United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt his wife Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt, and with with his newly appointed Cabinet and Admiral William Standley aboard the Cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35) to view U.S. Navy maneuvers. Views of U.S. battleships, the carrier USS Lexington (CV-2) and other ships in sea. Office holders like U.S. War Secretary George Dern, Secretary of Navy Josephus Daniels and others can be seen. Biplane aircraft in a flight formation over the naval fleet as it passes New York City. A gathering of people watches fleet; A U.S. flag can be seen. Views of New York City skyscrapers on Manhattan Island in the mid 1930s.
Aerial views of Mitchel Field in Hempstead Plains of Long Island, New York. Major General Frank Andrews of U.S. Army Air Corps, General Headquarters Air Force, and staff standing around a large plotting board, with models of airplanes, guns and boats on the plotting board. They are planning a test of the defense of aircraft factories in the region from air attack. Five PB-2As parked in a row at Mitchel Field. Crew operating range finder and aircraft sound detector. Soldiers turn searchlight to the right. Fireman opens switch box door on wall and pulling switch to notify power station staff of the drill, which was the first aerial bombardment blackout drill of its kind in the United States. Workman pulling main power switch in power station to create blackout conditions in city as protection from aerial bombing. Night time aerial views of City of Farmingdale in New York lit up and then going dark all at once as power is cut during blackout. Batteries of the 62nd anti aircraft post artillery swing into action operating searchlights directed at incoming bombers. The bombers drop flares during the test, as ground crews practice locating the "enemy" aircraft in search light beams.B-10, the all metal monoplane bomber in flight during night. Flares descending. In the mock test, the bombers prevail and the defenses fail to protect all of the aircraft factories. End of clip shows elevated night time views of New York City and Times Square area as seen from the air and from high up tall skyscraper buildings of Manhattan. Bright lights and lit signs of city seen from above as narrator suggests the threat against New York City from aerial bombardment by a foreign force (early in World War 2).
26 July 1953: Cuban political leader Fidel Castro sends his men to the Moncada Barracks manned by the military garrison. His men are massacred and gunned down by the officers. The garrison Colonel Alberto, followed by his men. A crowd surrounds them. Officers with the uniforms of the killed revolutionaries who died in the 26th of July attempt, which becomes the rallying event for the revolution. An officer at a table while others stand around him as he is rewarded the General Star. Officials sign documents. The wounded from the barracks in a military hospital. Officers and officials attend the military honors ceremony for the dead officers and soldiers. Police keep a vigil and search cars on the streets. General Rafael Salas Canizares leads the hunt for conspirators and rebels. The General with other officers pose with the arms found during a search. Buildings bombed and wrecked by rebel saboteurs and guerrillas. Police Officers ocomb the island. Castro surrenders and is tried in 1953 along with his men. 1954: Other revolution fronts operating. A man signs a document surrounded by officials. Students demonstrate on the streets. A wounded on a litter and another on a hospital bed. 1955: Batista signs an appeasement and Castro, his brother Raul Castro, Melba Hernandez, Haydee Santamaria, and Castro's men are released. The brothers are greeted by their sister Lydia. Fidel Castro announces that he will leave the country to organize an invasion. People rejoice on the street.
Cuban rebels against the Batista government work in exile in the U.S. and Mexico in 1956. New York encircled on the U.S. map. View of papers fluttering all around baseball field as the freedom fighters' leaflets cause a delay in a baseball game at Yankee Stadium in New York. Players on the baseball field view the scene. Miami encircled on the U.S. map. Castro raises funds for the revolution in Miami. Police and officials inspect arms confiscated from the revolutionaries. Close up scene of a payoff, with money changing hands between two men. Mexico City and Quintana encircled on a map. A huge war chest is raised in Mexico City. Castro buys arms and a 58 foot yacht equipped to carry fourteen people in Quintana. Ammunition dumped into a carton. Aerial view of an island. Wheel house on Castro's boat, the Granma, that goes aground. Officers and men on the boat. The radio operator sends a message dictated by an officer leading to ambush of the rebels by troops and police loyal to Batista. Soldiers load ammunition, stand guard, and enter gates. Some of Castro's men escape to the Sierra Maestra Mountains. A woman lays flowers on a revolutionists' grave, killed during the ambush by Batista's men. Men with load on horses. They cross a stream. A man with a machine gun. Soldiers advance in the jungle, talk to civilians and rest. Soldiers eat fruits, including girls who have joined Castro's movement. Fidel Castro seated in a chair while a man trims his hair. Soldiers shoot at a plane in the sky. A soldier loads his rifle. A woman stitches a shirt with the name 'JULIO' on it. A woman dries clothes on a clothes line.
Traffic in Brooklyn, New York City. View from Belt Parkway in Brooklyn, looking at the Verrazzano Bridge over The Narrows, the strait joining Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay. Vehicles moving on the Parkway and on the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge. Slow pan across the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge from the Brooklyn side to the Staten Island side.
Traffic on the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn, New York, near the exit to the Verrazzano Bridge across the Narrows in New York Bay. View of the bridge, extending over the highway. A work barge is tied up at one of the bridge piers. Pan across the bridge to Fort Wadsworth on the Staten Island side. A ship proceeds under the bridge towards New York harbor. Two trucks are seen crossing the upper deck towards Brooklyn. No vehicles are seen on the lower deck which is not yet open to traffic.
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