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Synopsis of the Recorded
Radio Drama
In the year 1861, a Union sentry sleeps at his
post near a road on a high mountain cliff. Below him lies a narrow valley
through which his military unit must pass in order to attack an unsuspecting
Confederate army on the other side of the mountain. Suddenly, he awakens and
sees an enemy soldier on horseback at the edge of the cliff observing the troop
movement below. The sentry is struck by the beauty of the motionless figures
silhouetted against the sky and is momentarily torn between his desire to
preserve that beauty and to carry out his sworn duty to kill the enemy. He
remembers the last words of his father, a wealthy Southern gentleman who,
saddened by his son's decision to join the Union army, nonetheless admonishes
him to "do his duty." The sentry lifts his rifle and fires, causing
the horse and rider to plunge from the top of the cliff. Moments later, when the
sentry is questioned by his sergeant, it is discovered that the Confederate
soldier whom the sentry killed is none other than the sentry's own father.
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