 and 5th Division come honors from their French lives. In special ceremonies at Metz, the American General Irwin presents the distinguished service cross to Sergeant Dale Rex. He saved a whole company. The Croix de Guerre goes to another generation of young Americans fighting like their fathers beside the French. Traditional brothers-in-arms since 1776, the forces of liberty are marching toward Berlin. And blitzed by German bombs, American soldiers come to help in reconstruction. Britain's Public Works Minister Sands greets them. Well, all I can say to you is that this act of friendship of yours will be long remembered and treasured by the people of London. Thank you very much. As a tribute to the English people in their fifth year of war, these engineer troops begin the job of rebuilding. Selected for their experience in the building trades, the soldiers work at their neighborly task. Eight hours a day, seven days a week, 3,000 soldiers from combat engineering units and other specialized branches of the American forces are laboring in London at this work. They get no time off until the homes are built. But they have to take time out for food, served here on the site. Wherever the need is greatest, American fighting men lend willing hands to help their allies around the world. General Eisenhower brings Christmas greetings to international forces fighting for liberty. Soldiers of France, Tommies from Britain, Canadians and Americans from across the Atlantic, representatives of the United Nations fighting in the sky, on the ground, and over the sea, gather here now to hear the Supreme Commander. I want to thank you, men, for the magnificent Christmas present you are given to the people of the United Nations. Speaking for the people of the United Nations, I should like to say thank you, men. Now, a merry Christmas to all of you. If it doesn't happen to be so very merry this year, next year, we'll be sure that it will be. Good luck to all of you. Merry, merry, merry, merry. This congressional delegation comes to the Western Front on a democratic mission. To safeguard the welfare of America's citizen soldiers, 17 congressmen investigate conditions along the German border. Admiral Patton tells congressman Merritt, head of the delegation, about the Third Army Drive as the tour starts. Representatives Pagan and Farrington, Mrs. Loose, the congresswoman playwright, and Sparkman Costello and Thomas serve on the House of Representatives Military Affairs Committee. The group travels toward the battle line, observing American weapons and supplies powering the big push to the Rhine. They stop here at the famous Cathedral of Metz. On their return home, they will make their report to the American nation. The southern Vosges are locked in bitter combat with the Nazis. Here, the outer ring of the Nazi defense system begins near Strasburg and the lower Rhine. Fort Mutsig, taken by the American 7th Army, guarded a mountain gap. The Vosges bastion is rimmed by pill boxes with subterranean galleries. But even the thickest walls crumbled under a light bombardment. Behind thousands of gun posts, studying their Siegfried line, the Nazis had planned to halt the Allies. Entrenched in sites like this, the Wehrmacht had expected to gun the forces of liberation back. But here, the Reich miscalculated. Nazi soldiers surrendered, schoolboys too young to fight, and men beyond military age filled the German ranks. The American advance hits Hagenau. These are high for the Allies, but far higher for the enemy. Hagenau, the Nazis had met, forms the hinge of their withdrawal into Germany. And swirly, enemy gunners hide to cover the Wehrmacht retreat. Here's flush out snipers, rooting them from their nests. In front since D-Day, German losses total a million and a half men. In the south and at Strasburg, the French and American forces push to the Rhine itself, the waterline of Germany. From the Strasburg shore, the forts of Kell are within range of American guns. At this southern gateway to Germany, Allied guns pound the inner walls of the Reich, and its industries power the Nazi war machine.