The Kennedys at War

Excerpt from “The Kennedys”, Season One, Episode 3 “The Kennedys at War”, aired on EBC Streaming, October 6th, 2014.

_The Kennedys is an American-British television co-production by Franco-British Left Bank Productions, Imperial Pictures and PBS-12 in America, detailing the history of the Kennedy family (Joseph P. and Rose Kennedy and their descendants) from the 1930 Stock Market Crash, purportedly to Ted Kennedy’s retirement as head of the Kennedy Group in 2005, exploring their influence across three countries and two spheres. In addition to the three prominent Kennedy brothers (Robert, Ted, and Sean Cinneide (formerly John)), the show also focuses on Joe Sr., Rose, Joe Jr, Maros Cinneide (formely Rosemary Kennedy), and Patricia Kennedy-Burton. The show has garnered praise from both sides of the Atlantic, but also criticism from surviving Kennedy family members and Ted Kennedy’s media conglomerate the Kennedy Group, which heavily criticized the 2018 episode dealing with the formation of their subsidiary the Global News Network. It streams on StreamIt (the premier streaming service in the capitalist world, co-owned by the Sky Group, Pathe, and the Virgin Group) , PBS-12 and PBS Streaming (the streaming arm of the Public Broadcasting Service, and one of the main film and TV libraries in the United Republic).

The following episode deals with the activities of the Kennedys during World War II.

(NOTE: The following is based on a true story, but has been dramatized. Persons, dates, events may have been changed or invented for dramatic effect]_

[JOSEPH P. KENNEDY, JR., SS-Standartenführer of the SS 5th Panzer Division (or “Silberne Legion”) stands before a captured, snowy Russian village, watching as his men drag out the occupants. He holds a gun in one hand, and smokes a cigarette with his other, as men, women, and children are lined up. Heinz, their German advisor walks up to him.]

HEINZ: You have a moment?

[Kennedy turns around]

HEINZ: There is news that William Pelley and Virgil Effinger want some of your men to help set up their “Free American State”.

[Kennedy grimaces, his face twisted in disgust.]

HEINZ: They say they want good patriotic white Aryans of American stock to-”

KENNEDY: “Enough.”

HEINZ: “Sir?”

KENNEDY: “Effinger and Pelley would have you believe that their goal, leutnant , is to restore the United States of America as it was before those degenerate Reds got their hands on it, right?”

[Heinz nods reluctantly.]

KENNEDY: [getting increasingly angry] “I’ll let you in on a little secret. Men like them are the exact reason why the Republic was bled dry by the Jews and Bolsheviks. They got complacent. Resting on the laurels of their victories and their wealth, and allowing us to be stabbed right in the back!”

[Kennedy takes a deep breath.]

KENNEDY: “Those weak men with their steak dinners and white picket fences are merely a ghost of what used to be. What can never be again, really. The future of America rests in our hands, Heinz. Once we do away with these animals, we can cross the ocean and purge my homeland of the degenerate filth and rot. Only then , will I be satisfied.”

HEINZ: [GULPS] Okay.

KENNEDY: We’re approaching Stalingrad. We need to go at dawn.

[Kennedy puts the cigarette out into the snow, stomping on it for good measure.]

KENNEDY: [turning towards one of the men in his legion] “You may fire when ready.”

[Kennedy stares into the distance. FADE TO BLACK as gunfire is heard]

[CUT TO: Moscow, also snowing. A group of young artillery officers prepare a cannon for the incoming Nazi forces. Among them is young SEAN CINNEIDE, recently graduated from West Point. He is with a few other soldiers GERALDO, CASSIUS, and FRANKS as they prepare the gun. CINNEIDE wipes the inside of the cannon, while Franks looks on]

FRANKS: Got it cleared out, Comrade Cinneide?

CINNEIDE: Almost. Just need a few more minutes.

GERALDO: Too dirty for you? I can see why.

[Cassius hits Geraldo]

CASSIUS: Lay off him, he hasn’t seen his family for years. He’s as red as they come.

GERALDO: I’m just messing with him. He doesn’t mind.

CINNEIDE: I don’t. We’ve been ribbing each other since we met at West Point.

CASSIUS: Sorry, it’s just… I heard what you did for that African NCO. You seem like a good kid.

GERALDO: You should’ve seen him. He chewed out that commander like no one’s business.

FRANKS: He takes care of his baby sister. Where is she now?

CINNEIDE: She got a medical deferment, so she’s doing her part in the Philadelphia Shipyards.

GERALDO: Hey, look!

[They all turn to see a large jeep pull up. A stocky man gets off, followed by his entourage. Closer examination reveals JOSEPH STALIN has come. Cinneide comes down, grabs a rifle and approaches him.]

CINNEIDE: [In Russian] Hello, Comrade General Secretary.

STALIN: [Smiles] What is your name, soldier?

CINNEIDE: Sean Cinneide, sir.

STALIN: Your Russian is very good.

CINNEIDE: Thank you, Comrade General Secretary

[Stalin looks at Cinneide’s gun.]

STALIN: Well, I’m just surveying the preparations for the upcoming battle.

CINNEIDE: Are you going to evacuate?

STALIN: No, I’m going to stay.

CINNEIDE: I’m sorry?

STALIN: I am the leader. The people of Soviet Union look to me in their time of need. I will not abandon them.

[Cinneide looks concerned]

CINNEIDE: Are you sure about that?

STALIN: Yes. If you want to be a leader, you have to be prepared to make sacrifices. You understand, Comrade Cinneide?

CINNEIDE: I think I do

[Stalin pats him on the head]

STALIN: Good boy.

[CUT TO: Gibbs School for Boys in London. 16 year old ROBERT KENNEDY is studying, while his roommate GREGORY listens to music on the BBC]

ROBERT: Can you keep it down?

GREGORY: Come on, lay off a little, enjoy.

ROBERT: I have to do well in this test.

GREGORY: You’re going to do fine, just relax and come and dance a little.

[Robert scoffs and goes back to studying when the music is interrupted]

BBC ANNOUNCER: We interrupt this regularly scheduled broadcast to bring you breaking news. King Edward has announced he will officially abdicate the throne effective immediately.

[Robert rushes over to the radio]’

BBC ANNOUNCER: This follows his announcement of support for the government of Lord Halifax and its “peace efforts” after several conservative MPs under Winston Churchill declared they will split and force a vote of non-confidence. The King and the Princess Consort have come under fire recently for their regular meetings with William Joyce, head of the National Socialist and Fasicst League, who,in the midst of Petain’s coup in France, attempted his own coup in January.

[Close-up of Robert as he sits stunned, thinking of…]

[CUT TO: JOSEPH KENNEDY, SR., Ambassador of the United States of America-in-exile to the Court of St. James, sitting in his office, listening to the same broadcast.]

BBC ANNOUNCER: Albert, the Prince of York, will ascend to the throne. No news from the Prime Minister’s office, as they continue to battle the vote of no-confidence.

[The phone rings. Joe picks it up]

JOE: Hello?

[CUT TO: The State Department headquarters in Havana. BRECKENRIDGE LONG is clearing out his desk, putting various items in his drawers into a suitcase.]

LONG: It’s over, Joe. I was fired this morning. Me, and a bunch of others in the cabinet. The General wants you back in Havana as soon as possible.

[Joe leans back in his chair]
JOE: That’s it? Nothing can be done?

LONG: He doesn’t trust Salgado, he’s still miffed that Coughlin and the Silver Legion tried to pull a fast one on him, and he knows that the vote against Halifax will win. Churchill told him that himself. He wants to hedge his bets, be proactive if he is going to declare war on Brazil. You and I don’t fit into those plans.

JOE: Surely, I could still convince….

LONG: Joe, you spent way too much time with Halifax, and Joyce, and his former Majesty. Not to mention, you’re friends with vice… FORMER vice-president Coughlin and you’ve become too comfortable with his Silver Legion flunkeys. You think that doesn’t get into the press. You’re too tied with the appeasement crowd, and MacArthur knows it. He also knows you had contact with German agents.

JOE: That’s an absurd accusation. Charles and I had no way of…

LONG: Save it. There’s no point defending yourself now. You knew those were German agents and the Silver Legion was close to them.

[Long sighs]

LONG: MacArthur wants a war council, not one of appeasers. He’s already got rid of Coughlin when that scandal came out, and now he’s just taking care of the rest of us who didn’t want to be dragged into this war. There’s also the issue of…. Your sons.

[Joe looks down]

LONG: One defecting to the Reds was bad enough. The other is now fighting in Russia for the Germans…. That just causes too much suspicion.

JOE: I didn’t tell…

LONG: That doesn’t matter. You didn’t exactly discourage him from my memory.

JOE: I didn’t know we’d be…

LONG: None of us did.

JOE: You know whose fault this is?

LONG: Oh, God, Joe, don’t….

JOE: It’s Baruch! That goddamned… he and his people have been slithering around, influencing our government. You tried to keep them out, remember?

LONG: I know…

JOE: But they just keep popping up! They were responsible for us leaving, now they’re trying to get us to…

LONG: You might want to keep your criticisms of Mr. Baruch and “his people” to a minimum, if you want to keep yourself employed. Clare Booth is the new Secretary of State.

[Joe rubs his head]

JOE: Fuck.

LONG: She tells me she might set you up in Australia. Or possibly South Africa, if you’re good.

[The doors to Joe’s office open, as his secretary brings in a telegram. He reads it.]

LONG: What is it?

JOE: The vote came in. Halifax is out…. I’ll pack my things now.

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Special thanks to @Asami for some of the dialogue in the Joe Kennedy, Jr. section. *[WPA]: Works Progress Administration *[NBI]: National Bureau of Investigation