 This is the Big Picture, an official television report of the United States Army, produced for the armed forces and the American people. Now to show you part of the Big Picture, here is Master Sergeant Stuart Quain. One of the most important lessons our nation has learned in its years of strength and leadership is that it does not stand alone in its resistance to the Communist threat of domination. Indeed it cannot. That resistance is and must be a band of steel unifying the entire free world. Knowing this, we realize that weakness anywhere in that chain of resistance is a serious and perhaps could even be a mortal threat to our security. It is for this reason that part of our defense effort goes into shoring up the military strength of those free nations which need and request our help. Nowhere are the will and the strength to resist more vital to us than in the Far East, some of which is already heavily scarred by communist aggression since World War II. Passions not known to us stir many of these lands, war and its holocaust, the struggle for and birth of independence. These and others have brought their special problems. In eight of these countries, we offer some form of military assistance. Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Taiwan, or as it is known to many of us, Formosa, Korea, and Japan. Our big picture camera under the supervision of Captain Gaitano Files has traveled to this part of the world recording for you the story of these colorful and exotic countries and how they and we have been strengthened by the work of our military assistance advisory groups stationed there. Today we are going to bring you that story. The first country we shall visit will be Thailand. Thailand's bustling capital city of Bangkok is the hub of the country's commercial and political life. Its colorful markets reflect the ancient and unchanging aspects of life for the Thai people who number more than 20 million, composed of many races which have settled here. The canals that crisscross the city are another unique characteristic. For centuries, these waterways have been heavy with life and commerce, with people living in sandpans along the bank and boats bringing rice into the crowded city from the surrounding countryside. Thailand is a religious country. About 95% of the people are devout Buddhists. Buddhism is the state religion headed by the king, and the enormous monuments and statues attest the abiding faith which is a significant part of the lives of the Thai people. The importance of the religious life is mirrored also in the magnificent temples whose histories reach back deep into the national culture and the Buddhist monasteries which are found in every community. Fiercely proud of their independence and alert to the need for common defense, Thailand requests and receives vital assistance from the United States, including help given by a joint U.S. military advisory group. This assistance, designed to bolster Thailand's military establishment so it will have the strength to resist aggression, has different forms. It includes the advisory work of American military personnel who help the nation in its program of defense planning. It includes also the actual supply by our country of material and equipment essential to Thailand's military strength and defense capability. Military advisors from each of America's armed forces are on duty in Thailand to assist the country in the training of its military force and in the use of new equipment which the country has had no experience in using. Thailand responds with energy and dedication to this program of developing its fighting muscle. As a result, the proud and independent nation is slowly but unmistakably developing the look of formidable force, one with the strength to give meaning to its determination. And of that determination, there is no doubt. Pride in its history of independence and the will to continue it vibrate clearly in Thailand's national life. It is an active member, indeed the only one of its immediate neighbors to belong to the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization. An answer in terms of mutual protection pledges to the menace of international communism. Thus a major leading role among the free nations of Southeast Asia is assumed today by Thailand, whose very name means Land of the Free. The new young republic of South Vietnam against a bloody backdrop of eight years of war brought by communist-led guerrillas. A bitter and prolonged conflict had left the nation of Vietnam divided into free and communist zones. Following the ceasefire, the free zone of South Vietnam secured its independence from France, which since the 18th century had dominated the area formerly known as Indochina, and by referendum it established the National Republic. Today with that long dreamed of prize of independence a reality, the serious young republic is determined to keep it secure. As with Thailand, South Vietnam receives invaluable assistance from the United States in giving punch to this determination. Equipment and material with which to build an effective military strength, and expert advice in the know-how of operating the tools and equipment of modern war. Figurous and serious about the challenge facing them, strongly desirous of making themselves invincible against any future attempt at aggression, the Vietnamese are responsive pupils, adapting themselves quickly to the techniques of modern war. The people of Vietnam live with a culture that is both rooted deep in Oriental tradition, and rich as well with the influence of the West. The streets of their large cities are much like the boulevards of Paris. But the marketplace is that found in every country in Asia. Living in fertile soil which gives them a heavy surplus of rice for export, the Vietnamese are today as they have been for centuries industrious tillers of their land, and proficient in the ancient and lovely skills of their heritage. A land of endless contrasts, Vietnam exhibits an almost incredible beauty. Rich in tradition it keeps alive an ancient legend that the dragon of Vietnam will always arise to throw off oppression. Forward-looking and realistic, South Vietnam today with the help of American aid is giving the dragon of its honored legend the teeth he needs to keep the young republic strong and free. Another newly independent nation receiving American aid and acting as host to a U.S. military assistance and advisory group lies to the west of South Vietnam. It is the kingdom of Cambodia also formerly a part of what was Indochina. Here as elsewhere in Southeast Asia, American aid has the same purpose to give the country the strength that needs to withstand aggression. But this aid is extended and received in a somewhat different environment than that of Thailand or Vietnam. Unlike the Thais, the Cambodians are not members of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization. They are not like the South Vietnamese markedly pro-western. They maintain a rigidly neutral policy, aligning themselves with neither west nor east on a dominant struggle of these times. But so long as that neutrality is effective, communism can gain no inroads in Cambodia. Provided the country is strong enough to resist the encroachment it does not want. And American aid such as that given by our military assistance and advisory group in Cambodia is designed precisely to provide the strength. U.S. needs and wants allies in its stand against the ever-present threat of international communism. But it cannot realistically insist on such alliance as the price of economic and military aid. For much of the security of the free world rests with the determination of the uncommitted countries such as Cambodia to stand in their own way against aggression. Cambodia is studded with relics of an historic past reaching back to the splendor of the Khmer Empire which flourished between the 10th and 14th centuries. The colorful customs of long ago live on such as the retreat of the water ceremony. Each river village sends a boat to compete in races on this festive occasion which comes after the wet season each year when the king commands the waters of the river to reverse and flow once more to the sea. The river at night comes alive with the lavish signs of the country's most spectacular national celebration. The people too, descendants of the ancient Khmer's reflect a way of life unbroken with the culture of the past. In many ways life does not change much in the ancient land of Cambodia. But in other ways life is changing here. There is a stirring in this land of people working to make the fruits of their independence secure. The construction of a 130-mile road from the capital city of Banang Ben to the sea is representative of the projects underway. The road will promote trade bringing new economic benefits and working skills to the people of Cambodia. To the Cambodians it is a project of great importance to their hope of standing as a strong and free nation and it is being accomplished with the help of American aid. Laos is the third nation along with Vietnam and Cambodia of what was Indochina. A remote inland kingdom surrounded by Vietnam, China, Burma, Thailand and Cambodia it is difficult to reach. Laos is a constitutional monarchy where more than one million subjects are ruled temporarily and spiritually by their head of state, the king. The Laotian people whose forebears held to the land through the rise and fall of small principalities from the 8th century on are a friendly group who have delighted the world with their music, their handicrafts and their customs for centuries. The independence that came to them along with their neighbors earlier in this decade sits well with the Laotians even though life here too goes on very much as it has for hundreds of years. A religion, Buddhism is as it has always been to Laotians an integral part of existence weaving its way through every aspect of their daily life. The Buddhist monasteries are centers of learning where every male citizen traditionally spends some time during his life. The devout faithful support these monasteries with their gifts. Buddhism is a gentle and peaceable religion which forbids its followers to harm any living creature and promises them an end to suffering in the nirvana after a series of successive lives and rebirths. Buddhahood, the state of enlightenment, is theoretically possible for any devout male Buddhist to attain. But Laos is not living in the past any more than its neighbors around it are. The land is marked with signs of new development, new construction. Its remoteness from the world is being steadily eliminated with the improvement of its primitive highways, impassable in the monsoon season, and American aid is making much of this vital work possible. American aid to Laos is restricted by the terms of the Geneva ceasefire agreement which brought an end to the spreading war in Vietnam. Laotian army has some personal knowledge of the communist menace. In the later months of the war in Indochina communist rebels invaded Laos, penetrating to within 20 miles of its capital. By the time of the ceasefire they had been pushed back to two northeastern provinces by French troops and the Laotian army, which stands today as the hope of the nation's defense. The Philippine Republic was plagued by years of harassing warfare brought by communist-led rebels called the Hooks after World War II. But the Philippine army defeated the Hooks and brought peace once again to their land. The Philippine army which accomplished this is a tough, aggressive force which works diligently at the job of training. Today the Philippine armed forces are composed of five major commands. A compulsory military training program is in operation and the entire military establishment has one primary goal to make itself prepared to protect its country's security against any enemy. The joint U.S. military advisory group whose mission is to help the Philippines attain their goal of self-protection is one of the first such groups established by our country. In as much as the United States has been deeply involved in the reorganization of the Philippine army and other armed forces, help in working out the military equipment and supplies needed has been and continues to be of great importance. Equipment supplied by the United States is of many kinds. Arms to the Philippines as to all countries receiving military aid are supplied as part of the Mutual Defense Assistance Program. Assistance in troop training, technical and combat training alike also continues to be an important part of our help. Training of Filipino troops is not a new experience for the U.S. army. It organized the Philippine scouts in 1901, shortly after the United States took over the Philippines as its possession. The army used the Philippine scouts as part of its own force in several small engagements and then in World War II against the Japanese invaders of the island. The American army has always maintained a deep respect for the Philippine soldier, his quickness to learn, his adaptability and his performance on the field of battle. The account given by Philippine troops during World War II, the heroic stand at Batan and Corregidor when three out of four defenders were Filipino and the record of guerrilla warfare in the Japanese occupation that followed are by now legendary in the annals of war. Philippine troops fought bravely with the United Nations forces in Korea. The Philippine Republic's passionate defense of the cause of freedom is not dimmed today. Aside from Thailand, it is the only nation in the Far East receiving help through a U.S. military advisory group which belongs to the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization. America's special interest in the Philippine soldier is a reflection of its interest in the Republic he is part of. A country which was given its independence by the United States after almost half a century as a U.S. possession. The Philippine Republic's democratic government is one of the strongest links in the community of free nations. And its people joined with the United States in a common interest built out of years of friendship and mutually shared ideals are among our staunchest allies in the stand against the common danger. Once called Formosa by the Western world holds a position of distinction in the Far East. On this island less than half the size of South Carolina for years hardly noticed by the world at large events of international consequence now focus compelling attention. It is chiefly known as the present home of the nationalist Chinese those who fled China's mainland when it fell to the communist forces but that is a new role. It is also a land with its own culture, its own industrious people and a history that has not treated it kindly. A possession of China it was occupied by the Japanese for half a century before World War II. Formosans emerged from that experience knowing life to be hard and grim. Today the future of Formosa is one of the world's great question marks. Invasion by the red Chinese who have never seized voicing their war like intentions remains a constant possibility. America's military assistance and advisory group stationed here has a never-ending task of helping the Chinese nationalists and Formosan forces train to defend themselves against such an attack. Amphibious training becomes particularly important to troops on an island so close to a hostile and threatening port. American experience based on its island hopping operations during the war is of enormous help. For the Chinese army which is always fought in the interior never had much combat practice in amphibious assault. Training in all kinds of modern warfare with the help not only of American advice but equipment and supply as well goes on without let up on the island of Formosa by as determined a fighting force as exists in the world today. Under Chiang Kai-shek's leadership the men of free China's armed forces devoutly believe they will one day regain possession of their mainland which lies under red control. It is a proud and defiant hope held despite the skepticism of much of the rest of the world by men who have sacrificed much in their refusal to be Communist Dominic. However the future treats them these spirited men stand today in the frontline of the free world's defense. Korea has a symbolic meaning to today's world unmatched by any nation in the far east and nowhere in the whole vast range of military assistance which America provides to nations throughout the free world is the story of the beginning of that assistance rooted in such dire necessities. The Korean military advisory group, predecessor of today's MAG had an urgent mission to train South Korean soldiers into an effective defense against the Communist invaders bringing destitution and widespread destruction to their land. By the time hostilities ended the Republic of Korea's army was a first-rate fighting force. Today the military assistance and advisory group in Korea continues the program of aiding in the training of the South Korean army teaching them the most modern methods of war and the best use of the arms they get from the United States. This training shows dramatic effect. Rebuild after suffering more than a million casualties in the war the South Korean army today as it guards the uneasy border which divides its nation is efficient and strong the fourth largest standing army in the world. American aid to Korea has been important to that beleaguered nation and to the cause of freedom in the world for many years now it continues to be no less important today. In their amazing progress toward recovery from a devastation in war unequal since the time of Carthage the Korean people show a spirit quite in keeping with that manifested by their army. Their courageous dedication to the hard tasks of reconstruction in a divided land is a testimonial to what they have already proved in hardship and suffering. They stand firm against communist designs. Japan has a special distinction among the nations under study in this report. Japan is the only one which the United States once entered as an occupation force. Today so swift have been the events of the post-war world that only a fast fading national memory can recall the victorious march of American troops through the streets of Tokyo after Japan's capitulation in World War II. The defeated nation lay in ruins then buried under the ugly ashes of a war begun in a vain belief in invincibility and ending in destruction. Japan today has risen far out of the humiliation of its defeat. It has rebuilt and it has reformed. It has made the revolutionary change from a totalitarian nation to a constitutional monarchy. The major share of the credit for this of course goes to the industrious Japanese people themselves but it is also true that much of it was accomplished in a successful American occupation without parallel in history with American energies and aid focused on the problem of rehabilitation. America's military assistance and advisory group represents today's version of the aid necessary to Japan and the totally changed attitude of the free world toward Japan itself. Once it was believed that Japan should remain a demilitarized state but it has so conclusively proved its right to take its place among the free nations of the earth that a good part of American aid today is directed to an effort to help Japan build an effective defense force capable of protecting itself against aggression. American troops are not in Japan today as an occupation force. The peace treaty ending the spectacularly amicable occupation is now several years old but American troops are there as advisors helping the troops of the new Japan adapt to the techniques of modern war in a continuation of the solid and durable friendship uniting Japan and the United States. Japan's army-type power is called the ground self-defense forces established during the occupation as the National Police Reserve and later known as the National Safety Force composed of a new generation of Japanese fighting men and patterned on the organization of the U.S. Army it is a serious and determined force already well capable of taking care of its country's internal security diligently and steadily it trains to achieve the capability of providing an adequate defense of Japan the goal set in the peace treaty. The new Japan which faces its future proudly and with confidence is rewarding evidence of what American aid can accomplish for this once bitter enemy of freedom is today one of the most valuable components in the entire world of free men. Our military aid to the nations of the Far East is one of the most effective defenses the free world has against communist aggression in that most vital area. Now this is Sergeant Stewart Queen your host for The Big Picture The Big Picture is an official television report for the armed forces and the American people produced by the Army Pictorial Center presented by the United States Army in cooperation with this station