National Archives and Records Service.
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This historical newsreel, hosted and narrated by Dennis James, contains three segments. The first profiles the exploits of Mildred Ella ("Babe") Didrikson Zaharias, a woman considered the greatest female athlete of her time. The second segment on the Prohibition Era contains footage of Charleston dancers, famous speakeasy operator "Texas" Guinan, singer Al Jolson, President Warren G. Harding playing a tuba, President Calvin Coolidge wearing a Native...
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This classic episode from the U.S. Army's The Big Picture television series focuses on the fundamental building block of the Army: the individual soldier. "From everywhere across the nation, I come to become part of the Army that defends America. I must learn to handle the awesome striking power of 20th-century weapons, from rifle to rockets. I must learn to function at 30 degrees below zero or in steaming jungle heat and to travel by foot, or truck,...
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Experience America's visual heritage in this historical recording provided by the National Archives of the United States. This propaganda film was released by the U.S. Information Agency and focuses on American involvement in the Vietnam War. This historical recording may contain variations in audio and video quality based on the limitations of the original source material.
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This episode of the U.S. Army's The Big Picture television series tells the story of the Army Postal Service, another one of the Army's "Army-within-an-Army" groups. From the National Archives and Records Administration, this video is told from the perspective of a soldier who waits for his package from home.
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In this classic episode of the U.S. Army's The Big Picture television series, the hands of the clock are stopped at "fifteen forty-five hours" (which is military language for 3:45 p.m.), and viewers will learn the truth of the statement, "The sun never sets on the American soldier." Over the wide stretches of the world, somewhere at some time, day and night, men and women of the United States Army are performing their duties to this country. This...
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This classic episode of the U.S. Army's The Big Picture television series explores the ways the Army prepares for a situation when ground troops are in the presence of a nuclear explosion. This video from the National Archives and Records Administration shows the tests conducted at Frenchman's Flat, Nevada, in January of 1955, as the Army at Camp Desert Rock, utilized thousands of ground troops in an effort to establish the proper coordination between...
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The role of the Drill Sergeant in the system of personalized training created by the U.S. Army is featured in this episode of the U.S. Army's The Big Picture television series. This video from the National Archives and Records Administration also depicts the methods used in basic combat training.
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This episode of the U.S. Army's The Big Picture television series presents a summation of our American heritage. This video from the National Archives and Records Administration is a reprise of the history of the American fighting man from Roger's Rangers to the modern day soldier.
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The Pentomic Division, so named because it consists of five battle groups, is a semi-independent, self-contained fighting unit designed to operate effectively on an atomic battleground should the need ever arise. This classic episode of the U.S. Army's The Big Picture series explores today's Pentomic Division, characterized by the ability of fewer men to deliver a more devastating concentration of firepower on any would-be aggressor. The footage in...
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This episode of the U.S. Army's The Big Picture television series chronicles the history of the Corpus Christi Bay, an aircraft maintenance depot ship that was converted from a World War II seaplane tender. This video from the National Archives and Records Administration shows various stages in the design and conversion of the ship, and its eventual deployment to Vietnam for helicopter repair.
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In this classic episode of the U.S. Army's The Big Picture television series the role of the American soldier and his abilities to man the first line of defense in the country's struggle against communism is explored. This video from the National Archives and Records Administration details how U.S. military power is organized for operations in three basic types of warfare: general war, limited war, and insurgencies.
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This episode of the U.S. Army's The Big Picture television series features such natural disasters as hurricanes and floods, which struck Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts during the summer of 1955. Viewers learn how the Army Corps of Engineers, National Guard, and American Red Cross provide disaster relief aid and rebuild infrastructure after a natural catastrophe on U.S. soil. This film is from the National Archives...
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Produced by the U.S. Army, this historical recording in The Big Picture series follows United Nations forces as they escape the Chinese trap. With footage provided by the National Archives and Records Administration, this documentary follows the Army's 7th Division at the Manchurian border, men enjoying a hot Thanksgiving Day dinner on the banks of the Yalu River, the evacuation of the Hungnam beachhead, and much more. An interview with Sergeant Charles...
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This classic episode of the U.S. Army's The Big Picture series covers eight different countries in the Far East, including Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. Featuring footage provided by the National Archives and Records Administration, this documentary presents the story of how these countries and the United States have been strengthened by the work of the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Groups stationed...
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This dramatic episode of the U.S. Army's The Big Picture television series features Europe's changing face in the wake of World War II. In the unrest and chaos that ensued after centuries of neglect, Communism saw its greatest chance and the years of Stalinist expansion began. These were also the years of the Marshall Plan, European economic recovery, and the formation of NATO to defend Western Europe from Soviet aggression. This video from the National...
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This classic episode of the U.S. Army's The Big Picture television series tells the exciting story of several Inter-American Geodetic Survey teams and their adventures in mapping the jungles, deserts, plateaus, and towering Andes of Latin America. The recently discovered ruins of the ancient Incan city of Machu Pichu and the mapping of the tragic town of Ranrahirca buried in the avalanche of January 1962 from before and after aerial photographs play...
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Vic Morrow hosts and narrates this classic episode of the U.S. Army's The Big Picture series. Cameras capture the ultimate weapon in the U.S. Army's arsenal-the soldier. As technology increased the soldier's potential, the importance of effective ordnance increased. Featuring footage provided by the National Archives and Records Administration, this fascinating documentary examines the testing and evaluation of weapons and equipment that ensured the...
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This classic episode of the U.S. Army's The Big Picture series presents the story of the U.S. Army's advisory activities with the Republic of China forces in Taiwan (Formosa). Featuring footage provided by the National Archives and Records Administration, this historical recording documents the advice, assistance, and training given to these forces by the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG).
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This episode of the U.S. Army's The Big Picture television series presents the key to victories in battle as being achieved only through the combined efforts of all branches of the military while under the stress of wartime demands. As dramatically stated on the video from the National Archives and Records Administration, it is during the actual months of combat, when men share the rigors, dangers, and accomplishments of war together, that the unity...