Views from a boat circling around the American troop transport ship, USS Mount Vernon (AP-22) while she is underway carrying troops of the American 9th Armored Division back home from Germany following World War 2. The opening scene shows the Mount Vernon from her forward port side as she passes. Series of portside closeups as the ship passes. Next she is viewed from starboard. The Mount Vernon is filled with troops returning home who can be seen along her top decks.
Troops coming home to America at the end of World War 2. An Army Sergeant just returned from Europe, at the end of World War 2, stands on a pier, beside the troop ship USS General J. C. Breckinridge (AP-176). With him is a woman who wearing a jacket emblazoned with many emblems of U.S. military units. The sergeant places the insignia of the 10th Armored Division on her back. They hug and laugh. Scene shifts completely to 9th Armored Division soldiers at Camp Patrick Henry, Newport News, Virginia, holding the large sign originally placed on the Ludendorff bridge in Germany, by C Company of the 9th Armored Engineer Battalion during the war. It reads:"Cross the Rhine with dry feet, courtesy of 9th Arm'd Div." The soldiers carry the sign past a wooden building at the camp. Change of scene shows Ninth Armored Division troops arriving by train at Camp Patrick Henry. They march in loose order on train platform, with troop transport railroad train pulled into station. The happy soldiers march through a Victory Arch bearing words, "Welcome Home" at an entrance to the camp. More views of the troops marching into Camp Patrick Henry, where the 9th Division is to be deactivated. In the camp grounds, Sergeant reaches into his dufflebag and takes out a small puppy. ( Note: Vehicles: seen in this clip include: MB GPW, and CCKW)
Life and indoctrination of Japanese troops during World War II. Newspaper headline reads 'Germany Collapses'. People celebrate and have drinks at bar. Table with few glasses and a liquor bottle. A Japanese soldier lay dead. Japanese flag and Koinobori carp windsock on pole. Japanese boys being indoctrinated to militarism, marching, drilling, in organized play, with model artillery pieces. Young Japanese soldiers in regiment commencing Japanese assault on Nanking, China. Scenes of Chinese civilians suffering at hands of Japanese soldiers. Views of Japanese atrocities perpetrated in Nanking. Japanese ships underway to Mariana Islands. Dead Japanese soldier. American troops attacking Japanese soldiers holed up in jungles. Staged enactment of last surviving Japanese soldier in a cave, who, instead of surrendering, seizes pistol of his slain officer and attacks Americans with it. Actual scenes of American wounded soldiers being carried out of jungle on stretchers following a battle with Japanese forces. Vast numbers of Japanese soldiers parading. American military dead being buried at sea, with a scene of many caskets draped in American flags poised for release into the ocean during the ceremony. Clip closes with Anti-Japanese propaganda message on screen "Get the Jap -- And Get it Over" directed at U.S. soldiers viewing the film.
A film on the reconstruction of Europe after World War II. Past events show German Chancellor Adolf Hitler addressing the German soldiers for the destruction of the cities. Corpses piled up in a Nazi concentration camp in Europe, victims of Nazi atrocities. Ropes, cords, and whip that had been used for torture of atrocity victims are seen hanging on a wall. Bodies of children dead following attacks by Japan. View of crematorium ovens in a Nazi camp, with bones in doorway of an open oven door. Bones piled up in a concentration camp. A crucifix of Christ standing amidst church ruins. Hitler youth seen playing drums at a Hitler youth rally. Close up of Adolf Hitler giving hail sign to a group. Close-up of uniform of a German Nazi officer and uniform of an Imperial Japanese officer. Image of German General Gerd von Rundstedt and slate on screen displaying some of his words spoken at the beginning of World War 2, advocating for mass destruction of Germany's enemies and systematic malnutrition and starvation of the oppostion. Views of starved infant and toddler age children in hospital beds under care of physicians following rescue and liberation. Several of the infants are crying.
Reconstruction of Europe after World War II. In Axis countries like Germany, children who suffered through war in Europe are seen gathered together on the street, many German boys and girls looking sad and hungry. Rubble of destroyed houses and buildings. Citizens walk through debris. Group of children lick metal pans laying on the ground and scavenge for food in a pile. Other people living in poverty are seen scavenging for food in trash cans and dust bins. A woman scrapes a trash can with a spoon and eats while a boy looks on. A riot and mayhem among citizens seeking relief and food. Faces of upset citizens, with many looking scared, sad, and angry. Sick, starved infant child lying in bed.
Victory Day celebrations in Paris, France after World War II. Entrance of U.S. 48th General Hospital in Paris. Wounded American soldiers with nurses in a hospital compound. Soldiers reading news of Germany's surrender. A soldier shows newspaper with headline 'Nazis Reveal Surrender To Western Allies, Russia'.
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