Dead bodies of prisoners from the Buchenwald Concentration Camp, operated by Nazi Germany in Ettersberg near Weimar Germany. World War 2 U.S. Army Cameraman slate indicates footage is from Buchenwald and was filmed on April 14, 1945, soon after the camp's liberation on April 11 by American forces. Dead bodies of prisoners lie on ground. Emaciated and tortured bodies of atrocity victims seen piled up in a truck. Dead man with a beard. Different bodies piled up in a truck. Faces of the dead bodies.
First scene shows President Harry Truman shaking hands with Joseph Stalin on a porch of the Cecilienhof ( home of Crown Prince Wilhelm) in Potsdam, Germany. The two leaders are accompanied by their respective foreign ministers, James F. Byrnes, U.S. Secretary of State, and Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vyacheslav Molotov. Stalin descends steps from the building followed by Truman. View of the back lawn at Cecilienhof. View of its front entrance. Various views of the house and grounds. American, Soviet, and British flags flying from the building. Cars carrying the leaders on road to the Cecilienhof. President Truman and James Byrnes entering outside gate, followed by other attendees. Then Stalin is seen entering followed by Soviet officers and officials. U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force (SCAEF) in Europea and U.S. Army Chief of Staff. George Marshall are seen walking together in a wooded glade on the meeting grounds. British Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, entering the grounds for the meeting. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Harry Truman, and Joseph Stalin stand on a step before an entrance to Cecilienhof. Truman places their hands together in a mutual handshake, at which Churchill and Stalin laugh. Views of the Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral, in Red Square, Moscow, Russia where foreign minsters of the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union are seen meeting meeting in conference at the Spiridonovka Palace in October, 1943. Closeup of Soviet Prime Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, British Prime Minister, Anthony Eden, and U.S. Secretary of State, Warren Hull, successively signing a document. Scene shifts, to a C-47 transport aircraft flying over great pyramid of Giza in Cairo, Egypt. Next, the front of the Soviet Embassy in Teheran, Iran, is shown. The "Big Three" (Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill) sit on the porch of the building. Military officers from their countries stand behind them. Narrator (Franklin D. Roosevelt) says they agreed to launch a gigantic attack on Germany. Scene shifts to Germany, where German military is paraded on public display, showing artillery, Panzer I tanks carried aboard army trucks, Heinkel He 111 bombers in formation overhead, and marching troops giving Nazi salute silhouetted against bright pavement. View shifts to the Livadia Palace, in Yalta, Crimea, Russia. Brief view of the "Big Three" and their staffs sitting around a conference table. Change of location to San Francisco, California, where flags of many nations are displayed along with a United Nations Logo. Representatives of the many nations sign the Charter of the United Nations, founding the U.N. organization on 26 June 1945. Film shifts to Germany where victorious American, British and Soviet troops shake hands and celebrate victory. They share drinks and toast victory.
A huge crowd cheering and celebrating the news of victory over Germany, ending World War 2, in Europe, on May 8, 1945 (VE Day). Cheering crowds gathering at Times Square and Wall Street in lower Manhattan, New York City. American flags on display.
Scenes from May 8, 1945 in London as England hears news of the surrender by Germany in World War II. Winston Churchill seated at desk and preparing to make a 3:00pm (15:00) radio broadcast about the German surrender. Churchill along with a British Naval officer greeted by Secretaries who clap and cheer as Churchill gets into a car and doffs his hat as he smokes a cigar. The car pulls away. View of Big Ben clock tower in London, showing the time of 3 o'clock pm, (15:00) which was the time of the broadcast by Churchill.
VE Day (Victory in Europe) May 8, 1945. From the White House, in Washington DC, President Truman announces that Germany has surrendered, bringing World War 2 in Europe to an end. Americans are seen celebrating the good news in the streets of downtown, Manhattan, New York City. Crowds on Wall Street and cheering on steps and in front of statue of George Washington at Federal Hall. Ticker tape falls on Wall Street. View of Trinity Church between tall buildings. Cheering crowd fills Times Square. Many in the crowd are soldiers, sailors and other military servicemen in uniform. American flags are seen on buildings and some carried by people in the crowd.
Clip opens with rapid changing scenes: American troops in trench in Korea during the Korean War. American tank on street in Germany. American Ski troops in Alaska. Amphibian assault training in Puerto Rico. Rotating Globe shows: U.S. Army on alert to defend against aggression. Sergeant Stuart introduces episdoe and states that U.S. Army has come to Japan to know their culture and make friends after war and occupation. U.S. Army troops of the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team, are seen arriving by railroad train at a train stateion near their base near Beppu,Oita on the island of Kyushu, Japan. U.S. Army soldiers, including white and African American soldiers, exit train cars. They receive a warm welcome from Japanese population. Banner reads:" Welcome Pala Troop comin back from Korea, City of Beppu."[sic] Women holding flowers and families with small children waving American and Japanese flags, welcome them on the train station. A sign over the train station platform reads: "Welcome 187 Para Troop Coming Back From Korea, City of Beppu." The troops stand in formation on the platform while the unit's officers receive the flowers from the women. Japanese men in fraternal uniforms and the general population all join in the welcoming ceremonies. The troops march off the train station under another sign reading: Welcome Home 187 RCT." and march down the main street of Beppu under a swirl of paper confetti. Next scenes are from autumn of 1945, as U.S. soldiers march through streets of Japan during occupation following the end of World War 2. U.S. troops seen marching behind Japanese police to occupy Japan, in 1945, amidst the aftermath of suffering and destruction of the war. The local population standing at road sides and watching with worry and concern. Scenes of postwar destruction in Japan. Rubble of bombed buildings. Scene of simple wooden dwelling shacks and wreckage nearby. A Japanese boy with his baby brother on his back. The baby is crying. Next scene moves again to circa 1950 in streets of a Japanese city, possibly Tokyo, rebuilt and with busy scenes of traffic on streets and commerce. Large outdoor rally with a Communist speaker addressing large crowd of Japanese people who sit and listen. Scenes from a what the narrator describes as a Communist rally in Japan, against America, which turns violent. Protestors running in streets during demonstration, with signboards and police and fire fighters extinguish flames at scene of an overturned, burning car. Flashback again to 1945 or 1946 as U.S. Army soldiers use tractors and heavy equipment to clear and level an area of war rubble and debris during rebuilding efforts after World War 2. Japanese citizens look on, watching the machines at work.
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