Returning Heroes Day, June 4, 1945, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during World War II. Officials and soldiers in a celebration arranged in honor of U.S. Army Air Force General Carl Andrew Spaatz, and U.S. Army General Omar Nelson Bradley. The Generals on special guest seats with Pennsylvania Governor, Edward Martin and Philadelphia Mayor, Bernard Samuels. An Army Major General sits with them. Soldiers, in a park, fire artillery gun in salute. Civilians shower ticker tape and confetti from the top of a building. They raise American flags. Army guards line the parade route, standing at parade rest with rifles. Policemen on motorbikes escort motorcade.. The Generals sitting with Governor Martin in an open customized jeep. A military band on a road side plays music. The Generals salute them. Spectators stand at the road sides. They shower ticker tape and confetti on the motorcade of the Generals. As they pass a park, soldiers fire an artillery gun in salute. In the downtown commercial district, banners across the street advertise E bonds. A band plays on the sidewalk as the motorcade passes.
Opening scene shows map with principal cities of Danzig, Königsberg, Warsaw, Breslau and the Vistula River and Baltic Sea (Ostsee) among other places shown. Gernan forces forming a defense against Soviets on the Vistula line in the Winter of 1945, during World War 2. German troops are seen in white winter gear manning positions in deep snow. They are seen in midst of high winds and snowstorm. Only a couple of motorcycles move through the storm. Closeups of some of the German soldiers. Scene shifts to a Baltic seaport, where German troops and war materiel are being loaded for transport to the front. Views of German supply convoy underway through ice floes in the Baltic. Glimpse of German sailors on deck in cold weather gear. View from snow covered deck of an accompanying warship of the convoy steaming ahead. At TC:01:09, the German Cruiser Prinz Eugen is seen underway in the Baltic. She carries a an observation aircraft amidship. Next, German warships are seen firing multiple salvos from their naval guns.
Clouds and lightening seen in the sky. A photograph of Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goering on the ground, soaking in the rain. Ruins and rubble seen in Germany in the year 1945. High rise buildings seen later. Tall buildings and streets with automobiles and pedestrians seen. A small stream is seen.
Vintage slate states that the scenes are from San Juan, Puerto Rico. However, it opens with pre-hurricane views not of San Juan, but of Havana, Cuba, as seen from its harbor. Buildings of Havana Cuba seen, including El Capitolio, the National Capitol Building in Havana. Seen shifts to a covered market area filled with people (possibly still Havana, or possibly now in Puerto Rico. Aerial view of homes and buildings in the city of San Juan in 1932. Scene changes to view of hurricane winds blowing palm trees at 120 mile speed during San Ciprian hurricane. Palm trees on shore blown by wind. Sea water floods city. View after storm of wreckage of houses. People combing through the ruins. Cloth spread on ruins. Women and children walk among ruins. View again of storm in progress with water flooding the area and hurricane force winds.
Nationalist sympathizers are arrested at the Insular Police Headquarters, and placed aboard a bus, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. They are transported and seen stepping from a commercial bus with "Mazaguez Linea el Dia" written on its front. The Capitol of Puerto Rico Building (1 Plaza de la Democracia, San Juan, PR, 00901) can be seen in the distant background. A circular drive-in front of a building is filled, bumper-to-bumper, with taxi cabs, labeled "City Taxi."
Workers construct houses and roads in San Juan, Puerto Rico. They build roads while vehicles drive on them. Number of cars parked in parking area. Dam under construction. Aerial view of houses under construction in a row. Street signs read: Calle General Patton; Avenue Las Americas; and Calle Taft. View of the Puerto Rican Capitol building.
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