U.S. 8th Air Force B-17 crew is debriefed by an intelligence officer immediately after returning from a bombing mission during World War 2. In response to his questions, the crew members describe being hit by enemy fire, damage to their aircraft, and attacks by German Fw-190 and Me-109 fighter aircraft. A gunner tells of shooting down a German plane that flew underneath their B-17. Narrator Richard Cordon seated at a desk speaks to camera in a public service announcement, and appeals to capable American mechanics and men under 50 who are handy with tools to volunteer for service with the Army Air Forces. He reads a notice of the U.S. Army Air Forces dated October 1, 1942, inviting civilian mechanics to service with the Army Air Force. Views of mechanics performing various maintenance duties on parked B-17 bomber aircraft. Mechanics work on a B-17 aircraft with name "Baby Doll" on it. A mechanic works on a propeller of B-17 aircraft with nose art and name "Birmingham Blitzkrieg." A mechanic evaluates a machine gun in side door of a B-17 aircraft named "Shoot, You're Faded." Close-up view of notice from the U.S. Army on its letterhead, appealing for mechanics up to 50 years of age.
The legislative and maritime history of the U.S. Merchant Marine. Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on 7th December 1941. Dramatized view of Japanese airplanes in flight over Pearl Harbor. They drop bombs over the target area. Actual footage of Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor with heavy columns of smoke rising as ships explode. U.S. sailors on the deck of a ship. The activities at a U.S. shipyard. Launching in July 1942 of the SS Ocean Viceroy, built by Permanente Metals Corp in Richmond California for the British Ministry of War Transport. People gather at the shipyard as the SS Ocean Viceroy is launched. A ship convoy underway at sea of various cargo ships and Liberty Ships in World War 2. The U.S. flag flying from a flag pole on a ship. The sailors march on the deck.
General Electric Company engineers work on designs for America's first jet aircraft engine during World War 2. In the company's plant, at Lynn, Massachusetts, machinists make parts for the engine and others assemble it. Company executives conversing about the enterprise. On April 18, 1942, the first engine produced is rolled into a test cell for operational testing. Engineers pull down the door to the test cell displaying the words: "Fort Knox." Engineers at control panel of the test cell. View into the test cell. GE Project manager, Donald F. Warner, actuates toggle switch to "on" position, and the engine ignites. Flame seen in rear of the engine. Complete change of location. View of Bell Aircraft company buildings. Bell engineers working on design of an airplane designated, XP-59A (Airacomet) to be powered by the new General Electric jet engine (later designated J-31 by the military). Views of the Bell engineering and production activities at secret facilities in Buffalo, New York. Two Bell workers expressing reservations about airplanes without propellers. A main intersection street scene in Schenectady, New York. Pedestrians walking and shopping. An F.W. Woolworth store on the corner. Copy of the Schenectady Gazette Newspaper, with headline about 500 planes raiding Berlin. A man buying a copy of the paper.
Official films of the flight of Bell YP-59A Airacomet jet-powered airplane, October 1, 1942. Workers at the General Electric plant in Lynn, Massachusetts, producing versions of increasingly more powerful jet engines: the I-16 with 1600 pounds of thrust and the J-33, with 4000 pounds of thrust. First flight, January 8, 1944, of a Lockheed P-80 shooting star fighter jet powered by the J-33 engine. Formation of P-80 fighter planes in flight. (World War 2 period.)
Launch of two aircraft carriers and a battleship in the United States during World War II. People gathered at shipyards of New York Shipbuilding Corporation for the launch of the USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24). Sponsor Mrs. Thomas Holcomb seen with U.S. Marine Corps General Thomas Holcomb. Mrs. Holcomb christens the ship as it launches. Scene shifts to Fore River Shipyard in Massachusetts and launching of the USS Bunker Hill (CV-17). The aircraft carrier slides down skids into the water. Scene shifts to Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on the same day, December 7, 1942, as the launching ceremony for the Battleship USS New Jersey (BB-62). Carolyn Edison, wife of New Jersey Governor Charles Edison is seen christening the ship and it then slides into the water. Two boats underway in the background assist with positioning the Battleship.
(See also clip 65675078146 from different film transfer). Famous African American men and women citizens in the United States. Clip opens with of Booker T. Washington at Tuskegee University. Scene in a laboratory with African American scientist and inventor George Washington Carver, as an elderly man, working with another scientist in the laboratory. African American judge of New York city court. African American explorer Matthew Henson is seen looking at a globe (he was with Admiral Peary planting the American flag at the North Pole in 1909), and an unnamed African American surgeon at work in an operating room in New York. Next scene shows famous "father of the blues" musician and composer W.C. Handy (William Christoper Handy) smiling. Next is seen the financier and publisher of the Amsterdam News, Dr. C.B. Powell (Clilan Powell) greeting three uniformed African American women during a World War 2 war bond drive, and handing them a check (close up is shown) for 25,000 dollars, dated January 4, 1942, for the war bond drive. It is from the account of the Victory Mutual Life Insurance Company which Dr. Powell also owned. The check is signed by C.B Powell and Philip M.H. Savory (Dr. Savory was co-owner of the New York Amsterdam News). The next scene shows Elise Johnson McDougald, better known as Gertrude Elise Ayer, who was the first black full-time public school principal after the consolidation of New York City schools in 1898. She was also a noted woman writer during the Harlem Renaissance. She is seated in her office at her desk, likely in P.S. 119 in Harlem, since this is approximately year 1945 and she was at P.S 119 at that time. Her name plaque is visible on the front center of the desk. Principal Ayer smiles as a woman delivers a document to her. Next is seen the African American historian, author, and professor, Lawrence D. Reddick, serving in his role as the curator of the Schomburg Collection of African American Literature. In an art studio is seen the famous African American sculptor and painter Charles Alston, at work on a sculpture. Next scene shows the famous African American contralto singer, Marian Anderson, receiving a bouquet of flowers and smiling after a performance. This transitions to a view of African American orchestra conductor Dean Dixon leading an orchestra in a performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Several views of different sections of the orchestra performing under Dixon's direction. Clip closes with brief shots of campuses of several historically black colleges and universities in the United States like Howard University, Hampton, Tuskegee, Fisk, Prairie View. An American college football game underway at the stadium of one of the colleges.