July 16, 1945, with President Truman and his party enroute to Berlin Germany, prior to the "Big Three" conference at Potsdam. President Harry S. Truman is seated in right rear of open car. Secretary of State, James F. Byrnes sits next to him in the center, and Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, Personal Chief of Staff to the President, is in the left rear seat. U.S. Army Brigadier. An Army Major General stands beside the car speaking to the occupants. Brigadier General Harry H. Vaughan (wearing sun glasses), long time friend and aide to the President, steps close to the car. Scene shifts to the President and his party, standing in a moving vehicle, as they review troops of the 2nd Armored Division, standing in front of their tanks, M10 Tank Destroyers, and other armored vehicles. The President and Secretary Byrnes remove their hats and hold them over their hearts,while military officers render hand salutes as they pass the colors. Views from vehicle passing the formation.View from ground of Presidential party at attention with flag of the 17th Battalion displayed. A Lieutenant from the 17th Armored Engineer Battalion reads a citation and Brigadier General John Howell Collier, Commander, 2nd Armored Division, unfurls unit citation ribbon, that President Truman then ties to the Guidon of Company E, 17th Armored Engineer Battalion. As President Truman reportedly described the event in his diary: "We reviewed the Second Armored Division and tied a citation on the guidon of Company E, 17th Armored Engineer Battalion. General Collier, who seemed to know his stuff, put us in a reconnaissance car built with side seats and no top, just like a hoodlum wagon minus the top on a fire truck, with seats and no hose, and we drove slowly down a mile and a half of good soldiers and some millions of dollars' worth of equipment -- which had amply paid its way to Berlin." (World War II period).
Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, Commander of the German Navy at the outbreak of World War 1. He exits a taxi cab in Berlin, Germany. He pays the driver. Two Berlin city policemen walk pas the camera. Von Tirpitz turns and walks away from the taxi, crossing the street.
Alsos operation in Germany. Brandenburg gate in Berlin soon after the end of World War 2. Soviet Russian motorized unit passes on road. Views of Berlin main areas as seen from a moving vehicle. Ruins of bombing seen in city and crowd lined up on roadside. Citizens clearing rubble of buildings. American unit passes through Brandenburg gate near citizens in a black market area. Troops and crowd gathered outside a building. American officers walk out of a building at conclusion of the Alsos mission.
Unter den Linden in Berlin, Germany after the end of World War 1. German people angry about the Treaty of Versailles, gathering in protest on Unter den Linden, in Berlin. A poster on a wall lambasting the Allies (British and French, in particular) for the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, especially Article 228 giving the Allies authority to prosecute Germans accused of violating the laws and customs of war. Complete break and change of scene to France. Small unit of French troops, led by officer on a white horse, marching on street in Paris. Closeup of French General Marie-Eugene Debeney, Commandant la place de Paris, as he watches the troops assemble in formation with the officer on white horse, in center, across the street from where he stands . Several Renault FT light tanks parked on pavement next to a building.
Points of interest in Berlin, Germany. A traveling electric news billboard in a business area at night. News about the U.S. Town Commandant of Berlin Sectors Albert Watson II and the Soviets.
On 14th March, 1939 President Hacha of Czechoslovakia arrives in Berlin as a guest of Hitler. Emil Hacha is accompanied by High-ranking German officers as he walks past an honor guard and band, on a wet street after dark, in Berlin, Germany. Hacha enters an automobile.
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