First scene shows a raging fire on an island in the Pacific during World War 2. Next, the dense smoke cloud is seen from a boat offshore as it covers all of the sky. A landing ship Tank nearby is silhouetted against the light sky. U.S. medics are seen bending a wounded soldier lying on the ground, as they administer first aid to him. Change if scene shows natives preparing to dig a dead soldier out of mud. U.S. Marines push wounded away from a shore on an inflated raft. Natives help a blinded Australian soldier wade through water and mud in jungles of Papua New Guinea. Australian soldiers, in rain gear, stand in a battlefield graveyard containing several rustic crosses. One of them reads from a document, as the others stand with heads bowed. Closeups from camera panning around the group of soldiers. Next, one is seen reading from a small prayer book. More closeups from various views of the mourning soldiers.
PBY Catalina aircraft seen inflight above an Allied convoy of ships at sea. Closeup of British flag displayed at stern of one ship. A destroyer escort in the convoy. U.S. Army engineers creating a road in an area of wilderness. A steam shovel empties its bucket into a truck. A surveyor taking readings with a transit. Two graders moving side-by side as they level a new road A tractor pulling a drum compactor. A vehicle drives on a mountainside road built by Army engineers. Snow covered mountains seen in background. Animated map showing far flung places where military supplies had to be delivered during World War 2. An open Army truck carrying American troops on Guadalcanal in the Pacific. U.S. soldiers walking on a pier at Attu in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. American soldiers arriving at a pier in Accra, Gold Coast. Soldiers hold the American flag on a hilltop in Casablanca, French Morocco. Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and Madame Chiang, in Chungking. American troops in foul weather gear neat tents in Kiska, the Aleutians. Troops offloading from a troop transport ship in Cairo, Egypt. Troops in Algiers, and in Sicily. Troops hitting the beach in an amphibious assault.
Film titled "Service group" on the workings of the United States Army Air Force Service Group in World War II, and their role in keeping remote air force landing strips supplied and in good repair during World War 2. Aerial view of United States Army Air Force B-25 Mitchell medium bombers in formation over an enemy target area. Bombs away view as the B-25 aircraft release bombs over the coastal target area and explosions are seen on the ground. Aerial view of a partially sunken ship off of a Pacific island. A P-40 Warhawk fighter aircraft landing at a Pacific combat air field. Closeup of pilot as aircraft finishes taxi, and lettering on plane identifies him as Lieutenant R. McHale. Scenes on the ground at the air field, jeeps arriving at the airfield, pilots and crews in meetings and discussions, tents and quarters, meal operations, a soldier gets a shave, medical facilities, religious services, and watch towers. Pilots scramble to their waiting P-40 aircraft after tower spots enemy aircraft in the distance. Animated map depicts operations of the Air Service Center and logistics for supporting multiple Combat Air Fields. Scenes from the Air Service Center as new planes (P-38 Lightning) arrive and bombs are unloaded. Repair work and provisioning of supplies for the air fields.
Film opens with map of the world showing the various theaters of operation in World War II. Narrator refers to Allies liberating town after town, as they advance. View of American troops being welcomed in a European town during an advance (probably Italy in 1944). Next, African American troops are seen boarding troop transport ships. A huge convoy of ships is seen from the air. Huge piles of war materiel on a dock. Ammunition being delivered by landing craft from the transport ship USS Hunter Liggett (APA-14) to American troops at a beachhead in the Pacific. An African American sailors directs the lowering of a piece of artillery from a ship into a landing craft. Construction equipment being used to clear the way for a new landing field. Docks, roads, and bridges being built as the Allies advance. American troops in the swamps of the South Pacific. American Army engineers clearing trees to build the Alaska Highway (ALCAN Highway) in 1942. Corps of Engineers building the Ledo Road (from India to China) during the war. African American soldiers building a bridge across a river in Europe. A U.S. Army truck under fire, driving along a dirt road in Europe as shells burst all around it. U.S. troops firing various kinds of field artillery and tank guns. U.S. infantryman using a flame thrower. Closeup of African American soldier using a bayonet and others firing small arms. A tank being blown up by artillery fire. A Japanese Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero aircraft maneuvers overhead in the Pacific theater. An African American soldier runs to man his Browning .50-caliber, water-cooled antiaircraft machine gun, and begins firing as the Zero fighter plane strafes his position. Closeup of Japanese pilot in his cockpit and his machine guns firing from leading edges of his plane. His rounds strike all around the U.S. gunner, who turns and follows him with more fire. His tracers show behind the plane. Closeup of the African American gunner as he continues firing. View of the Japanese airplane rolling over and diving. Next the Japanese plane, aflame, crashes on a tropical island and explodes. (Note: It is apparent that some of these combat scenes have been made up of clips from other sources, edited into this film.) (World War II; WW II; World War 2; World War Two)
The City of Portland holds the annual Portland Rose Festival with a patriotic flair in June 1940. Two United States flags are hanging from a building. The parade route is marked by banners that read "For You A Rose In Portland Grows." Parade floats made of roses in the 1940 Grand Floral Parade. Portland Rose Festival girls on a “Constitution” float wave at crowds as their float round the corner in front of the New Heathman Hotel (now the Heathman Hotel, 1001 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97205, United States). Two men dressed as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln sit on the “Portland Dist. No. 2 Mantle Club” "America First" float, which features an Eagle on its front. Portland Rose Festival “queens” and “princesses” on a “Peacock” themed float wave at crowds. Boy scouts flank the “Peacock” float as passes the Alisky Building and the Harry Semler Dentist and Optical offices. A “Treasure Island Exposition 1940” float. Women and a man on the “Portland Realtors” float, traveling down SW Morrison St. The Portland Hotel is seen in the background at the corner of SW 6th Ave. and SW Morrison St. A “Pasadena” float with an effigy of the bald eagle and the United States flag made of roses is flanked by marching Boy Scouts.
Scenes of jungle forests in the Asmat region of Netherlands New Guinea (presently Papua province, Indonesia). Pilot and copilot inside the plane. Boats and plane searching in water. Photograph of Michael Rockefeller, son of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. People searching in forest. Local Asmat tribesmen clearing a field. New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller with Michael's twin sister Mary Strawbridge. Governor Rockefeller speaking.
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