Vincent Lopez and his orchestra are on stage ready to perform. He stands by his piano, and begins to conduct. The orchestra starts to play. Mr. Lopez calmly seats himself at the piano and plays along with the jazz orchestra, displaying notable flourishes as he plays. Sequence breaks and picks up with male vocalist now also on stage. Lopez stands, conducting vocalist and orchestra. (Note: Vincent Lopez and his orchestra performed at the Grill Room in the Hotel Taft, New York City, from 1941 to 1961.)
Opening scene shows U.S. President Ronald Reagan holding a little girl, and then standing with officials and Secret Service agents, as he prepares to enter a car. Closeup of him smiling. Closeup of President Reagan signing his autograph for spectators in a crowd. Next, Reagan and his wife Nancy are seen on November 4, 1980 waving to supporters at the Century Plaza Hotel, celebrating his election victory as the 40th U.S. President. The President elect says a few words of thanks to them. Views of the crowd cheering. Adopted son, Michael Reagan holds his son Cameron as he and his wife, Colleen Reagan, join Ronald and Nancy Reagan on the stage, followed by daughter Patricia Reagan and son Ron Reagan. The crowd cheers the President elect and his family. At this point the film begins showing images about Ronald Regan's life, starting with baby pictures; his parents; Tampico, Illinois, where he was born; Dixon, where he is seen in a school picture and with boyhood friends. A photograph of "Dutch" Reagan President of his High School Class. Reagan in photo with other members of the Eureka College football team, in Eureka, Illinois. The seal of the college. Pictures of Reagan with college classmates and teammates. Reagan posing in bathing suit when he was swimming team coach. Young Reagan, after graduation, as a sports announcer, sitting at a microphone labeled: "WHO" in Davenport, Iowa. The broadcasting tower of that radio station. A Track and field event taking place. Reagan posing with a pipe in his mouth, at the WHO radio station in Des Moines, Iowa. A baseball game in progress before a full stadium of spectators. In 1937, a Chicago baseball team is seen boarding a ship to a Spring training camp in California. (Narrator states Reagan accompanied them.) Aerial view of buildings at the First National Studios (home of Warner Brothers) in Hollywood. Ronald and Nancy Reagan, circa 1952, being applauded at a gathering when he was President of the Screen Actors Guild. Views of Reagan in U.S. Army uniform. A U.S. Army C-47 aircraft taking off from a field under attack, with fires burning and smoke rising (possibly during Japanese December 7, 1941 attack on installations in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii). U.S. Airmen standing on a ramp next to a Douglas C-47B-1-DL transport aircraft (tail number: 43-16145). What appears to be a ViP version of a B-50 aircraft parked on a ramp with an honor guard at the stairway. Ronald Reagan, in uniform, signing up for active duty. Later, Captain Reagan, U.S. Army Air Forces, is seen with other uniformed men at a gathering in Warner Brothers studios. The entrance of Paramount Pictures studios in Hollywood. A large group of studio employees walking between buildings. Reagan speaking, as President, of the Screen Actors Guild, at an outdoor gathering. Actor Robert Young and film industry executives stand nearby. Reagan, as Chairman of the Motion Picture Industry Council, addresses a dinner gathering of that organization. He is also seen testifying before he House Committee on Un-American activities Committee (HUAC) on October 23, 1947.
Retired United States Army Major General Walter Campbell Short testifies before a Joint Congressional Committee investigating facts leading up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor,December 7, 1941, and defends himself. Among the matters he mentions are the closely guarded secrets surrounding U.S. intelligence information concerning Japanese military and diplomatic communications (so-called "Magic"). At the end of his remarks, he gives thanks to the Committee for bringing out facts. Other officials seated around him listen to him. Some of those present applaud General Short, at the conclusion of his testimony. The officials stand after his testimony. (World War II period).
American troops are seen in arctic gear moving on skis through blustery snowy weather in Iceland, during World War 2. They were sent in 1941 to relieve British troops occupying Iceland since 1940, during World War II. A guard post at the American camp, with Quonset Hut in background. Closeup of U.S. sentry in arctic gear holding rifle with bayonet affixed. View from above, of numerous tents partially covered with snow in the American camp. Change of scene shows U.S. troops disembarking from transport ships at the British Isles. They march with their combat gear onto a square where Army trucks wait to transport them inland. Another scene shows the American troops, viewed from behind, parading in London. Other scenes show them marching in various areas of London. Saint Paul’s cathedral is seen in the background of one scene. A large number of American M3 Stuart Light tanks move on a railroad train in Britain. Scene shifts to the Middle East, where railroad cars and various military supplies for Russia are be offloaded from American ships. A Russian officer is seen signing receipts for war materiel, from a U.S. Army Technical Sergeant. A row of American Army trucks are lined up behind them. The Russian and American exchange salutes, and shake hands. Next, a troop ship carrying American troops is seen arriving at a port in India, where they disembark with their gear. An American Army Sergeant in a pith helmet pays attention to a little Indian girl. Scene shifts to China, in 1942, where Brigadier General Claire Lee Chennault, Commander of the China Air Task Force, of the Tenth Air Force, that replaced the American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers), is seen with Brigadier General Caleb V. Haynes, Commander of the India Air Task Force. A colonel joins their discussions. A Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber is parked behind them. View of Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter planes, with Flying Tiger markings, parked on a flight line. A B-24 bomber landing on a runway, between hills, deep in China. Closeup of Nationalist China Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, saluting. Huge numbers of Chinese troops assembling in a formation. Next, an expeditionary force of American troops is seen arriving on a troop ship in Australia. They line the ship’s deck and wave. General Douglas MacArthur arriving in Australia to assume the office of Supreme Commander, South West Pacific Area (SWPA). .Glimpses of U.S. Navy activities in Australia: setting up defenses of islands; unpacking a Kingfisher float plane and making it ready for use on a desert island. The final segments of the film show American forces in August ,1942 sailing to Adak in the Aleutian Islands, to strengthen American defenses there. Troops seen descending by rope ladder from the American transport ship USS J Franklin Bell (PA-34), into her landing craft for deployment on Adak Island. Scenes of landing craft reaching the beach and offloading troops, vehicles, and supplies. View of beach filled with supplies. One landing craft is clearly marked with ""P34" showing that it belongs to the USS J Franklin Bell ( later reclassified as APA-16).
General Henry H. Arnold, Commander of the U.S. Army Air Forces, seated in front of world map, reports that since start of World War 2, the U.S. Air Force has gone from number 7, to number 1, in the world. Defense plant workers are shown walking near their place of work. A college football game shown in progress. Individual young men who left civilian life to became pilots, bombardiers, radio technicians, and gunners, in the Air Forces. A commercial DC-3 aircraft taxing to park at an airport. Shown are people who make the Air Forces possible, including many men and women workers at factories and manufacturing plants making aircraft and parts for the World War 2 effort: Steel workers, a woman working on a plane fuselage, actor James Stewart (in uniform), a welder at work, a typist, a machinist using a caliper, and an older couple at home, who forgoe driving their private car, shown covered in their garage. The flaming wreckage of U.S. aircraft at Hickam Field, on December 7, 1941. Large formation of German Heinkel He-111 bombers in flight. Formation of Japanese Mitsubishi G3M (Nell) bombers. U.S. P-40 pursuit planes taxiing out from parking places. Assembly line in U.S. aircraft manufacturing plant. U.S. Army Air Forces B-17 Flying Fortress planes on assembly lines. Workmen work on engines and aircraft fuselages. At the Douglas plant U.S. Army Air Forces B-26 Marauder bombers being assembled. Workmen inserting machine guns into a wing.
Joint Congressional Investigation of the Pearl Harbor attack in the United States. Officials gather in the court room. Officials seated at their desk and Retired U.S. Army Major General Walter Short addresses them about the Pearl Harbor attack. He states that no mention was ever made by the Japanese for the attack on Hawaii. The United States had no idea to be prepared for the Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor. On December 7th 1941. The United States Army was not notified about the attack even at that time. (World War II period).