Operators at work in NASA Project Mercury tracking facility at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. An FPS-16 operator at control console.Other equipment seen include time signal receiver and time standard equipment. Several technicians are seen, some performing diagnostic testing of equipment.. (Note: The FPS-16 units originally planned for the Project Mercury tracking network did not have adequate displays and controls to reliably acquire the spacecraft during orbit. So NASA had them modified to double their range and also incorporated data-handling equipment to facilitate transmissions from all sites to the Mercury Project computers.)
Opening scene shows the famous image of American battleship USS Arizona as attacked by Japanese forces in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 in World War II. The ship is engulfed in black smoke, and listing. Change of scene to a waterfront in Japan during 1938, where numerous Japanese soldiers board troop ships bound for Manchuria, China. Next, are scenes of Japanese troops marching as they occupy Manchuria. Closeups of some Japanese soldiers. Scene shifts to a train moving on the South Manchurian railway, at a station showing a sign reading,"Chin Hsien." View of steam locomotive pulling a train away from the camera position. (Narrator states that a Japanese train, on the South Manchurian Railway, had been dynamited) This incident triggered a Japanese attack on Mukden, Manchuria. Japanese infantry are seen placing numerous bundles of reeds as a bridge across a wide, shallow, stream and proceeding to cross on their way to invade Mukden. Military supplies are carried on pack animals. In the air, overhead Japanese Mitsubishi G3M Type 96 land-based attack aircraft are seen flying in precision "V" formation. On the ground, Chinese civilians run for cover in the City of Mukden. (The date is September 18, 1931.) Glimpse of Chinese civilians looking at bombing victims on street of Mukden. Brief view of Geneva Switzerland, where League of Nations was housed. A memorial stone monument in that city to Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States and founder of the League of Nations. An entrance to the League of Nations headquarters in the Palais Wilson in Geneva, Switzerland. League delegates in session inside the Palais Wilson. A Japanese Naval Fleet, under command of Admiral Kichisaburō Nomura, is seen steaming toward the Chinese coast and begin a naval bombardment, firing their guns, 15 miles from Shanghai. Japanese Naval biplanes are seen in flight overhead. Japanese troops marching in the streets of Shanghai, as sidewalks of onlookers wave Japanese flags. Next, Japanese troops are seen marching out of Shanghai, at the insistence of the League of Nations. (Narrator states Japan signed a truce with China on May 4th, 1932.) View of Japanese troops entering further, into Mongolia. Japanese soldiers waving flag celebrating formation of the Puppet State of Manchuko in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia, in 1932. Japanese statesmen leaving the League of Nations headquarters, after Japan resigned from the League on February 24, 1933. Japanese infantry moving further into China supported by field artillery fire. Explosions from artillery and damaged buildings, as Japanese troops advance in China. Invaders using tall ladders to scale walls of a damaged fortress in China. Japanese pilots receiving briefing and boarding their Mitsubishi Ki-30 single engine light bomber aircraft at an airfield. View of them taking off and inflight, dropping bombs on Chinese targets. Aerial views of bombs exploding on ground below. Retreating Chinese army marching along the Great Wall of China. Chinese people and military forces moving their military and civilian resources deep into the Chinese interior.
At beginning camera gives shaky view of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris during World War 2. Then it shifts to an American army staff car driving along the Champs Elysee toward the Arch of Triumph. Next, General Dwight D. Eisenhower steps from the staff car, shakes hands with a U.S. army photographer, and walks among French people toward the base of the Arch of Triumph. Camera pans up to top of the arch. Back on the ground, Eisenhower is met by American and French military commanders and surrounded by a crowd of French civilians. He poses for a picture (viewing from left to right) unidentified U.S. Major General; Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, Dwight D. Eisenhower, French General Marie-Pierre Kœnig and British Air Marshal Arthur Tedder. The French Tricolor flies behind them. Camera pans upward to the top of the Arch of Triumph. The Allied commanders and General Eisenhower are surrounded by American soldiers and French civilians as Eisenhower gets into his staff car. View from trailing vehicle of his staff car passing the Place de la Bastille and proceeding through streets of Paris. Eisenhower is seen next, standing on the sidewalk, by his parked car, conversing with General Bradley, General Marie-Pierre Kœnig, and another French General. He shakes hands with a military photographer as he steps into his staff car, and shares a final hand shake with General Marie-Pierre Kœnig. As his car drives away, civilians in the background wave goodbye. Glimpse of American M4 Sherman tanks moving on the street. Eisenhower' car drives away.
Aerial views of Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base including POL and general storage areas. Views of flight line , with half constructed revetments and completed revetments, some containing F-4 Phantom aircraft.
Community fallout shelters being stocked. Lorries and trucks on road carry supplies. View of Red Ball trucking line truck. Aerial, exterior view of United Nations Building in New York City. View inside United Nations building. United Nation Ambassador Stevenson asks the USSR delegate whether there are missile bases on Cuba. President Kennedy signs Quarantine order on what materials may be shipped to Cuba, to begin 10am on October 24, 1962. B-52 bombers take off, taking 24 hour missions. Interceptors and fighters take off. Views on aircraft carriers with fueling and takeoff operations on flight deck. Radar dishes and radio communications. U.S. battleship at sea. U.S. intercepts Soviet tanker and allows her to proceed. Reconnaissance aircraft over Cuba. Views of White House. SAC bombers and anti aircraft missiles on 5 to 15 minute alert to handle any critical situation. Interiors of control room inside the Headquarters of American Air Defense Command.
Munitions ships tied up at DeLong Pier near Camp Vayama, Thailand. Thai trucks moving back and forth on pier. Trucks loaded with Mk 82 bombs and other ammunition move ahead on the route to munitions storage area. Various views of loaded trucks moving on road. (Note: opening slate indicates munitions are destined for U-Tapao Royal Thai Air Force Base.)
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