A U.S. Army 1st Air Cavalry Division soldier equipped with an E63 personnel detector manpack, advances through a jungle area during training in Ankhe, South Vietnam. He signals to his buddy, that his E63 is malfunctioning. He assumes an alert defensive posture, as his buddy opens the manpack and checks its internal components. Interior view of the E63 shows air transport fan and chemicals. (Vietnam War period).
Opening scene shows a message being received on a teletype machine from the U.S. 3rd Air Division. Two Air Force officers are seen seated at desks. One is labeled "Ops-Plans." The on duty operations officer passes on the message to his staff where it goes through operation, operation planning, maintenance, ordinance and armament. Technicians preparing the guns and loading ordnance for the mission, on a B-52 aircraft. Air crew members ate seen assembled in their briefing room, Glimpse of the mission briefing officer at a podium. View of wristwatch as narrator speaks of navigators synchronizing their watches. A B-52 crew stepping from their crew bus as they arrive at their aircraft. As other crew member climb aboard the plane, their aircraft commander reviews the aircraft status, as reflected on its Form 781, with the aircraft crew chief. Crew members then begins a pre-flight walk-around inspection, starting with the landing gear and wheel wells. The last of the crew enter the aircraft via a bottom hatch, which a ground crewman then fastens from the outside. Inside, crew members are seen going through pre-flight check lists at their respective duty stations. Back at the Command Post, the duty controller receives the order via secure telephone, from 3rd Air Division headquarters, to execute the mission. He informs the Aircraft Commander and the B-52 starts its engines. View of throttles being pushed forward in the cockpit, as the aircraft begins takeoff. View from ground as the B-52 takes off and flies overhead. Glimpse of the aircraft commander in the cockpit wearing helmet and oxygen mask. Hand of radar observer is seen as he checks out his equipment. Aerial closeup of a B-52 in flight. View of radar observer placing the aircraft controls in so-called "Second Station," with the autopilot controlled by the bombing navigation computer. Inflight closeup of B-52 opening its bomb bay doors and starting to drop bombs. Glimpse of the aircraft commander in cockpit and of B-52 aircraft in flight, as narrator states they are returning to U-Tapao Airbase,or to Guam. The aircraft in the mission are seen landing back at U-Tapao Airbase, Thailand, where other B-52s are parked on the ramp. They taxi to their parking places and crew members board buses back to operations for a mission debriefing.
View of old French gun. Quonset hut. United States military personnel dig. Boxes secured with lines, attached to block and tackle. Look out post on top of the hill. Harbor Patrol Command Post on top of the mountain. Sign reads 'Restricted Area, Keep Out'.
A barge-mounted crane lifts Land Craft Mechanized (LCM) onto barge. A tugboat nears the barge. Tugboat tows the barge to harbor.
U.S. Army soldiers of 5th Mechanized Infantry Regiment, "Bobcats," of the 25th Infantry Division, on patrol. They move and fire their M-16 rifles and M-79 grenade launcher during Operation Cedar Falls. African American soldier loads M-60 machine gun and sprays the area with gunfire. Soldiers receive wounds from the accidental tripping of a Viet Cong booby trap. Medics attend leg wounds of a soldier. A wounded is carried on litter. African American medic inserts an intravenous plasma IV into a wounded soldier as another holds his head. (Reportedly, the cameraman who shot this footage was Richard Welsh of the Department of the Army Special Photo Office.)
Dong Tam ship yard with landing crafts at the dock. Assault patrol at the dock. LCM Mechanized landing craft leaves the dock. Air Traffic Control (ATC) at pier. Patrol boat crosses ship yard. LCM passes. ATC with helicopter landing pads. Sailor works on the patrol boat. Pile driver at the shore. Vietnamese workers weld steel shoring.