 Man, Earth's only creature who studies and practices the science and arts of war. The realities of war began when prehistoric man first launched aggressive attacks against others of his own kind. Man has fought his wars of aggression, conquest and defense. From the misty reaches of time, from the feuds between small tribal groups of the dawn people, down through the ages to the clash of mighty armies, the history of war parallels the history of the human race. It is estimated that since 3600 BC, some 14,500 wars, great and small, have been fought. Throughout more than 5000 years, man has known fewer than 300 years of peace. Instead, a succession of wars of conquest for new lands and treasure, wars to build empires and exploit vassal peoples, to capture trade and commerce, wars of suppression and wars of rebellion, wars between opposing political and economic ideology, through all this immeasurable history of strife, struggle and carnage. There shines forth a great light, man's innate love and longing for peace and freedom. Caused men to defend themselves and their way of... If they were weak, they went down before the power of the aggressor and the battle for survival. We find this grim reality throughout history. We are facing it again in our time. One of the greatest deterring forces, which gives the aggressor pause, is the combined military strength of the United States. The modern United States Army is a potent part of that military establishment. It has not always been so. The history of the Army's build-up during the past 50 years, from weakness to a strong modern fighting force, is an epic story. The story of a mighty armed force, organized and maintained, not for conquest, but for the defense, not only of this nation, but of the entire free world, and dedicated to win the ultimate victory. Nothing like it has occurred in all the history of man. For more than a century, the United States was more or less isolated from large-scale participation in major European and Asian wars by the vast oceans to the east and west of us. Most Americans thought the Atlantic and the Pacific were our protection. We had a new and rich continent to develop, a mighty nation to build. We did not wish to become embroiled in the quarrels of remote and alien peoples. We wished to prosper in peace. The Spanish-American War saw the United States emerge as a world power, but we still took great comfort in our relative isolation. And our complacency grew until a leading role in world affairs, for which we were ill-prepared, was suddenly thrust upon us against our will and desires. It actually began in 1914. In Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm and his Prussian militarists had built up a massive army as an instrument of conquest to expand the German Empire. In 1914, Europe and more specifically the Balkans were a powder keg with a short fuse awaiting the spark. The fuse was ignited on June 28 of that fateful year. During a visit to Sarajevo, the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were assassinated by Serbia nationalists. Later, Austria declared war on Serbia. Serbia appealed to her ally Russia. Russia ordered full mobilization. Germany did likewise. On the 1st of August, German troops moved on France, sending a 12-hour ultimatum to Belgium. England, having guaranteed Belgium's independence, honored her commitment. World War I was on. By the 5th of September 1914, the swift German advance threatened Paris. Thousands of French reinforcements were rushed to the front. Even the taxicabs of Paris were used in a desperate effort to stem the tide. To most typically complacent Americans, it was just another of Europe's interminable quarrels. Something we read about in the newspapers. Our official position? Strict neutrality. A policy proclaimed by President Woodrow Wilson. The entire United States Army consisted of less than 100,000 officers and enlisted men. No single unit was larger than a regiment. While America's total active military establishment was less than 170,000 men, millions were mobilized and fighting in Europe. The retired Army Chief of Staff, General Leonard Wood, said, I believe our state of unpreparedness to be more dangerous than ever in history, except perhaps during the darkest moments of the Civil War. A few other professional soldiers read the signs of danger which could jeopardize their nation's safety. They were dedicated men, little known to the American public. Generals Hugh Scott, Tasker Bliss, and Peyton March, who served successively as Army Chiefs of Staff from 1914 through our participation in World War I. Strong was the nation's sense of neutrality that President Wilson thought such planning violated the spirit of our neutrality. General Tasker Bliss finally convinced the President that it was a routine staff function, a precautionary defense measure. Meanwhile, Europe's agony continued. By the end of 1915, the Allies had suffered one and one-half million casualties. During the first three years of the war, great and historic battles were fought. The first battle of the Marnes. On the Eastern Front, the Battle of Tannenberg, where the Russians suffered a disastrous defeat from which they would never fully recover. Soon the Western Front was confined largely to trench warfare. The machine gun came into its own as a defense weapon of great firepower. It had been done, raged on from July through November. There was the Somme, bloody and indecisive battles. On land, a massive stalemate. At sea, German submarines took a heavy toll of Allied shipping to choke off food and other vital supplies bound for England and France. Unrestricted submarine warfare slowly pushed the United States toward war. The liner Lusitania was torpedoed. 1,200 civilians lost their lives. 139 of them Americans. The United States government made strong protests. The Germans agreed to restrict submarine activities. The agreement was not kept. Within months, unrestricted U-boat warfare was resumed. President Wilson ordered diplomatic relations severed. Anti-German sentiment flamed high when it was discovered that Germany's foreign minister, Zimmermann, had made a secret proposal to Mexico. That Mexico declare war on the United States and help persuade Japan to do likewise. As a reward, Mexico would be given a fat slice of the United States. Arizona, Texas and New Mexico so sure was Germany of winning the war. The German warlords were convinced that America had neither the disposition nor the capability to wage war effectively. Our military weakness gave comfort to the aggressor. But on April 6, 1917, President Wilson asked the Congress for a declaration of war. His message reflected the feeling of the nation when he said, We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We enter this war only where we are clearly forced into it because there are no other means of defending our rights. We had an army of only 200,000 men. 65,000 were National Guardsmen commanded by General John J. Pershing pursuing Pancho Villa, who had been raiding our towns along the Mexican border. For the European war, we would need to raise an army of 4 million men and quickly. For the second time in the nation's history, manpower was drafted. Those millions had to be housed, fed, clothed, trained, armed and equipped and transported. A seemingly insurmountable task faced fewer than 9,000 regular army officers and an equally small hardcore of non-commissioned officers. But they met the challenge and molded raw citizen soldiers into a fighting force that was to win the victory. Such a massive military operation required all-out support by American industry. Industry's response was magnificent. We transported overseas more than 2 million United States troops and nearly 8 million tons of warm material brew submarine-infested waters without the loss of a single transport. The United States Navy was on the job. The words of a popular song of the day seemed just right. We're coming over and we won't come back till it's over over there. It was a brave song to ease the grim realities, but it promised the victory. In 1917, Tsarist Russia collapsed. This enabled Germany to transfer a large part of her fighting forces from the eastern to the western front for large-scale offensive drives that carried them to within 37 miles of Paris. To stop the massive German offensive, General Pershing sent the United States' third division to Chateau Thierry. The second division was rushed up to the line on the west to hold the road that led from Chateau Thierry to Paris. For three days, the Germans threw all they had against the Americans, but the American line held. Despite what the German soldier had been told, he soon discovered that the American soldier was a tough fighting man to be reckoned with. The first major all-American offensive began on the 12th of September 1918 to reduce one of three big salients on the western front at San Miel on the Muse River. The American First Army was assigned the task of removing the bulge in the Allied line. More than a half million American soldiers were masked for the attack. The big push called for all-out air support. The greatest concentration of air power yet seen in warfare. More than 1,400 aircraft. 3,000 pieces of artillery blasted the enemy. In two days, the salient was smashed. 15,000 prisoners taken. More than 250 pieces of artillery captured. The Americans moved on swiftly into the Muse Argon area to pound the German forces already weakened by massive casualties and lack of supplies. Now 4,000 guns blasted the enemy day and night. More than 800 Allied planes went into action. Some 600 of them piloted by Americans. The first During the Allied power drive, those first primitive tanks proved mobile armor would play an essential part in any future warfare. The Muse Argon offensive began on the 26th of September 1918, was one of the last great offensive actions of the war. By the 7th of November, American troops had driven through three major German defense lines. The Kaiser's legions fought on stubborn, but their supply lines broke down and they were unable to replace mounting casualties. At 11 o'clock on the morning of November 11, 1918, the firing in World War I ceased. The war to end all wars was over. The American citizen soldier had fought in the proudest tradition of his nation's military history. The leadership of General John J. Pershing established an inspiring high standard for future commanders to follow. World War I was an invaluable training ground for a small group of young American Army officers who a quarter of a century later were to become famous military leaders in the greatest of all wars. They gained experience which would serve them and their nation well in years to come. But in 1918, they too welcomed the Armistice and returned home with their battle weary troops. Peace would reign for a time. But two great soldiers sounded a warning of things to come which few heeded. General Tasker Bliss predicted that war would come again within 30 years. Marshal Foch said, this is not peace. It is an Armistice for a 20-year period. They were prophets of remarkable insight. But we stacked our arms and under the provisions of the Washington Disarmament Conference sank some of our warships. The American people relaxed, pursuing the arts and pleasures of peace. Our large wartime army had disintegrated. It became a memory. The citizen soldier had returned to his plow, his factory, his business, his profession. Again, it was business as usual. Our troops engaged in peacetime garrison duties and an occasional training exercise. The United States Military Academy at West Point, from whose gray walls and plain have come a host of men who have made monumental contributions not only in war, but in the pursuits of peace, was just another educational institution in the public mind. Whose football team evoked the principal interest. Yes, it was a time of peace. The military was not important in the general scheme of things. The nation fell back into its old ways of blessed isolation and complacency. We pursued fun instead. Those were the days of prohibition. Speakeasies and bootleggers did a thriving business. There were those who sought relief from the backwash of the recent great war. There was the marathon dance craze. It was a strange sort of endurance contest, a phenomenon of the times. While in far away Germany, there was a shabby little man who had been a corporal in the German army. In his brooding twisted mind was a hate and a growing satanic obsession. He dreamed of many strange things, but there was one thing he never dreamed of, that one day he would be the underlying cause of activating the mightiest United States Army in history. You have just seen the introduction to a special documentary series of big pictures. Presenting highlights of the history of the United States Army from World War I to the Cold War years of the 1960s. Portraying the far-reaching events during 50 years which carried a nation from isolationist complacency to immense global responsibilities and commitments. And the struggle to defend its own good way of life and that of the rest of the free world as well. Only a strong modern United States Army with the capability and the will to fight and win the final victory can fulfill its role in meeting those great responsibilities and commitments in the preservation of those freedoms to which we, as our forefathers before us, have pledged our lives and our fortunes.