United Nations troops face the Spring offensive during the Korean War. UN combat team soldiers comprised of British, Belgian, Filipino, and American troops quickly break their camp in the Imjin River area. A soldier hastily finishes his meal. UN soldiers standing in a fox hole with rifles resting atop boxes and looking out at enemy lines. Mortars being fired by UN forces at the enemy Chinese forces. A UN Military trucks burns after being hit by an enemy shell. UN convoy of trucks and tanks on a retreat halts and is seen as it takes cover due to heavy firing from machine gun and mortar fire in the hills. UN convoy resumes the advance. British and Belgian battalion commanders discuss plans. Convoy rolls through Uijongbu. Tired and weary U.S. Army infantrymen advance and wade through a rice fields and streams after heavy battle the day before. In rainy conditions, soldiers hold rear guard position and U.S. Army 155mm howitzers being fired at the enemy in Uijongbu. UN military vehicles cross a bridge. Soldiers pour gasoline over a TNT (Trinitrotoluene) mined bridge. They set the gas on fire and run toward the camera position. Bridge explodes and smoke rises.
U.S. troops of the Third Army Division move along a mountainous road, past some parked army vehicles. Several of them scurry to take shelter by some boulders. Smoke rising from valley below as a soldier, in an M3 Half track, points and sets up an antenna. Four 50-caliber machine guns are mounted in the back of the half track. American soldiers firing rifles from a protected area. Two soldiers with an air-cooled machine gun. Spent cartridges are scattered in the sand by their weapon. Glimpse of troops firing the four 50 caliber machine guns in the back of the M3 half track. Overwhelmed by superior numbers, the U.S. troops are ordered to pull back. View of U.S. soldiers moving back from their protected position. American troops in vehicles moving back along the dirt mountainous road. Next, U.S. forces are seen moving South over snow-covered terrain. One U.S. mortar team fires a round to their rear. A Brigadier General conferring with another officer about mounting a counterattack back up the peninsula. Third Division troops are seen heading North, again, firing tank artillery as they proceed. Smoke rises from their shells exploding ahead of them. Infantry move carefully through burning villages and into the Korean central mountain sector. Smoke rises from a large explosion as the North Koreans launch an offensive in May. American troops rushing up a hillside to engage the enemy. A U.S. Sherman tank firing rounds from valley floor. Shells from U.S. armor exploding atop a hill occupied by American troops. Afterwards, the troops advance further. One fires at an enemy bunker just to be sure it is not occupied. Machine gunner atop a U.S. tank fires at haystacks that might hold enemy soldiers. Another view of a Sherman tank firing its main gun. Smoke rising from the shells striking a hill in the distance. Glimpse of a U.S. soldier with a North Korean prisoner of war. U.S. troops advancing through rice paddies filled with water. Narrator states that this was a full scale United Nations Offensive called "Operation Pile Driver." More views of American infantry setting up firing lines and firing water-cooled and air-cooled machine guns.
Opening scene shows view U.S. soldier atop a tank advancing along a waterway, behind a truck filled with infantry, during the Korean War. A civilian car caught in a flood. An American tank with 3rd Division infantrymen on edge of a flooded area. A civilian vehicle abandoned nearby. Narrator notes that Chinese forces were suffering defeats. Third Division infantry accompanied by armor, advancing in fields. Riflemen firing their weapons at an abandoned train and a building. Tanks advancing with infantry. Third division receives orders to anchor western end of the Iron Triangle in plan to contain Communist forces therein. American Junior officers discuss this with soldiers.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers use a mobile crane and other construction equipment to rebuild a bridge during the Korean War. Closeup of engineers standing on the edge of a newly built section of the bridge. Wheels of the mobile crane are nearby. They lower a cable as an inflatable boat arrives carrying steel sections for the construction. The boat and its cargo is pulled in and tied up to the existing structure. Scene shifts to a dirt road, where several Patton tanks are clustered near a large tent. Tank crews are checking their guns and equipment. Closeup of Lieutenant General James Van Fleet, newly appointed Commander of the U.S. Eighth Army, at the construction site. Closeup of a Patton tank with crew members visible, as it passes the camera. Its main gun is wrapped in tarpaulin covering. Next, a Patton tank is seen crossing a pontoon bridge. U.S. troops firing an M20 75mm recoilless rifle at enemy positions from a temporary hillside base. American troops firing a mortar. Scene shifts completely to Korean refugees fleeing the battlefields. They and their belongings are loaded into trucks, along with food and other supplies. Closeups of some of the refugees. A column of trucks filled with refugees is seen making its way along a dirt road. United Nations troops investigate possible infiltrators from the North, They are seen searching and questioning some. A sign at one area reads: "65th PW Cage. Keep Out." Some in the prisoner area are seen being interrogated and writing answers to questions.
1st Marine Division in active battle during the Korean War. U.S. marines walk across a field. The marines run to advance and occupy enemy positions. U.S. Marine Skyraider aircraft fly over the enemy positions. A marine talks over a phone. A pilot talks over a phone during a flight. A napalm bomb is dropped by the aircraft. Houses on fire in a village. The aircraft continues bombing and firing. The marines throw grenades and run into the village. Buildings on fire. Marines emerging from trenches and running to take village. They walk on the village streets as flames burn nearby buildings.
Commanding-General of U.S. 1st Corps Lieutenant General Frank W. Milburn with Commanding Officer of U.S. 24th RCT (Regimental Combat Team) Colonel Henry C. Britt at the Lincoln Defense Line on the Western Front during Korean War. Milburn and Britt talk to each other and leave in jeep. Company A of of the 24th RCT advance north of Lincoln Line across field on a counter attack by the U.S. 25th Division. African American unit of 24th RCT advances.