A reunion of former USAF Thunderbird aerobatic team members at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada. Thunderbird crew stands in front of a United States Air Force ( USAF ) F-100C Super Sabre parked at the air base. A USAF C-123 Provider in the background. Officials inspect the Thunderbirds. The Thunderbird commander shakes hands with the officials. F-100Cs being prepared for a flight. The aircraft in flight in diamond formation. A crowd watches the aircraft. Mountains in the foreground. The aircraft leave behind vapor trails. People seated on chairs watch the aircraft.
Wreckage on Tarawa in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. Wreckage along the side of an airstrip. A damaged Japanese aircraft. Insignia on the Japanese aircraft. The damaged motor of the aircraft. Trucks and U.S. Navy F6F Hellcat aircraft parked on the runway of the airstrip. Airplanes parked along the side of the runway.
Cold war, nuclear war preparedness film. Air raid alarm sounding and civilians in New York City running down into subway for shelter. Surface-to-air BOMARC missiles raising into firing position. Civil Defense Air Raid Warden, in white helmet, directing people to shelter. BOMARC and NIKE-Hercules missiles readied for launch. F-102 interceptor aircraft in flight. NORAD personnel monitoring radar displays. Formation of F-102s and closeup of a pilot in a cockpit. Activities of personnel inside NORAD command Center, coordinating defense forces. NORAD Commander, General Laurence S. Kuter, on "Red Phone" for conference call receiving White House authority to strike back. SAC bomber crews scramble to their bomber aircraft. B-47s and B-52s taking off. NORAD headquarters authorizing missile sites to commence firing.SM-65 Atlas missiles being launched. Nike-Hercules missiles being raised and BOMARC missiles being fired. Enemy aircraft being destroyed in the air, by missiles. Comments by actor Raymond Massey regarding U.S. military preparedness.
Segments of film, shot under direction of John Ford,for documentary on Battle of Midway in World War 2. Two U.S. Navy F4F-4s take off successively from deck of an aircraft carrier. A Douglas Dauntless (SBD-3) takes off. Man in steel helmet strains to look directly overhead through binoculars, as a flight of five Japanese zeros peels off overhead and dives. One is seen releasing a bomb. The Five aircraft fly away in trail formation and then reappear flying toward the camera and dropping bombs. Flak clouds hang low in the air. Objects stike the water with splashes. Antiaircraft fire, with tracers visible, is directed at low flying airplane. Two Japanese zero fighters zoom low toward the camera and pull out overhead. A flight of three Douglas Dauntless aircraft in formation.
U.S. Naval fleet underway in the Pacific Ocean during the Battle of Santa Cruz Island of World War 2. Aft section of the flight deck aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6). The ship is under attack by Japanese airplanes and men take cover. Smoke arising from a Japanese bomb strike obscures the scene. The smoke engulfs the flight deck with stranded U.S. Navy SBD Dauntless near the stern. Sailors on the Enterprise firing 5 inches guns. An explosion rocks the ship and the SBD airplane at the stern falls into nearby gun sponson. Several men are in prone positions on the stern of the flight deck. One lone sailor runs forward, the length of the flight deck. Personnel running with fire hoses. SBDs and U.S. Navy F4F Wildcat parked on the flight deck. Anti-aircraft cruiser USS San Juan and battleship USS South Dakota are visible steaming along Enterprise's port side.
Activities of U.S. Navy personnel underway in the Pacific Ocean on U.S. Navy aircraft carriers during World War II. Officers seated at a conference table discuss plans as one officer writes on chalk board. An aircraft carrier underway in the Pacific. This is likely the USS Lexington (CV-2) or the USS Saratoga (CV-3). Sailors gather near an aircraft parked on the flight deck. Sailors working in the radio room of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. U.S. Navy and Japanese enemy aircraft flying overhead during the Battle of the Coral Sea. A smoking ship in the distance following attack. A sailor watching the enemy aircraft through binoculars. Huge splash in water behind U.S. Navy ship during attack. Sailors firing anti aircraft guns from the ship. Flak bursting in the sky. Pilots in cockpit of a U.S. Navy Douglas SBD Dauntless on flight deck. U.S. Navy F4F-3 aircraft (Grumman Wildcat) parked on the flight deck of a carrier. Explosion followed by smoke billowing upward as the USS Lexington (CV-2) is hit by torpedoes from Japanese torpedo bomber aircraft. USS Lexington is seen listing to port, smoking, and on fire. (Audio narration present only on a brief part of clip.)