United States Army Air Service (USAAS) Douglas World Cruiser (DWC) fly over a mountainous region in the United States. Three DWCs take off. A small crowd in the foreground. Six DWCs in flight. American flag flies from a flagpole. A DWC flies over hangars and lands in an open field. Two DWCs fly above scattered clouds. A cloud layer between mountain oaks. The wing of a Airco DH-4M airplane is visible. A DWC flying over a mountain range. Two DWCs fly over a mountain range. Three DWCs in flight over Seattle, Washington. Views of the Columbia River. USAAS Airco DH-4M in flight over Seattle River. A DWC in flight. Mt. Shasta in the background. Views of Seattle as an airplane ( Airco DH-4) performs barrel rolls over the city. Aerial views of heavy smoke rising from a forest fire in a mountainous region.
Two U.S. Pennsylvania class battleships underway at sea, with other warships in background, during World War 2. One fires to starboard with her 14-inch guns from the forward triple turrets. U.S. Army Air Forces B-24 Liberator bombers flying in formation over mountains. Glimpse of General Douglas MacArthur with General Joseph (Vinegar Joe) Stilwell in gunner's station of a bomber. Montage of brief glimpses showing U.S. forces engaging Japanese forces in: amphibious assaults; firing weapons in New Guinea and other Pacific islands. U.S. warship firing naval guns. U.S. ship firing at attacking Japanese aircraft, with sky full of black flak clouds. Admiral William (Bull) Halsey. Mitsubishi A6M Zero kamikaze aircraft blown up close to flight deck of U.S. aircraft carrier. It misses the ship and crashes in flames, exploding in the water, astern. U.S. General Joseph Stilwell, Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, British Allied commander Lord Louis Mountbatten, and Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, photographed together in India. Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek seated for a picture with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Camera moves back revealing British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, also seated. Behind them stand key allied military leaders, including (from the right) Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell, Commander-in-chief in India; Admiral Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of South-East Asia forces; George Giffard — commander of Eleventh Army Group; U.S. General Daniel Isom Sultan, deputy to General Stilwell; General Joseph Stilwell, Commander China-Burma-India (CBI) Command; and General Albert Coady Wedemeyer, Chiang Kai-Shek's Chief of Staff. General Joseph Stillwell is seen stepping from a military cargo plane, and being greeted by another officer. Stilwell is wearing a campaign hat. He has the CBI patch on his jacket shouder. A B-24 Liberator bomber takes off from a Chinese base at Liuchow, or possibly, Luiliang, China. (ostensibly carrying Chinese soldiers to India for training). U.S. marked P-40 aircraft are parked beside the runway. They display the shark teeth nose art of the Flying Tiger All volunteer Group of Claire Chennault. But this is 1944 and the aircraft are from the U.S. 23rd Fighter Group. Chinese soldiers are seen being armed and trained in India, with modern small arms. They are also seen fording a river with military supplies and moving in jeeps through jungle-like settings. Various views of Ledo Road construction in Burma. bulldozers, trucks, caterpillar tractors, explosives and men are shown in construction work. A jeep rides along a muddy section of the new road while U.S. and Chinese soldiers patrol on either side to protect it. Allied soldiers firing a small field piece. A C-47 aircraft airdrops supplies to the road builders. General Stilwell, standing with a Chinese officer, looks skyward at the aircraft. A C-46 Commando plane taking off from a field in India carrying supplies. Men loading a jeep aboard a C-46, plus ammunition and other supplies. Rare sight of supplies being loaded into nose cargo compartment of the one-of-a-kind XC-108A transport plane (modified B-17 bomber, tail number 41-2593). A formation of USAAF C-45 transport aircraft flying "over the Hump." Chinese P-36 Hawk aircraft in formation demonstrate firepower. Newly trained Chinese pilots marching and walking on flightline where solid-nose B-25s and P-40s are parked. Chinese and American pilots wave to each other from their P-40 aircraft. A B-25 takes off flanked by two P-40s. Bombs being dropped by Chinese B-25s. Japanese ship being strafed by Chinese fighter plane. Chinese laborers at work building an airfield without machinery. A large group pull a paving roller by hand. Chinese troops in combat with Japanese forces. One firing a Czech ZB vz. 26 light machine gun. Madame Chiang Kai-Shek addressing the U.S. Congress, 18 February, 1943.
NATO staff taking advantage of nice weather to relax a few minutes after lunch. Several women staff members are seen seated on park benches. Two women on a park bench. One turns to lie down near her companion. Scene shifts to French fliers ralaxing in grass. Two in flying gear, including personal flotation vests, are playing chess. Several French Dassault MD.452 Mystere jet fighter planes are parked on a flight line in the background. Elsewhere, two NATO staff men play ping pong. Two others engage in a fencing match. On a sandy shore, two soldiers engage in hand-to-hand combat, while their comrades stand in a line watching. In a park-like setting, several men are playing bocce (bocci). Two men stroll together engaged in somewhat serious conversation. In a casual lounge area of the headquarters, several staff converse with foreign counterparts in the NATO staff. Scene shifts to view from above of open freight train moving along a track, next to an open air depot, where another train of supplies is parked and wheeled cargo handling equipment is stored on the train platform. Renault automobiles moving on an assembly line in a factory. Aircraft landing gears being lowered during testing at a factory. View from above of shadow on the ground cast by a French Caravelle jet transport plane in flight. Two specialists in serious conversation at a technical laboratory. Views of the laboratory and some experimental (seemingly atomic in nature) equipment. A technician engaged in ancillary activities in a laboratory. (Narrator comments about switching the Mark XYZ rocket from defense to space probes.) Next, Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., in his silver pressure suit with the helmet visor closed, steps from a trailer marked "NASA TV No 1." Scene shifts to the rocket launch control room, where NASA controllers at their respective stations monitor video images of Shepard boarding the Mercury capsule. They monitor data pertaining to the status of the rocket and capsule. The Mercury Redstone 3 rocket, carrying Shepard's Freedom 7 Mercury capsule, is next seen in a fiery launch on May 5, 1961.at 9:34 a.m. from P:ad 5 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. (It carried Shepard on a suborbital trajectory lasting 15 minutes and 22 seconds, making him the first American to fly into space.)
Motorists being processed at a German border crossing, including a man driving a MG T-Type roadster automobile. The Border guard examines items being carried across the border. the operator of a travel trailer presents documents. Views of trains stopping at borders, including famous trans-European trains such as the Edelweiss and the Nord Express between Paris and Copenhagen. Trans-European train crossing border where Swedish flag is displayed. Sign on a train listing stops including Stockholm, Copenhagen, Basel and Rome. Electric train passing through border. Railroad construction underway through the center of Brussels, Belgium. A large new train station being completed in the heart of Rome, Italy. An electric locomotive under construction in a train factory in Switzerland, where Swiss technicians employ use of new, lighter materials such as aluminum and rubber train wheels. A ship displaying Swedish flag loads cargo at Rotterdam. Panning wide views of the Rotterdam port, in the Netherlands. A 4-masted sailing ship docked at a pier in the Rotterdam harbor. The port's modern warehouses. Men step out on rotating platform high up in a warehouse building. View of cranes loading cargo for ships.
Opening scene shows wooden buildings at the Reliable Academy in Dong Tam, Vietnam, where the U.S. Ninth Infantry Division has established an NCO training facility.One building is designated "classroom 4" and displays the name of an instructor. Inside, members of the 9th Division Band play musical selections for the occasion. Closeup of the 9th Infantry Division band base drum and drummer, followed by another view of the band members playing. Next, all present rise to hear remarks from Brigadier General Frank Gunn, Deputy Commander of the 9th Infantry Division.
Documentation of crash landings,of Gruman Wildcat (F4F) airplanes,on the USS Makassar Strait (CVE-91) during a training cruise, off Hawaii, in 1944. One almost veers off the deck completely, and one the involves a nose-over. In one instance, the pilot comes in too hot, on one wheel, and prudently executes a "go around" for another try.
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