If Rod Serling hadn’t experienced it and survived, we never would have had a Twilight Zone with all of its impact on pop culture and our society. The experience traumatized Serling so much that he had flashbacks and nightmares for the rest of his life. He began writing to deal with it. In two Twilight Zone scripts, he returned to the trauma’s ground zero.
The place was The Philippine Islands. The time, World War II.
Serling was all too familiar with the setting of “The Purple Testament.” Other than the supernatural element, he was also familiar with the experiences his characters endured.
Rodman (“Rod”) Edward Serling served in the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army’s 11th Airborne Division. Some of the information on the internet concerning his service is inconsistent. For instance, Serling’s Wikipedia entry says he served in the 511th from January 1943 through January 1945. Yet, an 11th Airborne site shows photos of Serling in occupied Japan. Obviously, American forces didn’t occupy Japan until the latter half of 1945. A site dedicated to the 511th has some contradictory info too. A page listing deceased members, lists Serling twice, once as Rod and once as Rodman, at two different California addresses and gives two different death dates, June 25th and June 28, 1975. That page lists Serling’s service as 1944-46, BUT another section of the site has selected yearbook rosters. Serling appears on one from 1943.
According to Leo Kochner’s history of the 511th, instead of soldiers who transferred from other units, most of the regiment’s enlisted men were new recruits who had a special airborne oriented regimen starting in basic training.
The 511th was selective. Airborne units are elite combat forces. Volunteers filled its ranks, and only 35% of those volunteers made it through the regiment’s screening process to even begin training. Others were winnowed out during training. The 11th Airborne’s other regiments were preexisting glider regiments, transferred to the 11th when it was formed, but the 511th was created especially for the 11th.
During the Philippines Campaign, two members of the 511th won the Congressional Medal of Honor, the most prestigious medal awarded in the American Military. They were Pvt. Elmer Fryar and Pvt. Manuel Perez.
When the Japanese cut his company off from the rest of its battalion, Fryar delayed the enemy, killing 27 Japanese soldiers despite being wounded. Trying to rejoin his company, he found a wounded comrade, picked him up and carried him. Later he caught up to an officer also carrying a wounded man. When a sniper attacked, Fryar threw himself in front of the officer and was mortally wounded. Even though he was dying, he still managed to kill the sniper.
Pvt. Perez attacked a Japanese pillbox which was holding up his company’s advance. He single handedly killed 18 Japanese soldiers in addition to at least 5 he’d killed attacking other pill boxes. Of the 18, he killed 4 while advancing on the pill box. After he threw a grenade inside, the Japanese escaped through a tunnel. Perez shot 8 with his own rifle and two with a rifle that a Japanese soldier threw at him, apparently trying to use it like a javelin with its fixed bayonet. Then Perez killed 3 more with the butt of the rifle, and one with the bayonet. http://users.owt.com/leodonna/FryarPerez.htm
Prior to seeing combat, the 511th participated in The Knollwood Manuever which persuaded American commanders that large scale airborne operations could be effective despite disappointing results of airborne operations by other units earlier in the war. General Eisenhower believed small unit parachute operations could work, but that larger units simply became too scattered to effectively regroup and coordinate.
The 511th shipped out to New Guinea and undertook extensive jungle combat training.
In November 1944, the 511th joined American forces on Leyte in the Philippines and saw heavy fighting as regular infantry. They were used as paratroopers on Luzon.
The 1943 yearbook roster puts the regiment’s size at 2,381 men. Between, November 1944 and August 1945 this roughly 2,400 man regiment suffered 1,100 casualties, including 301 killed. (Again, a slight discreprency. The site says the casualty list contains 1,110 names, but the tallies of 409 for Leyte and 691 for Luzon only add up to 1,100. Is there a typo, or are some names missing?)
Serling was attached to Regimental Headquarters (RHQ), but don’t get the wrong idea. He wasn’t in some safe spot behind the lines. Colonel Haugen, the commanding officer, and his staff were right in the middle of heavy fighting in the 511th’s earliest battles. Later, in February 1945, Haugen was killed by shrapnel. RHQ, which had 158 members listed in the 1943 yearbook, suffered 23 casualties including 11 dead. A few of the dead factor into “The Purple Testament.” One had a particularly powerful effect on Serling.
At beginning of “The Purple Testament,” Captain Riker asks a sergeant about casualties during the days’ fighting. Lieutenant Fitzgerald, the protagonist, steps into the screen and says, Hibbard, Horton, Morgan, and Levy.” The names are burned in the lieutenant’s memory. Captain Riker sees that their deaths really bother Lt. Fitzgerald. In private, Riker asks Fitzgerald about it.
RIKER
Anything special about the four men?
12. TWO SHOT
FITZGERALD
(turns toward him)
Anything special? What do you mean?
RIKER
We’ve lost four men before. We’ve lost eight and ten. You’re taking this one a little harder than usual. I thought it might have been a little special.
FITZGERALD
(his voice edgey)
They were four kids under twenty two – does it have to be more special than that?
(Rod Serling 5. The dialogue slightly varies in the filmed version. e.g. “under twenty one” instead of “twenty two)
Further probing reveals that yes, there was something special about the four. Fitzgerald had seen something on their faces, a strange light, and knew that they would die. He’d written their names the day before.
The names also meant something to Rod Serling. They weren’t just four random names. They were the names of four members of the 511th killed on Leyte. All four died 1 mile east of Mahonag. All four were attached to RHQ with Serling. Three of the four died on the same day, December 12, 1944. One died a week later, December 19th. Serling’s published script placed the story in December 1944, the month Serling’s four comrades died. However, he uses Luzon rather than Leyte for the setting. The telecast moved the date to January 1945 to match with the American invasion of Luzon.
In the story, Lt. Fitzgerald gives the first three names in alphabetical order. The fourth isn’t in that order. Pvt Warren R. Hibbard, Cpl. John T. Horton, and Pfc Newell D. Morgan were members of the 511th’s RHQ killed on December 12th. In the 1943 roster, all three appear in RHQ along with Serling. The final name belongs to the trooper killed on the 19th. According to Douglas Brode and Carol Serling’s Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone: The 50th Anniversary Tribute, Rod Serling was standing next to him when a parachuted food crate decapitated Pvt. Levy.
Serling gives his characters a hatred of war, a weariness of it. In the words he gives a Colonel, “war stinks!” (Rod Serling 26) There’s a nuance to this anti-war attitude. Some other anti-war commentaries direct their hatred of war toward the soldiers who fight it, much like the infamous stories of Vietnam War protesters hurling insults at and spitting on Vietnam veterans. In contrast, Serling portrays the soldiers in an admirable and sympathetic light. He gives battle hardened veterans compassion and empathy. Yet, as much as they hate war, Serling’s characters don’t refuse to fight. Serling has been quoted as saying that people should fight when it’s necessary to survival, but they should seek to find another way without fighting. His characters’ attitude is best summed up in a soldier’s rebuke of the inexperienced, gung-ho Lt. Katell in Serling’s other story set in The Philippines during World War II. “Okay. We’ll kill for you. Just don’t expect us to stand up and cheer.”
In Serling stories, it’s the warriors who hate war the most, but they do their jobs even when they know they will die.
When they appear in his stories, Serling always portrays Nazis and other fascists like those whom the Allies fought in World War II as bad. Examples can be seen in episodes like “Death’s-Head Revisited” and “He’s Alive.”
Other Serling stories challenge authority and conformity. However, in “The Purple Testament,” Serling gives all the authority figures - the Colonel, Captain Riker, Captain Gunther, Lt. Fitzgerald, and the sergeant - wisdom and compassion. They’re all touched with regret about the death and suffering they participate in.
When Fitzgerald warns Captain Riker that Riker will die and that he should stay behind rather than lead the next operation, Riker refuses. In arguing with Fitzgerald, the captain appears to not believe him. However, Riker’s private actions show that he does believe Fitzgerald. He lays out his personal effects - his wedding ring and photos of his wife and children - and leaves them behind. Believing he is doomed, Riker goes out and calms the rising panic caused by rumors about Fitzgerald’s powers. Then the captain calmly goes to what he believes will be his death.
For the most part, Fitzgerald has the same problem as any leader sending people to die. His torment is the same torment such a leader faces if they have empathy and compassion rather than coldhearted ruthlessness. The difference is that Fitzgerald, rather than just knowing men will die, knows exactly which ones will die. Still, like all leaders who send people into danger, he bears an awful responsibility.
The episode's title comes from Shakespeare’s Richard II, Act III, Scene III. There’s a line that reads, “He is come to open the purple testament of bleeding war.” Serling mistakenly credited the line to Richard III.
In the end, Fitzgerald learns from Riker’s example. Near the conclusion, he takes his seat in a jeep showing the same sense of acceptance Nan Adams shows at the conclusion of “The Hitcher.”
This episode also has thematic similarities to the episode, “Nick of Time.” Both warn that foreknowledge can become a trap. In “Nick of Time,” a young married couple stops in a diner, and discover a novelty machine that really predicts the future. They narrowly avoid a fate of living in fear and depending on the machine.
Lt. Fitzgerald never becomes dependent on his ability. For him, it’s a living hell, knowing who will die. In the end, he finds his own way to break free of the fear and turmoil and face fate with dignity.
Sources Consulted
Albarella, Tony “When Death Has a Face” As Timeless as Infinity: The Twilight Zone Scripts of Rod Serling Volume I ed. Tony Albarella, Colorado Springs, Gauntlet Publications, 2004, Pgs. 249-252
Brode, Douglas and Serling, Carol Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone: The 50th Anniversary Tribute, Fort Lee, New Jersey, Barricade Books, 2009
Serling, Rod “The Purple Testament” As Timeless as Infinity: The Twilight Zone Scripts of Rod Serling Volume I ed. Tony Albarella, Colorado Springs, Gauntlet Publications, 2004, (The script runs from pgs. 215-248, but I refer to the script’s own page numbers rather than the book’s.)
Information on the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment
1943 Year Book Roster
http://users.owt.com/leodonna/1943Yearbook.htm
Regimental History
http://users.owt.com/leodonna/History511.htm
Casualties on Leyte and Luzon
http://users.owt.com/leodonna/511-CAS-WWII.htm
Troopers Awarded The Combat Infantry Badge (Serling among those listed for Leyte)
http://users.owt.com/leodonna/511-CIB-Leyte.htm
Medals (Bronze Stars and Purple Hearts not listed. After Luzon, all members of the 511th received Bronze Stars)
http://users.owt.com/leodonna/Medals-511.htm
Fryar and Perez’s Congressional Medal of Honor Citations
http://users.owt.com/leodonna/FryarPerez.htm
Twilight Zone episode “A Quality of Mercy”
http://www.veoh.com/collection/CBS-The-Twilight-Zone#watch%3Dv184382147egYwK4P
Twilight Zone episode “The Purple Testament”
http://www.veoh.com/collection/CBS-The-Twilight-Zone#watch%3Dv14073629CT9eGn6Q
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