Officers and airmen, of the U.S. 91st Bomb Group, stationed at RAF Bassingbourn, England, stand in formation, in class A uniforms, in front of the B-17, Memphis Belle. Brigadier General Haywood S. Hansell, Jr. presents the Silver Star medal to two staff sergeants of the Memphis Belle crew. Pilot Robert K. Morgan of the B-17 Memphis Belle receives the distinguished Flying Cross, as does a technical sergeant, and another staff sergeant and an officer crew member. View of the medal recipients lined up together. A military band playing on the airfield. The British RAF flag flies over the airfield. (World War II period).
Opening scene shows two U.S. Air Force F-105 Thunderchief aircraft taking off in pre-dawn from Vietnam on a bombing mission, in 1966, during the Vietnam War. Next, the F-105s are seen diving and dropping bombs that explode into fire and smoke on the ground. Closeup of a Strategic Air Command (SAC) KC-135 aircraft in flight. It has been modified to serve as as a "Combat Lightning" aircraft that serves as a communication link between the Tactical Air Reporting Center at Monkey Mountain, near Danang, Vietnam and ground radar, airborne radar and any U.S. aircraft operating over North Vietnam. KC-135 "Combat Lightning" crew members are seated in a briefing room at the U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield, in Thailand. A briefing officer explains their mission, using charts and a map labeled SECRET Noforn (no foreign access) showing Vietnam and the Gulf of Tonkin. The briefer points to an area in the Gulf, and sketches a figure eight, showing where and how the KC-135 should maneuver in a holding pattern during its mission. Crew members rise and leave at the end of the briefing. View of a Strategic Air Command EC-135L that arrived on May 29, 1967, along with another, to support 24 hour "Combat Lightning" operations. Ground crewman directs the EC-135L as it taxis out and then takes off, past a C-130 aircraft holding short of the active runway. (Narrator notes that by the end of July, 1967, there were four "Combat Lightning" C-135 aircraft operating at U-Tapao airfield.) View from above of EC-135L aircraft in flight above clouds, en route to its assigned location over the Gulf of Tonkin. View of radio operator inside the aircraft, who is in radio contact with U-Tapao and the aircraft they are going to relieve. View of map showing their destination figure-eight holding pattern. Radio operator establishes the same contacts used by the aircraft they are relieving, to assure continuity of communications. Remainder of the film contains extended views of the radio operator at his station and of the EC-135 aircraft in flight. Near the end, the crew's Armaments and Electronics Technician is seen pulling a piece of malfunctioning electronic gear from a rack and replacing it with a spare, stored nearby.
Eight United States Army (EUSA) for psychological warfare (Psy War) in Seoul, Korea during the Korean War. A view through the open doors of a United States Air Force C-47 Skytrain as it takes off from an airfield. Two pilots in the cockpit. A hand on the controls. A Korean leaflet 'Kicker' studies a map aboard the aircraft. A view through the doors of an aircraft as it flies over mountains. A Korean in the aircraft throws packages of the leaflets out. He places some of the leaflets in a tube along the side the door. Back at the airfield, the 'Kicker' comes off the plane. He looks at his cap.
Montage of scenes from air war in Europe, covering period from about 1943 through 1945 during World War Two. U.S. P-47 and P-38 fighter aircraft being unloaded from a ship at a port in Europe during the Second World War. A line of P-47s on an airfield. German aircraft taking off and inflight, including: Me-109; He-111 bombers; Me-110 fighters; and Fw-190 fighters. U.S. P-51s firing at and destroying German aircraft. Multiple aerial dogfight scenes with gun camera footage showing dramatic mid air explosions of various enemy German aircraft. U.S. B-17s flying to Berlin and back again, with P-51 fighter escorts. P-38 aircraft flying in formation and returning from escort duty, seeking targets of opportunity, strafe German airfields, and fire on German aerodromes and parked aircraft, destroying many airplanes.
The Pacific Campaign of World War II on the Island of Saipan, Mariana Islands. Captured Japanese planes are inspected by newly arrived U.S. pilots. Pilots as they go out and start looking at various types of Japanese aircraft which were left on the Aslito airfield of which the Japanese troops were unable to destroy before retreating into the hills. Destroyed Japanese Zeros on ground at the airfield. Remainder of the 318th Fighter Group personnel arrive in freighters. Various freighters moving into the harbor area. Men walking down the gateway into water and marching across the water to shore getting out of LST (Landing Ship, Tank).
U.S. P-47 Thunderbolt fighters during Mariana campaign of World War 2. Depicts some crashes and battle damage to aircraft on Aslito Airfield (Isley Field) Saipan in Mariana Islands. Opening scene shows P-47D number 43-25324 "Bouncin Bette" of the 19th Fighter Squadron, 318th Fighter Group, with severe battle damage from a Japanese 40mm Flak round. This plane was damaged on a raid over Pagan Islands. Mechanics checking over the plane and removing a damaged wing section from it. View across island showing huge crater at a crash site. Huge crowd of U.S. military personnel kept well back from the scene, in the background. Stretcher bearers running out and placing the dead pilot onto the stretcher. Scattered plane and a piece of engineering equipment which the plane crashed into showing the remains of both plane and the engineering equipment. Firemen fighting the fire on burning U.S. Navy FM-2 WIldcat aircraft. that crashed. Several men throwing dirt with shovels onto the burning remains of the plane. Men attending memorial services for lost pilots. Two P-47s buzzing the airfield. P-61 aircraft engines turning over as P-47s making landing. P-61 taking off at dusk. Aerial formation of P-47s buzzing the field at dusk. Aerial formation of four P-47s.
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