The Fighting 69th (Warner Bros.) (1940)

[tt] Nears shentv witness to tse bravery of those who gave ‘the last full measure of devotian’ that the Nation might live. The Regiment again saw service in the short-lived SpanishAmerican War and in 1916 it served on the Mexican Border. The World War The Regiment came back from Texas numbering less than one thousand. When war was declared against Germany it was necessary to obtain recruits and build the unit up to wartime strength of two thousand and two. “This was an easy matter,” says Irving A. J. Lawres in St. Anthony Messenger, “for the Irish County Societies and Catholic athletic clubs sent many promising recruits to the armory at Lexington Avenue and 34th Street, New York City. Of the two thousand and two enrolled at least ninety-five percent were Irish by race or creed.” Yet the regiment was one hundred percent American in the best sense of the word. It was still the fighting, friendly, furious, funny, fearless regiment set on ‘saving the world for democracy.’ The Rainbow Division The word was going around that the American regiments were to be increased to thirtysix hundred, and the live-wire 69th applied for permission to create a waiting list but this application was denied, although the officers at the armory were turning away hundreds of applicants a day, so high ran the war fever. In due time it was announced that one of the first units to be sent overseas was to be the 42nd Division — called the Rainbow Division—because it was to be made up of men from many States. New York was represented by the 69th, which was taken into the Division intact as the 165th Infantry. Its numbers, however, were increased to thirty-six hundred as originally rumored, and this was accomplished by transferring men from five other New York Regiments. The newcomers were given the royalest of royal Irish welcomes, the band played ‘Garry Owen’ and from then on they were men of the Rainbow Division, and nobody asked whether a soldier originally enlisted in the Fighting 69th or in one of the brother regiments. In October, 1917, they waved good bye to the ‘girls they left behind them’ and singing ‘Over Three Buddies on a Burro, Somewhere in France: Played by Sammy Cohen, Tom Dugan and Frank McHugh There,’ sailed past the Statue of Liberty for foreign shores and their baptism of fire. Into The Mouth of Hell “Though the 69th New York, renamed the 165th Infantry,” says Mr. Lawres,” “when it was mustered into the army in 1917, was already one of the most famous regiments in the world, its officers had never been scions of wealthy families, and its men had been recruited from the sidewalks of New York. It was.one of the fightingest regiments, ‘however, that ever went forth to battle, which, after all, is what regiments are for!” On February 16th, 1918 the 69th was on the way to Lorraine, Luneville and the trenches. The Rainbow was the first American division to take over a divisional French sector of its own. The division occupied the eightmile sector with some elements of its command for 110 days. Then followed trench warfare, gas—poor Company K— and ‘Rouge Bouquet’ the incident celebrated by Joyce Kilmer’s immortal poem. But worse battles were ahead —Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne. Those names are known even to those who are too young to remember, but they can have real meaning only to those who were there. It would be futile to attempt to describe the horror of it or to recite feats of individual bravery. These individual feats are recounted with great compassion by the late beloved chaplain, Father Francis P. Duffy in his book, “Father Duffy’s Story.” The soldiers themselves never talked about it on their return; we can only imagine in an inadequate sort of way. Statistics tell no story of heroism. They recite only facts: 644 of the 69th killed and 2857 wounded. They say nothing of the sufferings of after years, of arms and eyes gone, of jobs lost, of sad-faced mothers and young girls widowed. They say nothing of pity and terror. After the armistice the 165th Infantry went to Remagen, Ger many, as part of the Army of Occupation, Then in 1919 it came home. There was a magnificent parade up Fifth Avenue while bands played and hundreds of thousands cheered New York’s Own. But some of the milling thousands wept happily, for there was Tim, as well as ever; the same old Tim; and some choked back tears because a ‘gallant six hundred’ were not in the line and never again would parade on the pavement, would never again stroll up that famous Avenue of a spring evening. Soldiers of Peace We all want peace, even our soldiers. Speaking to one of the young captains in the armory, I remarked that in the event of war he would probably be made a colonel. “I’d be a civilian,” he replied. If a war really did come, you could not keep that captain out of it. His remark merely meant that soldiers do not like war even though it is their business to prepare for it. But a nation must be prepared to defend itself, not because war is expected next year or even the next, but because a_ helpless country may suffer many injustices at the hands of the other nations, which would not dare step on the toes of a country that was adequately armed. A nation can never be certain that at some time in the future it will not be dragged into battle. An effective defense cannot then be created spontanously out of thin air. It requires time and preparation. We would be helpless against any one of the great foreign military machines unless we had some means of organizing a defense with reasonable speed. As President Roosevelt told Congress: “The world has grown so small and weapons of attack so swift that no nation can be safe in its will to peace so long as any other single powerful nation refuses to settle its grievances at the council table. For if any government bristling with Joyce Kilmer, Soldier-Poet, Played by Jeffrey Lynn implements of war insists on policies of force, weapons of defense give the only safety. We have learned that survival cannot be guaranteed by arming after the attack begins, for there is new speed and range to offense.”’ The young men in the 69th, under the eyes of experienced officers, are learning these essentials of war. It’s a hobby with them. The armory is something of a club where they can pass an evening in pleasant association. Let us hope that they will never need to put their knowledge to practical use. Let us pray that there will never be a Luneville sector, a Rouge Boquet, or an Ourcq River for them. Unknown to the majority of citizens members of the 69th devote one night a week to drill in the armory and in the sum Bronze Statue of Father Duffy at Times Square in New York lead to promotion. Clubrooms are provided in the armory, which are helpful in promoting esprit de corps. On specified occasions public reviews are held in the armory to which friends and_ noted _ military celebrities are invited. After the formal manoeuvres are completed, a reception is held by the officers for guests of honor and visitors. One of the sights of New York is the parade of the Fighting 69th up Fifth Avenue every St. Patrick’s Day. When the survivors of the 165th Regiment marched in triumph up Fifth Avenue at the end of the World War it was headed by Colonel W. J. Donovan (Congressional Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross with Palm, French Legion of Honor Croix de Guerre, and Italian Crocia di Guerra.) Donovan called ‘Wild Bill’ for no particular reason anyone could determine, served as a major, lieutenant-colonel and finally as colonel throughout the World War. Always in the thick of the fighting, he was wounded in action as were a great many other officers of the 69th. With him marched ‘the Padre’, the late beloved Father Francis P. Duffy, chaplain of the Rainbow Division—the man in whose memory people all over the country have erected a bronze portrait-statue at the upper end of Times Square in his own New York City. With them was Alexander E. Anderson, who came back from the war second in command to Colonel Donovan, and several years later was made colonel of the regiment. He has now been promoted to brigadiergeneral, but the 165th is part of his brigade, and he still retains an active interest in his old fighting unit. Missing, however, was Joyce Kilmer, soldier-poet of the 69th who had been killed in a raid. _ The 69th Today The present colonel of the Fighting 69th is John J. Mangan, who served with the regiment on the Border in 1916 with Anderson, Meany, Duffy and the other veterans. He went overseas as captain and regimental supply officer, became a major and served ‘for the duration.’ Second in command is Lieutenant-Colonel Martin H. Meany of County Clare, who is Deputy Police Commissioner of New York. He served as captain and major at St. Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne. He was de sort for which he has organized and drilled the soldier-extras during his 17 years in the film capital. At one time Voss actually did have his own army, some 600 World War veterans capable of any sort of drill. Studios needing soldiers would call him any night and next morning he’d deliver to the casting office gates Svanjase the story of a famous regiment, though it tells that story faithfully and well. In a large sense “The Fighting 69th” is symbolic of all the regiments which have served under the American flag. In terms of vigorous drama it presents the soul of the regiment, the serious, determined side, and in so doing When the Fighting 69th Marches to “Garry Owen.” as many troopers as they wished, ready for duty in the French Foreign Legion, the Confederate or the Union armies, British Empire service or whatever The Screen Actors Guild, Central Casting and other such regulatory organizations have charged this. Now Central Casting calls the men, and each soldier-extra must be a member of the Guild, but still they’re men who can “march and drill,” as the call sheets specify. But Voss still gives the orders and directors bow to him in matters of tactical points. Production of the _ picture opened spectacularly on one of the most intricate, and incidentally dangerous, “break away”’ sets built Hollywood recently. A “break away” set is one on which some violent action will take place: an earthquake—such as in “The Sisters’—a flood or storm at sea—‘The Hurricane.” This setting was the dark and cavernous interior of a large dugout, presumably 40 feet under the secondary lines, up in the Luneville sector early in March, 1918. Hanging over all, from ceiling trusses of the giant studio stage, were great hoppers with trapdoor bottoms, filled with stained cork, pulverized to resemble gravel. The day came to start the filming, the cast was distributed throughout the set, the brushes aside the usual furbelows. In the making of the picture something indescribable has been captured which, in today’s cataclysm-fearing world, leaves profound confidence in the invincibility of human faith and in divine omnipotence. And everyone who plays a part in its production, seeming aware of the message it was to carry, plays with sincerity and simplicity. The drama, larded with much brusque comedy, focuses on James Cagney as an arrogant and incorrigible young recruit who doesn’t give a hoot for the tradition of the Fighting 69th during training, and can’t stand up to the hard codes of his own, simple soldier’s duties. He becomes the anxious concern of the commanding officer and_ the Padre, through whose spiritual example he finally conquers his cowardice and makes the supreme sacrifice. William Keighley has directed with vigor and with fine appreciation of the dramatic and entertainment values involved. His inspirational influence is seen in every performance and his excellent craftsmanship evident in the sweep and march of the narrative through the colorful, comic and tragic episodes richly written into the original script by Norman Reilly Raine, Fred Niblo, Jr., and Dean Franklin. AES cABSLict DRAGS Sek 2+ ANRTIRAIE “WEGAL: cage ogee otgee-sseemc cammeneecnet ape a Se eae ee A eee eee eR SENET IDS AE RCSD CUM (SAU TRMRCRs ee DUCT Shc a 2 ea SN A ee Mat of this Entire 7-Col. Sunday Feature Page, Type and Art, Avail able. Order “The Fighting 69th’? 701B—$1—Warner Bros. Campaign Plan Editor, 321 W. 44th St., New York City ACR: <a» ao-accongamasammas ainccemearesc, coors lies eee En EE TREO a EE Rn a I, NE Se iL Nie aI St cRNA Meat)