ROLLING TO THE RHINE

[Music] this is the bronze star medal authorized by executive order february 4th 1944 it is presented by a grateful nation for heroism this particular metal you see here wasn't given to a flyer nor to an infantryman it wasn't given to a paratrooper it was given to a truck driver [Music] that's right mac they gave it to me a truck driver a worn-out dirty lonesome homesick road sig back six seat sick truck driver they gave it to yours truly but it was like picking a number out of a hat because i was any one of 25 000 guys the guys who loaded mechanic patrolled and drove with the red ball express i carried your bag sir at pennsylvania station i went eight rounds with mickey tate in omaha drove in a cab once from the loop to the north side chicago served you borrowed beef and dumplings in tallahassee and me i drove a truck all over the lot from the statue of liberty to the golden gate but i never thought then i'd be behind a wheel in france on the red ball express what's that what's the red ball express what's the matter mac where were you [Music] oh that's right you were back home back home well back home a red ball painted on a freight car means priority clear the tracks we're coming through and in france from the beaches of normandy clear across to the front lines past paris a red disc above the bumper meant we were coming through one way all the way the red ball express that's right sir we deliver everything but babies yeah we were there when the allied armies went across france and you know how they went but without us without trucks they'd have been holed up right back in normandy you see we had no french ports or french railroads they'd been blasted to ribbons by our planes there was only one way to supply those armies trucks trucks plenty of them strafed and sniped at by the nazis yeah without trucks to bring him gas patton's tanks couldn't move without trucks to bring him shells and food and bullets bradley's infantry couldn't fight without trucks winning the battle of france in miracle time would have been impossible we passed through the towns charters vernal jokes mortagney argenton swasps okay you pronounce them [Music] they tell me we went by famous museums cathedrals castles brother all i saw was highway we drove in good weather we drove through floods we drove through the day into the night 20 hours of driving without relief 400 miles in a day and a half what would normally take a week out of the night into the day our orders were maintain a 40 mile an hour average what's that what happens if you do less court martial mister unless you got an awful good excuse what happens if your tires give up if your brakes jam if you have an accident then just get that truck off the highway friend get it off or burn it we drove the biggest vehicles this side of hoboken and that side of moscow count them 14 tires count them 18 tires [Music] this was the greatest road show since barnum and bailey yeah you really saw why you needed those trucks on a cross-country race like this every last one of them there were plenty of worn down vehicles burned out tires [Music] plenty of repairs and because trucks meant the lives of a lot of soldiers up front we had to repair the ones we could fast so a line of service stations were set up all along the roads a different one for every kind of trouble this was precision planning mech repairs for the drivers too [Music] gather around bird warm up color order it [Music] but even when we were stopped the red ball was moving on it never stopped somewhere along the road trucks were always being loaded somewhere along that turnpike mps were always showing the traffic through somewhere the radio trucks were always directing the movements [Music] somewhere at the end of the route the equipment was always being delivered that's the point back somewhere the stuff was always moving up always being loaded always being shipped always being made i toted the oil sir that you pumped out of pennsylvania in oklahoma there were days and nights i loaded nothing but medical supplies mine were ammo trucks carried the shelves you turned out in the arsenals [Music] i moved everything everything i ever dreamed of everything mac everything the guys in the front lines needed we moved the red ball express delivered i delivered you delivered 220 000 gallons of gas in a day 700 000 different items a million tons of cargo in three months red ball line ends improved french railroads obviate truck service paris november 25th associated press the united states army transportation corps announced today that the red ball highway system that sped ammunition food and other supplies from the beach heads to the western fronts for 81 days would be discontinued because of improved rail facilities yeah it's discontinued that one but this one isn't [Music] this one isn't [Music] this one isn't [Music] this one isn't [Music] here's your red ball express mac from the factory to the port of embarkation keep them rolling we can use every truck and every tire you send us you