The 25th Anniversary of the Air Mail Service in the United States. Past events from year 1918 show the inauguration of air mail in the United States. A man holds an envelope to be delivered by air. President Woodrow Wilson talks to a pilot. Scene changes to 1943 in front of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington DC, on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Air Mail Service. A U.S. Army Sikorsky R-4 helicopter lands outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC. The pilot speaks to the helicopter designer, Igor Sikorsky, and receive a special package of mail. The helicopter is seen landing in Arlington Virginia at recently opened Washington National Airport, to deliver the package to a waiting aircraft. Crowd of people gathered outside at Washington National Airport terminal building to watch the helicopter landing. Mail being loaded aboard an air mail aircraft. The helicopter takes off.
America in the World War 1 years, before and during the U.S. involvement in the war. View of Woodrow Wilson in academic robe and cap, as President of Princeton University. Steel mill with stacks belching smoke. Workers tap an open hearth furnace in steel mill. Children on a city street dancing and being sprayed with a fire hose to keep cool in summer. Boy hopping over the backs of his friends. Boys seated on a bench. Scenes from early motion pictures, interposed with images of Uncle Sam from Army recruiting poster: They are rapid montage comedy and stunt scenes, including Keystone Cops chasing fugitive; cars racing, gangster shootouts from cars; automobile hijinks; men raising barrier at railroad level crossing while a woman is left dangling from the raised crossing gate; car races and crosses railroad track in front of rapidly approaching locomotive; comic car chase down; line of 3 open top cars racing over an edge into a deep ditch, a motorcycle taking flight off of a road and into a river; a man waving warning flag frantically at a blasting site; The Cunard Ocean Liner ship, RMS Lusitania, underway; Newspaper front page about torpedoing of the Lusitania. American soldiers boarding troop ship for France in World War 1; View of the troop ship deck filled with U.S. soldiers. Various scenes of U.S. troops in the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in France during World War I: amid war torn ruins and destroyed buildings in France; firing French 75s and heavier artillery; soldiers charging across no-man's land; French and American soldiers caring for wounded behind the lines and in trenches of the battlefields; soldiers placing helmets and identification cards of fallen soldiers on rifles that are inverted, bayonet into ground.
American and German troops sharing a smoke on Armistice Day on the Western Front in World War 1. Pittsburgh Press newspaper headline reads: "Kaiser finds refuge in Holland." He is seen at front steps of his house there, standing with two pet dogs. The German flag flies over the house. Scene shifts to a crowd celebrating in Paris France. Several French tricolor flags are seen. Next, crowds are seen celebrating in Washingtion, DC, where some in front of the old Executive Office Building, raise up an effigy of the Kaiser, holding a white flag of surrender. Finally, members of the German military high command and members of the German diplomatic corps and politicians are shown. (World War I; World War 1; WWI; WW1)
Bell X-1A in United States. B-29 Superfortress taxis and takes off. B-29, F-86 Sabre Jet and T-33 Canadair chase a plane in flight. B-29 in flight. The Bell X-1A is suspended from the fuselage of B-29. Bell X-1A detaches from the B-29. X-1A in flight. It lands on a dry lake bed. B-29 fly over the X-1A. X-1A lands and taxis. A car and cameramen on a port. The nose and cockpit of X-1A. Pilot Major Charles Yeager (Chuck Yeager) climbs out of X-1A after landing. Lawrence Bell, president of the Bell Aircraft Corporation and Major Yeager stand on the nose of X-1A. Mr. Bell congratulates Major Yeager.
President Woodrow Wilson leaves No.10 Downing Street, in London. He enters an automobile. Among others present are: Lloyd George, Arthur Balfour, and Arthur Henderson. Mrs. Wilson is escorted, by The Duke of Connaught, carrying an umbrella, to a different automobile. The Wilsons and several other cars proceed through a light rain past Windsor Castle. Spectators line the sidewalks, many holding umbrellas. Spectators with umbrellas gather around the Crown and Mitre Hotel in Carlisle, England, where a reception was being held for President and Mrs. Wilson. (President Wilson's mother was born in Carlisle, England, and he wanted to visit there, accordingly.) (World War i; World War 1; WWI; WW1)
Allied battleship, German ships and vessels underway. Plane flies in sky. Crew waving on a battleship. German submarine in water surrenders as demanded by Armistice terms. Crew lined up on a battleship and British flag is raised. (World War i; World War 1; WWI; WW1)
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