And the End of Evil Things

And the End of Evil Things is the seventh episode of The Gallant Men. It was written by David Lang and directed by Richard C. Sarafian. It aired on November 16, 1962.

Plot summary
Stranded at night while en route to a new assignment, the men of Able either rest or congregate around the transport truck, attempting to repair it. In a nearby bomb crater, Pete D’Angelo hangs out with a replacement, Pvt. Joey Lopuschok. An Army tailor by trade, Lopuschok secured a transfer to the infantry. He has somehow smuggled a large sewing machine with him, the presence of which he defends by saying it will allow him to make clothing repairs in the field.

Lopuschok sneaks a blowtorch away from the broken truck and uses it to cook scrambled eggs in D’Angelo’s helmet. Above, a Luftwaffe plane crew spots the illumination from the blowtorch and begins dropping small bombs.

Capt. Benedict lambasts Lopuschok for drawing the plane’s attention. Lt. Kimbro tries to explain Lopuschok’s situation, but Benedict is unimpressed and says he’ll have the private sent back to company headquarters as soon as the current mission is over.

Benedict decides to forget repairing the truck and orders the men to move ahead on foot. Sgt. McKenna angrily tells Lopuschok to leave the sewing machine behind. Lopuschok carries the machine with him anyway.

During a break the following morning, Lopuschok tells D’Angelo being a tailor is important to him. He says his life has been filled with people not believing in him. Meanwhile Benedict, Kimbro and McKenna determine they’ve unwittingly crossed into enemy territory.

While on a patrol, Lopuschok and Pvt. Barlow stumble across a German squad apparently on a break. They have a truck, which Barlow says the Able men could steal and use to reach their destination. Barlow fatally stabs a German soldier, but not before the German fires his rifle. The noise attracts the attention of his comrades. A shootout initiates, and other members of Able join in. Barlow is blinded, sending Lopuschok into a rage. The tailor kills two Germans with a grenade and crumples into a heap.

The Able guys capture the truck and apply crude Fifth Army markings with white tape. While looking for more tape, Lucavich accidentally activates the truck’s radio transmitter. A German unit listens in on the conversation and makes plans to intercede.

Benedict is wary the Germans will soon discover the Americans and orders the group to move out. McKenna discovers Lopuschok struggling with the cumbersome sewing machine again, but before he can press the issue, German artillery shells begin falling and the GIs scatter. A hysterical Lopuschok runs to retrieve the machine just as a German tank arrives. The tailor is cut down in the open. His body is dragged away from the road and the Germans re-take the radio truck.

Kimbro, stunned, blames Benedict for not helping Lopuschok. Benedict says he did not intervene because the group was outnumbered and he had to think about the safety and lives of ten men beyond Lopuschok. He is not pleased about Lopuschok’s death, but says he made the right decision.

McKenna proposes leaving the sewing machine with Lopuschok’s body. Kimbro agrees. Benedict struggles to understand why four men died for no tangible gain, and McKenna consoles him by suggesting the war is a fight to end evil things.

Able resumes its journey on foot, bringing along a wounded soldier and the blinded Barlow. During a brief break, Kimbro again registers his anger with Benedict. Hanson and McKenna scout ahead, finding the forward unit of a German battalion in the valley below. They kill one member of a German scouting patrol and capture another along with his radio gear.

Kimbro and Benedict again clash over strategy. The German radio won’t work on American frequencies, and being inside German-held territory carries high risk if Able Company is discovered. The two men are on the brink of a shouting match when a German officer calls to the captured radioman. Benedict holds the radio operator at gunpoint, instructing Hanson to listen in and find out what’s going on. Hanson reports the Germans are aware of a planned American paratrooper drop nearby, but they are unsure of its exact location.

Benedict decides this can be of use and cooks up a scheme to fool the Germans by having their radioman pass along intentionally bad intel. The plot works, and the German unit prepares to move to the fake location. Benedict and his men occupy a perch atop a rocky promontory to confirm the ploy worked. The Able men are happy and relieved. But the captured German kicks the radio pack over the edge of the cliff. Its crash into the valley below attracts the attention of the remaining Wehrmacht and they quickly deduce the presence of the Americans on the mountain. Benedict knows they’re outnumbered and says the GIs have no other feasible option than to hold out as long as they can.

The German radio operator escapes, and Benedict pursues him. Kimbro forbids anyone else to follow. Benedict and the radioman disappear over a rise and gunshots are heard. The German patrol crests the rise, running toward the Americans. A firefight ensues. Able successfully repels the attack with no fatalities and quiet settles over the rocky terrain. D’Angelo calls out Kimbro for not aiding Benedict, but Kimbro says he did what he had to do to protect the entire group. Someone is about to be sent to recover Benedict’s body when the silhouette of the captain appears at the top of the rise. Benedict is happily received by the men. He approaches Kimbro and says, “You did what you had to do. What do you want, a medal?”

Kimbro smiles, and the group heads downhill to seize German vehicles and finish their trip on wheels.

G-2 report

 * How did Lopuschok lug that sewing machine around?
 * Typical for war shows, we are introduced to a brand-new character that somehow the rest of the squad already knows. Kimbro tells Benedict how well-liked Lopuschok is among the men, D’Angelo seems to be friends with him, and Lopuschok says he and Kimbro are good friends. But he had never been mentioned before and his name will never be uttered after this episode.
 * Writer David Lang seems to try to wedge two stories into the same episode here. The first features Lopuschok trying to prove his mettle (and screwing up royally), and the second focuses on the frost that settles between Benedict and Kimbro in the aftermath of Lopuschok’s death. The overlap isn’t perfect, and at times it does feel like watching two mini-episodes.
 * The episode’s title comes from something McKenna’s father once said to him. He repeats it to Benedict at 22:47: “We have dreamed down slavery, we have dreamed down kings. Yet we still dream of decency and the end of evil things.” McKenna says it sounds like it should be in the Bible, but the quote is apparently original to Lang’s script.
 * We get a quick rundown of Kimbro’s varied professional background in this episode. In a conversation with Gibson, Kimbro says his employment before the war included “cow puncher” (ranch hand), working in a bank and teaching English poetry. He seems to be fond of the poetry, saying “it grows on a man.”
 * Benedict shows rare warmth in act three, inviting McKenna to stay in touch after the war. McKenna appears genuinely pleased and accepts Benedict’s offer as a “solemn commitment.”
 * Conley Wright does not appear in this episode, but his narration is heard at the beginning and end.
 * Hans Gudegast appears in a small role operating a big radio set in the German forward unit. He’ll return, portraying an officer, in “One Puka Puka.” In the universe of World War II TV fiction, Gudegast is best known as Capt. Hans Dietrich, the principal antagonist of the 1966-68 ABC series The Rat Patrol.
 * Tom Gilson, who plays Barlow, died October 6, 1962, about seven weeks before this episode aired. Gilson was shot by his estranged wife after he broke into the home where she was staying. A jury ruled his death justifiable homicide.
 * The rocky landscape where the Able men hide at the end of act two is also seen in “Signals for an End Run.”