Hydrogen bomb exploded in open air test at 15000 feet over the Pacific. Weather airplane circles the disaster area. In preparation for the explosion, skiffs carrying radiation detection devices are lowered and anchored at strategic points in blast area. Trace rockets ready to be launched that will capture samples of radioactive clouds. Admiral B Haw Hamlin inspects the area. B-52 Commander, Major Dave Crichlor briefs the crew members. The Crew of B-52 Bomber drops thermonuclear hydrogen bomb from fifty five thousand feet to explode fifteen thousand feet over the target area where these instruments will measure heat and radiation. View of the target island of Namu in Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, outlined with a cross of lights and its radar installations. View of the large nuclear bomb explosion as it spreads in the area. Observers close their eyes as the light is very strong.
The Allied Invasion of Bougainville. Distant island view through rigging of a ship. On ship, large caliber machine gun is fired. Troops getting ready on deck of ship. Senior officer reads final orders. Numerous landing craft in water. Troops descending side of ship into landing craft. Side view of invasion destroyer. Landing craft in surf near island. Landing craft beaching. Plane flies over head. Troops wade through surf attempting to reach beach. Rear view of hundred of troops massed on beach. Soldiers walk around huts. Bodies of dead Japanese. Troops offload supplies from a landing craft.
"Marianas Turkey Shoot". Strafing and explosion on Mariana Islands by United States Task Force. View of coastal areas of island. Bomb hits on bay. Strafing on islands. Dock areas burning. Smoke rises from island. Explosions on the buildings on water front. Japanese planes being shot down. Enemy fighter planes explodes. Plane catches on fire and heads towards water. Pilot jumping from aircraft. Transport type plane strafed. (World War II period).
Film titled, 'Return to Guam'. Map shows location of Guam in the Pacific Ocean. Japanese installations on the island are shelled by American destroyer (DD). Light flashes are noticed on a peak of a nearby hill on the island. Sailors aboard the DD look through binoculars. A reply signal is sent form the DD. Sailors board a boat and head cautiously toward the island. A white man swims toward the boat. He is taken aboard. The rescued man was found to be a radioman of the United States Navy (USN), named George Tweed who was hiding on the island for the past 31 months. George Tweed eats food with the Destroyer crew after being rescued. Destroyers underway in the Pacific. View of the American naval fleet underway in the Pacific. View of cannons and crew aboard an allied vessel. Crewmen pile up heavy 14inch shells and 40mm ammunition on the deck of the warship. (World War II period).
American troops are seen in arctic gear moving on skis through blustery snowy weather in Iceland, during World War 2. They were sent in 1941 to relieve British troops occupying Iceland since 1940, during World War II. A guard post at the American camp, with Quonset Hut in background. Closeup of U.S. sentry in arctic gear holding rifle with bayonet affixed. View from above, of numerous tents partially covered with snow in the American camp. Change of scene shows U.S. troops disembarking from transport ships at the British Isles. They march with their combat gear onto a square where Army trucks wait to transport them inland. Another scene shows the American troops, viewed from behind, parading in London. Other scenes show them marching in various areas of London. Saint Paul’s cathedral is seen in the background of one scene. A large number of American M3 Stuart Light tanks move on a railroad train in Britain. Scene shifts to the Middle East, where railroad cars and various military supplies for Russia are be offloaded from American ships. A Russian officer is seen signing receipts for war materiel, from a U.S. Army Technical Sergeant. A row of American Army trucks are lined up behind them. The Russian and American exchange salutes, and shake hands. Next, a troop ship carrying American troops is seen arriving at a port in India, where they disembark with their gear. An American Army Sergeant in a pith helmet pays attention to a little Indian girl. Scene shifts to China, in 1942, where Brigadier General Claire Lee Chennault, Commander of the China Air Task Force, of the Tenth Air Force, that replaced the American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers), is seen with Brigadier General Caleb V. Haynes, Commander of the India Air Task Force. A colonel joins their discussions. A Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber is parked behind them. View of Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter planes, with Flying Tiger markings, parked on a flight line. A B-24 bomber landing on a runway, between hills, deep in China. Closeup of Nationalist China Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, saluting. Huge numbers of Chinese troops assembling in a formation. Next, an expeditionary force of American troops is seen arriving on a troop ship in Australia. They line the ship’s deck and wave. General Douglas MacArthur arriving in Australia to assume the office of Supreme Commander, South West Pacific Area (SWPA). .Glimpses of U.S. Navy activities in Australia: setting up defenses of islands; unpacking a Kingfisher float plane and making it ready for use on a desert island. The final segments of the film show American forces in August ,1942 sailing to Adak in the Aleutian Islands, to strengthen American defenses there. Troops seen descending by rope ladder from the American transport ship USS J Franklin Bell (PA-34), into her landing craft for deployment on Adak Island. Scenes of landing craft reaching the beach and offloading troops, vehicles, and supplies. View of beach filled with supplies. One landing craft is clearly marked with ""P34" showing that it belongs to the USS J Franklin Bell ( later reclassified as APA-16).
Mixture of reenactments for older 18th and19th Century life scenes in America, and actual footage from the 20th century. Workers cut timber with an axe. Cattle-drawn carriage passes. Laying log roads. Building a railroad. View of Chinese railroad laborer. Stringing telegraph wire on log poles. Steam locomotive pulls passenger train and belches black smoke. Reenactment of farmers ("Minute Men") assembling and marching off to meet the British in American Revolutionary War. Facsimile of United States Declaration of Independence. Actual footage from the early 1900s (circa 1910) of newly arriving immigrants arriving at Ellis Island for processing, including men, women, and children. Two boys pose for the camera smiling. Immigrants with their luggage in hand walk on docks of Ellis Island to or from processing areas. View of the Statue of Liberty on Bedloes Island and the words inscribed on statue of Liberty. Immigrants at Ellis Island. Diverse group of peoples raising their right hands as they take oath and become U.S. Citizens. Myriad different faces of Americans, including men, women, and children and people of different ethnic backgrounds including Asian, African American, and white. Three children gathered around a seated elderly man as he reads to them. Citizens deliberating on local development matters. Congress in session. Women voting registrars checking names as as voters arrive to cast their ballots in an election, and people entering voting booths to vote. Views of new 1965 Ford and Chrysler and other automobiles including sedans and station wagons. New Ford tractors on display. 1965 "concept" and "space age" automobiles on display from General Motors at a car show. Reenactment of engineers using time and motion studies in a factory. Workers in different kinds of factories and manufacturing plants in the the early 20th century (1910s, 1920s, and 1930s) employing mass assembly line methods for the creation of goods. Various machines operated in factory. Workers engaged in mass production. Finished goods display in shops. Sales person selling curling irons. Another selling a flat iron.Two women and an early version clothes washer. A woman tries out vacuum cleaner as salesman helps her. Men making sinks and tubs. A crew of women tightens fasteners on assembly line, using "Yankee" screwdrivers. Warehouse men moving crates and a shipping warehouse filled with boxes and busy workers. One scoots with his foot on a hand cart. Workers leaving factory at end of work shift. Grain harvester at work. Laboratories for medicine, industrial, and plant research, with scenes of scientists and technicans running experiments and views of test tubes, beakers, flasks, and measurement apparatus. Image of globe spinning. An African city and women near a market selling goods and moving good held high on their heads. A Latin American city. American cooperation with hispanic people on civic projects. Families lined up at a health clinic for babies. One baby is being weighed. Americans including US Army soldiers working with Latin Americans on a construction project.