 To Germany from Alaska to Puerto Rico All over the world the United States Army is on the alert to defend our 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 James Mansfield Recently the army authorized another battle star for the Korean War the third winter campaign What was this winter like in Korea? What is the soldier going through in order to earn this new battle star? Today we'd like to take you to Korea and relive for you some of the hardships and the fighting these men have endured This is the front line in Korea These mountains are the backdrop for the fighting here. They're swarming with Chinese and North Korean troops They make a beautiful picture from a distance In the shadow of these impressive mountains stretching along the entire length of the front all the hills The bitterly contested hills you read about in the newspapers These are the strategic positions we must occupy or keep the communists from occupying with where to hold them and Block any large-scale drive to the south They're desolate hills their slopes are scarred and pitted from constant shelling Every sign of vegetation has been obliterated This is where our frontline troops live and work. They move about with extreme caution during the day They're under constant observation by the enemy and within range of his guns These key hills are precarious positions The communists want us off of them Attacks are inevitable and frequent to hold these positions our men are forced to dig in Building deep trenches so they can move around unobserved and Barricading themselves in underground bunkers to escape the long nightly shellings During the long wait between attacks they burrow deeper into the ground living almost like animals Coming out only to supply themselves with food or Charcoal to warm themselves they use charcoal because it doesn't smoke That's important when you're living in a poorly ventilated bunker on the protected southern slopes of these hills lives a little more normal They're still within calling distance of the enemy, but here at least they can walk around without worrying about snipers Here some of them even have a chance to forget the war and the conditions they live under well for a few minutes Anyway, the chickens were the serge's idea He picked them up back in Seoul was supposed to be a gag on the old man because he was always complaining about eating powdered eggs The sergeant wasn't thinking of keeping him. That was our idea We even gave them names The rooster is big white feather. We call that speckled hand Margaret We feed them the same things we get Mostly sea rations and they love it. Nobody can figure it out. They seem to thrive on it It sure took a lot of scrounging to come up with enough chicken wire to build that coup a couple of the guys even pitched in and built them a bunker They need one here. You know, it's funny about those chickens They've been under fire almost every night and it doesn't seem to bother them a bit Maybe that's why we like to have them around if they can take it We ought to be able to ever reason we have for keeping those chicks. It's certainly not the eggs We only get two or three a day and they wouldn't go far with a couple of hundred guys The way it works out the one that happens to be taken care of them usually gets the eggs He's welcome to them our cooking facilities on the hill aren't so good. We usually let the chickens run around loose during the day Everybody gets a kick out of seeing and hearing them We locked them up at night before the commie shells begin coming in We've been lucky so far. We haven't lost a one Those chicks have seen a lot more than 30 days of frontline service. They've really earned that combat infantry badge And while these men are caring for their chickens a few hundred yards away Other UN troops are studying the enemy positions and trying to figure out what he is up to That's what the war in Korea is like. It's a war of waiting and watching the patrolling goes on constantly probing and testing the enemy harassing his weaker positions They're sporadic fighting, but it's mostly skirmishing or jockeying for position They use up plenty of ammunition here But they have all they need Observers keep a close watch on the enemy lines reporting any suspicious activity in the trenches The waiting and watching go on They eat when and where they can Usually sea rations and right out of the can Maybe it doesn't taste like home cooking, but it's good food and it will supply a lot of strength and energy That's important out here. If there's no fighting going on the men at the front get at least one hot meal a day It's prepared in kitchens in the rear and brought up in insulated containers It's really hot when they get it That hot meal is pretty important to these guys Even when there is fighting Every effort has been made all along the way to supply frontline troops with hot meals They're tasty well balanced meals and carefully prepared men returning to the rear Often say that the food they receive there never tastes as good as it did at the front There are some things you have to do no matter where you are and they're no more pleasant at the front than they are anywhere else Here's how one front line unit solved its laundry problem. It's primitive But it cleans them and it's a lot easier than washing clothes by hand The same American ingenuity is put to work in taking care of the dental needs of the men at the front Normally these men would get their dental treatments in the rear area But if they need attention and they can't get back there the dentist is brought up to them It's a lot easier for American troops in Korea this year There's not as much pressure on them. One reason is the training and equipping of South Koreans to replace them They make good soldiers and they're anxious to fight the casualties have been heavy at one time We held over 60% of the front in Korea today. We're holding only 25 Now it's the South Koreans who hold most of the front Less pressure on our troops means less time they must spend in the front lines It means they'll spend more time in reserve and when they are in the line It means they'll be able to get away more often for R and R. That's a rest and rehabilitation Never runs more than a week, but to a man who has been in the line for a month or two It makes a big difference. You can take it just so long and then you have to get away It's not that there's anything in particular you want to do I guess it's just the idea of getting away from the trenches and bunkers for a while You find yourself dreaming about things like sleeping in a bed between sheets eating what you like or just seeing new faces Something like having a hot bath suddenly becomes very important. I'm not saying all you do on R and R is eat Take a bath and go to bed. There's a lot to do in Tokyo Things you can't do out here Before you know it your R and R is over and you're reporting back. It's not exactly like coming back home That sign is no gag. You really earn your 45 bucks here Glad to be back. Are you kidding? Maybe you did miss the old faces. Well, some of them aren't around now Apart from that nothing's changed the bunker Well, it looks just as you remembered it that sleeping bag didn't turn into a feather bed while you're away either Even the trenches are still the same. You could still walk along any one of them with your eyes closed a Few hours after you get back. You're out on the hill again for watching and waiting start all over again You take a few potshots to break the monotony and it's just like you've never been away at all A man does a lot of climbing in Korea It's tough on the back and legs Particularly when you're lugging a piece of heavy equipment. It's even worse in the winter Here's how one unit handled the problem. It's only a couple hundred yards to the top from here But if the trails are icy and you're loaded down with supplies and equipment, it seems like 10 miles It's just as bad coming down. It could take an hour or two Now we can ride up or down and it only takes a few minutes It only took the engineers a couple of weeks to set up our tramway They could have done it faster, but they had a lot of salvaging to do to get the stuff They needed to build it if you ask me next to the guns that tramway is the most important piece of equipment on the hill It's the only way of getting our wounded down without shaking them up pretty badly Some of our guys owe their lives to that tramway Speaking of wounded here's a machine that saved thousands of lives in Korea It can go anywhere and it does a few years ago a seriously wounded soldier Stranded in the mountains would have had a little chance of reaching a hospital alive It would have taken hours or even days just to get him out of the mountains Today he's carried to one of the big hospitals in the rear in a matter of minutes and it's done smoothly and safely Today a soldier can get to a hospital in Korea as fast as he could if he were at home We've learned a lot during the three winters. We've been in Korea, but snow and ice are still big problems Moving a heavy gun like this up a narrow mountain road is hard enough under the best conditions With snow and ice on the road. It becomes a slow and dangerous job Weapons are twice as hard to maintain the snow But the fighting goes on as usual in spite of the ice and snow. There's plenty of ammunition here to keep this big gun firing It's the same way all along the entire front when the ammunition is needed. It's always there Winter makes patrolling doubly dangerous, but the patrols continue to go out and Snow or no snow the hot chow comes up as usual The mountain trails are icy and it takes the South Korean porters twice as long to bring the food up from the rear It may take longer, but it usually gets there These men look forward to that one hot meal a day the colder. It is the more important that hot meal becomes They appreciate it when they get it it seems quieter in the winter all along the front The snow muffles the sound of the big guns a Chinese prisoner is brought in He is being processed by this Ethiopian officer before sending him to the rear with the help of an interpreter He's carefully questioned. He can supply valuable information on the plans and disposition of enemy troops Here's the face of the enemy He's not an impressive looking soldier by our standards, but he's a good fighter and he's had a lot of experience Thanks to the Russians. He's also well equipped and well trained Here's another aspect of frontline life and it's an important one These men don't get entertainment very often and when they do they really appreciate it It doesn't really matter what it is Of course if it happens to be a good-looking girl so much the better But it really doesn't matter these guys are starved for entertainment USO show people from Broadway and Hollywood are regularly brought to Korea to entertain the men Much of their entertaining is done close to the front lines In spite of the dangers and the discomforts most of these people consider it a privilege to be able to help these men Forget the war and the grim part. They are playing in it even if it's only for a few minutes Just as men at the front develop a new appreciation for entertainment They also develop a new and deeper appreciation for religion Hard-working army chaplains see that services are held regularly all along the front These men take their religion seriously Some come from religious homes, others just picked it up in the trenches All of them seem to find comfort in these simple hillside services A few miles away in another sector Preparations are already underway for an attack There's a lot to do and it goes on for days The plans for the attack have to be carefully studied Every piece of equipment must be gone over and put in perfect running order If anything has to be repaired or replaced it must be done now Once the attack begins mechanical failures can be disastrous As the hour for the attack approaches the tanks move forward to take on ammunition and fuel Rocket launchers move in and lay down a barrage You can't see the enemy but he's there waiting Troops move up in the wake of the tanks Inns are supporting with napalm and smoke Infantry takes over fighting every inch of the way Finally get to the top now all they have to do is stay there The fighting goes on into the night to the next day Along the rest of the front men continue to stand guard on other hills we have won Waiting, watching and fighting to hold them They've been doing it for three years if necessary As just another campaign But for the men who fought there The fighting men It has been an experience not easily forgotten Next week you will have a chance to see what the US 7th Army is doing in Europe To prevent a repetition of Korea 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 US Army in cooperation with this station You 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