 Army presents the big picture. An official report produced for the armed forces and the American people. September 14th 1945, a war is ended in the Pacific. July 1950, Korea, a general and his men record a page of military history. In the United States, American cities protected by rings of steel. Louisiana fall of 1955, Operation Sagebrush, one of the Army's largest peacetime maneuvers. Florida, January 1958, the free world's first satellite is launched. These are just some of the exciting events that have been brought to you on the big picture. Now this is Sergeant Stuart Queen, your host for the big picture. Good night. Thanks again, Martin. You've just been watching the filming of a part of the big picture. This is a special occasion for all of us backstage here on the big picture. It's our seventh anniversary and today we'd like to relive with you some of the memorable events that big picture cameras have brought you during the past seven history-making years. But first, a few interesting facts about the big picture. In the seven years of the big picture's existence, we have brought you over 250 individual episodes. The Army Signal Corps in the course of its camera coverage around the world has at its casting disposal nearly a million men and women of the United States Army. There is also a highly skilled organization of producers, writers, directors, cameramen, film editors, and countless other technicians. All of these people have, and will continue to have, one common goal. To bring to you the armed forces and the American people the story of your Army's activities. The big picture was born during the Korean War and our first episode followed American troops during their first 40 days of combat. Days of anxiety as we arrived with too little, too late, facing an enemy well equipped and outnumbering us. A bitter struggle against terrific odds. It was a battle for desolate hills where our boys grew up fast, giving out with everything they had and taking it too. Along the battle line, two soldiers manning a hill outpost are interviewed by a big picture reporter. Pretty busy up here last night. Oh, they had us going a little bit, but pretty quiet. How much sleep did you get? About four hours sleep. Is that an average? About average. How do you stay awake? Just keep drinking coffee I guess. How many cups of coffee do you average a night up here? How many would you say, Sergeant? Oh, I'd say about eight or ten. Eight or ten cups of coffee a night. That's these large cups. And then the truce negotiations that had dragged on through two years of communist stalling bore fruit. General Mark Clark signs the truce agreement for the United Nations forces and gives voice to our thoughts at this sober time. I cannot find it in me to be so exalted in this hour. Rather, it is a time for prayer that we may succeed in our difficult endeavor to turn this armistice to the advantage of mankind. If we extract hope from this occasion, it must be diluted with recognition that our salvation requires unrelaxing, vigilant, and effort. The aftermath of battle, soul, the city that refused to die. Even before the Korean capital was liberated by UN forces, plans had been made for rehabilitation of the stricken city. Big picture cameras move into soul with members of the United Nations civil assistance team who cooperate with the Koreans themselves in the tremendous task of reconstruction. But how do you reconstruct the lives of children, the homeless, the orphaned? Some children, the orphans are less fortunate. These children are found sometimes in the streets, other times at people's doors who have no children. We have over 200 children at this orphanage alone. The poor little things have been many days without food or bathing. Some die on our hands, other times we get them through all right and it gives us great joy to see them happy again. Earlier it was very difficult for us to nourish these children, but now with the help of the American officers and men and the CAC organization, we have much pleasure of giving the children anything they want. We have only to ask for it and we get it. If we need anything at all, we have only to ask and the children get all the vitamins and anything that they need. While the wounds of soul are tendered and its wheels begin to turn again, in the United States, the big picture's number one story is national defense, the ring of weapons protecting our cities. Nike replaces the conventional anti-aircraft weapons, a new and powerful link in the steel ring guarding us. We continue our defense build up with Operation Blue Jay. July 9th, 1951, a vast convoy arrives with men and materials for construction of a gigantic air base in the frigid Arctic to guard the northern approaches to our country. Operation Blue Jay, one of the most challenging engineering feats of our time, a tribute to American skill and resourcefulness, a pledge to America that there is no problem or enemy that this country cannot defeat in its stern resolve to protect its freedom. Base and operation and men of the 82nd Airborne Division are airlifted to the Arctic to engage in a dramatic tactical jump maneuver. Operation Arctic Night, a training exercise at the top of the world, temperature 40 degrees below zero, a vivid reminder of the importance placed by our military planners on the Arctic as a vital defense line, far to the south in the Mojave Desert of California, more training for the American Fighting Man. Here at Camp Irwin, the Armored Combat Training Center, the objective is to train tank crews to work as a combat team. Trainees get a quick rundown on the rugged course ahead. Practical lessons utilize a turret trainer which is the same size and has the same equipment as a regular tank. On the firing range, the trainees learn some of the do's and don'ts about tanks. Then a demonstration of what a 90 millimeter tank gun sounds like in action. Classroom work is extensive. Communications courses have a key place in the training program. The importance of preparing men for duty with armored units was accented by the vital role of U.S. armor in World War II and Korea. The test of a soldier's training is performance under conditions approximating actual combat. Louisiana fall of 1955, Operation Sage Brush, one of the Army's largest peacetime maneuvers. The battle is the payoff and these men know that what they do here may well determine our nation's success or failure in any real war. All branches of the Army take part in the maneuver. Dispersed units of an atomic army engage in a coordinated assault against the aggressor. Four weeks of simulated warfare over seven million acres of marshes and farmlands. The results of the maneuvers to be studied and used as a guide in planning the nation's future military activities. Of vital importance to our military future is the training of the soldier in atomic warfare. Big picture cameras swing to the barren flats near Desert Rock, Nevada, where continuing tests are conducted to study the effects of atomic detonation in conjunction with troops. Just one minute. Exercise Desert Rock that in today's world the price of peace may indeed be high. Lessons learned in training for modern warfare have far-reaching results. In 1956 big picture cameras report on ceremonies heralding reorganization of the Army into strong and highly mobile pentamic divisions utilizing the latest techniques in warfare. Army Chief of Staff General Maxwell Detailer addresses the 101st Airborne Division. As Chief of Staff I look upon this unit as a symbol of the new Army being brought into being. You have the honor in a field of great military importance. This division will have in it greater firepower, greater mobility, increased readiness to respond to aggression wherever found about the world. A new defense concept to ensure a peaceful America. But we have learned that other lands too must have peace if our own peace is to continue. Big picture cameras focus on a vital arm of our military establishment. The military advisory group set up in various free countries throughout the world. Military aid as in the far east includes the actual supply by our country of material essential to the defense capability of the free nations. Isers from the United States armed forces assist in training and the use of equipment. The primary mission of US military assistance is to help the free nations defend themselves against aggression. The people of these lands like the people in our own country seek the goals of peace and happiness, though they pursue them in different ways. US aid programs are dedicated to help them remain free in the enjoyment of those pursuits. For 1957 the Palais de Chaillot in Paris home of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The determination of the United States to back free peoples is emphasized by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as he reaffirms our democratic faith. We have demonstrated a will for the spreading of the blessings of liberty. Within the last 15 years our nations have freely granted political independence to 20 countries with populations totaling 800 million people. Within our societies we manifest so that all can see the good fruits of freedom. Those fruits do not consist of materialistic monuments which despots have always been able to exhibit. They consist of providing the simple things all men want. The opportunity to think and worship as their conscience and reason dictate. To live in their homes without fear. To draw together in the intimacy of family life. To work in congenial tasks of their own choice. And to enjoy the fruits of their labor. These are the most precious manifestations of freedom. And we have the collective power to defend and spread that freedom. Freedom has not failed us. Surely we shall not fail freedom. The military arm of NATO shows its strength in maneuvers throughout Western Europe. Countries whose heritage of freedom goes back centuries prepared to ensure continuation of their liberties. These fighting men represent 15 nations of the Atlantic community with different languages and cultures. But all have only one purpose to preserve their individual ways of life. 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. All of the radioactivity 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. Where were 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. Thus 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. 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 4th of July event on a lighter side. As a feature of 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. More fitting for a 4th of July observance than a typically American Wild West show and rodeo featuring the Western band from the US Army's 8th division in Baumholter Germany as well as an exhibition of American square dancing. American hero for young and old the cowboy. On July 4th the pavilion echoed to the clattering hooves of Western ponies. Some old friends freshly painted for the occasion looked on peacefully. Passed 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. Forty two 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. 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. That's 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 there's a sergeant Stuart Quinn 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.