Anachronistic mixture of scenes from Germany, circa 1935, Italy, circa 1915, and World War 2. Opening sequence shows Waffen SS troops goosestepping on parade in Nuremberg,Bavaria, circa 1935. Then a scene is inserted of Italian Generalissimo Luigi Cadorna, Chief of Staff, Italian Army, in World War 1, who salutes while reviewing troops. This is followed by scenes of grim-faced civilians watching German forces occupy their countries in World War II. Finally a radio tower and antenna are shown.
Battle of Khe Sanh between January 1968 to April 1968, during the Vietnam War. Aerial view of battlefield terrain in valley of Khe Sanh surrounded by mountains and ridges. Military jeep moves on road. Wounded marine carried on litter. Bomb explodes near plane. Supplies at airbase. The American flag on a mountain. David E Lownds, Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps, Commanding Officer, Khe Sanh, speaks. The Colonel explains the location of battle with help of a terrain model. Bombs dropped on mountains. Marines fire artillery. An African American marine loads a mortar and another Marine fires it. Airfield prepared at Khe Sanh. Marines dig trenches. Marines patrol in woods. American military aircraft in flight. U.S. officers look at map on light table. General William Westmoreland gets into helicopter at airbase. Bell UH-1B Iroquois Huey helicopter lands after short flight. U.S. officers leave the helicopter. General Westmoreland and marines check the location. Marines examine aerial reconnaissance photo images on light tables. Sign reads 'Welcome to Khe Sanh Matcu 62 Airfield'. Reinforcing Marines arriving at Khe Sanh airfield and exiting rear of C-130 aircraft with barracks bags and supplies. Supplies dropped by small parachutes from planes in flight. Flashback scenes of French paratroopers landing in the same area during 1954 in the Indochina War. French forces in battle. French advance with heavy artillery but did not win the war. Armistice signed by leaders in Geneva. Scenes return to 1968 with Marines in sandbag bunkers at Khe Sanh. Wide view of terrain at Khe Sanh. U.S. marines in trenches during battle. African American marine eating a ration. Colonel Lownds speaks. White and African American Marines move through jungle terrain. Marines firing artillery at North Vietnamese forces. Aircraft on bombing run. Explosions at Khe Sanh as ammunition dump is hit and explodes in multiple heavy explosions. Heavy artillery attack by North Vietnamese at Khe Sanh and smoke rises from explosions during battle. U.S. Marines in series of trenches firing back at enemy. Explosions on American base airfield near parked helicopter and near a moving C-130 aircraft as it taxis and prepares to take off from runway.
Workers in war production effort busy at a General Electric Plant in the United States during World War 2. Men wheel portable power generators used to power search lights. Search light spots an airplane above in the sky during testing. Various parts being manufactured for large U.S. Navy warships. Auxiliary generators provide heat, light and power to cruisers. Big reduction gears and turbines being finished in the factory and tested by war production workers. Ships outfitted with GE turbines are launched. Narrator mentions the recent launch of several battleships. Two battleship launches are shown, including the June 13, 1940 launch of the USS North Carolina (BB-55), being christened by Ms. Hoey, daughter of Clyde Hoey, the Governor of North Carolina. Beside her in dress white U.S. Navy uniforms are Lt. Sampson and Lt. DeMetropolis. The battleship slides down skids into waters at New York shipyard.
U.S. President Harry S. Truman warns Japanese Militarists in World War II. President Truman speaks from his desk. He states that Japan will face the same complete destruction that was visited upon Germany. Millions of troops and their implements of war are transferred more than half way around the earth. The President adds that though many key industries have already been leveled by U.S. air attack, all of Japan's industries will be completely destroyed unless Japan surrenders in World War II.
Russian children bundled up against the cold, pose on a pier at Archangel Russia, as U.S. sodiers of the 339th Infantry arrive during the Allied North Russia Intervention of World War 1. One child holds a container of milk bottles. An American soldier gives each child a coin. A Russian girl wearing a hooded coat over her dress and leggings, eats a biscuit. A Russian boy, wearing boots, picks up something from the pier. Another boy holds a container of milk bottles. (World War I; World War 1; WWI; WW1)
Activities of Red Cross and U.S. Army personnel in Archangel, Russia, during the Allied North Russian Intervention of World War 1. American soldiers of the American North Russia Expeditionary Force hold a brief ceremony. Russian sisters (nuns) stand outside their Red Cross hospital on Troitsky Avenue, near Olga barracks, in Archangel, as Captain Wynn of the American Red Cross, and U.S. Army Captain Hall, raise Red Cross and American flags over it. Thus it becomes the first Red Cross Hospital in Archangel, jointly staffed with Russian and American Red Cross nurses. Brief view of the Army band marching back after the ceremony. They are watched by Russians on the sidewalks. (Note: Captain Wynn and the American Red Cross went on to equip the hospital, and American Army Captain Hall and Lieutenant Kiley were placed in charge of it. British medical authorities had resisted having Americans start their own hospital in Archangel. So this American flag-raising event constituted an act of defiance.) (World War I; World War 1; WWI; WW1)
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