Hero's Departure: Gunsmoke (December 18, 1960)

“Hero's Departure” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast December 18, 1960. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Marshal Matt Dillon meets Jonathan Wood, a celebrated war hero who has arrived in Dodge City and plans to settle there. The town is thrilled to have him, but Wood's arrival is complicated when a man named Donny confronts Dillon with accusations that Wood's cowardice during the Battle of the Hogback led to the death of Donny's father.

Dodge City, Kansas - the marshal's office, saloon, and streets

Characters: Matt Dillon, Chester, Jonathan Wood, Donny, Kitty, Doc

Listen for: The tension between the town's admiration for Wood and the accusation that he caused a soldier's death through cowardice during the Civil War.

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.