United States President Lyndon B. Johnson delivers a speech at a news conference in July 28, 1965 during the Vietnam War. President Johnson quotes a letter from a woman in the Midwest, "Dear Mr. President: In my humble way I am writing to you about the crisis in Vietnam. I have a son who is now in Vietnam. My husband served in World War II. Our country was at war, but now, this time, it's just something that I don’t understand. Why?”. United States Army soldiers in a Vietnamese jungle. A crying Vietnamese child. A man sits in front of a fire in the middle of a ruined house. Fascist leaders Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini during a parade in Munich, Germany. Flags of Nazi Germany and the United Kingdom. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain disembarks from in Munich for the Munich agreement. Nazi German guards turn their heads in unison. Adolf Hitler and Neville Chamberlain walk together. Crowd civilians perform the Nazi salute. Hitler and Mussolini in balcony. Neville Chamberlain reads the “Peace For Our Time” speech. “We regard the agreement signed last night and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again” Chamberlain said before smiling. Ruins of a bombarded city in Europe during World War II. Mussolini gesturing strongly during a speech. Cavalry soldiers on horseback in Ethiopia. Royal Italian Army fighting in Ethiopia during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. Italian soldiers firing with a Fiat-Revelli M14 machine gun and advancing in field. Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia protests Italian aggression in the League of Nations. A stylized Nazi eagle statue in Austria. Austrian soldiers during the German Anschluss of 1938. Hitler and Austrian politicians perform the Nazi salute in Vienna. Explosions from night bombardment during the Korean War. Communist Chinese People's Liberation Army troops firing with Chinese Type 24 Maxim Water-Cooled Machine Gun and rifles in Korea. Soldiers’ feet climb and jump up uneven terrain in the battlefield. United States Army M46 Patton tanks pointing upwards and firing at enemy positions. An M46 Patton tank and trucks of the United Nations Forces crossing the 38th parallel line in Korea. Sign denotes the 38th parallel line. President Johnson continues his speech at the White House. “Why must young Americans, born into a land exultant with hope and with golden promise, toil and suffer and sometimes die in such a remote and distant place? The answer, like the war itself, is not an easy one, but it echoes clearly from the painful lessons of half a century. Three times in my lifetime, in two World Wars and in Korea, Americans have gone to far lands to fight for freedom. We have learned at a terrible and a brutal cost that retreat does not bring safety and weakness does not bring peace. It is this lesson that has brought us to Vietnam.” President Johnson said.
Austro-Hungarian soldiers pose with a 77mm Krupp field gun, model 1914, on display in a public square. Several curious civilians take note of them. Another view of the soldiers posing with two such guns, as several civilians walk nearby. In background, across the Danube River (based on information in the film opening slate) are significant large buildings of a major city. Several officers come to stand in front of one of the guns, as a soldier brings a 77mm shell out for all to see. Another soldier also displays a shell up for the camera. Scene shifts back to the initial location and soldiers standing by their gun.
Scenes of the Austrian Port, Cattaro, on the Adriatic Sea, in World War 1. Rivers and mountains in the area. Houses on the field. Road amidst the mountain and the valley. Mount Lovcen in Montenegro seen in background.
Austrian schoolgirls perform a traditional dance to celebrate the end of the school year. Schoolgirls, wearing white dresses, hold floral arches while dancing. Schoolgirls curtsy, performing a folk dance (likely the "Laender").
Four B-24s fly over city. Distant view of scattered formation of six B-24s over Budapest. Five B-24s fly over the city with shadows on ground moving across flat terrain. A B-24 drop bombs over the target area. Vapor trails of B-24s can be seen in sky. Hazy view of aircraft over high clouds. (World War II period).
German troops enter Budapest city as civilians watch. Armored half-tracks, Sdkfz.251/7 Ausf.D pioneer vehicle, rarely seen Puma 234/2 8-wheeled armored cars, StuG III tank destroyers, trucks and other military vehicles move ahead on streets of Budapest. Children smile and shake hands with German troops. Children climb on German tank destroyer and motorcycle. Troops look over Danube river through binoculars. (World War II period).