Norwegian civilians flee in trucks, and cars, in advance of German invading troops. German troops march into a Norwegian city. British warships attack and destroy many German ships in the Norwegian harbor of Narvik. The British Tribal class destroyer, HMS Matabele (F 26) is seen. British warships fire heavy guns and numerous German vessels are sunk. A torpedo is launched from side of a British ship. Harbor is littered with sunken vessels. (World War II period).
Film opens with brief glimpse of Swedish soldiers (wearing M21 steel helmets) rushing to take positions in a defensive trench during World War 2. Scene shifts to infantry in combat gear, including shouldered blanket rolls, as they demonstrate ability to rapidly take up defensive positions. (Numerous automobiles parked in the background, indicating this is a demonstration.) Scene shifts to coastal defenses in Sweden, where heavy guns are seen firing from underground fortifications near a coastline. Swedish troops (wearing M37 steel helmets) firing a Browning M17 water-cooled machine gun from a protected position. Swedish troops (in M21 helmets) firing double-mounted Kulspruta m/36 water-cooled 8mm machine gun (modified Browning design dual mounted). Pattern of bullets splashing near floating targets offshore. Glimpse of a 29/33 M. 80mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun. Biplanes: Swedish J8 Gloster Gladiator MK I bi-wing pursuit aircraft seen flying low in formation over a grass field. Swedish T3 aircraft in formation. (These are Junkers Ju 86 K-13 aircraft built by SAAB, under license, and converted to torpedo bombers. They are flown by Swedish Wing F 17.) The pursuit planes stage mock attacks on the formation of T-3 bombers. Aerial closeups of a J8 in flight. Next, from very close up, one of the fuselage-mounted Browning .303 machine guns on a J8, is seen firing. Two of the bombers drop out of their formation and descend, as if they had been hit. (This is all a demonstration, carefully enacted.)
Animation: NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) using SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) directed Bomarc IM-99B missiles to repel an attack by hostile aircraft. General Laurence Kuter and other officials in the NORAD control room. They look at screens and speak over phone. Four F-102A aircraft in flight. NORAD official operates controls and speaks over mouth piece. General Laurence Kuter speaks with other officials. Bomarc IM-99B at launch pad.
Segment of U.S. Army public information television program called, "The Big Picture." Army cameraman records firing of a Nike missile. Atomic cannon fires shell creating atomic explosion and classic mushroom cloud. Army troops exit Sikorsky YH-19 helicopters. Infantrymen climb a hill while firing rifles in unison. Animated rotating world globe. Sergeant Stuart Queen emphasizes that, in spite of new weapon systems, the individual soldier is the essential element of the Army. Technicians in missile launch control blockhouse observe launch of a missile from steel tower. View from inside the structure of missile rising, and then of smoke as it heads skyward. Radar units and cameras tracking the missile. Views from a missile, of the ground below, as it accelerates upwards. More tracking cameras. A Matador missile being launched. A Viking missile being launched. Test of anti-aircraft missile launched horizontally, striking nearby target with explosion. A thermonuclear weapon test explosion. A Corporal missile being launched. Sophisticated electronic tracking equipment employed at desert test site. Convair experimental XFY Pogo seen in vertical takeoff during trials. Anti-aircraft missile, fired from Navy ship, strikes drone target aircraft, which falls in flames. Technician stands before a virtual wall of electronic equipment. Army Signal Corps television cameraman captures field maneuvers of Landing Vehicles Tracked (LVTs) and an M4 Sherman tank. A High-flying warplane fires an air-to-air missile destroying a drone aircraft target that falls in flames. Aerial view of the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia. America's top military leaders sit around a table. At the head, is Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Arthur William Radford. To his right are: General Nathan F. Twining, USAF, and Admiral Robert B. Carney, Chief of Naval Operations (back to camera). To Radford's left are General Lyman Lemnitzer, Army chief of Staff, and General Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr. Commandant of the Marine Corps. Views of U.S. Navy warships firing heavy guns. A South Dakota Class Battleship firing her 16-inch guns. Navy aircraft being catapulted from the USS Ranger (CV-61). Gun camera view from aircraft firing guns. A USAF B-52 bomber in flight. Bombs falling from open bomb bay of bomber in flight and carpeting the ground with explosions. Low flying USAF aircraft demonstrating ground-support bombing techniques, dropping napalm and explosive bombs.
President Harry Truman and former Secretary of State, James F. Byrnes, are among those present as George C. marshall takes the oath of office as Secretary of State, in the oval office of the White House. Afterwards, he walks out of the White House and down the block next to the Old Executive Office Building. A phalanx of photographers take pictures of Secretary Marshall at his desk as he signs his first official document as Secretary of State.
Operations of U.S. Navy Carrier Group 5 (CVG-5) aboard the U.S. Aircraft Carrier, USS Valley Forge (CV-45) during the Korean War. View of interior of control room. F4U Corsair aircraft of Squadrons VF-53 and VF-54 being armed while parked on flight deck with wings folded. Several start engines and begin to taxi. Rockets are mounted under their wings and bombs under their fuselages. One is given signal and commences takeoff roll. Two AD-4 Skyraiders, of Squadron VA-55, also take off from the carrier. All the aircraft seen display the CVG-5 tail code "S."
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