Symbolically Japanese Shogun secured the island empire from the outside world, as illustrated by a model with a fence around Japan. A model of early steamship and figures represent the visit to Japan of Commodore Matthew Perry, of the United States, in 1853, which resulted in a treaty opening Japan to broader commerce with the outside world. Japanese women read newspapers. Japanese Prime minister Hideki Tojo. Japanese Women as recruits. Japanese troops march. Japanese men and women queue up to vote.1950.
General MacArthur returns to the Philippines in World War II. Gun footage show Allied airplanes bombard Japanese ships in Mindanao, Philippines. Allied airplane in dogfight with a Japanese airplane. Japanese airplane gets hit and goes down. Allied airplanes attack a Japanese anti-aircraft tower. Allied airplanes bombard Japanese airfield on Mindanao. Allied ships bombard Leyte in Philippines and carrier-based plane bombard the Island. United States prisoners of war captured by the Japanese. General Douglas MacArthur and General Jonathan Mayhew 'Skinny' Wainwright VI and Admiral William Frederick Halsey can be seen. General Douglas MacArthur and his men after landing on Leyte beach.
U.S. War Department film showing devastation from atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War 2. Opening scene is darkness of predawn in Alamogordo, New Mexico, on 16, July, 1945, at 5:29:45 AM. Suddenly, a huge explosion lights up the sky. A fireball and mushroom shaped cloud form. Closer view of the explosion from another camera. Following the initial explosion, the ensuing sound is a continuous roar. Another view is shown, from a third camera location. It highlights the boiling fire and smoke of the explosion. These scenes document the first successful test of a nuclear weapon, code named "Trinity". Change of scene shows glimpse of the Manhattan Project B Reactor site at Hanford, Washington, as viewed from a car driving past. Closeup of the facility, from right up against a boundary fence. Glimpses of other Manhattan Project facilities in New Mexico, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and another view of the Hanford, Washington facility. Next, a rough topographical map of Japan is shown. Closeup of elevated railroad train traveling in Hiroshima, Japan. Imperial Japanese Army motorized vehicles are shown on parade, including fully tracked open personnel carriers with soldiers aboard and Type 94 Tankettes being driven by individual soldiers. Japanese infantry marching in full field gear including shouldered rifles with fixed bayonets. Closeup of a Japanese Army officer. Glimpse of Japanese support troops, such as quartermaster elements, in black uniforms. Japanese technicians in white lab coats at a wartime facility. Japanese Navy Warships being launched from Hiroshima ship yards. A lone B-29 bomber seen in flight over clouds. Its tail number, 42-63735 is clearly seen. It displays a large "05" on it upper tail. (This is not the "Enola Gay" whose tail number was 44-86292.) Closeup of one of the aircraft's engines with propeller turning. Glimpse upward from interior of the aircraft. Scene shifts to aerial photograph of Hiroshima with overlay depicting the bomb strike zone. Animated map showing explosion and precise point ot detonation above the junction of the Motoyasu and Ota Rivers. A view at the ground of destruction from the atomic explosion. An American soldier stands in the midst of the destruction. Slabs of heavy concrete are destroyed. View looking East from ground zero, past a burned tree trunk in the foreground, where the shells of several stronger buildings still stand amidst a sea of rubble. To the South, hardly anything is left standing. Looking West, everything is essentially leveled.
Opening scene shows British Avro Manchester bombers lined up on a field in England during World War 2. British air crew board a bomber that taxis out for takeoff. View from inside the aircraft as it lifts off on takeoff and then towards its tail on climb out. Gunner seen manning machine guns as his turret rotates during flight. Formation of Manchester bombers en route to Axis military targets in German occupied France. View from bombardiers position of ground below. The bombardier seen and bombs dropping, as viewed from another bomber in the formation. View from a bomber of railroad yard and an airport with bombs exploding on the ground. Manchester bombers on return flight home over the English Channel. They pass below formation of U.S. B-17 flying Fortresses heading toward France. Close aerial view, from below, of the formation of B-17s overhead. Scene shifts to North Africa, where American Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, famous aviator of World War I, talks pilots of Major General Jimmie Doolittle's Bomber Command. Closeup of General Doolittle smiling outside a tent. A B-17 takes off. An Army cameraman seen inside at a window of the B-17. He is to record an attack on the Sicilian port of Marsala. View from a bomber of bombs exploding along the Port's coast, and of bombs passing the camera as they fall to earth. View from below of a B-17 with battle damage to its left elevator. View from a returning B-17 as it lands at its base in North Africa. Airmen walk around a B-17 that crash landed. One airman walks under part of a bomber tail destroyed by Axis gunfire. Scene shifts to the South Pacific and Allied air attacks against Japanese targets. A formation of B-24 Liberator bombers headed toward the Japanese held island of Nauru. Views of bombs striking the island. Scene shifts again, this time to Attu in the Aleutian Islands. A U.S. Navy PBY Catalina flying boat seen in flight. A task force of U.S. Navy warships in Aleutian waters. American amphibious landing on Attu. Arms and supplies piled up on a beachhead. American forces firing artillery. Infantry search for Japanese soldiers in hiding. Bodies of dead Japanese soldiers. American wounded carried on litters. A formation of B-24 bombers headed toward the Aleutian island of Kiska. Closeups of crew members in a B-24. View of glaciers and volcanic mountains below. A bombardier releasing bombs on a Japanese submarine base and airdrome. view of bombs falling. Formation of B-24s releasing their bombs. A gunner in a B-24 firing at attacking Japanese planes and then firing in a low level strafing attack. A U.S. fighter plane lands back at its base on a water-covered runway, raising waves of water that cover cover it.
Highlights covering General Douglas MacArthur, from 1945 through 1950. The Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan. Several Japanese bowing towards the Palace. General Douglas MacArthur exits a car in Tokyo and walks up steps to enter his headquarters in Japan. Emperor Hirohito walks between two U.S. sentries, as he leaves a building and enters his limousine. Japanese citizens form lines on streets to cast ballots in election.Several Japanese women voting. Exterior of the Japanese National Diet building. Interior with representatives seated. A farmer behind a cultivator, pulled by an ox, in a rice paddy. Japanese school children waving American and Japanese flags together, as MacArthur leaves his Tokyo headquarters, walks down steps, and enters car. MacArthur saluting at a military ceremony, where his wife, Jean MacArthur, and son Arthur are spectators. Explosions in hills, from American Patton tank shelling North Korean positions in Korean War. American soldiers firing a mortar; infantry advancing along sides of road; and American tank commander rendering first aid to wounded comrade. United States Air Force (USAF) C-47 transport aircraft ferrying American troops into Korea, from Japan. American infantry marching across a bridge; firing mortars and rifles; and advancing on foot across fields. American troops on trucks followed by a Patton medium tank. MacArthur meeting troops on river boat; riding in a jeep; being briefed by U.S. officer in the field; examining a knocked out tank; and decorating U.S. troops in winter. Closeup of MacArthur in winter gear with his circle of five stars pined into a fur cap. Views of U.S. amphibious landing at Inchon (or Incheon) in Korean War. MacArthur watching from a ship offshore. Syngman Rhee, President of South Korea, reading message of appreciation to General MacArthur and shaking hands with him at the podium. U.S. President Harry S. Truman, pinning a medal on General MacArthur,on Wake Island in October, 1950.
Navy enlisted aircrew in their bunks aboard a ship. One reads a newspaper. Another reads a magazine and looks at a picture of a model and discusses it with other man. An emergency arises. Navy Grumman TBF Avenger planes are ready on the flight deck. The U.S. Navy pilots scramble and rush towards the planes. A flight of five aircraft takeoff and fly in formation towards the target. Reenactment of battles on ground between U.S. and Japanese forces. Navy aircraft bomb the Japanese forces. Japanese fire antiaircraft guns. Navy aircraft gunners fire at Japanese. The Aircraft piloted by Lieutenant Grant Evans, played by Hollywood Actor Robert Stack, is damaged by Japanese gunfire. As the aircraft and crew limp home, they are attacked by a Japanese fighter, but shoot it down and successfully return to land on their aircraft carrier. After recovering from his wounds, Lieutenant Grant Evans (Robert Stack) is interviewed in a building. Large numbers of Navy aircraft flying in formations.