Tanks being transported on Military train. Soldier drives a military jeep onto a United States Army Air Force Aircraft. Military tanks, jeeps and ambulances are loaded onto container ship. United States trucks and tanks parked in order. Various images of battlefields of Philippines, Italy, Pacific Theater and battle-scarred beach in France. Wrecked military trucks, tanks and damaged guns. Salvage collecting crew members reclaim helmets, guns and other parts that can be repaired and reused. Damaged military truck towed.
A representative of Prisoners War Branch (a MIS-X officer) interviews American soldiers who had escaped from the Japanese 10-A prison camp in Palawan, Philippines, and had then been rescued. Private first class Albert D Pacheco and Edwin A Petry share their experiences before they reached the World War 2 Japanese prison camp at Puerta Princessa, Palawan and the conditions there. Petry describes the famous five days long death march to San Fernando, where war prisoners were not given any food.
A MIS-X officer representing the Prisoners of War Branch interviews American soldiers who escaped from and were then rescued from Japan's 10-A camp in Palawan, Philippines. Private first class Edwin A Petry describes the murder of American soldiers by forcing them to enter a bomb shelter, pouring gasoline, setting the gasoline alight and shooting the men who tried to escape. With the help of a map he also describes how he along with a companion managed to escape from the prison camp by crashing through the barbed wire and swimming across the bay. They were later evacuated to Morotai by 13th Army Air Force Catalina.
Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz is met by General of the Army, Douglas MacArthur, as he arrives by airplane in Manila, Philippines. Japanese diplomats and military officers board the U.S. Battleship, Missouri, to sign surrender documents. Admiral Nimitz is one of the signatories. Nimitz is given a hero's welcome, in Washington, DC, replete with a military parade. He addresses a joint session of the U.S. Congress. Admiral Richard Byrd briefs Admiral Nimitz (now Chief of Naval Operations) about the 1947 expedition to Antarctica. Admiral Nimitz receiving an honorary degree from Columbia University, in New York. (Others present during this event include General Dwight Eisenhower and General George Marshall.) Nimitz, appointed as UN Plebiscite Administrator for Kashmir. He is visited by members of the Japanese Diet and signs autographs for them. Nimitz standing with President Truman, who appoints him to a special commission on internal security. Retired Admiral Nimitz at home in his garden at Berkeley Hills, California. Weather vane at his house contains 5 stars and replica of a submarine.
U.S. Army General, Jonathan Mathew Wainwright, home from Bataan and Corregidor, and Japanese prisons, reviews a parade in San Francisco and Washington DC and receives the Congressional Medal of Honor from U.S. President Harry S. Truman. General Wainwright exits an airplane in San Francisco. A crowd stands on both sides of a road. The General is greeted by the western defense commander, and by his sister, Mrs. Frederick Mears. They ride in a convertible car and wave at a large parade crowd along Market Street in San Francisco, gathered to welcome him back to the United States. Next scene shows his arrival by airplane in Washington DC, where he meets his wife for the first time since she left the Philippines in 1941. A military motorcade with General Wainwright crosses Memorial Bridge from Arlington into Washington DC. Huge "Welcome" sign and bunting arches all the way across Memorial Bridge, with the Lincoln Memorial in the background. Posters on poles read "Welcome Home Skinny" (his nickname). Large crowd gathers at the Washington Monument to celebrate General Wainwright. Next, on the White House lawn, President Truman presents the Congressional Medal of Honor to the General in Washington DC.
Surrender of Japanese Imperial forces leads to end of World War II. American planes approach Atsugi Air Base in Japan. Wrecked Japanese planes on airfield. Japanese labor works on airfield. C-54 aircraft lands in Atsugi. General Douglas MacArthur disembarks the plane. USS Missouri in Tokyo bay. Surrender ceremonies aboard USS Missouri. Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mamoru Shegemitsu (with cane), General Yoshijiro Umezu, Major General Yatsuji Nagai, Katsuo Okazaki, Rear Admiral Tadatoshi Tomioka, Toshikazu Kase, and Lieutenant General Suichi Miyakazi on deck of USS Missouri. Cameramen record event. General MacArthur speaks on mike. American officers surround General MacArthur. Surrender Instrument on table. Eleven men Japanese Delegation move ahead to sign the Surrender Instrument. Mamoru Shegemitsu signs Surrender Instrument. General Jonathan Wainwright and Lieutenant General Sir Arthur E Percival of British Army step forward with General MacArthur to sign Surrender Instrument. Map shows surrender locations like China, Manchuria, South West Pacific, Central Pacific, Japan, South Korea and Philippines.