Opening scene shows a sign identifying the 38th Parallel separating North from South Korea. Refugees with their few belongings walk from North Korea to South Korea. A U.S. Patton tank is seen next, followed by another. Closeup of treads on a Patton tank, raising dust as it passes. Another Patton heading toward the camera, with a crewman waving. A Cessna L-19 Bird Dog, aircraft, marked with three stars, arrives, carrying the new Commander of the Eight Army, Lieutenant General James Van Fleet. He climbs out of the airplane and shakes hands with a Brigadier General. Standing behind him is Air Force Lieutenant General Earle E. Partridge, commander of the 5th Air Force. A jeep carrying General Van Fleet turns in from a dirt road. A sign reads "56th Regiment, Message Center." Lieutenant General Van Fleet, climbs out of the front right seat of the jeep. He is wearing a pair of pearl handled side arms. U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Partridge is seated in the back seat of the jeep and jumps out behind Van Fleet. View of explosion in distant hills, part of the initial barrage in advance of the next United Nations offensive. Sounds of aircraft and artillery are heard. American infantry are seen moving forward. Narrator notes that numerous Chinese troops were in the hills around the Chosin reservoir and they were committed in vast numbers against the UN forces. UN infantry in Korean War moving through forests and mist. Large numbers of Chinese prisoners of war are seen walking along a dirt road.
A film about uses and importance of weapons since old times in the United States. United States soldiers being trained in the use of recoilless rifle. Men fire recoilless rifles. Soldiers fire rifles during a training exercise. Smoke rises. A soldier look through binoculars. Scene changes to Korea. North Korean Army soldiers on motorbikes, bicycles and horses advance in Korea during the Korean War. Artillery and mortars being set up and fired by North Korean forces. U.S. Army soldiers carrying rifles advance in Korea during the Korean War. American Army soldiers take up positions on hills overlooking a valley and are seen firing at North Korean enemy positions. U.S. Army soldiers return to the United States after the Korean War. They disembark from a ship. The soldiers loaded in trucks move past cheering crowds in a New York parade.
Ground crewmen check aircraft at airfield in Korea. Newspaper-headline, "Reds Invade South Korea". Heavy explosion of demolition bomb in area hidden by woods. Formation of Fairchild C-119s Flying Boxcar, American military transport, dropping paratroops. Formation of C-119s dropping supplies by parachute. At airfield in Korea, ground crewmen check and refuel one of several USAF F-86 Sabrejet aircraft parked on a ramp. Scene shifts to F-59 jet aircraft in flight tests at a desert location in the U.S.A. Four F-59A aircraft approach and fly low over a runway. (Korean War)
The first oil refinery in South Korea. Oil tanks at refinery. First fertilizer plant in South Korea. Forklift operator at fertilizer plant. Women planting at experimental farm in Suwon South Korea. Laboratory at experimental farm. Men planting rice at experimental farm.
Korean War soldiers of Republic of Korea Army (ROK) aboard Sherman tank, move on bridge in Yongdongpo, Korea. The ROKs get off Sherman tank. Bending down, they run across the bridge to advance. Some take cover against bridge wall, coming under fire.
Opening Slate reads: "2/11/50." Several Republic of Korea (ROK) soldiers are seen running, one at a time, up a fortified hillside in Yongdongpo, Korea during the Korean War. From atop a hill, ROK soldiers fire a round from a Sherman tank. View of the shell exploding in a body of water in the distance. View of wrecked steel bridge over the Han River.