United States Officers seated in a classroom at Donaldson Air Force Base, Greenville. Colonel Harry Hopp enters room and briefs the officers.
Series 'Why We Fight' episode "Prelude to War" depicts the battles during World War II. United States soldiers parade on street lead by a band. Japanese bombing attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. The London Blitz with buildings destroyed and burning. The Eiffel Tower in Paris with Nazi flag flying atop it. German troops marching into Paris, through the Arc de Triomphe. Japanese warplanes bombing shanghai, China, in 1937. Chinese residents running for shelter. Glimpse of German "Schwerer Gustav" 80 cmrailway gun firing during German offensive against Soviet Union in 1941. German forces entering Czechoslovakia in 1938. German mounted troops entering France in 1940. Heavy guns firing. German ships en route to Norway 1940. German Ju-52 aircraft flying low over trees. Montage showing rapid succession of war scenes, including heavy guns firing, smoke rising, explosions, an aircraft shot down and crashing straight down, German armor on the move, German Ju-52 aircraft dropping paratroopers into Holland and one flying over Athens, Greece, with Mount Lykabettus in the background. More of the same with Narrator mentioning Belgium, Albania, Yugoslavia, and Russia (where citizens are seen digging anti-tank trenches and fortifications). Cavalry charging across a field. A German tank rolling forward. A German Dornier Do-17 bomber taking off, and bombs falling.
Aftermath of the Gardelegen Massacre: German civilians dig grave for Nazi atrocity victims in Gardelegen, Germany. Mutilated and burned bodies of one thousand political deportee prisoners, including Russians, Poles and French, in and around a large barn. United States Army Infantry troops view and inspect the bodies, and supervise German civilians being forced to dig mass graves for the victims, who had been transported to the barn from the Mittelbau-Dora Concentration Camp and the Hannover-Stöcken Concentration Camp during World War 2.
High society debutantes and their escorts perform the old time minuet outside Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. View of front façade of the Independence Hall (520 Chestnut Street between 5th and 6th Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S). The young women and young men dance in period 18th century clothing. The event was organized to recall days of Alexander Hamilton, the most influential of the United States' founding fathers.
United States Marines march across a beach on Gilbert Island in World War II. A Jeep is moving along the marching solders. The U.S. Marines sit , bathe, relax and mill around after battle. Barren posts and ruined sea shore is also seen.
Works Progress Administration helps musicians to find jobs in their field during the Great Depression. Opening scene shows orchestra performing in concert at the Toledo Zoo Amphitheater (2700 Broadway St, Toledo, OH 43609, United States) in Toledo, Ohio. Next, an African American gospel choir gathers around a piano and sings the spiritual "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel" led by their female conductor, the famed Blues singer Juanita Hall.
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