Any Bonds Today - Henry Fonda

Summary

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Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode: "Any Bonds Today" – Henry Fonda

Date: April 1, 2026
Theme: War Bonds, Patriotism, and the Spirit of Gettysburg

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Episode Overview

This episode features a dramatized radio play originally produced by the United States Treasury Department during World War II, starring Henry Fonda. Setting aside Harold's usual show lineup of comedy or mystery, the episode centers on the themes of sacrifice, national purpose, and patriotic duty, dramatizing Abraham Lincoln’s journey to Gettysburg to give his famous address. The narrative intertwines the Civil War legacy with contemporary WWII bond drives, appealing to listeners' sense of responsibility and unity, both historical and present.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Need for War Bonds and National Unity

• The episode opens and closes with rousing musical and spoken appeals for Americans to buy war bonds—"Bonds of freedom, that's what I'm selling, any bonds today?"—reminding listeners of their vital role on the home front during WWII.
  • (00:24, 13:02)
• The urgent, repeated messaging (“double it; quadruple it... set yourself a quota, then beat it”) ties bond buying to both patriotism in the WWII era and the remembrance of sacrifices from the Civil War.

2. Dramatization: Lincoln’s Preparation for Gettysburg

• The core of the episode dramatizes a train journey Abraham Lincoln takes with his aide John Hay, reflecting on the immensity of the Civil War and the profound responsibility of honoring its fallen.
  • (01:01–10:59)
• Lincoln expresses self-doubt:
  • "I'm afraid I'm going to cut a mighty sorry figure up there tomorrow." – Abraham Lincoln (02:42)
  • He feels unprepared compared to the distinguished orator Edward Everett, whose speech at Gettysburg was expected to be much longer and grander than Lincoln’s own.
    • “Any words of mine are going to sound mighty shoddy after Mr. Everett's speech.” – Abraham Lincoln (02:55)

3. Perspective of the Common Soldier

• At John Hay's suggestion, Lincoln seeks the perspective of a soldier who fought at Gettysburg, leading to a poignant imagined conversation with Private Tom Williams—who, it emerges, is from Lincoln’s own Springfield.
  • (05:38–09:50)
• Tom describes the battle’s terror and uncertainty, notably emphasizing his fear not of death, but of possibly being wrong in what he fights for:
  • “The thing that scared me was thinking maybe they are right. All through that awful stillness, a thought kept getting louder and louder in my brain. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this wave of men coming on is something there's no use fighting against…” – Private Tom Williams (08:22)
• The scene highlights how faith in the Union’s cause is tested—and ultimately affirmed:
  • "I realized them fellows that started this country back in ’76 started something that was meant to be. It's worth fighting to keep. It's worth dying for if the fellows that don't die take care of it after you're gone. It's got to keep on going. Cause it’s right." – Private Tom Williams (09:13)

4. Twist: The Fallen Soldier

• In a deeply moving turn, John Hay returns, saying no one on the train actually fought at Gettysburg—suggesting that Lincoln’s conversation with Tom was imagined or an apparition.
  • (10:12)
• Hay reads a letter from Tom’s mother, revealing Tom died at Gettysburg, July 3. Lincoln’s earlier interaction was thus a spiritual or symbolic one, lending his character—and the Gettysburg Address—an extra sense of gravity and inspiration.
  • “Dear Mr. Lincoln, as an old neighbor, I know you will share my grief at the news that has just reached me. My son Tom gave his life at Gettysburg. July 3. His company was at Cemetery Ridge.” – John Hay (reading letter) (10:34)

5. Inspiration for the Gettysburg Address

• The imagined encounter brings Lincoln clarity for his upcoming speech, directly leading into the iconic opening of the Gettysburg Address:
  • "I think I know what I'll say tomorrow, John, the whole thing has come clear to me like a great light." – Abraham Lincoln (11:02)
  • "Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." – Abraham Lincoln (11:16)
• The play thus links the courage and doubts of ordinary soldiers with Lincoln’s own inspiration.

6. Call to Action: WWII Parallels

• The closing narrator connects the sacrifices of the Civil War to contemporary WWII efforts, urging listeners to do their part by investing in defense bonds and stamps, framing the purchase as a share in freedom and victory.
  • (12:14–13:25)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Any bonds today? Bonds of freedom, that's what I'm selling."
  – Freedom Man / Bond Seller, recurring at (00:24, 13:02)
• "You got to have something to do that, you got to believe in something. You got to think you're right."
  – Private Tom Williams, (08:01)
• “I realized them fellows that started this country back in '76 started something that was meant to be. It's worth fighting to keep. It's worth dying for if the fellows that don't die take care of it after you're gone. It's got to keep on going. 'Cause it's right.”
  – Private Tom Williams, (09:13)
• “Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation conceived in liberty…”
  – Abraham Lincoln, (11:16)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:17: Introduction and opening song — "Any Bonds Today?"
• 01:01: Setup: Lincoln and John Hay discuss the Gettysburg dedication
• 05:38–09:50: Conversation with Private Tom Williams about the experience at Gettysburg
• 10:12: John Hay returns, the revelation of Tom Williams' fate
• 11:02–11:33: Lincoln inspired to deliver the Gettysburg Address
• 12:14–13:25: WWII-era appeal for war bonds, drawing a direct line from Civil War ideals to contemporary duties

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Tone & Style

The script is solemn, earnest, and reverential, befitting the subject matter. The actors—particularly Fonda as Lincoln—convey humility, doubt, and eventual resolve, while the music and chorus lend a stirring, patriotic backdrop. The story is both a historical reflection and a living call to action for the episode’s original wartime audience.

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Summary

For listeners, this episode is a powerful blend of Civil War dramatization and WWII-era civic encouragement. It imaginatively explores Lincoln’s state of mind before Gettysburg, the doubts and bravery of the common soldier, and the enduring nature of American ideals—bridging past and present through a shared demand for sacrifice and unity. The call to buy war bonds frames the story in its wartime context but resonates as an ever-present appeal to patriotism and communal responsibility.

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Transcript

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[Narrator]

Any bonds today? Starring Henry Fonda on the transcribed program of the United States Treasury Department.

[Freedom Man / Bond Seller]

By the way, have you bought any bonds today? Any bonds today? Bonds of freedom, that's what I'm selling Any bonds today? Scrape up the most you can Here comes the freedom man Asking you to buy a share of freedom today Any stamps today? We'll be blessed if we all invest in the USA Here comes the freedom man can't make tomorrow's plan not unless you buy a share of freedom to death

[Narrator]

some 78 years ago, an incident occurred which became one of America's milestones. An incident that is a disputed chapter in history because no one can say without contradiction when and where and how it happened. We give you our story of that incident the way we believe it may have occurred. Starring Henry Fonda with Bill Adams and John Brown, we present the Man From Cemetery Ridge. Written for the Treasury Department by D. H. Johnson. Music by the Treasury Department Orchestra and Chorus. This is the 18th of November 1863. An autumn afternoon in a peaceful valley of northern Maryland. It is a mild, still day. The smoke, the smoky sun gleams low on harvest stubble and grazing herds and there is no suggestion of the bitter strife that has raged for more than two and a half years. No hint of the war until a bustling little locomotive thrusts the towering cone of its smokestack around a bend in the valley and chuffs importantly northward toward the hills of Pennsylvania. The car is behind it, draped with flags and filled with men in the blue of the Northern army. But not all are in uniform. Here in the last car, watching the passing gold and russet land from the windows of a private compartment, are two men in civilian garb. One is Abraham Lincoln, the other younger man, his trusted personal aide, John Hay. Lincoln's eyes are somber and his voice

[Abraham Lincoln]

is weary as he says, john, I'm worried.

[John Hay]

The war, sir.

[Abraham Lincoln]

The war is more than a worry, John. This is another matter. I'm afraid I'm going to cut a mighty sorry figure up there tomorrow.

[John Hay]

I wouldn't say that, Mr. Lincoln.

[Abraham Lincoln]

You're too loyal, John. I might as well face the facts. Any words of mine are going to sound mighty shoddy after Mr. Everett's speech. Have you read what he's going to say? No, sir.

[John Hay]

I know he sent you a copy.

[Abraham Lincoln]

I have it here. It's a beautiful piece of writing.

[John Hay]

And why not? They gave him three months to write it. They let you know two weeks ago as an afterthought with a message to

[Abraham Lincoln]

Congress to prepare for the matter. John, I fear I couldn't have done this well if I'd have had two years. Let me read you a little of this oration to be delivered by the Honorable Edward Everett at the dedication of a national soldier cemetery at Gettysburg. November. Yeah, yeah. Here. Here's the beginning. Overlooking these broad fields now reposing from the labors, the waning year the mighty alleghenies dimly towering toward us the graves of our brethren beneath our feet it is with hesitation that I raise my poor voice to break the eloquent silence of God and nature. Now, that's magnificent oratory, John.

[John Hay]

I'll grant that Mr. Everett is the greatest speaker alive. How long will he talk, sir?

[Abraham Lincoln]

About two hours, I reckon. And then they'll call on me for the dedication. I'll make some stumbling, inane remarks, Mr. Lincoln. Well, that's what a lot of folks say about my speeches, John. Looks like they'll have more cause than ever hearing me after Mr. Everett.

[John Hay]

Doesn't matter what they say.

[Abraham Lincoln]

But it does, not to me. I'm thinking of some of the folks who'll be there. Mothers and fathers and wives. Men who died at Gettysburg. A lot of them blame me for the war. And when they hear me, well, they'll lose what little faith they have left in the Republic. If I could only think of the right thing to say.

[John Hay]

May I make a suggestion, sir?

[Abraham Lincoln]

Why, of course, John.

[John Hay]

Could you describe the battle, sir? I mean, as it might have seemed to a soldier who took part in it?

[Abraham Lincoln]

I know very little of how battles seem to soldiers, John in my few weeks in the Black Hawk War.

[John Hay]

But you might talk to someone who was there, sir.

[Private Tom Williams]

Who?

[John Hay]

The train's full of soldiers, Mr. Lincoln. There must be some who saw action at Gettysburg.

[Abraham Lincoln]

Yes. Yes, I reckon it might not do any harm at that.

[John Hay]

I'll go through the train and find someone at once, sir. I'll send him in. Oh, by the way.

[Abraham Lincoln]

Yes, John?

[John Hay]

I have a letter for you in my dispatch case in the next car. It arrived just as we left the White House. I'll bring it when I come back.

[Abraham Lincoln]

Very well. John. Yes? Come in.

[Private Tom Williams]

Private Williams reporting, sir.

[Abraham Lincoln]

Williams?

[Private Tom Williams]

I was asked to tell you about Gettysburg, sir.

[Abraham Lincoln]

Oh. Oh, oh, yes. Yes, of course you were sent. Say, wait a minute. You're Tom Williams.

[Private Tom Williams]

Yes, Sir?

[Abraham Lincoln]

From Springfield.

[Private Tom Williams]

I wasn't sure you'd remember me, sir.

[Abraham Lincoln]

Well, I might not recognize you, Tom, the way you filled out, but I certainly remember you. Few years back, you were the noisiest boy in Springfield.

[Private Tom Williams]

Reckon I was.

[Abraham Lincoln]

The way you used to run up and down in front of my house. Dragging a stick against the pickets. Yelling outside my law office when I was studying up on a case.

[Private Tom Williams]

I mighty sorry if I used to bother you, Mr. Lincoln. I reckon I just like to make a lot of racket.

[Abraham Lincoln]

Yeah, well, most boys do, Tom. So you were in Gettysburg, eh? I imagine you got enough racket there.

[Private Tom Williams]

It wasn't like noisy, sir. Awful quiet.

[Abraham Lincoln]

Too noisy and quiet.

[Private Tom Williams]

Sometimes it was like being in a terrible storm with cannon for thunder and musket balls instead of rain. And sometimes it was so still you could hear your own breathing and the blood pounding in your ears.

[Abraham Lincoln]

I didn't know that.

[Private Tom Williams]

First time it was so awful quiet was the morning of the third day. My company was behind a stone wall on Cemetery Ridge. We could see the Rebs over on the next ridge, about a mile away, getting ready for something. But hours and hours went by and it didn't happen. It kept getting quieter and quieter and scarier like.

[Abraham Lincoln]

Scarier?

[Private Tom Williams]

I ain't told nobody but you, sir, but I was mighty scared.

[Abraham Lincoln]

I reckon it takes a brave man to admit that, Tom.

[Private Tom Williams]

Then about noon, the artillery opened up and it got good and noisy again. I wasn't scared no more. Then they started their advance and the gun stopped. They couldn't fire for fear of dropping shells on their own men. And we was waiting for them to get closer. 15,000 of them marching toward us across the valley. And not a sound. I got awful scared.

[Abraham Lincoln]

Then what was it, Tom? A fear of dying?

[Private Tom Williams]

No, sir. It wasn't that that scared me. It's an awful thing to say to the president of a country, sir, but

[Abraham Lincoln]

you're my friend, you can tell me.

[Private Tom Williams]

Tom, what scared me was watching them men come on. They was marching right into death and they knew it, but they didn't even break step. You got to have something to do that you got to believe in. Something. You got to think you're right.

[Abraham Lincoln]

They're brave men, Tom, and they do believe they're right.

[Private Tom Williams]

The thing that scared me was thinking maybe they are right. All through that awful stillness, a thought kept getting louder and louder in my brain. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this wave of men coming on is something there's no use fighting against. Maybe. Maybe what they stand for is supposed to happen.

[Abraham Lincoln]

I see.

[Private Tom Williams]

Then firing started, and I didn't have no more time to think. For a while I wasn't scared no more. Then I got shot.

[Abraham Lincoln]

You were wounded?

[Private Tom Williams]

Musket ball in the throat, sir. I fell down. Sky got kind of dark. And all the noise fell. Faded far away and stopped. It was terrible quiet then. Quieter than I ever knew it could be. But that time I wasn't scared.

[Abraham Lincoln]

Why not, Tom?

[Private Tom Williams]

Cause I figured I was dying, sir. And the whole thing come clear to me all at once like. Like a great light. I wasn't scared no more. Cause I knew I wasn't wrong. I realized them fellows that started this country back in 76. Started something that was meant to be. It's worth fighting to keep. It's worth dying for. If the fellows that don't die take care of it after you're gone. It's got to keep on going. Cause it's right.

[Abraham Lincoln]

What happened then, Tom?

[Private Tom Williams]

Nothing much, sir. They come and pick me up and took me away. I. I've got to get back to duty, sir.

[Abraham Lincoln]

Oh, yes.

[Private Tom Williams]

Yes.

[Abraham Lincoln]

Well, goodbye, Tom. It's been good talking to you. I'll write your mother and tell her that I saw you.

[Private Tom Williams]

Oh, you needn't, sir. Mother knows where I am. Goodbye, Mr. Lincoln. I'll see you again.

[Abraham Lincoln]

Goodbye, Tom.

[John Hay]

Oh, Mr. Lincoln.

[Abraham Lincoln]

Oh. Oh. Oh, yes, yes. John.

[John Hay]

Mr. Lincoln, I went through the whole train. There's no one aboard who saw action at Gettysburg.

[Abraham Lincoln]

What?

[John Hay]

There's no one on the train, sir, who was in that battle.

[Abraham Lincoln]

But there must. Oh.

[John Hay]

What was that, sir?

[Abraham Lincoln]

Oh, never mind. John, is that the letter you mentioned?

[John Hay]

Oh, yes, sir. It's postmarked Springfield. Shall I read it?

[Abraham Lincoln]

Yes, John.

[John Hay]

It's from a Mrs. Williams. She says. Dear Mr. Lincoln, as an old neighbor, I know you will share my grief at the news that has just reached me. My son Tom gave his Life at Gettysburg. July 3. His company was at Cemetery Ridge.

[Abraham Lincoln]

Don't read the rest, John. I know what it is.

[John Hay]

Very well, sir.

[Private Tom Williams]

I was asked to tell you about Gettysburg, sir.

[Abraham Lincoln]

I think I know what I'll say tomorrow. John, the whole thing has come clear to me like. Like a great light.

[Private Tom Williams]

Some fellows that started this country back in the 1876. Started something that was meant to be.

[Abraham Lincoln]

Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

[Private Tom Williams]

It's worth fighting to keep.

[Abraham Lincoln]

Now we are engaged in a great civil war. Testing whether that nation or any nation. So conceived and so dedicated can long endure.

[Private Tom Williams]

It's worth dying for if the fellows that don't die take care of it after you're gone.

[Abraham Lincoln]

We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We are meant to dedicate a portion of it as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fatal.

[Narrator]

We are now engaged in another war. A world war. This will be a long and a hard fight. Production of war materials must be doubled and quadrupled. What have you done to help double, let alone quadruple, output of our mines and factories so that soldiers and sailors may be supplied with weapons? How many dollars have you put into United States Defense Bonds? Double it. How many times have you bought them? Quadruple it. Make your bond buying a regular program. Buy as many bonds as you can today and every payday. Buy them at your bank, post office and savings and loan association. Get defense stamps from your newspaper carrier boy and your retail dealer. Set yourself a quota, then beat it. Join your country in all out defense against the Axis.

[Freedom Man / Bond Seller]

Have you bought any bonds today? Any bonds today? Bonds of freedom. That's what I'm selling. Any bonds today? Scrape up the most you can. Here comes a freedom man asking you to buy a share of freedom today. Any stamps today?

[Narrator]

You've been listening to Any Bonds today? The transcribed program of the United States Treasury Department for defense bonds and stamps. Stars of this program were Henry Fonda and Barry Wood. This is Larry Elliott speaking for the Treasury Department.

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