Shoppers at the E. J. Korvette store at 45th street in New York City. Santa Claus stands in front of the store, ringing a bell to raise money for the Volunteers of America. In the store, children play with toys under a sign reading 'Toyland.' Views of the store while riding down the escalator. A woman dressed in a fur coat shops in the housewares department. In Concord, California, college students pack gifts that are being sent to United States soldiers fighting war in Vietnam. View of entrance to Travis Air Force Base. The workers for Operation Christmas Star load gifts for the GIs into a Douglas C-124 Globemaster cargo plane at Travis Air Force Base. Students watch as the plane takes off. (Vietnam War period).
Film beginning shows a line of Indian women carrying large wooden bowls on their heads as they walk past a line of Boeing B-29 Super Fortress bombers parked on an airfield ramp in India during World War 2. A B-29 bomber descends and lands on the airfield runway. Scene shifts to the Boeing factory at Wichita, Kansas, where most of the aircraft were manufactured during World War 2. (They were also made by Bell Aircraft Company in Atlanta (Marietta), Georgia, and by the Glenn L. Martin Company in Omaha, Nebraska.) In the Wichita plant, a large room filled with B-29s under construction is seen. A line of women uses hand power tools to finish aircraft parts. A large section of a B-29, including landing gear and tires, moves by overhead crane to be mated with another section in an assembly operation. Men manually push a landing gear with tires installed, along a floor. Workers walk along underneath an assembled B-29 as it is towed out of the factory. Tail view of a B-29 with engines running. View of man working on a B-29 tail rudder. Wing flaps being lowered in function check. Scene shifts, again, this time to China, where a line of B-29s is seen on a ramp at a secret base. A jeep drives under the left wing of a parked B-29, guarded by an armed Chinese sentry. Chinese laborers work with hand tools to make a ditch to drain water from the airfield ramp. Chinese workers unload and roll 55 gallon drums of gasoline for aircraft fueling. A Chinese name (Ding How!)painted on the fuselage of a B-29. Major General Claire Chennault shakes hands with some of a B-29s crew as they prepare to depart on a bombing mission. A Chinese soldier gives the crew a "thumbs up" sendoff. The B-29 takes off on the mission. a group of airmen sit atop a B-29 to watch the takeoffs. Camera focuses on another takeoff and then shows a B-29 aloft, glinting in sunlight and then cruising above clouds. Glimpse of B-29 flying over snow covered mountains (possibly in Japan).
Crisis in Poland after the imposition of Martial Law by its Military Government. Pope John Paul II lights a lamp in window of a church. Pope lights the lamp in midnight and the midnight prayer bells ring just after it.
Events during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, against the Soviet controlled government in Hungary. Destroyed tanks and Soviet weapons on roads of Budapest after fighting in October and November 1956. Church bells ring and people pray for Hungarians who have died fighting against Soviet forces. Destroyed railroad tracks, roads and vehicles. People clearing rubble from the streets. People from the countyside give away food for free to the citizens of Budapest. Citizens donating money to families in need.
A coronation ceremony in the Vatican City. A large crowd gathered outside St. Peter's Basilica in St. Peter's Square for th coronation of John XXIII as the Pope. Dignitaries and civilians gathered for the ceremony. John XXIII being carried into the Basilica on a chair. Representatives of various nations at the ceremony. Pope John XXIII appears in the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica. People cheer as the Pope is crowned with the Triregnum. Bells ring to mark the crowning of the new Pope.
Opening scene shows a fuel gauge reading half empty in a U.S. Army Air Forces Stearman Boeing PT-17 “Kaydet” bi-plane trainer aircraft. Closeup of pilot with helmet and goggles in open cockpit of the airplane. Narrator says rules require pilot to return to base immediately. View of the aircraft descending toward the field. Animated diagram showing proper entry into left traffic for the active runway. View of PT-17 on final approach to the runway. Closeup of pilot in the cockpit. He makes a three-point landing on the first third of the runway and rolls without braking. Next, assisted by a wing walker, the pilot taxis to an open slot on a line of aircraft and stops on a parking line. The pilot steps from the cockpit, wearing a seat pack parachute, and begins walking to the field office, when he stops to converse with the narrator. He complains, somewhat about the restrictive rules for pilots in training and expresses desire to fight the Germans and Japanese in World War 2. Narrator defends the rules of safety, first, saying "You can't fight until you can fly." Scene shifts to four pilot trainees who "washed out" of the program for various infractions of the trainin safety rules. They are carrying their belongings in duffle bags and wait at a bus stop for transportation away from the base. Camera focuses on each of the men in turn, as narrator describes their failures to follow rules. Scene shifts to the airdrome where successful student pilots are seen walking toward the camera. Series of scenes showing student pilots performing various preparatory actions before flying their planes. One standing on a wing, checks the "Form One" that contains aircraft maintenance record. Another sitting in his cockpit notes that his gas, oil,cockpit switches, and flight controls all check OK. Another pilot is fastening leg straps of his seat pack parachute and comments about need to keep checking when taxiing down the line for takeoff. Closeups of pilots addressing the camera with admonitions about rules to follow. View of massed parked PT-17 training planes. Views of current war planes in flight, including Bell P-39 Aircobra, Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, and Martin B-26 Marauder bombers. Many good views of such airplanes in takeoffs, formations and aerobatic maneuvers. (World War II; WW II; World War 2; World War Two)
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