 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 Captain Carl Zimmerman. To begin this new series of The Big Picture, we're going to tell you about the fighting in Korea. Not through battle diagrams, logistics or history of campaigns, but in terms of the soldier in the front lines, the individual who fights the battles, who lives in a bunker and washes his socks in a steel helmet. He's enduring a way of life remote from the daily living he once shared at home with you. Do you remember how you began this day? How you spent this morning? Well, it's morning in Korea now. Let's move in on a hill here at the front and join a member of a company. While we're clobbering those hills right now, the enemies dug in all over them, Chinese and North Koreans. Those guys got us up at 4 a.m. with artillery fire. Stuff was coming right in here like express trains. We're dug in pretty good, though. Bunkers are about 8 feet deep. Home, sweet home. How do you like it? You sleep when you can, but with one eye open. Look at these guys just trying to show you how brave they are. They weren't sitting out there last night when the mail was coming in. Of course, now's the best time to get some air if you like this air. Walk around a little stretch. Do you never know when those slammers shell right in here? Well, what about breakfast? Call room service? They send it right up. Breakfast, dinner, and supper. Yeah, everything comes out of a ration box. These South Koreans are attached to our company, and we call this the chiggy line. All our supplies, rations, ammo, and mail come up this way. And speaking of mail, we want more of it. You ought to see the faces here at mail call. We're cut off from civilization. In a letter, just a few lines. Boy, that means a lot up here. Trapnel hit Shorty's helmet last night. He says his ears are still ringing. First, he'll take that Atterburn tablet, and, well, then he'll just tell them how it happened. Let's move out now with these men of a counterfire platoon, 223rd Infantry Regiment. They're looking for the position of an enemy gun that's been shelling our lines. Right now, they've got to find a place to set up some of their equipment. It'll record the sound of this gun and allow them to figure out the exact direction it's firing from. Well, let's go to the top of the hill with them now, where they'll set up some microphones. Guess you men do a lot of climbing in this job. Boy, you ain't kidding. Seems like all this country is uphill. Anybody want a job as a mountain goat? You know what I'm going to do when I get back home? I'm going to get myself in an elevator and ride up and down until I forget all about this. You want to tell them what's going on now? Well, while these men are deciding where to plant the microphones, a second counterfire team is getting into position on another hill. There, they'll record the sound of the enemy gun from a different vantage point. Data supplied by both teams will be used to pinpoint the position of a gun. Although used towards the end of the last war, these sound locators have really come into their own here in Korea. They're usually set up on the side of a hill away from enemy observation. Yeah, we don't like that observation. We don't want them gentlemen to see us. My man, you're slower than a Mississippi turtle. I thought you'd have that stuff set up by now. Looks like I got to do it all by myself. What do you see up on top of that hill? Well, let's see. Our friend Brown's up here setting up the microphones in a definite pattern called an array. They're arranged on terrain higher than the surrounding hills because here, distorting echoes are at a minimum. You know, this equipment is one big reason why communist artillery in Korea is less active than it might be. Why the enemy moves his guns so frequently, trying to escape detection. Yeah, we sure like to keep them guys moving those guns because when they're moving, there ain't no shooting. Now, as soon as we get these microphones plugged in, we're in business. Brother, the guy that sat down and invented this must have been all wrapped up in his work. Well, we're all set now. You can fire when you're ready. Well, there's Brown gold-breaking again. Now the machine goes to work. That blast of the enemy gun has been recorded as a visual image. And now, data supplied by the sound locator is gathered and transferred to a computing board where the men configure the exact direction of the sound picked up by the microphones on the hill. The first step towards silencing that enemy gun. As soon as this direction line, or azimuth, is computed, it's sent back by radio telephone to counterfire headquarters. Here, a plotter jots down the azimuth. And then, he draws it on a map as a straight line. Where it crosses a line furnished by the second team, or array, the enemy gun is pinpointed. The exact map location of this pinpoint is noted, and for an enemy gun crew slamming shells into our lines, this may be a death warrant. Now, a call goes through to the artillery's fire direction center. A message received calmly. Delivered just as calmly. Within seconds, it's checked by an intelligence officer, and the order goes out to an artillery battery. Okay, this is it. Speed counts. So, it's on the double. Why? Well, because the enemy may move that gun. Because every time it fires, men may die on this side of the line. That's why. Charge H.E. A high explosive shell packaged as a present from a 105 howitzer to an enemy gun crew. Move quickly, but carefully. That gun seems almost impatient. It's a good gun, well made, well taken care of. It'll do the job when adjusted right. Deflection 400. Elevation 100. Deflection 400. Elevation 700. It's ready. Hey, Sarge, how are we doing? You're with the 31st Regiment Tank Company now. That's our CEO briefing us for a mission on Hill 1062. We know all about it. A fortress 3,500 feet high, 20,000 Chinese on it. He says we get our artillery and air support. We'll need it. Reminds me, I got a letter the other day. Says, guess you can't use tanks in those mountains. What do you do all day? Polish the brass? Yeah, that's right. Nothing to do but polish the brass. Sit around, shine up our tanks real pretty. Polish our shoes. Those Chinese commies don't bother us much. We're too far away from them. We just put on bulletproof vests to keep out the cold. Here we go. Not a bad day for some things. Back home, I'd probably go fishing. Drive out, take a lunch, relax. I'll do that again someday. I hope. Well, there's one good thing about being in the lead tank. No dust. There's another outfit coming up with us. The more, the merrier. That's 1062 up ahead. A big beehive with a lot of stingers. While our tanks move into position, they get protected fire from 7th Division artillery and a hot reception from the enemy. At eight hour, Operation Blaster begins. Half of shelling. And then in order to pull back, come out through a smoke screen laid down by chemical engineers. And that smoke will cover two tanks ahead that ran into enemy mines. The other tanks are undamaged. For their crews, the show is over. Yeah, but we just softened up that hill. They're still on it. If we ever get them off, it'll take the infantry to go in and dig them out. It's not a bad day if you're not at the front. So I'm driving along to Regiment, enjoying myself, minding my own business. When what happens? I'm flagged down by the MPs. What gives? They wave, they want me to toine in here, so I toine in. Let me think now. I got my driver's license, my uniform's okay, all the buttons are buttoned. Hey, what goes? I go to that jive. And the signs. Law show nightly at 7 a.m. in the morning. This must be a pooby hatch. One thing I know, it ain't no stockade. Oh, Uncle Dan's huddle. It's a coffee shop right at the front. And get this, donuts and coffee for free yet. So now it comes out. The MPs run this joint. And it ain't no pinch. Hey, these guys are all right. It's a coffee. You can drink it. Hey, look at me, buddy, buddy with the MPs yet. Well, so long, fellas. You got quite a joint. Hey, let's see what else they got here. They got a gig writer. Hot, poicky sandwiches every Sunday afternoon at 7 a.m. Formal dance, June 31st and bring your best girl. Well, I go dilly-dally around here all day. But the boys have got to get their mail. So I'm off to the races. This is the Punch Bowl, scaled and captured by the Army's Second Division. Now we can drive up along this road built by the engineers with a convoy of trucks carrying supplies to the men holding these mountains. This road is zeroed in by enemy guns. And it's a hard climb up here, even for trucks. It ends against the steep wall of the mountain where a human assembly line takes over. They move the rations, ammunition and barf wire. Move in as much as they can in case the road is closed by enemy artillery or deep mud. That happens frequently. Yeah, we're getting in supplies for two days now. That's ammo he's got there. An old guy, isn't he? But look at him go. They're carrying about 60 pounds. Doesn't seem to bother them an awful lot. The 13th engineers built this stairway. You can imagine what it was like going up here without it, especially in the rainy season. Slipping and sliding all around in the mud, just a rope to hang on to. Well, this is the first step, but the line companies are 2,000 feet straight up from here. But we've got the next trip made. Leave it to those guys and the engineers. They build us a cable car, a tramway, as they call it. This sled carries about 400 pounds of load and sure saves a lot of backs. And here's the control dug out. They're alerting the guys at the top of the hill. Some GI truck back in Pusan is missing a good two long engine. You think of a better use for it? We have minutes to go 2,000 feet. Not bad at all. Take hours to climb this hill. This is the front line you're coming into right now. I guess you've got some idea what it was like trying to capture this hill from the North Koreans. We have to keep a chiggy line up here too. It's still a couple of hundred yards to the bunkers. These South Koreans stay right at the front with us. They're all right. And here's the welcoming committee. Hey, wait a minute. You had the one with chicken yesterday. There's a casualty coming down now. In the beginning we had to carry our wounded all the way down the mountain. This tram's a godsend. It sure saved a lot of lives. Now we can get our wounded out of here fast. They got a quick trip down to the medics. Yeah, it's a long way down. I got a pretty good idea how you feel about this trip. I came down the same way a few months ago. Half minutes in the air, all alone. Nothing but sky to look at. You keep wondering how badly you're hurt. Yeah, it's good to hear the chaplain and the other boys tell you everything's going to be all right. You're okay. I know I felt kind of important with everybody fussing over me. The guys will miss you. Your buddy's up on the hill. Some of the best friends you've ever had. Or ever will have maybe. And you'll miss them too. Funny how you think you'll never get hit. And then it happens. And they're taking you down a hill. They've been kind of dazed and scared too. A signal to bring in a helicopter. These medics sure know all the right things to do. And they keep fussing over you until that egg beater arrives. Boy, when you're hurt, the sound of these babies really boost your morale. You know they're going to get you out of here fast to a hospital. As they strap you on and put that hood over your head, propeller sounds like a big bird flapping his wings over you. Then you're in the air flying along about 80 miles an hour. Just a few minutes to hear. Lying on your back way up there, wind rushing around you. A thousand thoughts going through your mind like, well, what happens to me next? And then you feel yourself going down into a different kind of world. Far from the front lines. Where it's quiet. Where there are beds, white sheets. Beyond and nurses, American gals to look after you. Right about now, well, you wonder how your folks will take that telegram from the army. How does it begin? Something like, we regret to inform you. You wish you could be there with them then, let them hear you say, I'm all right and don't worry. They're treating me good. Then leave the front about once a week for other reasons, less serious, but nonetheless important, a bath or a shower. The management welcomes you to Macon Springs. He will find the most modern shower facilities in this area, geared to handle one man at a time. Naturally, there's often keen competition for the privilege of going first. But every customer here takes a chance. Gladly, beautifully located in the middle of nowhere, and Macon Springs attracts visitors from every bunker in this area. Preparing for a pleasant dip, this customer uses our air conditioned locker room and sunny solarium, then just turns the knob and waits. We call on our power plant, the best, the most modern equipment available. A jeep and an airplane oil pump, we picked up back at Kimpo. A surge of power, and the water begins to flow. And some of it flows through the pipe, all the way to our boiler and water heater. A really an oil drum and some shell casings. It's 30 custom made pipes made from beer cans. And the water is pipe and hot. Well, almost anyway. Please note the tile walls, the ventilating system, the indirect lighting and the towel rack. Hurry up, Junior. You'll be late for the country club dance. Getting towards evening now. Dinner time and a hot meal has been prepared here. Packed into marmite cans to keep it warm for the men on the top of the hill. Usually they get hot chow at least once a day, brought up to them during a lull in the fighting. Inside those cans, there's a full course meal and everything that's needed to serve it. Barbed water, and trees embedded with steel. That's all you see on your way to the dinner table, a long climb away. A typical path to the front lines where nobody takes hot food for granted. On the top of the hill, men have been looking forward to this moment. That's no lie. You won't hear any complaints about this food. We're darn glad to get it. Look at those faces. Of course, the fruit salad usually ends up on the table. And the coffee's high-powered. But it keeps you going. That's the idea. And with a little mousse juice, it tastes okay. Anyway, you stoke up while you can. Of course, the night ahead will be long and busy. We know that. Especially if you're going out on a patrol across the lines. That's when you need all the energy you can get. No. No, we don't. We think a lot about the future and the past. The present takes care of itself. I guess the enemy's eating, too. Funny how quiet it gets just before dark. But nobody really relaxes. Sure, you sit around and chew the fat a little. But one ear is listening for that next shell. It's the weighten that gets you. It's the weighten that gets you. It's the weighten that gets you. It's the weighten that gets you. It's the weighten that gets you. Weighten for the night. That's the worst time over here. At dusk along the front, men prepare for the night. A tank returns from no man's land, moving into the safety of our lines, its mission completed. Enemy positions are watched carefully. Roadblocks are swung into place, closed tight to prevent enemy infiltration and to seal off the lines. Men are suspicious of the quiet at dusk. They wonder what the enemy is preparing. A recoilless rifle or a bazooka and plenty of ammunition. Good companions for the night ahead. Not just American here, a Turkish soldier prepares for a patrol. His bayonet is quiet. Men of the United Nations, including South Koreans. Good soldiers now, well trained and ready for business. They know these nights well. The quiet, the darkness, are not to be trusted. Men are waiting and ready. Sure. Maybe this is just a little war. But for us guys, it's as deadly as any big one. We got an awful lot of men over here. Men who don't like war. The guys who do have enough faith and freedom to grab their rifles, their guts and their dreams and go up over a hill in the machine gun fire. That's it. One of many days in Korea. In the weeks to come, we'll talk about our latest weapons. Our tanks, our guided missiles and our big guns. We'll talk about armies and divisions. But today, we've shown you our most important, our greatest weapon, the American soldier. He's in Korea, in Europe and outposts all over the world as well as here at home. We're proud of the way he fights, his courage, his humor. We're proud of his belly-ecking strength which moves mountains or captures them. Next week on The Big Picture, we'll take you to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. This is Captain Carl Zimmerman inviting you to be with us then. 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 Photographic 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, team in the world today. The United States Army.