speaker 5: And you are glad?
Speaker 4: Was there ever a guy who wasn't glad to go.
Speaker 5: Home home to America. You mean, how can that be?
Speaker 7: The war is not over.
Speaker 4: I've got a furlough coming up, a delay en route
Speaker 4: to my next oss assignment.
Speaker 7: I see.
Speaker 5: It is nice in America, Arovert.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, it's nice, Rosa. It'll be audun when I
Speaker 4: get back to Vermont. The trees will just be turning.
Speaker 5: I would like to see Vermont.
Speaker 4: Maybe you will some day, you know what I.
Speaker 5: Mean, Roberto, I would like to see it with you.
Speaker 4: Oh sorry, Rosa.
Speaker 8: Here's your brother, Guilo Wino over here, Roberto Morvillo, Wake well,
Speaker 8: wait on looking for a fat fascist pig, Alberto Pelitzo.
Speaker 4: Palitzo, the big shipyard owner. Why would he be in Sturcher.
Speaker 8: He's got a summer village just above the town though
Speaker 8: he might be hiding out there. I took some of
Speaker 8: the boys up at the press was empty.
Speaker 4: I gotta find him tonight. Why tonight, Roberto?
Speaker 8: Didn't you notice there's still room for one more on
Speaker 8: the scaffold in the square. Oh that's right, I forgot.
Speaker 8: You haven't been to the square, have you, Roberto? No,
Speaker 8: I haven't. You don't like execute.
Speaker 4: Executions are all right at clinchings. I don't like those
Speaker 4: men were civilians, widow, they were FASCISTI. Nevertheless, they were
Speaker 4: entitled to a trial, a trial. If they had caught you, Roberto,
Speaker 4: would they have given you a trial?
Speaker 9: That was the difference between Guido Gordoni and me. He
Speaker 9: and his partisans caught fire with fire. They'd never heard
Speaker 9: of the democratic process, but I had, and I believed
Speaker 9: in it.
Speaker 4: That was why Guido and I could fight side by
Speaker 4: side and respect each other as soldiers, and yet never
Speaker 4: become friends.
Speaker 8: You've not lived under the FASCISTI, Roberto. You've not had
Speaker 8: a wife and child murdered as I have. With the
Speaker 8: men you hung in the square responsible for that. Every
Speaker 8: black shirt is responsible, the men in the square. Alberto
Speaker 8: pilats all of them. When Guido gordon He finds them,
Speaker 8: they pay for their crime.
Speaker 4: They should pay, of course. But but but but what what?
Speaker 8: What?
Speaker 4: Roberto? I don't like men who say yes, but I
Speaker 4: don't think they can be trusted.
Speaker 5: You have no right to say that to Roberto.
Speaker 4: Forget it, Rosin, I'm leaving all of you. Soon.
Speaker 2: You won't have.
Speaker 4: To trust me much longer. I got up then and
Speaker 4: pushed my way through the crowd to the door of
Speaker 4: the tavern. I stepped outside. The night was beautiful, but
Speaker 4: not as beautiful I thought as an autumn night in
Speaker 4: a month h She touched my arm as she said it.
Speaker 4: She'd been standing very close to me in the shadows
Speaker 4: of the tavern wall. I've never seen her before, but
Speaker 4: she was lovely.
Speaker 7: You are, Senor Mercer.
Speaker 4: Yes I am.
Speaker 7: I wish to talk to you. Signor will you be
Speaker 7: kind enough to come with me?
Speaker 4: I didn't say no. It would have been hard to
Speaker 4: say no under any circumstances. Besides, her quick, frightened eyes
Speaker 4: told me it was something important. Still, I kept my hand.
Speaker 9: Closed around my revolver as she let me down several dark,
Speaker 9: deserted streets.
Speaker 7: This is the house, signor you will please go down
Speaker 7: the steps to the basement.
Speaker 4: Oh, you go first.
Speaker 7: There is someone inside, but please come in. Do not
Speaker 7: be alarmed.
Speaker 4: I'm not alarmed. Go ahead what I say, Senor. The
Speaker 4: man who rose to greet me wasn't armed, and he
Speaker 4: looked old and too tired to be dangerous.
Speaker 10: Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alberto Pilizo.
Speaker 10: Belisso young. Lady who brought you here is my daughter Maria.
Speaker 10: It was good of you to come with her. Signor,
Speaker 10: But it wasn't very wise. I've heard to bring me
Speaker 10: Why because you might turn us over to the partisan
Speaker 10: Because I will turn you over to the Partisans, I.
Speaker 4: Think not, Signor. No.
Speaker 10: On the contrary, you will be careful to protect us
Speaker 10: from the Partisans. It will take us out of Italy alive.
Speaker 10: You will see it. With that we arrive safe and
Speaker 10: sound in America.
Speaker 4: What makes you think so?
Speaker 10: Is your government informs sing your mercer of our recent
Speaker 10: experiments with radio guided aerial torpedoes. I don't know I
Speaker 10: could inform them. These experiments are being conducted in my
Speaker 10: own laboratories. I know more about them than any other
Speaker 10: man in Italy. I see also a new type of
Speaker 10: submarine capable of great underwater speed. All right, Also the
Speaker 10: long sought electromagnetic pistol for torpedoes.
Speaker 4: All right, all right, I get the point, Poalizzo, I
Speaker 4: thought you would. You'll turn over this information to Allied
Speaker 4: intelligence if I get you safely out of Italy precisely.
Speaker 10: Who well, Signor, I'll have to think about it, or
Speaker 10: to think too long, Signor, and don't discuss it with
Speaker 10: your parties and comrades. I'm quite sure that bloodthirsty Guido
Speaker 10: Gordoni would not let my usefulness to the Allies prevent
Speaker 10: him from hanging me.
Speaker 4: He was right about that, Not that Guido Gordoni was
Speaker 4: blood thirsty. He was simply an angry and bitter man.
Speaker 4: Nothing in the world would prevent him from hanging Alberto Poalizoh.
Speaker 4: I was pretty better myself as I headed back to
Speaker 4: my room above the tavern. I didn't like keeping secrets
Speaker 4: from Guido, and I didn't like helping fascists. But I
Speaker 4: knew already what I had to do. I knew that
Speaker 4: when I went aboard that pet boat in forty eight hours,
Speaker 4: Palizzo and his daughter would be with me. The OSS
Speaker 4: would want it that way.
Speaker 6: Hello, Roberto Rosa, you were gone a long time, Roberto?
Speaker 4: What are you doing in my room waiting for you? I? Uh,
Speaker 4: I went for a walk.
Speaker 5: Yes, I know, I saw you.
Speaker 4: What do you mean you saw me?
Speaker 5: I was watching from the window when you walked away
Speaker 5: from the tavern?
Speaker 4: Boy?
Speaker 5: Is she Roberto?
Speaker 4: That's none of your business?
Speaker 6: Was I will make it my business? Is she the
Speaker 6: one who is going with you to America? Is that
Speaker 6: why you cannot take me? Is it with her that
Speaker 6: you will spend the autumn nights in Vermont.
Speaker 4: Rosa, you're a fool.
Speaker 6: No, you are a fool, Roberto. You cannot conceal her
Speaker 6: from me. I will find her before tomorrow night.
Speaker 4: And when I do, yes, when you do.
Speaker 5: Life is very cheap in Stuartza these days, Roberto.
Speaker 4: She meant it, She didn't make idle threats. She was
Speaker 4: like her brother that way. It took me a long
Speaker 4: time to fall asleep after she was gone. Getting Alberto
Speaker 4: Polizzo and his daughter safely out of Italy was beginning
Speaker 4: to look complicated. The next morning, it looked even more complicated.
Speaker 8: Rosa told me what you did last night, Roberto, And
Speaker 8: it was very stupid to go along with this strange woman.
Speaker 4: But she was a beautiful woman, Guido.
Speaker 8: She might have led you into a trap. You know
Speaker 8: there is still FASCISTI in Stuzza.
Speaker 4: No important ones. I'm sure the mayor, the magistrate and
Speaker 4: the prefect of police are all hanging in the square.
Speaker 4: Who else could there be? Alberto Pilito? What makes you
Speaker 4: think you said his villow was empty?
Speaker 8: It was, but I don't believe he had time to escape.
Speaker 8: I think he's hiding out somewhere in town. And I'm
Speaker 8: going to search every house, room by room until I
Speaker 8: find him.
Speaker 4: And then you'll string him up to oh oh, with leisure.
Speaker 4: He might make a valuable prisoner of war. He's a
Speaker 4: big wheel in the munitions and shipping industries. He'd have
Speaker 4: a lot of information that would be useful to the Allies.
Speaker 8: And who would trust the information of a fascist? Not you,
Speaker 8: apparently you're right, not me. His information will not save him.
Speaker 8: If if I find him, Roberto, I'll kill him.
Speaker 4: And that settled that. There was no question from then
Speaker 4: on of letting Guido in on my plans, not if
Speaker 4: I hope to save Palizzo's neck and I had to
Speaker 4: save it now. The information that Guido scoffed at could
Speaker 4: shorten the war by weeks, months, even years. Ten minutes
Speaker 4: later I was knocking the cellar door. It was opened immediately,
Speaker 4: but not by Palizzo or his daughter. See signor, who
Speaker 4: are you, Dominique?
Speaker 7: Signor the owner of this building?
Speaker 4: There was a man and his door here last night.
Speaker 11: They are still here, covin signor, Oh, good morning, signor.
Speaker 7: We have been waiting for you.
Speaker 4: We expected you somewhat earlier than this. Oh so sorry,
Speaker 4: I'll try not to disappoint you after this, you already
Speaker 4: I presume to take us out of Italy. I'd much
Speaker 4: prefer to turn you over to my friends.
Speaker 10: Oh of course, But unfortunately your preference is not what matters.
Speaker 4: Unfortunately, when do we leave, signor you live?
Speaker 2: Sir?
Speaker 4: Such a night Italy tomorrow night, Signor.
Speaker 7: We are grateful. We knew you would not fail.
Speaker 4: I'm not doing this for you, naturally, we understand that.
Speaker 4: Don't be mariar.
Speaker 7: Yes, father, still, we will rewards in your No, you
Speaker 7: in your way and I mine.
Speaker 4: Let's cut the talk, shall we. You've got to get.
Speaker 7: Out of here, Get out now, you mean, but you
Speaker 7: said to No.
Speaker 4: You can't stay in this cellar till then you'll have
Speaker 4: to find a new place to hide. Why, because the
Speaker 4: partisans are looking for you. They're covering stirts a house
Speaker 4: by house.
Speaker 7: No, they do not know where we are.
Speaker 4: They think you might be. They're not taking any chances
Speaker 4: on letting you escape. They want to string you up
Speaker 4: where you belong.
Speaker 7: Well, can we go, signor how can we hide?
Speaker 2: I don't know yet?
Speaker 10: I thought, maybe right, we are trapped in here unless
Speaker 10: there's another way out.
Speaker 11: There is no other ways in your.
Speaker 2: Shut up.
Speaker 4: Don't let me shut up, Dominic. What's that iron trapped
Speaker 4: door on the wall? The shoot? You open? It looks
Speaker 4: just big enough. What does it lead to the rear
Speaker 4: of the house? All right, all right, let's get going.
Speaker 4: You first.
Speaker 7: You want me to climb and field the court? Shoot?
Speaker 7: What about my clothes?
Speaker 4: What about your neck? Scramble up the chute and POLICEO
Speaker 4: followed her. I went last. I didn't see what happened
Speaker 4: to Dominic the landlord, and I didn't much care where mouse.
Speaker 4: You've got to lie low, someplace where they won't find
Speaker 4: you before tonight. That is not such places. Villa Villa.
Speaker 4: They've already looked there. They won't go back.
Speaker 7: Those deeps and murders and sacked down beauty perl Villa.
Speaker 4: Neither thieves nor murderers. They're loyal patriots. We have our
Speaker 4: name for them your you have yours, and while we're
Speaker 4: together when he was mine, now beat it. I arranged
Speaker 4: to meet them at the villa at dusk. I watched
Speaker 4: them trudge off, smeared with coal from the chute, looking
Speaker 4: like the peasants they despised. At least there wasn't much
Speaker 4: chance they'd be recognized. But I wasn't exactly recognizable either,
Speaker 4: So I washed off in a little stream at the
Speaker 4: edge of town. Then I went back to my room.
Speaker 4: Where you been, Roberto? It was widow. He was sitting
Speaker 4: at the table in the center of the room, and
Speaker 4: lying in front of him was his revolver. Where have
Speaker 4: you been, Roberto?
Speaker 2: Out out where?
Speaker 4: Just out o? Just art? Huh? All right, Rico, what
Speaker 4: do you mean? Inside you?
Speaker 2: Here's a friend, Roberto.
Speaker 4: He appeared in the doorway, prodded by Rico's carbine. He
Speaker 4: was no friend, only an acquaintance of very recent acquaintance.
Speaker 4: He was the landlord, dominic You.
Speaker 8: Were hiding a man in the center of your house, Dominique.
Speaker 4: Who was he? Who was he?
Speaker 11: Alberto Pelitzoto Bilitza And he had a call it this morning?
Speaker 2: See who was the caller?
Speaker 4: That man?
Speaker 8: Singorl take out the old metoryco Oh, Roberto, Well.
Speaker 4: I want Belitzo. You can't have him. Where is he?
Speaker 4: I won't tell you. You are protecting a fascist thing.
Speaker 4: I'm doing more than protecting him. I'm taking him out
Speaker 4: of Italy to America.
Speaker 2: Why why so he can have a pay it time?
Speaker 4: No, so he can turn over information, information yes, you've
Speaker 4: seen this information is not on paper, it's in his head.
Speaker 8: And you believe him, yes, and you believe he's going
Speaker 8: to give it up once he's got to America.
Speaker 4: It's worth the chance. How much?
Speaker 8: What?
Speaker 4: How much is it worth? Roberto? Do you the whole?
Speaker 4: Fifty thousand dollars? Fifty thousand dollars? How much he's got
Speaker 4: sold in the landing of his overcoat.
Speaker 2: His landlord told I.
Speaker 4: Didn't know it, lying.
Speaker 8: Belit, So he's paying you will, and I shall have
Speaker 8: to deal with you as I would with any other traitor.
Speaker 8: I give you one more chance, Roberto, where is that fascist?
Speaker 4: His hand moved for his revolver on the table, but
Speaker 4: my hand moved too. My fingers caught the edge of
Speaker 4: the table and it out, sprawling back in his chair.
Speaker 4: The gun clattered to the floor, and I kicked it
Speaker 4: out of his request. My fist caught him on the
Speaker 4: point of the chin. His head snapped back and he
Speaker 4: slumped to the floor out. I didn't like to do that, Quido. Sorry,
Speaker 4: you should be sorry, Roberto, Rosa.
Speaker 5: Maybe you will tell me where the fascist is.
Speaker 4: Roberto, I'm not telling anyone, Rosa.
Speaker 6: Then I will do what my brother did not have
Speaker 6: the chance to do.
Speaker 4: I don't think you will.
Speaker 5: Don't come near me, Roberto, if you try to get
Speaker 5: this gun. I saw ware antinue.
Speaker 4: But you won't, you know, because you don't believe I'm
Speaker 4: a trader. You are and I were. You wouldn't shoot
Speaker 4: me because you love me, not anymore I hate And
Speaker 4: why don't you pull the trigger? Give me the gun, Rosa.
Speaker 5: They didn't go.
Speaker 4: I went down to the street. The car that Guido
Speaker 4: had come and did for his use and stood so
Speaker 4: was parked in front of the tavern. I went over
Speaker 4: to the driver, Antonio, we don't want you. He is
Speaker 4: upstairsing your mer Yes in my room, hurry, it's I
Speaker 4: was at Pulico's villa. Twenty minutes later. Maria met me
Speaker 4: at the door. The way she was dressed, you'd have
Speaker 4: thought she was sailing for America and the Queen Mary Senior.
Speaker 7: Mer How nice that you have come early.
Speaker 4: Where's your father in the library?
Speaker 7: This way? We will not expecting you on until tonight.
Speaker 4: My plans have changed.
Speaker 10: Palitzo, Ah, your mercy, you have arrived just in time,
Speaker 10: in time for what Maria and I have opened one
Speaker 10: last bottle of wine from Marcella.
Speaker 4: We shall be happy to have you share it with
Speaker 4: No thanks, Marie, another guy, I said, no thanks.
Speaker 10: Now, my dear fellow, we will drink to use in
Speaker 10: your our benefactory and then we will drink to the
Speaker 10: new world where we are going, a world where these
Speaker 10: differences between us can be forgotten, a world where we
Speaker 10: can be friends.
Speaker 4: There's no such world, Politzo. There is your glassy or
Speaker 4: I don't drink with fascists.
Speaker 10: You have consorted with rabble to long mercer your manners, reflected, My.
Speaker 4: Manners are likely to get worse if I can sort
Speaker 4: with your kind much longer. So let's get going. You
Speaker 4: said we will leave tonight.
Speaker 7: There's been a change of plants.
Speaker 4: Father, that's right. We're starting for the coast right away.
Speaker 4: Get your things very well, and palzzo. Yes, we'll be
Speaker 4: driving through fascist held territory most of the way. You
Speaker 4: might be tempted to make a break for it. If
Speaker 4: you do, I promise I'll bring you back and personally
Speaker 4: hang you from that scaffold. We left. Then I drove
Speaker 4: the car Pulzzo Satin back, but not Maria. She was
Speaker 4: beside me, very close beside me. Her perfume was heavy and.
Speaker 7: Sweet thoughts are so far away in your very far.
Speaker 7: You do not like me, do you? You do not
Speaker 7: think I am.
Speaker 4: Beautiful, not nearly as beautiful as my thoughts.
Speaker 7: They are of another woman?
Speaker 4: No? What then a place called Vermont. It was night
Speaker 4: when we reached the main highway to Savona. Guido's partisans
Speaker 4: were far behind us. By them, and I thought it
Speaker 4: would be clear sailing. I was wrong. What is the matter?
Speaker 4: Why do you slow down? Look up ahead? Road block? Partisan? No,
Speaker 4: not partisans, this time it's your friends, Remember Polizzo. I'm
Speaker 4: waiting for you to say just one wrong word.
Speaker 11: Let me see your papers. You're in the back seat.
Speaker 4: Force here they are. You will find them quite order.
Speaker 11: I will be the judge of that. Alberto Pelitzoy. So
Speaker 11: you are, Alberto Pelitzo?
Speaker 4: Are you yes? I am all right?
Speaker 11: Proma with me, all three of you.
Speaker 7: What's why? What is the better?
Speaker 11: This man is lying? Alberto Pelitzo is dead.
Speaker 4: They let us to a small house down the road.
Speaker 4: The one with the rifle stayed with us, while the
Speaker 4: other one disappeared into a back room. I was still
Speaker 4: watching Palizzo. I was still waiting for him to say
Speaker 4: that word.
Speaker 11: Here is the man Major, A man who calls himself
Speaker 11: Alberto Plito.
Speaker 2: Let me see him, so why should they not call
Speaker 2: himself Alberto Pelitzo.
Speaker 8: You recognized me that Major, but of course Signor, and
Speaker 8: I am delighted to say our information was that you
Speaker 8: had been captured by partsans.
Speaker 2: I deeply apologize for the inconvenience.
Speaker 10: We may, of course, no, no, no apologies are necessary, Major,
Speaker 10: And now may my daughter and I proceed to save.
Speaker 2: On certainly, Senor. And this man who is with.
Speaker 4: You, Oh, this man see you wish him to accompany you?
Speaker 2: Senor?
Speaker 4: Well, yes, of course this man is my chauffer. I
Speaker 4: didn't get it. I didn't understand why he done it,
Speaker 4: not until it started toward the car. The Major who
Speaker 4: has called us walk ahead with Maria. I turned back
Speaker 4: to have a little private talk with Berlitza. You could
Speaker 4: have turned me over to them, but you didn't. It
Speaker 4: was not of the kindness of your heart. I'm sure
Speaker 4: why else, Mercer, you have been kind to us. We
Speaker 4: you no fascist was ever kind for a reason like that.
Speaker 4: Can you think of another reason? Maybe you have no
Speaker 4: way of leaving Italy without me? You know, the war
Speaker 4: was lost if you're still here. When the Allies march
Speaker 4: into room, you won't have any way to save your
Speaker 4: precious skins.
Speaker 7: You want to get out.
Speaker 4: What you can't.
Speaker 10: You're no fool singer, Mercer. You can understand my reasoning
Speaker 10: at your shore, I can understand it. It's an old story.
Speaker 10: Rats always desert a sinking ship.
Speaker 4: Were you insa watch it?
Speaker 12: I was just telling your charming daughter, Senor Belitio, that
Speaker 12: there is really no need for you to go to Savona.
Speaker 2: After tomorrow night. You could return to your village, Stuart.
Speaker 4: The Partisans have taken stored some major.
Speaker 12: And not for long since you're A full division of
Speaker 12: our infantry is on its way from Geneva to carry
Speaker 12: out a surprise attack on them, and we are going
Speaker 12: to deal with this banded Guido Gardone once and for all.
Speaker 12: Within forty eight hours, it will be we do GORDONI
Speaker 12: himself will be hanging from that scaffold in the village square.
Speaker 4: That gave me something to think about the rest of
Speaker 4: the way.
Speaker 9: I kept on thinking about it all the next day,
Speaker 9: and I thought of Vermont too, Yes, I thought a
Speaker 9: lot about Vermont and how those trees would look in
Speaker 9: the fore to anybody who was lucky enough to see them.
Speaker 9: The row of the surf against the lonely stretch of
Speaker 9: beach below Savon had drowned the noise of the pet
Speaker 9: boats motors. We didn't hear it, but we saw it
Speaker 9: lying offshore. The dinghy had put over its side, scraped
Speaker 9: against the hard sand of the beach.
Speaker 8: Yes, awsin's made, Curtis, sir, Do these people go aboard
Speaker 8: to Lieutenant?
Speaker 4: Oh? Yes, yes, here's a letter. Give it to your skipper.
Speaker 4: It explains who they are. But aren't you cumming sir?
Speaker 7: No, senor Mercer, you're not going with us. I don't understand.
Speaker 2: I think I do.
Speaker 10: Maria, thenoble s he's going back to warn his friends
Speaker 10: in Stewarts of the surprise attack.
Speaker 4: That's right, Palito.
Speaker 7: No sor Why should you bother with that rat.
Speaker 4: They happened to be my allies, but you.
Speaker 7: Said they would kill you if they saw you again.
Speaker 4: They will. I am hoping they'll listen to my warning anyway,
Speaker 4: But that is foolish.
Speaker 7: To risk your life for them. It does not make sense.
Speaker 4: It wouldn't to you, Maria, not yet. Maybe after you've
Speaker 4: been in America. Pro while. It will take them away, Curtis. Yes, sir,
Speaker 4: so I didn't go to Vermont. I went back to
Speaker 4: Sturtz instead. It was noon the next day when I
Speaker 4: walked into the tavern. Guido was there and Rosa, yes,
Speaker 4: I've come back.
Speaker 8: Well, great returns. Maybe you didn't believe me when I said.
Speaker 4: I'd kill you. I believe to Guido Rico take his gun.
Speaker 4: That won't be necessary, Rico, here's my gun.
Speaker 13: Robert Rossa, you're ready to die greater as soon as
Speaker 13: I've given you my report.
Speaker 4: There's a full division of fascist infantry moving up from Genoa.
Speaker 4: They're planning to spring a trap tonight. You'd better get
Speaker 4: out of Strutcher. I don't believe you.
Speaker 8: The fascists are too busy at Selno to send the
Speaker 8: division here.
Speaker 4: All right, I'll tell my best widow. If you don't
Speaker 4: believe it, I believe. What are you doing? Get away
Speaker 4: from him, Get out of the way.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you I'm going to kill him.
Speaker 4: You have to kill me too. Very well. We will
Speaker 4: see if you're right about him, Rosa.
Speaker 8: Rico, we're moving out of starts immediately passed you over
Speaker 8: the long Roberto, what.
Speaker 2: Will you do with him?
Speaker 8: Take Roberto with us. If the fascists do not attack tonight,
Speaker 8: there will be no more room on the scaffold tomorrow.
Speaker 4: The fascists did attack that night, but there wasn't a
Speaker 4: partners left and starts out. We had evaporated into the hills, Yes,
Speaker 4: I said we. I went on working with Guido GORDONI,
Speaker 4: helping to direct the campaign against the black Shirts. We
Speaker 4: will never friends, Guido and I, but we did have
Speaker 4: a common enemy. A year later I got back to Vermont.
Speaker 4: That was a long time to wait, but not as
Speaker 4: long as I might have waited if Alberto Palizzo had
Speaker 4: not given information concerning secret weapons to the OSS.
Speaker 3: And once again the report of an OSS agent closes
Speaker 3: with the.
Speaker 2: Words mission accomplished.
Speaker 3: Listen again next week for another true adventure from the
Speaker 3: files of the OSS on.
Speaker 2: Cloak and Dagger.
Speaker 14: Heard in today's Kulkandiger enter as Robert Messa was Grant, Richards,
Speaker 14: Hido Arnomas, Alberto Pinzzo, Louis van Rutin. Script was written
Speaker 14: by Ken Phield and music was under the direction of
Speaker 14: John Guard. Sound effects by Max Russell and al Finelli
Speaker 14: engineering Don Evan. Today's OSS adventure was based on the
Speaker 14: book pluckandegga by Corey Ford and Alistair McBeth. His program
Speaker 14: is produced by Lewis G. Cowen and Alfred Hollande under
Speaker 14: the direction and supervision of Shovin Marx.
Speaker 4: Three Times Mean Good Times on NBC Sandia Welcome Back.
Speaker 1: This is another great episode and really introduces a unique
Speaker 1: conflict where you have an OSS agent having to rescue
Speaker 1: a fascist from the Partisans and Grant Richards does a
Speaker 1: great job portraying the conflict that remains throughout the episode,
Speaker 1: and it raises some fascinating questions because he had sympathy
Speaker 1: with the desire of the Partisans, and I think most
Speaker 1: listeners would. The idea that collaborators went unpunished or even
Speaker 1: seemed to get rewarded with favorable treatment. I think tends
Speaker 1: to really stick in people's cause, and I know many
Speaker 1: have criticized these sort of deals by the Allies. However,
Speaker 1: the episode raises the key argument that it may have
Speaker 1: made the difference, if not between defeat and victory, but
Speaker 1: between a sooner or a longer end of the war.
Speaker 1: Now quickening the end of the war wasn't a matter
Speaker 1: of time only, it was a matter of lives safe.
Speaker 1: Two hundred and ninety one thousand Americans died in battle,
Speaker 1: with another one hundred and thirteen thousand dying to other
Speaker 1: causes during the war, such as disease. Cutting months off
Speaker 1: the length of the war would mean tens of thousands
Speaker 1: of Americans coming home alive, as opposed to dine or
Speaker 1: be maimed. Now, there are many moral critiques of certain
Speaker 1: actions by the Allies during the war that I think
Speaker 1: are legitimate to discuss. Whether you end up saying that
Speaker 1: the wrong thing happened or not, it's legitimate to discuss them.
Speaker 1: But I think that some of the arguments that are
Speaker 1: made can be undermined if you ignore the reality of
Speaker 1: the alternative. If you don't deal with the alternative, your
Speaker 1: argument is basically an ivory tower statement that you can
Speaker 1: only make from a safe distance decades away from the
Speaker 1: actual hard choices that had to be made. Now, that
Speaker 1: doesn't mean you can't critique these sort of actions, but
Speaker 1: any critique has to take these concerns to mind, you know,
Speaker 1: And I think there are two obvious things you can say.
Speaker 1: Either one, the particular actions didn't actually quicken the end
Speaker 1: of the war, and it wasn't reasonable to think it
Speaker 1: would or to even if some action actually ended up
Speaker 1: saving tens of thousands of American lives, we should have
Speaker 1: taken the casualties rather than do something that wrong. You
Speaker 1: can make serious arguments that way, but if you ignore
Speaker 1: the alternatives, it just comes across failing to engage with
Speaker 1: what the real world situation was. The decision for the
Speaker 1: escaping fascist leader not to go back, even when he
Speaker 1: had an opportunity, really speaks to the opportunistic nature of
Speaker 1: many of these sorts of hangers on to dictators. Whatever
Speaker 1: the core ideology of a particular dictator or leader, there
Speaker 1: are people in the inner circle who are far more
Speaker 1: interted in using the situation to get wealth and power,
Speaker 1: and that's what they see the ultimate end of this,
Speaker 1: not whatever ideological changes are dreamed up by the true believers.
Speaker 1: If it starts to look like things are not going
Speaker 1: to go that way, these sort of people can switch
Speaker 1: sides easily. This gets picked up in a lot of
Speaker 1: post war entertainment. I think particularly of some of the
Speaker 1: Superman serials dealing with demagogues promoting bigotry and intolerance. And
Speaker 1: in these stories you would have the leaders of these
Speaker 1: organizations who would put out some sort of hatred against
Speaker 1: whatever group they decided to target, but didn't actually believe it,
Speaker 1: but rather saw it as an opportunity to advance themselves,
Speaker 1: to gain followers by agitating again the minority, and when
Speaker 1: that ceases to work for them and they are talented,
Speaker 1: their loyalty and their stances might change, even while the
Speaker 1: less powerful people who believe them might remain committed to
Speaker 1: the cause and ultimately face consequences for it. I also
Speaker 1: love that our oss man went back, even at the
Speaker 1: risk of his life. It showed that his heart was
Speaker 1: with the Partisans, as well as that sense of honor,
Speaker 1: despite his disagreements, despite where he thought, in this case
Speaker 1: his duty not just to them, but to the United
Speaker 1: States and the Allied Command where he thought that duty lie.
Speaker 1: At the end of the day, he's looking out for
Speaker 1: them and comes back and stands by their side again
Speaker 1: at the risk of his own life. So really just
Speaker 1: a fascinating overall character study and story. I think that
Speaker 1: for most people who listened to old time radio, it
Speaker 1: would be safe to say that Cloakendagger is probably the
Speaker 1: best drama that you never heard of, and it's been
Speaker 1: great to feature it on the podcast. All Right well,
Speaker 1: listener comments and feedback now and we go to Spotify
Speaker 1: on operations Sellout Mechanic sixty six rides. Pretty much suspected
Speaker 1: Marie from the start due to the title, and if
Speaker 1: it had been Mueller, the operation wouldn't have made it
Speaker 1: to the successful category. Well, I wouldn't underwrite the ability
Speaker 1: of the oss to somehow work it out. Even if
Speaker 1: Muller had been a spot I tended not to suspect him.
Speaker 1: I actually leaned a bit towards the brother at first,
Speaker 1: but then he kind of just disappeared from the story,
Speaker 1: and I think that the romance and other things, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of suggested to the outside observer. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: there's something suspicious about Marie, though it wasn't in a
Speaker 1: way that people who were actually there might have noticed,
Speaker 1: Particularly when they were so focused on Muller. It kind
Speaker 1: of gave them tunnel visions, so you didn't really perceive
Speaker 1: the whole situation and where all of your risk might lie.
Speaker 1: Had they not been so suspicious of him, they might
Speaker 1: have caught on to what she was doing sooner. All right, Well,
Speaker 1: thanks so much, appreciate the comment. Now it's time to
Speaker 1: thank our Patreon supporter of the day, and I want
Speaker 1: to thank Lori, Patreon supporter since April twenty twenty, currently
Speaker 1: supporting the podcast at the secret Agent level of four
Speaker 1: dollars or more per month. Thanks so much for your support, Lourie,
Speaker 1: and that we'll do it for today. If you're enjoying
Speaker 1: the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software
Speaker 1: and be sure to rate and review the podcast wherever
Speaker 1: you download it from a Great Detectives. We'll be back
Speaker 1: tomorrow with the Sunday Encore, and then on Monday, the
Speaker 1: normal lineup resumes with Danger with Granger on the Great
Speaker 1: Adventurers Podcast. We will be back on Tuesday with Adventure Ahead,
Speaker 1: and then next Saturday another episode of Cloak and Dagger.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, send your comments to Box thirteen at
Speaker 1: Greatdetectives dot net, follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives,
Speaker 1: and check us out on Instagram, Instagram, dot com slash
Speaker 1: Great Detectives From Boise, Idaho. This is your host, Adam
Speaker 1: Graham signing off.