 An official report produced for the armed forces and the American people. Now to show you part of the big picture, here is Sergeant Stuart Queen. It has long been the firm and established policy of the American government to inform the people of this country how the army is fulfilling its mission. In reporting to our citizens, the public information program of the army utilizes all modern media. Television with this big picture series as well as other programs. Film newsreels, newspapers and periodicals. But for many thousands of Americans, one of the most valuable contacts comes through the work of the Army Exhibit Unit. At state fairs, trade shows, industry exhibitions and other large indoor and outdoor public events, the exhibit unit mounts vivid displays of the army at work. We will see some of these displays and the fascinating complex of art show business and military know-how behind their preparation in our big picture story of the Army Exhibit Unit. Before your eyes, the stirring panorama of a nation, its youth, its heartache, its steady growth toward greatness. Another moment of history memorialized, a lunging desperate charge with weapons ready. It is almost as though we can hear the rumble of the artillery and taste the charred air. These vivid, three-dimensional displays are the efforts of the United States Army Exhibit Unit. Home base for the exhibit unit is a depot at Cameron Station, Virginia, not very far from the nation's capital. Long before an exhibit takes place, the work begins. A request has come in to prepare an exhibit. First, information is gathered about the purpose of the exhibit, the type of audience it should appeal to and the locales where it will appear. An exhibit is born in the minds of creative men. From there, the first step is on paper, sketch after sketch, plan after plan, revised and revised again until the conception is right. Soon, workrooms are humming. A display soldier is lifted from a bed of plaster, gauze, some blue in the proper hands. Everything but sea breeze and hooligans. Check out of an exhibit unit missile as an audio engineer dubs in a recording of a Cape Canaveral countdown. Gradually, a conception on paper takes shape as a three-dimensional reality, and before long, the new exhibit finished to the last detail is ready for showing to the world outside. Since 1936, when the Army first prepared an exhibit for the New York World's Fair, good use has been made of public assemblies to keep the American taxpayer informed where his tax dollar is going. It's a case of going where the audience is. Exhibit unit trucks really run up mileage every season. The destination of an Army exhibit may be a state fair, a huge railroad terminal, a movie theater, a department store, or a hotel convention. It doesn't matter. The exhibit unit is ready to put on an exciting presentation wherever there's going to be a crowd of interested people. It may be a convention of company engineers and executives from all over the country assembled to see a display of American defense production effort. An integral part of the display is the Army exhibit with its guides trained not only in answering questions, but also in assisting to repair the intricately mobile exhibit equipment. The convention over, the props are again loaded aboard the truck. By the next morning, the exhibit unit truck is in another city for another show, this time in a department store. Upon entering, a youngster may not know one missile from another, but it's a safe bet before that youngster leaves he'll know a lot about the Army missile family. Representatives of the exhibit unit must be prepared to answer countless searching questions. For the youngsters, it's a big thrill to hear the staccato interchange of a communications network. And for the not-so-young veteran of a World War I regiment, it's rewarding to know the old outfit is being specially on it. So it goes until the curtain goes down on an Army exhibit in a city department store. Only to rise again a few days later in the rural atmosphere of a big state fair. For with these displays, the Army is reporting to the very public it has the ultimate responsibility to protect. Exhibit personnel know they have done a good job when there is a buzz of comments, questions and discussion of what is seen and heard. The best thank you is a quizzical look and still another question. Late summer and fall is the busy season for the Army exhibit unit. Toward winter, the trucks head for Cameron Station again. For the men who ride them, the familiar sight of our nation's capital so close to home is the real boundary between seasons. Behind them are the 11 million people who see the shows each year. Ahead is a busy winter when displays will be brought up to date, complete new shows worked out, new tours scheduled. Mission accomplished, the men of an Army exhibit unit return home. Army's story to millions of Americans on the state fair circuit is a big job and a worthwhile one. One proof of the value of exhibits and telling an important story took place recently in Belgium when countries from all over the world put their best efforts into national displays at the Brussels International Exposition. For servicemen stationed in Europe, here in one convenient area was a fascinating cook's tour of the world, a once in a lifetime event that couldn't be missed. Quite a few leaves of quite a few soldiers were spent in exploring the wonders of the Brussels International Exposition. Let's go along with some of them and see what it's all about. For servicemen stationed in Europe spending a leave at the Brussels World Fair, the first order of the day was to get a bird's eye view. Generally acclaimed as the architectural hit of the fair was the American pavilion, the largest circular building in the world. It looked over a pond surrounded by apple trees and a kaleidoscope of colorful flag. Central landmark of the fair was the huge atomium with its nine spheres glinting in the sun. A visual expression of the exposition's theme, a more human world in the coming age of the atom. A wonderland plucked from the future. That's the way it all seemed to those lucky enough to see it. Below the cable cars, sprawled nearly 500 acres of manicured green parks. The newest ideas in architecture were reflected in the spacious boulevards and buildings of advanced design. The array of buildings and displays did not just pop into place on a Belgian meadow. It took effort of brain, machine and muscle. Right up to the deadline of the grand opening, April 17, 1958, the frenzy of last-minute preparations was going on. For it takes a lot of hard work today to build a world of tomorrow. The USSR's enormous glass, steel and aluminum structure was erected just a short walk from our own pavilion. Two completely different approaches, reflecting drastically different ways of life, both ready for the formal grand opening by King Baudouin of Belgium and his military entourage. Presentatives of the 48 countries with exhibits at the exposition held aloft national flags in honor of the event. Seated by mounted troops, the King of Belgium toured the fairground. As the leader of the host country, the young king had taken a strong personal interest in the planning and progress of the exposition. The touch of King Baudouin's fingers on a remote control device fountains sprayed guises of water into the air, the signal for the opening of the Brussels International Exposition. Visitors were here to see the sights. Some of them had come a long way to enter these gateways into a dazzling fantasia of sight and sound. Service men, on leave from posts and stations throughout Europe, were enjoying the event too. There'd be a lot to write the folks back home. At the American exhibit, a performance by a crack United States Air Force Band hailed the opening of the fair. With President Eisenhower's personal representative to the Brussels International Exposition, welcomed the crowd outside the American pavilion. A ribbon across the entrance was cut, and the American pavilion was officially open. It's impression was of space, light, water and trees. Designed by Edward Stone, the American pavilion received wide acclaim as an outstanding architectural achievement. It was a relaxed, free and easy atmosphere about everything. Visitors were even encouraged to sit down and rest from the strain of walking so much, and European guests thought this a gracious and kind gesture. But invariably, they did not stay seated long. There was so much to see, like a cross section of a giant redwood tree. We weren't trying to dazzle Europeans with our industrial might. They know our factories, our shiny cars, but do they know about us as human beings? Do they know about the love and affection we bear for children? Do they know how we feel when we step into the privacy of a voting booth? At the fair, voting machines were installed for visitors to pick their favorite Americans. The winners, by the way, were Abraham Lincoln, Kim Novak and Louis Armstrong. Do the people of Europe understand how our system of free enterprise works? How great companies are owned by thousands of shareholders who have invested their savings in American industry? Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. What you see here is a ticker-tape machine used in the New York Stock Exchange. The tape here is a list of the quotations at the moment taken on the floor of the exchange. What you see here can also be seen in the wire behind you. One of the biggest questions Europeans have is how will the atomic age affect the way of life throughout the world? Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. These are the electromechanical hands, a machine used by the men who work with radioactive materials in producing radioisotopes. Our way of life is better understood thanks to the vivid displays in the American pavilion. Other nations also had gone all out in their exhibits. In the huge Russian pavilion, the ground floor was dominated by a two-story high statue of Lenin. Replicas of the Russian Sputniks drew a great deal of attention. Each pavilion at the exposition reflected the atmosphere of the country or institution for which it stood. Thailand, Venezuela, Monaco, the Vatican, Czechoslovakia, Israel, the British Commonwealth, Switzerland, all greeted thousands of visitors that first day. The Brussels fair served as a glimpse into a future where atomic science would serve the cause of humanity or the traditions of the past neglected. One of the most popular features was an authentic Belgian village of the 19th century, a site that could have been seen all over Belgium a hundred years before, two women exchanging gossip over a plate of snails. It was the largest international exposition in history, and American servicemen made the most of it. At dusk, the exposition did not sleep, but took on a roguish, fun-loving air, especially that first night when a gigantic fireworks display heralded the end of a crowded first day. At the Brussels fair, sped by, till another highlight, the observance of the United States' national days, July 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. The featured speaker was Herbert Hoover. The large audience was especially moved by his words. In interpreting the ideals of my country, I must include the spirit of compassion. It spreads from every American home to all mankind. 83-year-old past president is warmly regarded in Belgium. Many adults are still alive only because the Hoover-headed Belgium Relief Organization fed them in the years 1915 to 1919. They did not need proof of American compassion. Walking erectly through the exhibit of his own country, the great humanitarian's very presence spoke as eloquently as his words. There was another special Fourth of July event on a lighter side. The holiday observance, a special American postage stamp booth, was installed at the pavilion for a special cancellation marking the United States' national days at the exposition. What more fitting for a Fourth of July observance than a typically American Wild West show and rodeo featuring the Western Band from the U.S. Army's 8th Division in Baumholter, Germany, as well as an exhibition of American square dancing, American hero for young and old. On July 4th, the pavilion echoed to the clattering hooves of Western ponies. Some old friends, freshly painted for the occasion, looked on peacefully. Her force band, parading past the pavilion, marked the end of the July 4th holiday, one of the many colorful events of the fair. There were to be others. In the six months, the international exposition was open, 42 million visitors thrilled to the spectacle, and many of them were American servicemen in Europe who saw it, enjoyed it, and will never, never forget it. International exposition at Brussels, as well as the numerous state fairs and trade exhibitions where the Army exhibit unit mounts its displays, represent important media for the communication of ideas. Vast numbers of people come away from these exhibits with a better understanding of these complex times. And the ways mankind is thrusting through the challenges of today to the new and better world of tomorrow. Now, this is Sergeant Stewart Queen, your host for The Big Picture. The Big Picture is an official report for the armed forces and the American people. Produced by the Army Pictorial Center. Presented by the Department of the Army in cooperation with this state.