Low altitude aerial views from an aircraft circling the Dutch submarine, O 19, stranded on Ladd Reef, in the South China Sea, with bow raised high above water and stern submerged. Note: According to Klaas van der Veen,of the Netherlands, whose father was second in command on the O 19, the boat went aground while on the way to Subic Bay, Phillipines, on July 8, 1945 (July 7th East of the International Date Line). After three days trying to free the O 19 using full reverse power at high tide, blowing air, firing torpedoes, and jettisoning ballast, the crew was rescued by the U.S. submarine, USS Cod, which torpedoed the O 19, after all critical equipment had been removed.
Air evacuation of wounded United States Marines on Okinawa in June, 1945. U.S. Army Air Forces Stinson L-5B Sentinel ambulance aircraft of the 163rd Liaison Squadron landing in front of camera as signalman waves flags. Identifiable aircraft serial numbers are: 44-17001, 44-17308, 44-17005. An ambulance pulls up on the field in front of a Red Cross tent and men carry a woundedsoldier on a stretcher towards L-5B aircraft. Another Marine on litter being loaded aboard an aircraft. More L-5B's taxi into position and take off. Identifiable tail numbers 44-17320, 44-16938. One aircraft, only identifiable with the number '80' on the tail is a Marine Corps OY-1 (L-5B).
A film about achievements of various African American men and women citizens in the United States. A statue of Booker T. Washington, founder of Tuskegee University in Alabama. View of African American scientist and inventor George Washington Carver, as an elderly man, working with another scientist in a laboratory. African American judge of New York city court. African American explorer Matthew Henson is seen looking at a globe (he was with Admiral Peary planting the American flag at the North Pole in 1909), and an unnamed African American surgeon at work in an operating room in New York. Next scene shows famous "father of the blues" musician and composer W.C. Handy (William Christoper Handy) smiling. Next is seen the financier and publisher of the Amsterdam News, Dr. C.B. Powell (Clilan Powell) greeting three uniformed African American women during a World War 2 war bond drive, and handing them a check (close up is shown) for 25,000 dollars, dated January 4, 1942, for the war bond drive. It is from the account of the Victory Mutual Life Insurance Company which Dr. Powell also owned. The check is signed by C.B Powell and Philip M.H. Savory (Dr. Savory was co-owner of the New York Amsterdam News). The next scene shows Elise Johnson McDougald, better known as Gertrude Elise Ayer, who was the first black full-time public school principal after the consolidation of New York City schools in 1898. She was also a noted woman writer during the Harlem Renaissance. She is seated in her office at her desk, likely in P.S. 119 in Harlem, since this is approximately year 1945 and she was at P.S 119 at that time. Her name plaque is visible on the front center of the desk. Principal Ayer smiles as a woman delivers a document to her. Next is seen the African American historian, author, and professor, Lawrence D. Reddick, serving in his role as the curator of the Schomburg Collection of African American Literature. In an art studio is seen the famous "Harlem Renaissance" African American sculptor and painter Charles Alston, at work on a sculpture. Next scene shows the famous African American contralto singer, Marian Anderson, receiving a bouquet of flowers and smiling after a performance. This transitions to a view of African American orchestra conductor Dean Dixon leading an orchestra in a performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Several views of different sections of the orchestra performing under Dixon's direction. Clip closes with brief shots of campuses of several historically black colleges and universities in the United States like Howard University, Hampton, Tuskegee, Fisk, Prairie View. A football game underway in one of the colleges, and view on the field as quarterback throws a pass.
African American women soldiers of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, nicknamed “Six Triple Eight", Women's Army Corps (WACS), march in formation on February 15, 1945, during World War 2. Location is Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, at the time of the unit's arrival in Birmingham. A military band of male soldiers precedes the group of marching WACS. The long column of African American WACS, marching 4 deep, is led by commanding officer Major Charity Adams. Close up views of the women marching. WACS in front of the unit carry the American flag in the procession.
During World War 2, African American women soldiers of the Women's Army Corps (WACS) stand in formation at a parade ground in Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, during a formal military review on February 15, 1945. The women are from the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, nicknamed “Six Triple Eight, which had just arrived in Birmingham. The WACS' commanding officer, Major Charity Adams, stands beside General John C.H. Lee. The African-American female soldiers of the WACS march in a column, eight deep, passing by General John CH Lee and Major Charity Adams, who salute the soldiers. Other male officers stand on the review stand behind officers Lee and Adams. Note: Major Charity Adams (Charity Edna Adams; later Charity Adams Earley) was the first African-American woman officer in the WACS, and, at the end of the war, then Lieutenant Colonel Adams was the highest ranking African-American woman in the United States military.
Enola Gay atomic bomb mission over Hiroshima, Japan during World War 2. The Enola Gay, a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, prepares to leave for the Hiroshima mission. Army Armed Forces maintenance men and Enola Gay crew prepare the Enola Gay in Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands, checking their watches as the glance at the horizon. Maintenance men check bomb bay doors before closing. Pilot Colonel Paul Tibbets looks out of cockpit window of Enola Gay. Nose art of Enola Gay is seen. Close up of controls with hand show "starter" and "engine primer." Enola Gay engine starts and one of it propellers turns. The Enola Gay takes off from North Field, in the Northern Mariana Islands. Point of view through B-29 cockpit window as plane speeds down runway. Motion picture cameraman films the take off. The Enola Gay seen overhead as it leaves for Japan. Aerial View of Iwo Jima Island in Japan. The Enola Gay begins slow climb to bombing altitude over Iwo Jima. Crew member, possibly Tibbets, uses a pair of binoculars. Aerial view of Hiroshima. Enola Gay crew check instruments last time before dropping. The Enola Gay begins its bomb run. Crew bombardier turning a dial on a bomb site. View of Enola Gay with bomb bay doors open. Moving gauge pointer as bomb is dropped and seen exiting bomb bay. The Enola Gay banks away from Hiroshima at high speed. Aerial view in color of mushroom cloud forming over Hiroshima after the atomic bomb detonates in the city. (This actually shows the Nagasaki bomb blast from August 9, 1945, not the Hiroshima blast, despite the statements of the narrator in this edited film). Gigantic mushroom cloud from atomic bombing.
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