Film begins, showing remains of a Boeing B-17F from the U.S. 100th Bombardment Group (BG) with home base at RAF Station Thorpe Abbotts, England, during World War 2. Camera pans over a field of debris containing two of the aircraft's engines and the wreckage of the fuselage and tail. The tail displays the Square D symbol of the 100th BG, plus the letter "T" and some of its tail number: "2303." Camera pans interior wreckage including crew seats and oxygen tanks. It then shows broken wings along with bodies of several crew members wearing parachute harnesses. A different side of the fuselage and tail shows the tail number "230311." This fully identifies it as B-17, number 42-23011. A field grade German officer and another officer examine the wreckage. Views of aircraft wreckage, in a forest, including a Browning M2 .50 caliber machine gun and another aircraft engine. Scene shifts to nearby town, where German women in white are serving meals at an outdoor food kitchen, for local people who are preparing to evacuate. A camper van loaded with family belongings is seen moving in the background. Several women, carrying plates of their food, walk toward tables. Some sit and eat at a table with a German soldier. Women make themselves sandwiches with foods laid out on a butcher block table. Closeup of a large drum of drinking water. local people fill containers from it. German children are seen aboard a bus waving goodbye to their mothers during evacuation for their safety. German children are placed aboard open boats at a port, for transport to safety out of war zone. German women and children board a train during evacuation to safety. Huge piles of their luggage is stacked on the train platform. View of a substantial private home in a residential area. Inside view shows it has been converted into nursery for infants, who are seen in many small cribs. Women sit on the lawn behind a substantial country home, as some small children run toward them from the house.
Allied forces in Palau during World War II. An aircraft lands at an airstrip in Palau. Allied forces fire artillery. Smoke rises. U.S. Marines advance across a field. A U.S. Marines Corps F4U Corsair aircraft in flight as it attacks Japanese positions. A column of smoke rises. The Marines load shells in an artillery and fire at Japanese cave positions. Wounded Marines on the ground. The wounded being placed on a litter and rescued amidst heavy shelling. A landing craft with troops loaded on to it heads for a beach. Aircraft in flight as they bombard the coast. Crafts arrive at the coast. Artillery being fired as tanks advance.
The funeral of the former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in Hyde Park, New York. U.S. President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy arrive at St. James Church (4526 Albany Post Road Hyde Park, New York, US). Former President Harry S. Truman, politician Adlai Stevenson and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson also arrive for the funeral services. Chief Justice Earl Warren also arrives. People enter the church. Former President Franklin D. Roosevelt's grave. A casket carrying the body of Eleanor Roosevelt being buried near Franklin D. Roosevelt's grave.
Preparations for the 1960 Presidential elections in the United States. Clair Engle and Governor of California Pat Brown on a podium during a Democratic Party celebration after democrats swept the 1958 election. Republican Senator William Knowland, who lost the election, is seen in a polling place signing a document. California Governor Goodwin Knight, who also lost, is seen. Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy with his wife Jacqueline Kennedy and his brother Robert Kennedy in a large crowd. In New York people celebrate the victory of Republican Nelson Rockefeller over Governor Averill Harriman. Several views of Nelson Rockefeller.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy is elected the 35th President of the United States November 8, 1960. John F Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline Kennedy during a ticker tape parade (this was on October 19, 1960 in New York City during the presidential campaign). The two ride in a convertible through the city streets and greet the gathered crowd. People cheer and greet the President-elect. Photographers click pictures of the event. John Kennedy votes during the presidential elections on November 8. JFK among his supporters. President-elect John Kennedy with the Vice President-elect, Lyndon B Johnson, in a gathering at the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port on November 9.
Air strike missions in Vietnam during Operation MacArthur of the Vietnam War. Aerial view of napalm bomb explosions as seen from a United States Air Force (USAF) F-100D Super Sabre fighter aircraft piloted by Edward R Cullen of the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing, 308th Tactical Fighter Squadron. Dramatic bombs away views as two Mark 82 Snakeye bombs are released. Empty 20 mm bomb casings trail to the ground.