 From Korea to Germany, from Alaska to Puerto Rico. All over the world, the United States Army is on the alert to defend our country, you, the American people, against aggression. This is the Big Picture, an official television report to the nation from the United States Army. Now to show you part of the Big Picture, here is Sergeant James Mansfield. Welcome to the Big Picture. On this, our third program devoted to the combat infantryman, the man who wears the blue badge of courage. We are going to tell you the story of a famous fighting team, the 41st Sunset Infantry Division and the Hellbent For Leather 1st Cavalry Division. Bullying their way across the South Pacific. They were the first to enter Leyte and then Tokyo. Later on, Colonel Quinn will show you the various weapons that our combat infantryman has at his disposal. These are the weapons that give the American Infantry Division more firepower than any other comparable fighting force in the world. It is part of our battle philosophy. We save lives in combat by using this advantage and firepower against the communist mass attacks. But here to tell you for himself is Colonel Quinn. How you do, ladies and gentlemen. I trust you were with us last week when we told you the story of the old Hickory Division and also showed you so many of the things that the combat infantryman wears in combat, as well as the food that he eats in battle. But in any event, today we have or rather we're going to bring you the story of two famous fighting teams. The 1st Cavalry Division and the 41st Infantry Division. And later on we hope to surprise you by showing you the tremendous number of weapons both individual and crew served that the wear of the blue badge has to know how to operate in combat. But until that time, the blue badge presents the 1st Cavalry Division and the 41st Infantry Division. That's right, son. That's a horse's head, a thoroughbred horse. And that black bar there means first. First in name and first in battle. There's only one outfit that fits that description. That's the 1st Cavalry Division. A horse's feet. Did you follow his ride from on horseback and charge the enemy? Well, that was the idea up to the last war. One of our regiments fought on horseback in the Civil War. The cavalry were the tanks and reconnaissance of those days. The end of the Civil War didn't end the fighting for the cavalry. They had a job to do out west, fighting Indians. They got down from their horses pretty often to do the actual shooting like General Custer in his 7th Regiment at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. That 7th Regiment of Custer was the granddaddy of the 1st Cavalry Division, which was formed in 1921. They kept operating with horses until they went to the South Pacific in 1943 as dophids. Cavalry sabers were turned in for bayonets. And each GI did his own steeple-chasing. I guess they figured the jungle was too rough for the tender skin of a horse. And, oh, brother, so was that combat training. We got to know what the nickname tenderfoot really meant. Tender feet and wet feet, too, when we practiced amphibious landings. In February 1944, we went gunning for the Japs on Los Negros Island in the Admiralty's. It was a good thing we didn't have our mounts along. The racket those Navy guns made would have scared them to death like it almost did us. We loaded the landing craft the same way we did on maneuvers. But it wasn't a rehearsal this time. It was our public performance. Our throats were drier than they'd been even after a hard ride on a dusty trail. We got a sure OK, looked easy. But our troubles was just beginning. The Japs had Imperial Marines to protect their airstrip. They was black troops, big fellas, like the little Mavericks we'd expected. Half of them was logo drunk. They'd charge us, singing deep in the heart of Texas, honest to God. Didn't fool us none. Ain't heard a jab with the Texas draw again. It was a real wildcat scrap. But tough as they were, we fought them at point blank range, sometimes man to man. We had a lot of heroes in that scrap, but not all lived to get their medals, including this signal corps cameraman who made his last picture that day. Not the same, we beat the Japs hollow. Killed off our big herd of them, their airstrip from their islands. The chief was pleased. Now every man tank and gun could point over the water to the Philippines to batang. The first cavalry was the first to hit Leyte in November 1944. We rode some strange beasts into the landing. Amtrax, buffaloes, alligators, LCVPs, rough riding too. Didn't get saddle soared, but almost got seasick. Made our stomach steadier though to see the rocket ships. An air force, given the Japs had gone on it. They called the place we came ashore a white beach. It wasn't quite so white when we left it. We were pinned down. Some of our boys caught Japs bullets. It would have been worse though without that mechanized stuff they gave us for horses. Pretty tough hide on those Shermans and Amtrax. Tougher than the ponies. Tougher even than the doe foots. Leyte was no breeze. It was hard fighting. We had to smoke the enemy out of their hose like coyotes. But we smoked them out all right. The supply boys did great work hustling stuff to the fire line. We kept at them with rifle fire. Bazooka. Rifle grenades. So we put the first cavalry brand on every Jap Maverick. Then we moved into Tecloban. Leyte's number one city. Leyte's one mighty glad to see us. Us and those good old American smokes we carried. There wasn't time for a long break though. In January, we were on Luzon driving hell bent to the capital, Manila. Driving 114 miles in 60 hours. Stopping only to smash resistance. But we did it. We beat every other outfit into Manila. Not just for the glory, but to avenge one of our own troopers. An officer who had commanded the brigade of the first cavalry back in 1939 before he went to the Philippines in Corregidor. The man whose name was Jonathan M. Wainwright. Our next APO was Tokyo. We figured invading Japan would be plenty rough. But a little something called the atomic bomb made it possible to enter Tokyo riding in a parade instead of fighting our way in. The first to get in. Didn't figure any other outfit would make it before us, did you? Smart-looking troopers, aren't they? I said troopers, not soldiers. We did this job without horses, all right. But we're still troopers. Troopers of the first cavalry division. An afterthought, a burden-appropriate one. The true patriot and hero is a modest man. Therefore, I think we should endeavor to break through this natural reticence of the combat rifleman to explain to you the nature of his valiant service which has ensured and continues to ensure for you your individual and collective security. It is useless to deny that at the outbreak of war the United States was unprepared to meet the crisis. When the blow fell on Pearl Harbor, we finally realized the full import of the situation. Then we became the nation which in a short space of time performed a modern miracle. We started from zero and achieved the great transformation from almost complete military weakness to astounding strength and efficiency. The Japanese controlled the Straits of Malacca, the Bay of Bengal, the Bismarck Sea, and the Solomon Sea. India and Australia were directly threatened. While our Navy, Marine, and Army units were winning Guadalcanal, elements of the 41st Division, shipped to Australia during April and May 1942, swung into action on the north coast of New Guinea in the famous Bunagona area. These men, nicknamed the Sunset Division because of their shoulder patch, had come out of the farms, villages, and cities of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. National Guard units, Americans all. They were organized into a division at Port Lewis, Washington on 23 September 1940. They had months of training in the States and more once they got to Australia. Drilled and tested in all aspects of combat under rigorous training conditions, they demonstrated the high degree of individual initiative and courage needed to make them an effective fighting force. Meanwhile, the Japanese continued to bomb Port Morrisby, major Allied stronghold in New Guinea. The Japanese were everywhere. Elements of the 41st Division received their baptism of fire on 3 January 1943 when the 163rd Infantry began moving into combat along the San Ananda Trail in the Bunagona area. In the San Ananda area, the 163rd Infantry and Australian troops killed about 1,250 Japanese. We came through that one in rags, but with spirits high. On the night of 29 June, 1943, we started the Lai Selamoa operation when our 162nd Infantry landed at Nassau Bay on the New Guinea coast northwest of Bunagona. From Nassau Bay, we moved up the Betoy River to join Australian troops moving north over the New Guinea mountains. Food ran short. The problem of supply was brutal and tedious. Hardest of all was saying goodbye to those who had fought beside us. Major General Fuller briefed his staff for the next operation. Wewak, major Japanese stronghold in eastern New Guinea, was to be bypassed. Our next destinations would be Holandia and Itape, far northwest of Wewak. This was to be the largest amphibious operation in the Pacific War to date. The Japs had a surprise in store for them. The Task Force formed men, guns, ships. Ships slipped out as separate units, a few at a time. By breaking into separate units, we fooled the enemy into thinking these were no more than routine supply vessels. It was all part of the strategy. We were on our way. All the 41st was afloat. Cruisers, aircraft carriers, destroyers, minesweepers formed a great fleet of floating protection. On the morning of 20 April 1944, Rendezvous off the Admiralty's. Invasion was 48 hours away. Carrier-based and land-based planes cleared the way for our landings. Dawn was breaking when our convoys stole into the assault areas. Navy men were on the alert. Commence firing. Pegs signaled the 41st to start for shore. And the first wave was on its way. From here on, it was up to us. We raced toward the shore. We hit the Holandia Beach 22 April. On the same day, the 163rd Regimental Combat Team landed near Itape, 125 miles southeast of Holandia. We scrambled up the beach, prepared for strong Japanese resistance and secured the Tadji air strips. Back to the northwest, the 162nd Infantry captured the town of Holandia. Meanwhile, the 186th Infantry moved inland to Lake Santani, and the principal Japanese air drones in the Holandia area. Hardly had the red clay of Holandia and Itape been washed out of our hair when General Doe was given the mission to secure Wakti Island, 125 miles beyond Holandia. Aerial attacks along the shoreline were coordinated with naval shelling, while field artillery groups across the channel supported the 163rd's assault on Wakti. They let our first assault wave come in unchallenged. Then they started their teasing sporadic action. Eventually, things were pretty hot, and as the operation progressed, the 163rd encountered some of the toughest resistance it had yet met in New Guinea. But the Japanese defenders of the island were wiped out. Our losses were relatively light. The 41st Division had secured another airdrome, another take-off point for our bombers. Originally, the 41st Division was to have taken Sarmie near Wakti, but this plan was abandoned in favor of a quick jump to Biak Island about 200 miles northwest of Wakti. On the morning of 27 May, a 40-minute aerial and naval bombardment left smoke billowing against the sky. It became so dense that troops in the landing craft could not see the shore. The objective areas were hidden beneath the pall of a slowly dissipating grey cloud. Poor visibility and strong offshore current prevented our units from making the landings as they were planned. Not far west of the landing beaches, we encountered the first organized enemy resistance on Biak. The Japs were well entrenched in caves in the cliffs. Knocking Japs out of these caves proved a slow and difficult assignment. Enemy weapons were destroyed, but we liquidated some 8,000 Japs on Biak. Every minute of it had been rough. We could take credit for gaining the most advanced allied air base in the far eastern area. Thus ended the Bloody Biak campaign, though the Japs did come back with some sporadic bombing, which was mostly of a harassing nature. After the Biak house cleaning campaign, the jungle leaders prepared for the next job. Everyone, including the Japs, knew that the time was nearing for General MacArthur to make good his pledge, I shall return, but his next move was kept a well-guarded secret. We didn't participate in the landings un-lady, but we were soon helping to clear the southern Philippines. We began on 28 February 1945, when our 186th Regimental Combat Team landed on Palawan Island. No opposition was encountered. The enemy, it seemed, had anticipated the landing and had withdrawn into the hilly interior. Bombers went to work on the Japs and crunched in the hills. Our mortars and artillery joined the action. Enemy resistance was short-lived. Palawan was ours. The jungle leaders once again had accomplished their mission. General MacArthur had deceived the Japanese by landing first-on-lady instead of on Mindanao. However, we made the first landings on Mindanao, beginning our operations there on 10 March 1945. This is the southern tip of Zamboanga Peninsula in southwestern Mindanao, where our division lest the 186th Regimental Combat Team pour to shore. Our primary objective was the seizure of the airstrip northwest of Zamboanga City. The hills were honeycombed with connecting trenches, dugouts, and pillboxes. Our efficient mortar and artillery teams started pounding the enemy installations. The conquest of Zamboanga touched off a whirlwind series of successful landings that were to drive the Japs from Basilan, Sanga Sanga, Tawi Tawi, Jolo, Sibago, Bongao, and others in the Zamboanga area and along the Sulu Archipelago. Later, we sent the 162nd Regimental Combat Team and a battalion of the 163rd Infantry off to help the 10th Corps secure eastern Mindanao. Considerable mopping up remained to be done, but the Southern Philippines had been liberated and was once again in American hands. The rapid successes of the 41st Division in the Southern Philippines made up what was undoubtedly one of the most sensational, but least publicized series of operations undertaken by any single division during the Pacific War. We had contributed a major share toward the liberation of the Philippines. After this show was over, we knew what the next trip would be. Then when the atomic bomb hit Nagasaki, the enemy realized his defeat. The end came. Japan surrendered. But our work was not quite finished. We shipped for occupation duty in Honshu, Japan. We could trace our advance by the crosses we'd left behind. We were deactivated as a division 31 December 1945. Most of us started for home. All of us could look back with pride. Pride in having won. Pride in having fought for what we believed in. Warfare in the Pacific had tested the courage of the 41st and in this supreme test were deeds of valor that will live forever. We are singing our song for marching along with friends. We are playing a game that is prepared and prepared. But in the fight we can't leave it for no one. I want to show you now most of the weapons that the combat infantryman has to know how to operate in combat. First, this is the rifle, the M1, and this is the basic weapon. Next, the carbine. This is a .30 caliber and is used by officers and members of CrewServe Weapons. And here's another friend of the infantryman, the Browning Automatic Rifle, caliber 30. It shoots automatic and semi-automatic fire. This is a .30 caliber air-cooled machine gun. Commonly referred to as the light machine gun. Here we have the .30 caliber water-cooled machine gun. We call it the heavy machine gun. It has a very high rate of fire. This is the .60 millimeter mortar. It is designed to deliver high-angle fire, that is to say arching fire. The shell goes very high up in the air and of course comes down, but it doesn't cover too much distance. Here is the .81 millimeter mortar. It has the same characteristics as the .60, but of course uses a much larger shell. Although not here for display, we have an even larger mortar, which we call the .4.2. This is the .57 recoil-less rifle. It's relatively new in our family of weapons. It's designed to knock out tanks, pillboxes, and enemy bunkers. It's quite heavy, but it's carried by hand. The last weapon we have to show you is the famous bazooka. This is the .3.5 rocket launcher. It's relatively new also in our family of weapons. It's approximately 10 years old. It's designed to knock out tanks, and bunkers, and pillboxes. In addition to what you've just seen, the infantrymen must know how to handle grenades, demolitions, and other forms of explosives. I believe you will agree with me that it takes a high degree of intelligence to master all of these weapons. They're all supporting, however, to the rifle. As a matter of fact, every weapon which we possess, whether it be on land, sea, or air, is designed to further the progress of the riflemen. Well, that's about it for today, ladies and gentlemen. Next week, I plan to tell you this, the Herman Goring story. We're also going to show you the invasion of Normandy. So until we meet again, ladies and gentlemen, this is Colonel Quinn speaking for the combat infantryman who asked you to look twice at the wearer of the blue badge. It's the mark of a man. The Big Picture is a weekly television report to the nation on the activities of the Army at home and overseas, produced by the Signal Corps Pictorial Center, presented by the U.S. Army in cooperation with this station. You can be an important part of the Big Picture. You can proudly serve with the best equipped, the best trained, the best fighting team in the world today, the United States Army.