First Chinese refugee family arrives in Chicago, Illinois under an emergency immigration plan. The Eng family arrives under emergency immigration laws to allow the refugees to enter the country and receive asylum from Communist rule in China. The family had been waiting in Taiwan since 1955 and had not succeeded in entering the U.S. under a quota that permitted only 105 Chinese persons per year. Chinese refugees get off an airplane. They meet their family. They enter a building. Food on a table. The family seated at the table eats the food.
The rise of totalitarianism and Axis powers in the 1930s and its lead up to the Pacific Theater of World War II. “Duce” of Italian Fascism Benito Mussolini making a speech. A superimposed animated cartoon radio antenna emits the word “Lies”. Adolf Hitler making a passionate speech to German troops. A Nazi parade in Germany. Growth of German military budget is shown with an animated diagram. Gathering of troops, army vehicles, artillery, motorcars, tanks, airplanes, and ships of the Axis nations. News headlines about the military budget. Japanese soldiers holding bayonets. Animated map shows the Japanese plan for the invasion of Manchuria. Damaged railroads during a dramatized depiction of the Mukden Incident. The Japanese flag at a mast. Japanese troops advance in Manchuria. Former Emperor of China Puyi becomes the Emperor of Manchukuo. Flag of Manchukuo. Emperor Puyi shake hands with a Japanese military official. United States Secretary of State Henry Lewis Stimson denounces the Manchurian action. A sign reads: 'Gotham Limited'. Japanese delegates speak during a national meeting. They leave a League of Nations meeting. Horses plowing a field in Iowa. A double decker bus on a road in London. A waiter serving at an al fresco café in Paris. A hut burns as the Japanese advance through Manchuria. Huge columns of U.S. Army troops marching in formation.
Activities of civilians on streets in London, England during World War 2. People walk on a sidewalk in London Square. Buildings in the background. A poster reads as 'China Rally to be held at the Albert Hall on July 7th'. Views of the street: pedestrians, British and American soldiers and airmen. People walk along the street. Many stores and shops are seen. People walk along a sidewalk. American soldiers and girls walking in the street. A group of British soldiers talk to a girl. Traffic seen on Magdalen Bridge.
Division of Vietnam into North and South Vietnam as Indochina war ends up in Vietnam. Aerial view of cratered battle ground, with smoke rising, at Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam, in March, 1954. A French A-26 Invader aircraft flying above some clouds and pilot in cockpit using radio. French paratroops, dropping from C-47 aircraft, and landing, to reinforce troops dug in at Dien Bien Phu. French artillery firing and rounds exploding in the distance. French troops moving through brush, and carrying wounded back out. Citizens on streets of Hanoi, North Vietnam, scrounging for scraps to eat. An old woman hunkered down in a doorway. A mother with a young boy. French troops crossing a bridge as they surrender following the siege at Dien Bien Phu. North Vietnamese troops entering Hanoi. Delegates at the Geneva conference of 1954, in the Palais des Nations, including representatives of the Soviet Union, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and the People’s Republic of China, among others. Closeup of Soviet delegation, with Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Molotov, second from left. View of the North Vietnamese delegation, and delegate Ta Quang Buu, Vice Minister of Defense of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), and Head of their Military Delegation, signing the accords. Closeup of one treaty page, with his signature, as Minister of Defense, and that of Henri, Deltiel, Brigadier General, who signed for the Commander in Chief of all French Forces in Indochina. OUtdoors. After the conference, Soviet Foreign Minister, Molotov shakes hands with Chou En-lai, Chinese Foreign Minister. Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister,Andrei Gromyko, wearing a hat, is standing behind Molotov. A long line of refugees fleeing to the South, from North Vietnam. A 1954 map showing the division of North and South Vietnam at the 19th parallel. Mist settled among mountain tops. South Vietnamese people engaged in agricultural pursuits and building new dwellings. South Vietnamese placing ballots in boxes during elections. Brief glimpse of the glamorous Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu, defacto First Lady of South Vietnam, dressed in ao dai and wearing dark glasses, as she leaves a polling place. Farmers dressed in traditional conical hats (non la) working in grain fields, and reaping and carrying cut grain on poles in the South. Beautiful view of fishermen and boats silhouetted against sky, with tall limestone islands in background, at Ha Long Bay, North Vietnam (incorrectly implying it shows South Vietnamese in peaceful pursuits). South Vietnamese at work building structures with concrete blocks. A car with bullet holes in the windshield, draws attention on busy street in South Vietnam. Closeup of murdered man inside on floor of car. Scenes of vandalism at a house. Viet Minh guerillas moving through jungles and setting fires to straw roofed houses. Remains of a destroyed dwelling. Bodies of South Vietnamese killed, according to the narrator, by "Viet Cong pursuasion squads." A framed picture of Ho Chi Minh, over a North Vietnamese star flag.
United States Secretary of State Dean Rusk discusses American efforts to negotiate peace in Vietnam and North Vietnamese (and Communist China) refusal to participate. President Lyndon Johnson speaking, says, "We do not seek the destruction of any government." Rusk calls for free elections in Vietnam under international supervision.
Operation Passage to Freedom in Vietnam. USS Bayfield (APA 33) at anchor. Bayfield at sea. Deck of Bayfield. Sign: "Passage to Freedom". Deck of Bayfield as ship pulls into Saigon, Indo-china. Bayfield with LCM (Landing Craft Mechanized) ahead coming into Saigon harbor. Deck of Bayfield with Vietnamese refugees aboard. Sailors carry stretchers with wounded being carried down gangway. Nuns coming down the gangway. Sailors help them with luggage. Refugees come down the gangway. Refugees disembark at "Freedom Pier".