Animation depicts Okinawa in relation to Japan,China,Formosa, and Iwo Jima. U.S. landing ships carry troops who make unopposed landings on Hagushi beach, U.S. troops seen pouring ashore. Okinawa. Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner and Vice Admiral Raymond A. Spruance seen looking through binoculars on the deck of the amphibious Flag Ship. U.S. troops move inland from the beachhead. Troops bringing bulldozers. U.S. Army infantry of the 24th Corps engage Japanese defenders. Japanese bunkers and fortifications seen. U.S. battleships and other ships of the line begin intense bombardment of the Japanese positions. U.S. army artillery fire large howitzers. U.S. tanks attack Japanese fortifications and suffer counter fire. Troop movements impeded by rain and mud. Ammunition ships seen having difficulty on congested beachhead. Animation shows how naval gunfire could successfully strike Japanese fortified positions because of flat trajectory. (World War II period).
A woman GI presents 'By Request' for the Army Navy Screen Magazine in the United States. An American soldier in China requests an old song. Character actors, humorists and comedians perform song "Down by the Old Mill Stream" on stage. Performers include Jimmy Durante, Allen Jenkins, Sterling Holloway, Hugh Herbert, William Gargan, Edward Brophy, Andy Devine, Allan Hale, Robert Benchley, and Arthur Treacher. The audience breaks into laughter during the performance. The female GI winds up the show after the performance. She states the program address and asks the soldiers to keep writing in. (World War II period).
The San Francisco Conference. U.S. Secretary of States Edward Stettinius addresses the other representatives of nations gathered for the United Nations Conference on International Organization. Foreign Commissioner Molotov of Russia addresses the gathering followed by T.V. Soong, Foreign Minister of China. Crowds on roads.
U.S. President Harry S. Truman greeted at San Francisco Airport by U.S. Secretary of State Edward Stettinius before a parade through streets. President witnesses the voting, as fifty nations agree to the new United Nations Charter. First to sign is China followed by Russia, Great Britain and France. Then Mr. Stettinius affixes his signature. A close view of signed charter is shown. President then addresses the Conference.
Delegates arrive in San Francisco for United Nations Conference for World Organization in San Francisco, California. U.S. President Truman arrives by airplane at the conference and is met by representatives from U.S. delegation including Stettinius. Delegates from other countries are also present and greet the President including Jan Smuts of South Africa and William Lloyd Mackenzie King of Canada. Views of presidential motorcade traveling through streets of San Francisco in a parade-like environment, with crowds lining the sidewalks and cheering. Delegates sign the United Nations Charter during the conference. First to sign is Dr. Wellington Koo from China, signing with a traditional Chinese brush. Also shown signing is Gromyko from the Soviet Union, Lord Halifax from Great Britain, and the delegation from France led by acting delegation chairman Joseph Paul-Boncour. Next is Edward Stettinius and Senator Tom Connally, Senator Arthur Vandenberg, Commander Harold Stassen, from the United States. U.S. President Harry S. Truman addresses the general assembly. Representatives of different nations like Lord Halifax of Great Britain, Mackenzie King of Canada, Jan Christian Smuts of South Africa, Andrei Gromyko of Russia and Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru of India can be seen. Flashback to President Franklin D Roosevelt, shortly before his death, addressing Congress about the coming San Francisco Conference. Roosevelt speaks, expressing his hope that Congress and the American People would "accept the results of this conference as the beginning of a permanent structure of peace, upon which we can begin to build, under God, that better world in which our children and grandchildren -- yours and mine - children and grandchildren of the whole world -- must live and can live."
Signing of the instruments of surrender formalizing the capitulation of Japan to the Allied Forces in World War II. The Battleship USS Missouri in the Tokyo Bay. The U.S. Destroyer, Buchanan, pulls alongside bringing representatives of the Allied Powers to participate. U.S. General of the Army, Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces boards the USS Missouri and is welcomed by Fleet Admiral Nimitz and Admiral Halsey. They proceed to the ship's Veranda deck for the signing ceremony. Japanese delegation led by Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, accompanied by General Yoshijiro Umezo arrives in a boat. Speech by MacArthur as Japanese delegation looks on. Japanese representatives sign the surrender instruments. General MacArthur then signs using several pens that he presents to U.S. General Wainwright and British General Percival and others. Admiral Chester Nimitz signs for all U.S. forces, followed by Admiral Halsey. Allied representatives then sign for China, the United Kingdom, Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, Netherlands, and New Zealand. MacArthur gives closing comments. Allied aircraft fly overhead after the ceremony.