'The Big Picture' an official television report of the U.S. Army. U.S. soldiers shown in Korea, Germany, Alaska and Puerto Rico. Captain Carl Zimmerman sits at a table to talk about the American soldier fighting wars in various countries. He begins with a day in the life of a soldier in Korea during the Korean War. Soldiers wake up to the sound of artillery fire on a hill. Soldier looks through binoculars. Explosions on hills. 8 feet camouflaged bunkers on a hill. Soldiers come out of bunkers to take in some fresh air. They eat and drink. South Koreans help them unload ration and supply boxes from a jeep. They open the boxes and pass the supplies around. White and African American soldiers glad to receive postal mail from home during mail call. A Stars and Stripes newsletter. A soldier wearing his helmet with a dent in it from shrapnel that it blocked. He takes a tablet for his headache. Another one smokes a cigar.
U.S. soldiers of the 223rd Infantry Regiment Counter Fire Platoon run through dense undergrowth looking for a place to locate the sound recording equipment in Korea, during the Korean War. They cross a road and run uphill carrying heavy equipment. Soldiers reach the hill top and take out the equipment from boxes. Soldiers open the bags and boxes. They set up the sound locators on the side of the hill. Brown sets up the microphones in a pattern called an array on ground higher than the surrounding hills. Military vehicles on the road below. Soldiers fix equipment and smoke. Gun and artillery fire sound. A soldier records the artillery fire sound while another one records the sound as a visual image. Another soldier computes the direction line and radios the information to the counter fire headquarters. 'Counter Fire Plt' sign board outside tents. The plotter plots down the information on a boards and draws the direction line on a map. He pin points the enemy gun and draws it on a chart. He then calls the artillery fire direction center. A soldier receives the message. An intelligence officer checks the information and the order is sent to the artillery battery. Soldiers amidst barricades. They load HE fire charges and fire a 105 Howitzer. Many artillery guns fired. A soldier watches through binoculars.
A U.S. military convoy of jeeps on a road. Soldiers seated in the jeeps. The soldiers are flagged down by Military Police (MP) in a jeep. The two jeeps stop at a barricade. They approach a shack coffee shop called Uncle Dan's Doughnuts run by the MPs. Sign boards reads 'Stag Night Tonight' and 'Unescorted ladies not Permitted'. MPs and a soldier stand and drink coffee and eat doughnuts outside the shack. The soldiers talk. Sign boards read 'Mud and straw houses for sale'. The soldier reads signs about 'Turkey Sandwiches', 'Formal Dance' and 'Military Abbreviations' put up at the coffee shop. The U.S. Army soldiers get into their jeep and leave.
Soldiers take a shower in a make shift hot water shower room in Korea during the Korean War. Soldiers approach the shower cabin. Sign reads 'Macon Springs'. Soldiers stand with towels and clothes. They remove their clothing and helmet and put them in a make shift locker room. A soldier turns the knob and waits. Another soldier operates the power plant. The power plant consists of an airplane oil pump and military jeep. The soldier begins the jeep ignition. Water from a large puddle on the ground is pumped to the makeshift heater and through pipes into the shower. Soldier showers under the flowing water. Interior of the ingenious hot water shower room.
U.S. soldiers eat hot food for dinner and prepare for the night in Korea during the Korean War. Soldiers approach a tent on a hill. Sign reads 'Kitchen'. Prepared food is packed into Marmite cans to keep it hot. South Koreans carry these cans to the front lines. Men with the cans on their backs, climb up barb wire bordered pathways. They reach the front line and help unpack the food. Soldiers heat the food and serve it out in plates. White and African American soldiers in chow line. Mashed potato, fruit salad in plates. Soldiers fill mugs of coffee and juice. They sit and eat at dinner time. Hills with enemy positions. Soldiers sit nd wait for the night. A tank returns from no man's land at dusk. Soldiers prepare for the night. They raise roadblocks and barricades to seal off lines. Soldiers in position with their guns and artillery. A Turkish soldier patrols with his bayonet. Other UN soldiers including South Koreans ready with their rifles in trenches. Soldier smokes a cigarette. Soldiers run uphill and fire at night. Machine gun fire. Captain Carl Zimmerman talks about U.S. soldiers in various outposts the world over. He talks about the next episode of 'The Big Picture', a weekly U.S. Army television report.
An oil tanker at a port in the Middle East. An oil tanker at a Red Sea port. Officers at the port. Crew members pull hoses. Oil tanker takes oil at the port. A man climbs up a ladder. Hoses laid at the port. A military officer is greeted by nuns.