Opening scene shows view from stern of a warship in an Pacific U.S. Navy task force during World War 2. Other convoy warships are seen in far background. Closeup of American flag on a ship. Glimpse of U.S. Destroyer moving behind the camera ship. Four warships in side-by-side formation. Naval guns firing in the dark at night. A U.S. light tank being loaded aboard a ship at a dock. Several towable pieces of field artillery covered and ready for loading at the port. Numerous army trucks parked in a group at the port. Silhouettes of U.S. Army soldiers, in full battle gear, ascending a gangway to a troop transport ship. Heavy field guns being loaded aboard a ship. Cargo manifests for U.S. Army Transport Service ships preparing to sail from the New York Port of embarkation in Brooklyn, New York. Several Army transport ships underway in the ocean. A Fletcher class destroyer nearby. A Yorktown class aircraft carrier. Closeup of a sailor manning a Bofors 40mm antiaircraft gun on board an aircraft carrier. Fletcher class destroyer in background. View from the bridge of troops on open deck of a transport ship. Sailors standing near variety of guns aboard a warship. Sailors scanning skies for enemy aircraft. A Grumman F4F aircraft being launched from deck of an aircraft carrier. Quad Bofors antiaircraft guns being fired and skies filled with black flak clouds. View down from Bridge on the Island of an aircraft carrier, showing antiaircraft gun positions. More views of black flak clouds. Sailors in battle gear on the aircraft carrier deck. Bofors guns firing. View from carrier flight deck of Japanese Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" attacking close to the carrier. It is struck by gunfire and bursts into flames. Another Japanese Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" torpedo bomber passing close to the flight deck. It bursts into flames and crashes into the water, close to the carrier, exploding violently in heavy black smoke. View from carrier of transport ships following.
First scenes show United States Marines riding in a landing vehicle tracked (LVT) heading toward a Japanese occupied island in the Pacific. View from one of the landing craft of heavy smoke obscuring the island coast. Next, a dozen landing craft from the USS George Clymer (APA-27) are seen with mountains of the target island looming in the background. View from a different perspective shows several landing craft heading toward an inlet to the island. View from a landing craft of a Japanese Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" airplane flying overhead. Closeup of American soldiers in a landing craft headed toward a different Japanese occupied island. U.S. soldiers leaving a landing craft in the surf. View from inside a landing craft as U.S. Marines head ashore. Soldiers splashing in the surf. Troops wading ashore. Soldier dug in on beach near underbrush, firing many round from his Browning M1919 machine gun. Marine firing his rifle behind a palm tree. Troops seeking cover at very edge of shore. Some lying in the water, before moving on. A soldier firing an automatic weapon through foliage. A bomb explodes near an invasion ship. Troops descending on rope nets from the troopship, USS Crescent City (APA-21) and entering her Higgins boats. Heavy equipment and ammunition being offloaded from the troop transport ship. Marines coming ashore. An LVT in the background. Marines behind a barricade built by the Japanese. Marines throwing hand grenades and firing Browning M1919 machine guns. Flame throwers being used to force Japanese from strongholds. Marines gathered all along a shore line. A bulldozer driving along the waters edge. Soldiers rolling steel mesh across the sand. An antiaircraft machine gun with a side magazine mounted on a jeep, moves on the sand. Several ensuing scenes show flame throwers being used. Marines near a wrecked Japanese structure and then escorting a Japanese prisoner. A group of Japanese prisoners being spoken to by a Marine with a microphone. Marines hunkered down on a beach. One is cranking a hand powered radio transmitter. Front ramp of a landing craft is dropped down with a splash at waters edge. An M3A1 light tank drives off the landing craft. A truck being offloaded onto the shore. A heavy field artillery piece being moved into position. Troops work to move another field artillery piece into position. Trucks and other vehicles wading through shallow water as they leave an LST. Troops wading ashore from the LST. Trucks arriving on the shore. A tractor pulls a canvas covered vehicle. Soldiers ride aboard a light tank. Unusual view of troops assembled on shore of a mountain with ice seen in places on it (likely in the Aleutians). Crowded beachhead with LST 477 seen beached. Marines looking at destroyed Shore defense installation containing heavy gun. Remains of a 4-engine Japanese Kawanishi H8K2 (Emily) flying boat in the water. Seabees building an airfield with heavy construction equipment. Troops gathered around a Navy F4F aircraft that landed on the new (unfinished) airfield. Closeup of the smiling pilot climbing down from his plane. Troops saluting as the American flag is raised on remains of a Palm tree trunk, on Eniwetok, February 1944. Remains of a Japanese shrine and views of dead Japanese soldiers.
Technicians and officers in the laboratories and offices at WADC, United States. Interior of Service Engineering Department. Superimposed over jet engine in laboratory building are the words: 'II-Service Engineering'. Officer placing section of screen over the air intakes of the jet engine. USAF F-84 Thunderjet taxis. Rocket and jet engine on test stand at Wright Field, numerous engines are on the test block. View of test instrument panel. Jet engine on test stand. One worker drops a small screw into pipe which leads into a jet engine. Workers clearing the area. Operator of the instrument panel controls the jet engine. Exhaust section of the jet engine. Jet engine explodes due to foreign object entering through the air duct. Interior of laboratory building, officer checks remains of the jet engine. USAF F-89 Scorpion stationary at Wright Field. Technician install screen in the main air intake. View of the screen.
U.S. Army Air Service Douglas World Cruisers (DWC) in Seattle, Washington after their first flight around the world. In Seattle, the point from which they started 176 days ago. The world cruisers in flight. A world cruiser coming in for a landing. Major Frederick F. Martin greets Lieutenant Lowell H. Smith, Lt. Leigh Wade and Lt. Erik H. Nelson. The pilots in uniforms pose. Animations of the North American continent pinpointing Alaska where Major Frederick F. Martin crashed into a mountain. The path over which the world cruisers flew pinpointing the place where the cruiser flown by Lt. Wade was forced down and wrecked. Then the course to Seattle is shown.
Role of U.S. Navy Task Force 58 in Okinawa, Japan during the Battle of Okinawa in World War 2. Film begins showing amphibious assault by U.S. forces of Navy Task Force 58, against Okinawa, on Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945. Higgins Boats from U.S. transport ships race through the water and discharge troops on the land, with no signs of Japanese resistance. Some of the boats' markings show they came from the U.S transport ship USS Barnett (APA-5). Sailor aboard a transport ship uses ax to cut a line and release a power boat from its davits. The boat drops into the water with a huge splash. View of lines of U.S soldiers and marines wading through shallow water toward mud flats on the land. Closeups of Troops with landing craft behind them. advance overland with no signs of Japanese resistance. Troops sitting on a landing vehicle tracked (LVT) parked in sand. U.S. infantry begin moving inland accompanied by armor and military trucks and other vehicles. The area is very quiet, with no sign of enemy activity. Views of Army and Marine Corps infantry walking beside an M4 Sherman tank. Views of soldiers using binoculars in effort to detect any signs of the enemy. Crews in combat gear, at battle stations aboard Navy ships waiting patiently for enemy action. It came suddenly in the form of Kamikaze attacks on April 6, 1945, when the Navy's radar picket ships were attacked followed by general attacks against U.S. Capital ships. A kamikaze is seen striking an Essex-class aircraft carrier amidst ship, setting off explosions on the ship. Anti-aircraft gunners on various ships are seen firing at the Japanese planes. Another ship is struck by a Kamikaze. Douglas Dauntless and F4F aircraft being launched from carriers. The Battleship, USS Maryland (BB-46), is struck by a kamikaze that knocks out some of her gun emplacements, but she continues her mission in spite of the damage. A kamikaze aircraft is seen attacking the USS Yorktown (CV-10). It is hit by anti-aircraft fire and just misses the ship, splashing into the water nearby. Air is filled by black smoke puffs, from anti-aircraft fire as Japanese aircraft maneuver overhead. One is struck and falls burning to crash in the water, just off the flight deck of a carrier. Gun camera clip showing a multi-engine Japanese aircraft being shot down from behind, by a U.S. aircraft. Closeup of a Japanese Kawasaki Ki-61 aircraft in flight, peeling off to attack. More gun camera footage of a Japanese multi-engine aircraft being shot down from behind. A Kamikaze airplane diving down under anti-aircraft fire and crashing into the sea. Gunners firing Bofors anti-aircraft guns from gun emplacements beside the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. Skies filled with black flak clouds. On 11 April, a low-flying kamikaze Zero, although fired upon, is seen crashing on the battleship, USS Missouri USS (BB-63). It strikes her starboard side, just below her main deck level. The starboard wing of the plane was thrown far forward, starting a gasoline fire at 5 in (127 mm) Gun Mount No. 3. At the same time, another kamikaze crashes into the sea in the foreground. An aircraft carrier's gunners fire anti-aircraft Bofors guns at a Kamikaze plane that swoops over her flight deck and crashes, exploding, into the sea just off the flight deck. A low flying Kamikaze aircraft crashes into the sea off the bow of an escort carrier, underway. Heavy black smoke rises from the airplane blowing up. A huge explosion with a white cloud of smoke is seen above the battleship USS Missouri.
United States Army Air Service (USAAS) 94th Fighter Squadron in Toul, France during World War I. Captain J. A. Meissner climbs out of the cockpit of Eddie Rickenbacker's SPAD S. XIII fighter aircraft and walks away. "Hat in Ring" insignia on side of the aircraft. Three ground crewmen work on a SPAD XIII. 1st Lieutenant Allan Rankin who is an Engineering Officer reads a notice. They pound each other on the back and jump around. Commanding Officer 1st Pursuit Squadron Major Hartney and Operations Officer 94th Aero Squadron Lieutenant Cunningham stand in front of a Fokker V-8 shot down by Lieutenant Rickenbacker. In Toul, France on 18th April, 1918: A group of officers of 94th Aero Squadron including Major J. W. F. M. Huffer, Major Raoul Lufbery, Captain J. N. Hall, Captain Kenneth Marr, Captain D. McK. Peterson, Lieutenant J. B. H. Smith, Lieutenant C. A. Rankin, Lieutenant Reed Chambers, Lieutenant Douglas Campbell, Lieutenant W. L. Loomis, Lieutenant James N. Neissner, Lieutenant M. E. Green, Lieutenant A. L. Cunningham, Lieutenant A. F. Winslow, Lieutenant C. W. Chapman and Lieutenant P. H. Walter, Surgeon, standing in front of a USAAS Nieuport 28 C-l.