Mother of Blue Stars

Episode 2

ELEANOR: Even President Roosevelt has sons in the service, all four of ‘em.

ANDY: Don’t kid yourself, Eleanor.  Those boys have easy jobs.  They’re not marching in mud and rain and eating from their helmets like our boys are.

RAYMOND: Thanks for the socks, everyone.  I’ll put them to good use.  And since it’s my birthday, I have an announcement.

ANDY: Lemme guess: you’re getting married! [ANDY chuckles at his own joke]

RAYMOND: No, Pop, I’m not getting married.  I don’t even have a girlfriend.  My big news is, I’ve joined the Marines!

[Beat]

ANDY: [Incredulously] The Marines?  Johnny’s already in the Marines.  Why join the Marines?

ELEANOR: No, Pop.  Johnny’s in the Army.  Albert’s in the Marines

RAYMOND: I’ve thought it over.  I want to do my part.

MARY: [Shaking her head] No, Raymond, you’re not going anywhere.  For one thing, you’re too young—-

RAYMOND: [Interrupting MARY] I’m eighteen!

MARY: And you need to finish school.  School is important.

RAYMOND: The war is important!

MARY: The Banas family has five boys in the war.  We’re not sending anymore!

RAYMOND: Come on, Ma.  How do I make a real difference around here?  I pump gas in my spare time.  Big deal.

ANDY: You also shovel the walk.  That’s very important!

ELEANOR: And you help Ma carry the groceries from the streetcar.

ANDY: And you’re good with a paint brush.  Better than me!

RAYMOND: I wanna do something THAT MATTERS, for the war, before it’s too late.

MARY: Raymond Banas, you’re not marching off to any war!

[Beat]

RAYMOND: Well . . . I ship out in two weeks.  I hafta bring a change of clothes for three days.  It’s all here in these enlistment papers. [RAYMOND hands MARY the papers]

MARY: I don’t care.  You’re not going.  You can’t go.  You don’t even shave yet!

RAYMOND: When Albert joined, you didn’t give him a hard time.  You helped him gain the proper weight with all those bananas.

MARY: That was different. That was before the war.  President Roosevelt promised we would stay out and we believed him.  We never thought he’d see real fighting.

RAYMOND: [Disappointedly] I thought you’d be happy.

Continued 9/19.