 The latest weapons, coupled with the fighting skill of the American soldier, stands ready on the alert all over the world to defend this 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 Stewart Queen. We tend to think of a modern army, mostly in terms of its latest equipment. It is true that our fighting forces have developed an enormous number of new weapons and tactics to go with them. But the army also concerns itself with the services a soldier requires to remain the best equipped fighting man in the world. As the combat infantryman took to the air, so did all the elements of supply he needed on the ground, the quarter masters, the artillery, the medics. Airborne medics play an important part in any modern operation. Their skill and service take to the sky and are immediately available to the fighting man if needed. Airborne operation, platoons marching out into the cold snap of morning after a night of furious activity. Final preparations, scores of details, none too small to be an important part of this vital operation. Combat or training, there's that same tension and excitement. An airborne division is on the move. And when it takes off, everybody goes, including all of us in the medics and our equipment. We'll jump with the first wave and be on the spot when needed. Hundreds of aircraft have been assembled. And as battalion surgeon, it's part of my job to deliver the manifest to the pilot. Another check on the men and equipment. Nothing up to this point has been left to chance. And from now on, it's even more important that nothing goes wrong. It's at a time like that, a time of increased emotional stress that men are more open to human error. It's only a short time before takeoff. When we next touch the ground, we will have floated down in a parachute, perhaps under enemy fire. During the flight to the drop zone, there's little to do but think and plan. The engines are droning away, beating up the distance. And even while talking over last minute details, there are thoughts that break through into consciousness. In the midst of all this precision planning and complicated equipment, which when finally assembled becomes a fierce, relentless, mobile force, well, you wonder for a moment, how did all these pieces get put together? This jigsaw puzzle, which wouldn't be complete without me or the man next to me. This mission, which started way back, seemed so long ago, back in Georgia, running to and from calisthenics. Double time, push-ups, and all the rest of the things you do to toughen a body. Then the training began to move skyward. 34 feet high at first, the mock tower. In the beginning, it seemed plenty high. Double timing up all those wooden steps, but airborne medical personnel have to be confident to do anything and everything that other airborne infantrymen can do. Professional medical training? Oh, there'd been years of that. Now is the time to develop skills that would enable a doctor to be where he would be needed most. There'd been weeks of classroom lectures. As in the Infantry Division, there's a medical company in each of the three regents with a medical battalion supporting them from the rear. The regimental medical company consists of a company headquarters, three battalion medical platoons, one for each infantryman. Subjects covered were just about everything in the book that could make an airborne officer. Has approximately 900 medical service officers and enlisted personnel to give medical care for about 18,000 men of the division. All those training jumps. Of course, it was scary at first, but then those jumps were made over and over and it wasn't long before it all seemed like a most conventional means of transportation. The instructor's voice boomed over a loud speaker as the jumpers came floating down for land and plowed fields. It all seemed so effortless. Yet these training methods and techniques were the fruits of years of experiments. The equipment had been carefully devised after much testing in battle and in training. The old proverb about necessity being the mother of invention had been made to work for the allies in World War II, a war which had its battlefield thousands of miles away. And every man and every piece of fighting equipment had to be transported across oceans to the scene of the conflict. There were many problems still unsolved in those early days of World War II. While we were building up our strength, the Axis Powers was strutting in their brief day of glory. Hitler imagined his fortress impregnable and that it was just a matter of time before he ruled the world. But he was due for a surprise. The date was early 1944. Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill inspected arms destined to play a dramatic part in bringing the war in Europe to an end. These field pieces would be dropped from the air along with forward elements of the invading Allied Army. In the early dawn light of June 6th, troop carrying C-47s roared down runways in many parts of England as airborne infantry led the Allied forces back across the European continent. These were the beginnings of America's airborne striking force. It was from the early operations of World War II that the lessons were learned. Procedures and tactics devised for this new dimension which had been added to warfare. Vertical envelopment. Airborne troops participated in other operations in increasing numbers. America's fighting infantrymen had been given wings. It was an airborne outfit that marched in the Victory Parade up New York's Fifth Avenue. General Jim Gavin leading the 82nd Airborne Division. I didn't march that day but was in the crowd that watched them represent the 12 million fighting men who had been responsible for our victory. Yes, airborne infantrymen were a stirring sight that day, something I remembered all the way through medical school, through my present tour of duty and even right up through the beginnings of this operation when we were checked through the gate of the marshaling area. Security measures strictly enforced. This was a sealed off encampment. Planning commenced immediately and continued day and night. No furloughs, no passes. Our only entertainment being the solution of the problems at hand. To take an entire division into the air and set it down with exactitude requires a carefully worked out plan. It dropped approximately 1500 yards across. The three regiments of the division will be dropped at three separate DZs at 0520 hours. What would each regiment do? Staff officers were formulating their specific plans and so was everyone else all along the line. Briefing was integrated with the troop carrier units of the Air Force. Everything that would have to come down had to be prepared to go up. All equipment inspected, checked and rechecked. Sick call was no longer the responsibility of airborne medical personnel. We had all we could do to keep pace with preparing for what was to come. At nearby airfields, aircraft were being assembled. Heavy skids of supplies were made ready. They'd be air-dropped by means of big cargo shoots. Skids were packed and loaded in a special way, according to carefully worked out procedure. There'd be little time to spare when the big bundles would be unpacked and some items were almost sure to be needed immediately. Planning had been continuous with each section working out its own part. After repeated conferences, their medical plan took shape. Regimental surgeons went over their plan with the division surgeon. Planning at our level, the battalion would be an expansion of details. Another team will jump on drop zone three to select a site for the division clearing station. The division clearing station goes up here and deflate near this road. Finally, after all other equipment had been double checked, loaded and lashed. Parachutes had been drawn and fitted. When the time for takeoff approached, every medic knew where he was going and what was expected of him. Rendezvous points and the locations of installations would be understood all along the line. Just a few thoughts to while away the time, but there's little time left. We'll soon know just how well the planning will pay off most over the drop zone now. When the jump light flashes, we go. Wave after wave, planes come on, disgorging men and supplies over the drop zone. When you first hit the ground, it's a bit confusing. The only reference marks are those disgusted briefings, points on a map as generally seen from above. But now the problem is to orient yourself from a new angle. A battalion surgeon like myself has one basic job at this time. Get an aid station set up and get it functioning immediately. As with any infantry division, wherever there's action and injury, members of the medical service are on hand to supply aid. At least one company aid man jumped with every plane load of soldiers. Banner of Gauze is most effective in marking the location of a casualty for a pickup by the litter bearers. Area delivery containers of medical supplies were dropped with the first wave. These will serve the basic needs of aid stations until a heavy drop can augment supplies. A perimeter defense is set up immediately on the fringes of the drop zone. It's protection for the succession of drops which follow throughout the assault. In spite of what might seem to be confusion, platoons regroup, companies form up again, battalions emerge all according to plan. And whenever contact has been made with the enemy, units push into action immediately. There are few injuries in the jump phase of the operation. Few are expected. To a modern soldier, a parachute is just another means of getting to the battle line. But when our men have moved into combat and the bullets fly, we can expect casualties. We use helicopters wherever their range permits. Aircrafts such as the H-13 move right into the drop zone carrying supplies. Plasma is one of the most important lifesavers an army doctor can have. Where the situation is favorable, wounded are speedily evacuated by means of the worldly birds. Army has developed this method to a higher degree than any other armed forces in the world. The helicopter was too late for World War II, but it came of age in Korea. One of the handiest helicopters is the H-5. Wounded are carried in covered pods slung underneath and do not have to be passed in and out of the small fuselage. Helicopter evacuation is used wherever possible. But sometimes the lines of communications stretch too far for the rotor wing and all medical assistance must be brought in by parachute. Successive waves of men and material come into the drop zone. Without a constant stream of supplies and ammunition, combat elements on the ground are ineffectual. Hundreds of tons are necessary to keep a division operating in high gear. Our share of the medical supplies will be coming down with this batch. As soon as enemy opposition is mopped up and the drop zone is safely held, the heavy stuff comes in. More ammunition and coming right down with the ammunition, more medical supplies. Artillery to support the main attack, tons of heavy stuff, the kind of equipment an army needs to help secure a drop in hostile territory. Jeeps for a thousand jobs. They come floating down. We'll make them ambulances for evacuating casualties that the litter bearers bring to the battalion aid stations. A skid of medical supplies and equipment for the division clearing station. 6,100 pounds, including the weight of the skid. One of many skids of medical equipment which are dropped in the assault phase and an air-dropped quarter ton and trailer will pick it up for delivery. What came down in this particular bundle? 46 litters, 28 blanket sets and a dozen mattresses used for padding. Two chests of medicines, a field sterilizer and a section of a hospital tent. Quite a pile of eggs for just one basket. A casualty with only minor injuries walks in for aid. By this time, after an airborne battalion aid station like mine has been set up and functioning for an hour or two, it begins to look pretty much like any other infantry medical aid set up. I helped carry in this soldier who had been hidden aside. We were pretty busy at the time and I don't remember too much about him except that he got a tension and a hurry. The patient was pretty groggy when our CO cut the bandage and inspected the wound but he was in good hands. Our battalion surgeon is one of the best and he inspires a lot of confidence. Other soldiers who had only slight injuries were being patched up so they could continue to help secure our position. At a time like this, a division fighting deep in enemy territory, every man is doubly important. A stalemate could lead to a serious setback and every man who can make it is needed. The captain marked this soldier for clearance to regiment and marked the tag accordingly. He was getting priority, top priority. And when the regiment Jeep rolled into our aid station he was set to go. We traded him for a batch of stretchers. There's a continuous exchange of property going on all the time between medical units. Litters going out with patients must be replaced with empty litters brought in from up the line where soldiers have been sent back to duty or evacuated out of the area. Bet he doesn't remember much about the trip back to regiment. He was pretty drowsy by the time the Jeep took off. The first time I ever held a bottle of plasma over a patient I was scared I might do something wrong. That stuff is so important. Keeps a wounded man from going into a state of shock. His life depended on that thin strand of precious liquid. And we passed the bottle from hand to hand as naturally as if it was a permanent part of the patient. Took it with him right into the receiving tent. The examining doctor took a look at the wound and decided that this man needed more attention than could be given him at the busy regimental level. This time, destination was division clearing station. All this taking place just a short distance from a battle line. It's out division clearing that the most extensive on the spot medical care can be provided for those who jump. The most serious casualties come here from regimental collecting stations. They are cared for and treated here until some means can be worked out for them to be transported to an evacuation hospital. Every man and every piece of equipment here at division, as well as all the way down the line of Italian aid stations, has come in by parachute. The importance of preparation and planning are evident here. The entire setup is directed toward giving the best possible care to every injured man. These units are on a par with those of any other service. They're able to handle any combat medical situation. Examination shows that this soldier is in need of surgical attention. His records are speedily collected and a detail assigned to take him to surgery. Army medics are proud of the techniques which they've developed over the years, especially in the field of surgery. Critically injured casualties who need life-saving surgery but who cannot be evacuated at this time may be cared for and treated by a surgical team that's attached from Army command. For men fight for the right to be free, there will inevitably be some who are injured. Airborne medics fly in with the infantrymen, stay with the fighting men no matter the direction of battle, and make all the arrangements for forging the final link and serving their fellow soldiers. Further evacuation depends upon quick capture of an airfield, an important part of any airborne operation. Structure cases of the board aircraft are converted to flying ambulances. Ambulatory cases go aboard under their own power. Away from the pilot before the plane darts down the runway, next stop will be the general hospital far from the battle zone. Screaming sirens lead the way as the ambulance convoy speeds across the city with its important cargo. At the general hospital only hours from the battle line, the structure cases get immediate attention. All the latest medical techniques are utilized in assisting the soldiers back on the road to health. Rest and quiet are the last steps in the process of convalescence and rehabilitation. Almost 90% of all battle casualties return to duty quickly. The tactics of warfare change, but the importance of skilled medical care remains constant. From the moment an airborne soldier becomes a casualty, he is in the care of the best military medical service in the world. Right down to the moment, papers are marked back to duty. And medical corpsmen are bringing new honors to a service that has traditionally been the best in the world. Keeping the fighting men of our army at the peak of combat efficiency, airborne medics, sharing in the honors that belong to the winning team. This is Sergeant Stuart Queen. Inviting you to be with us again next week for another look at your army in action on The Big Picture. 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 United States Army in cooperation with this station. You too 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.