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“Attack in the Pacific” is a 1944 World War II documentary produced by the U.S. Navy and the Office of War Information. It showcases real footage from the Pacific Theater, capturing key battles, naval operations, and the sacrifices of American forces during the war against Japan.
This government-produced film is an important historical record, offering a wartime perspective through authentic combat footage and propaganda-style narration typical of the era.
Genre: War Documentary, Propaganda
Produced by: U.S. Navy & OWI
Narration: Military Archival Voiceover
Language: English
Year: 1944
Country: United States
Color: Black & White
Public Domain Source: https://archive.org/details/AttackInThePacific
⸻
🔖 Hashtag:
#AttackInThePacific #WWIIDocumentary #PublicDomainFilm #VintageWarFootage #USNavy #PacificTheater #WWIIFilms #WatchFreeMovies #ClassicDocumentary #HistoricCinema
“Attack in the Pacific” is a 1944 World War II documentary produced by the U.S. Navy and the Office of War Information. It showcases real footage from the Pacific Theater, capturing key battles, naval operations, and the sacrifices of American forces during the war against Japan.
This government-produced film is an important historical record, offering a wartime perspective through authentic combat footage and propaganda-style narration typical of the era.
Genre: War Documentary, Propaganda
Produced by: U.S. Navy & OWI
Narration: Military Archival Voiceover
Language: English
Year: 1944
Country: United States
Color: Black & White
Public Domain Source: https://archive.org/details/AttackInThePacific
⸻
🔖 Hashtag:
#AttackInThePacific #WWIIDocumentary #PublicDomainFilm #VintageWarFootage #USNavy #PacificTheater #WWIIFilms #WatchFreeMovies #ClassicDocumentary #HistoricCinema
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:30In the travel folders, it was said, the Pacific is an ocean of magnificent distances.
00:55The largest ocean in the world, 34 times bigger than the continent of Europe.
01:02It covers 70 million square miles, roughly one-third of the Earth's surface.
01:07In 1941, the fastest luxury liner took five days to make its landfall at Honolulu, first
01:19port of call on the voyage to Yokohama, over 3,000 miles and nine days further away.
01:26Of course, if you were in a great hurry, like Japan's special envoy, Subaru Kurosu, in December
01:381941, you could make the trip by air in two days, 13 hours and 15 minutes.
01:44The Pacific is an ocean of many moods.
01:53To the north, the Aleutian winds are icy and unpredictable.
01:59Here, as is said, weather is born.
02:02To the south, in equatorial heat, the sunsets are of unparalleled beauty.
02:08Here, rising from the blue, shark-infested waters, lie jungles, dense and malarial.
02:17Volcanoes, like Krakatoa, which once exploded with a violence that shook the world.
02:23It is an ocean of islands with names once strange to Western ears.
02:32Parawak, Saipan, Iwo Jima.
02:36Names now almost as familiar as Gettysburg, Trafalgar, Verdun.
02:43Islands inhabited by little-known peoples.
02:46Polynesians, Melanesians, and Micronesians.
02:49We had caught glimpses of them in the movies, dancing their hip dances, chanting their island songs.
02:58At one time, some had been cannibals, but now most were good-natured and friendly,
03:04living in what writers like Herman Melville and Jack London had described as an approximation of paradise.
03:10Since 6.55 a.m., Honolulu time, Sunday, December 7th, 1941,
03:19this paradise has been a battlefield.
03:30The Pacific Ocean is the biggest, the strangest, the most complex battlefield in history.
03:40To understand what distance in the Pacific really means,
03:49touch the point of a pencil to the map.
03:53Under this tiny point may be arrayed all the ships of the United States Navy in battle formation.
03:59Yet, these ships must be so disposed and so employed as to exert an influence and control over the whole Pacific area.
04:13Land war is familiar to the people of Europe and Asia.
04:17A massive war of tanks locked in battle,
04:19of men declawing maneuvering along highways,
04:24canals, railroads,
04:26in city streets,
04:27in buildings of brick and stone.
04:29But it is different in the Pacific,
04:32where there are no highways,
04:34no railroads,
04:36only the limitless lanes of the sea.
04:38Along these lanes,
04:46stretching thousands of miles to bases on fighting fronts
04:49in every corner of the Pacific,
04:52the war must be carried to the enemy by ship.
04:56By what has been,
04:57and will continue to be,
04:58the greatest concentration of shipping in history.
05:01There is a special kind of ship for every mission.
05:07This is the battleship,
05:09known to the men of the fleet as the Battle Wagon.
05:12A floating fortress belted with armor plate.
05:1516-inch guns, 50 feet long,
05:17which can hurl their projectiles into a bullseye 20 miles away.
05:23Light and heavy cruisers,
05:25scouts and watchdogs,
05:27fast and elusive,
05:28able to hold their own in the heaviest actions.
05:32The destroyer,
05:34the tin can,
05:36a fragile steel shell crammed with horsepower,
05:39moving at express train speed
05:41to protect slower vessels
05:43with guns,
05:44torpedoes,
05:46and depth charges.
05:53The submarine,
05:55the lone prowler,
05:56operating for as much as 60 days in enemy waters,
06:01thousands of miles from its base.
06:03The aircraft carrier,
06:06the flat top,
06:07backbone of the fleet today.
06:10A floating airport as big as three football fields
06:13laid end to end.
06:14A huge and complicated mechanism
06:17able to hurl a hundred planes into battle
06:20across the horizon.
06:21Following the fighting ships
06:24are the indispensable ships of the train,
06:27repair ships,
06:28tankers,
06:29transports.
06:31With landing craft,
06:32they carry the fuel,
06:34ammunition,
06:35machine shops,
06:36food and drinking water,
06:37everything to enable the fighting ships
06:39to stay at sea
06:40farther from their bases
06:41and in more continuous action
06:43than any fleet in history.
06:45The fighting ships
06:49and their auxiliaries
06:50are arranged in groups
06:52called task forces,
06:54a new concept
06:55developed in peacetime years
06:56by the United States Navy
06:58and proved in battle
07:00in this war.
07:02Each task force
07:03is in itself a fleet,
07:05self-contained
07:06and self-sustaining,
07:08a stellar mission,
07:09convoy,
07:10reconnaissance,
07:11or attack.
07:13And as the task force
07:14principle is new,
07:16almost all the ships
07:17themselves are new,
07:19built and commissioned
07:20since war began.
07:22Their officers and men
07:24have carried the war
07:25to the very doorstep
07:26of Japan.
07:28They too
07:29are new.
07:31Only a few years ago,
07:33most of these young veterans
07:34were at home
07:34playing football
07:36and baseball,
07:38studying at schools,
07:40working in factories,
07:41or on farms,
07:43growing up in the dream
07:44that war had been outlawed
07:46in their time.
07:55While they were growing up
07:57in the 20s and 30s,
07:59scores of American warships
08:00lay deserted and unmanned,
08:03gathering rust
08:04in quiet harbors.
08:06Others, half-finished,
08:08had been sold for scrap
08:09or sent to the bottom
08:10of the sea.
08:12This was the result
08:13of deliberate policy.
08:15Peace through disarmament
08:17was the spirit
08:18which moved
08:18the Washington Arms Conference
08:19of 1922
08:21and the London Conference
08:23of 1930.
08:25Statesmen of those days
08:27with the best of intentions
08:28had forgotten the words
08:30of the anonymous
08:31admiral of 1918.
08:32The means to wage war
08:35must be kept in the hands
08:37of those who hate war.
08:40In America's case,
08:42geography was an additional factor.
08:45She was 6,000 miles
08:46from danger in the west,
08:483,000 in the east.
08:51Most Americans came to believe
08:53that a comparatively small navy
08:55was protection enough
08:56for their isolated sea coasts.
08:58But in the middle 30s,
09:01events in Europe and Asia
09:02began to change
09:03America's thinking.
09:06She began to prepare
09:07to throw her weight
09:08into the world's struggle
09:09against fascism
09:10and aggression.
09:12And by September 1939,
09:15whatever remained
09:16of her old complacency
09:18was gone for good.
09:20In quick succession,
09:22Congress passed
09:23the Lend-Lease Act,
09:25which made America
09:26in fact
09:27the arsenal of democracy.
09:29The so-called
09:30Two-Ocean Navy Bill.
09:32The United States Navy
09:33was reborn.
09:35The Selective Service Act
09:37to mobilize
09:38the nation's young manhood.
09:41But time was running short.
09:44It ran out
09:46on what began
09:47as just another
09:48American Sunday.
09:49But by nightfall,
10:04the churches were crowded
10:05with bewildered people
10:06who had heard the news
10:08of humiliating defeat.
10:09This was Pearl Harbor,
10:24America's prime naval base
10:25in the Hawaiian Islands.
10:28Nineteen proud ships
10:29rested on the bottom.
10:32Forty-five hundred
10:33and seventy-two men
10:35were dead,
10:36wounded,
10:36or missing.
10:37In the hands of Japan
10:40rested the balance
10:41of power in the Pacific.
10:43Bought at a known cost
10:44of forty-eight planes
10:45shot down,
10:47three midget submarines,
10:49perhaps one hundred
10:50and fifty men.
10:53It was,
10:54on the surface,
10:55the cheapest bargain
10:56in history.
10:59But by the morning
11:01of December 8th,
11:02thanks to Japanese
11:03treachery and deceit,
11:05Americans were aroused
11:07to the depths
11:07of their souls.
11:09They now stood
11:10shoulder to shoulder
11:11of one mind,
11:13of one purpose,
11:15with the peoples
11:15of all free nations
11:17everywhere.
11:20Through crowded streets,
11:22America's great war leader,
11:24the late President Roosevelt,
11:26drove to the Capitol.
11:27with confidence
11:31in our armed forces,
11:34with the unbounding
11:36determination
11:37of our people,
11:40we will gain
11:42the inevitable triumph,
11:45so help us God.
11:46Yes, America said,
11:56as the nation's youth
11:57put aside the ways
11:58of peace
11:58and turned to war,
12:00we would gain
12:01the inevitable triumph.
12:03the United States
12:04and that I will
12:04say them honestly
12:06and faithfully
12:07and against all
12:08their enemies
12:09whomsoever
12:10and that I will
12:12obey the orders
12:13of the president.
12:14Part of the answer
12:15would have to come
12:16from these,
12:1750 million men
12:19and women,
12:20trained and untrained,
12:22skilled and unskilled.
12:23Part of the answer
12:31lay here.
12:33As a result
12:33of Lend-Lease,
12:34American industry
12:35was already partly
12:36on a war footing.
12:38But ahead
12:39lay giant tasks,
12:41reconversion,
12:42re-engineering,
12:43re-tooling.
12:53But the greatest
12:57part of the answer,
12:58as always,
13:00would have to come
13:01from the men
13:01who would meet
13:02the enemy face to face.
13:04Boys from the forests
13:05of the Northwest,
13:07the mines and factories
13:08of the East,
13:09the farms of the Midwest,
13:12the cotton fields
13:12and cane breaks
13:13of the South.
13:15Could these millions,
13:17trained only
13:18in the ways of peace,
13:19be taught to handle
13:20rifle and grenade,
13:22airplane and warship,
13:23could they be welded
13:25into a fighting force
13:26able to master
13:28the veteran warriors
13:29of Germany and Japan?
13:36Time was of the essence.
13:38Time to draw blueprints.
13:40Time to lay keels.
13:42To re-tool factories.
13:43Time to train men.
13:46The demand was astronomical.
13:48Far beyond the capacity
13:49of the factories,
13:50still inadequately equipped.
13:52The workers still
13:53inadequately trained.
13:55On every front,
13:57in Europe,
13:58Africa,
13:59and Asia,
14:00the United Nations
14:01fought with their backs
14:02to the war.
14:04And in the Pacific,
14:05time was doubly the enemy.
14:07Here in December 1941,
14:11the Navy had available
14:1280 combat ships.
14:14To these,
14:15America's British
14:16and Dutch allies
14:17could add at most
14:18another 50.
14:19against them,
14:21the Japanese
14:22could bring to bear
14:23at least 186 combat ships.
14:27These could operate
14:28from home bases
14:29protected by concentric
14:30rings of island bases,
14:33unsinkable carriers,
14:34they were called.
14:36America,
14:37on the other hand,
14:38could count on
14:39exactly seven
14:40all-too-sinkable carriers,
14:42only four of them
14:44available for duty
14:45in the Pacific.
14:45Japan took full advantage
14:50of her newfound
14:51superiority.
14:53She exploded
14:53in all directions.
15:06In less than five months,
15:09she had overrun
15:09a million and a half
15:10square miles
15:11in southeastern Asia
15:13and the southwest Pacific.
15:15The oil fields
15:16of the Indies
15:17were hers.
15:19She had 95%
15:20of all the world's
15:21supply of raw rubber,
15:24two-thirds
15:24of all the tin.
15:26She had copper
15:27and lead
15:28and zinc,
15:3190% of all
15:32the quinine
15:32in the world.
15:34She had completed
15:35the conquest
15:35of 125 million people,
15:39unlimited slave labor.
15:41Overnight,
15:42Japan had carved out
15:44for herself
15:44the second-largest empire
15:46in the world.
15:47Overnight!
15:48Overnight!
15:51Overnight!
15:55Overnight!
15:55At fleet headquarters,
15:57Pearl Harbor,
15:58the United States Navy's
15:59Pacific Command
16:00faced a staggering task.
16:02First,
16:03the sunken ships
16:04had to be raised,
16:05refloated,
16:06re-equipped,
16:07re-armed.
16:08It was the greatest
16:09salvage job
16:10in history.
16:12In time,
16:13all but two
16:14of these ships
16:15would again
16:15stand out to sea,
16:17more heavily armored
16:18and gunned
16:19than ever before,
16:20but not for months
16:21to come.
16:26Meanwhile,
16:26every available
16:27combat ship
16:28was sent out
16:28to search for the enemy,
16:30to harass him,
16:31hinder him,
16:32to delay him.
16:34Everywhere in the Pacific,
16:35it was the same story
16:36of gallant,
16:38sometimes hopeless,
16:39campaigns
16:40conducted by officers
16:41and men
16:42who did the best
16:43they could
16:43with the little
16:44they had.
16:46Often,
16:46it was a few
16:47overage destroyers
16:48setting out
16:49to engage
16:50a battle fleet,
16:51a few Americans,
16:53British,
16:54a handful of PT boats,
16:56every last available
16:57ship in the Dutch Navy.
17:00Later,
17:01these small forces
17:02would be called
17:02the bow and arrow Navy,
17:04they took their losses
17:10not stopping
17:11to count their dead
17:12in the Macassar Strait,
17:14the Banduane Strait,
17:16the Java Sea.
17:18And days to come
17:19when the tiny pieces
17:20called battles
17:21could be slipped
17:23into the overall pattern
17:24called war,
17:26the job they did
17:27in the Pacific
17:27would assume
17:28its rightful place
17:29in history.
17:34From the beginning,
17:35the men of the undersea arm
17:37contributed more
17:38than their share.
17:40Their forays
17:40to the very harbor mouths
17:42of Japan
17:42helped check the enemy
17:44in the full tide
17:45of his advance.
17:47The Navy's airmen
17:49did their part.
17:50Small carrier task forces
17:52launched daring attacks
17:53on Japanese bases,
17:54foretastes of the mighty
17:56aerial strikes to come.
18:02They hit at the Gilberts
18:03and the Marshals,
18:05at Distant Wake
18:06and Marcus,
18:08at Salamore
18:08and Lai.
18:10They learned as they fought.
18:12From admirals like Halsey
18:14to pilots and plane handlers,
18:16they taught themselves
18:18the tactics
18:18of a new and spectacular
18:20kind of warfare.
18:21They improvised
18:30and invented.
18:32On the gray morning
18:33of April 18th, 1942,
18:36Army bombers
18:36led by Colonel
18:37Jimmy Doolittle
18:38rose from the decks
18:39of the carrier Hornet
18:40only 500 miles
18:42from the coast of Japan.
18:49Captain Mitcher
18:50and his men
18:51gave them a cheer
18:52as they disappeared
18:53into a scud of clouds
18:54to drop their bombs
18:56on Tokyo itself.
19:10But in May and June,
19:12the skirmishing
19:13came to an end
19:14when Japan called
19:16for a showdown
19:16in two major actions.
19:18the Battle of the Coral Sea
19:20and the Battle of Midway.
19:24The first blow
19:25was aimed at Australia.
19:27Early in May,
19:28a powerful Japanese task force
19:30was observed moving south
19:31into the Coral Sea.
19:34An American force
19:35moved to intercept.
19:38Aircraft exchanged blows.
19:40It was the first naval engagement
19:43in history
19:44in which surface ships
19:45did not exchange
19:46a single shot.
19:48But the men
19:49of the still small
19:50Pacific fleet
19:51were sure
19:52that the Battle of the Coral Sea
19:53could be only a preliminary
19:55to the main offensive effort
19:57of Japan.
19:58For the enemy,
19:59there were two logical targets.
20:01one,
20:03the still unfinished
20:04naval base
20:05at Dutch Harbor
20:05in the Aleutian Islands,
20:08key to Alaska,
20:09western Canada,
20:10and the American Northwest.
20:12The other target
20:13was Midway Island,
20:15western outpost
20:16of Pearl Harbor itself.
20:18A Japanese victory here
20:19would open an invasion path
20:21straight to the American mainland.
20:23upon the commander-in-chief
20:27of the Pacific Ocean areas,
20:30Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
20:31rested the burden
20:32of determining
20:33where the blow would fall
20:34and how to meet it.
20:36He knew that defeat
20:38at either Midway
20:38or Dutch Harbor
20:39would affect
20:40not only the Pacific War,
20:42but would be felt
20:43across the world
20:44in the war against Germany.
20:50Every available ship
20:51and plane
20:52was prepared for action.
20:58Even the carrier Yorktown,
21:00damaged in the Coral Sea,
21:02had sped to Pearl Harbor
21:03to be patched up.
21:08Army flying fortresses
21:10were dispatched
21:11to reinforce
21:12marine aviation groups
21:13on outlying islands.
21:22The first blow
21:25fell in the north.
21:27At daybreak
21:28on June 3rd, 1942,
21:31Dutch Harbor
21:31reported an attack
21:32by a strong Japanese force.
21:35But Admiral Nimitz
21:36sensed that this
21:37was a diversion only,
21:39not the main blow.
21:41He ordered his carrier force
21:43to the west.
21:46As the small American force
21:48sailed from Pearl Harbor
21:49for its rendezvous
21:50with destiny,
21:51it carried into the Pacific
21:53the hopes of the free world.
21:56To the west,
21:58a vast weather front
21:59was rolling toward Midway.
22:03On June 3rd,
22:05a Navy patrol bomber
22:06nosed up to the weather front
22:07and made the first contact
22:09with the enemy.
22:15The Japanese
22:15were approaching
22:16in two columns.
22:18One was the
22:19expectant occupation force,
22:22transports packed
22:23with soldiers
22:23and Imperial Japanese Marines,
22:26protected by a formidable
22:27array of fighting ships.
22:31The other was
22:32the striking arm,
22:34the Japanese Navy's
22:35four finest aircraft carriers,
22:37escorted by battleships,
22:39heavy cruisers
22:40and destroyers.
22:44The Army fortresses,
22:45although somewhat
22:46new at this game,
22:47found the southern
22:48or occupation force.
22:51They went in
22:51and scored hits
22:52on a cruiser
22:53and a transport.
22:55That night,
22:56the Navy patrol bombers
22:58followed up
22:58with an attack
22:59on the occupation force.
23:01They scored
23:02at least two damaging hits
23:03and sank
23:04a cargo vessel.
23:07The next day,
23:09the enemy had moved
23:10within range
23:11of midway.
23:13Marine air squadrons
23:14found the striking force.
23:22A battleship
23:23was set afire
23:23and at least one hit
23:25was scored
23:25on a carrier.
23:27But at the same time,
23:28Japanese attack groups
23:29were giving the island
23:30a savage pound.
23:31the enemy forces
23:42moved in for the kill.
23:44But still,
23:45they had not detected
23:46the approaching
23:47American task force.
23:49The speeding
23:50American carriers
23:51were still out of range.
23:53For 24 hours,
23:55their radio loudspeakers
23:56had been bringing in
23:57snatches of the actions
23:58being fought west
23:59of midway.
24:00Where's our fighters?
24:01Keep me around
24:01and the police up there.
24:02All right, all right.
24:05He'll rhyme
24:06and he's another
24:07best-handling.
24:08Through all this,
24:09the Navy flyers
24:10had had to sit
24:11and sweat it out.
24:12Twice,
24:13the loudspeakers
24:13had ordered them up
24:14from their ready rooms.
24:16Twice,
24:17the orders
24:17had been rescinded.
24:19At a time like this,
24:20they grumbled,
24:21you'd think they'd get
24:21things straight up there.
24:23But up there,
24:25had to make sure
24:25of the exact course
24:27and location
24:28of the Japanese,
24:29sure that his own planes
24:31could reach them,
24:32fit them,
24:33and still have fuel
24:33enough to return.
24:37At last,
24:38it was time.
24:40Pilots,
24:41find your planes.
24:42Two hours from their carriers,
25:09the American flyers
25:10began to suspect
25:11that something
25:11had gone wrong.
25:13The Jap was not
25:14where he was expected
25:15to be.
25:16We know now
25:17that he had turned back.
25:19Perhaps he had learned
25:20at last
25:20of the oncoming
25:21American carriers.
25:24At 11 o'clock,
25:25Commander Waldron
25:26of the Hornets
25:27Torpedo Squadron 8
25:28found the enemy.
25:30He was short of fuel
25:31and had outrun
25:32his fighter support.
25:34Nevertheless,
25:34he attacked.
25:36Of his squadron,
25:37only one man,
25:40Ensign Gay,
25:41lived to inflate
25:42his life raft
25:43on the sea.
25:47He saw his comrades
25:48from the Hornet,
25:50the Enterprise,
25:51and the Yorktown
25:52plunge into
25:53the Japanese fleet.
25:55They went
25:55for the carriers first.
25:57In quick sequence,
25:58they pounded them
25:59into flaming hogs.
26:01Kaga,
26:01Akagi,
26:04Soryu.
26:06And with them,
26:07two battleships
26:08were left burning.
26:09But one carrier,
26:11the Hiryu,
26:12escaped for the time being,
26:13long enough
26:14for a Parthian shot
26:15which crippled
26:16the Yorktown.
26:23Simultaneously,
26:24the attack groups
26:25from the three
26:25American carriers
26:26had smashed the Hiryu
26:28into blazing wreckage.
26:34For several days,
26:36the American flyers
26:38delivered textbook attacks
26:39on the enemy's
26:40battleships and cruisers,
26:42now naked
26:42of aerial defense.
26:44The once clean blue sea
26:46was spotted
26:47for hundreds of miles
26:48with oil slicks
26:50and wreckage.
26:53By sunset
26:54on June 6th,
26:56the Battle of Midway
26:57had already taken
26:58its place
26:58beside Jutland,
27:00Trafalgar,
27:01and the route
27:02of the Spanish Armada.
27:06Intelligence officers
27:07began to tally up
27:08the score.
27:12On the morning
27:13of June 7th,
27:15the men of the
27:15victorious American fleet
27:17began to bury
27:18their dead.
27:21As in the skies
27:22overwritten
27:22two years before,
27:24a few had earned
27:25the gratitude
27:26of the many.
27:27Midway,
27:37like Stalingrad
27:38and the Battle
27:38of Britain,
27:39was a turning point
27:40in the war.
27:42It marked
27:43the golden moment
27:44when men could tell
27:44themselves at last
27:46that victory
27:47was possible
27:48in the Pacific.
27:49The initiative
27:51now rested securely
27:52in the hands
27:53of the United States Navy,
27:54never again
27:56to be relinquished.
28:05To the Allied
28:06Chiefs of Staff
28:07in Washington,
28:08the initiative
28:09won at Midway
28:10was an opportunity
28:10only,
28:11not an accomplishment.
28:12Though the enemy
28:15had been beaten back,
28:16there was no tendency
28:17to underestimate him.
28:19His record of achievement
28:21was plain for all to see.
28:23He was entrenched
28:24in his stolen island empire
28:26as firmly as his German ally
28:28was entrenched in Europe
28:29and Africa.
28:31In planning their offensive,
28:33the Chiefs of Staff
28:34had to keep in mind
28:35the nature of the Japanese.
28:37In total war,
28:39the psychology
28:40of the enemy
28:40is of first importance
28:42to the strategist.
28:46Unconditional surrender
28:47was a long way off.
28:49But two months
28:50after the Battle of Midway,
28:52the Navy took
28:53its first offensive step
28:54in the Solomon Islands,
28:56north of the Coral Sea.
28:58On Guadalcanal,
28:59the Japanese
29:00were building an airfield
29:01to menace supply routes
29:02to Australia.
29:04This was the first objective.
29:07The name Guadalcanal
29:08has been written
29:08into history.
29:10With other names
29:11like Tarawa
29:12and Iwo Jima,
29:14Bouganville,
29:15and Peleliu,
29:16it has become a symbol,
29:17not merely of one battle
29:19on one remote island,
29:21but of all the battles
29:22fought up the ladder
29:23of islands
29:24leading to Japan.
29:26On Guadalcanal,
29:27the outnumbered,
29:28outgunned Marines
29:29first found out
29:31what it meant
29:31to fight the Japanese
29:33at close quarters.
29:35In the stinking jungle,
29:36they lived through
29:37a nightmare
29:37six months long.
29:45Offshore,
29:46American and Australian
29:47ships were engaged
29:48in no less desperate battle.
29:54The enemy spared nothing
29:56in his effort
29:56to save Guadalcanal.
29:58From August to December,
30:01the sea actions flayed,
30:03night actions
30:04in which frequently
30:05almost every ship
30:06engaged was hit.
30:07Then, suddenly,
30:29at sea and ashore,
30:31the Japanese attacks ended.
30:33The weary Blue Jackets
30:39had driven the enemy
30:40from waters
30:41he already considered
30:42his own.
30:49The weary Marines
30:50of Guadalcanal
30:51could take pride
30:52in two great achievements.
30:55They had taken
30:55the first step
30:56on the long road
30:57to Tokyo,
30:59and they had mastered
31:00the savage arts
31:01of jungle warfare.
31:08But now,
31:09some were going home.
31:19Others had already gone
31:20to hospitals
31:21on other islands
31:22where Navy doctors
31:24and nurses
31:24were pioneering
31:25new horizons
31:26in battle surgery
31:27and tropical medicine.
31:37And whole islands
31:39were also set aside
31:40where tired men
31:41could recapture
31:42a little of the easygoing life
31:43they had nearly forgotten.
31:50Where they could find
31:51a little rest
31:52and have a little fun.
32:07Though some men rested,
32:10the offensive strategy
32:11of the United Nations
32:12could not.
32:14In November 1943,
32:17America's commander-in-chief
32:19flew to Cairo
32:20to meet with the war leaders
32:21of Great Britain
32:22and China.
32:24Here in the shadow
32:25of the pyramids,
32:26they affirmed
32:27the allied program
32:28for unrelenting attack
32:30in the Pacific.
32:31They had the weapons now.
32:34There were warships
32:34of every type.
32:36American industry
32:37and labor
32:37were meeting the test
32:38of global war.
32:40They had used well
32:42the time bought for them
32:43by the bow and arrow navy
32:45of the early days.
32:47By the outnumbered heroes
32:48on Bataan.
32:50By the men who fought
32:51in the Coral Sea
32:52at Midway
32:53on Guadalcanal.
32:55By the free peoples
32:56everywhere in the Pacific
32:57who had steadfastly
32:58resisted Japanese aggression.
33:01And by the Chinese
33:02who for eight long years
33:05had stood off
33:06the full onslaught
33:07of the Japanese armies.
33:09These mighty bombers
33:10were built on time
33:12bought by the sacrifice
33:13of British,
33:15Australians,
33:16New Zealanders,
33:17and Dutch.
33:18These giant stockpiles
33:19were built up
33:20while guerrillas
33:21in the Philippines
33:22and the Netherlands
33:23East Indies
33:24were fighting the enemy
33:25with little more than hope.
33:27And even more important,
33:30the United Nations
33:30now had men
33:31for the Pacific.
33:33Blue jackets
33:34to handle
33:34the complex machinery
33:35of modern sea power.
33:38Airmen,
33:39soldiers and marines
33:40trained for amphibious
33:41and jungle warfare.
33:42And all these
33:45were but the vanguard
33:46of a host of others
33:47still in training camps.
33:49Under their commanders,
33:51Fleet Admiral Nimitz
33:52in the Central Pacific
33:53and Army General
33:54Douglas MacArthur
33:55in the Southwest,
33:57on the side of their allies,
33:59they were ready
33:59to push attack.
34:01What they accomplished
34:02is history.
34:03From Guadalcanal
34:08and New Guinea,
34:09the Allied advance
34:10gathered momentum,
34:11striking from airfields
34:12on Key Islands,
34:14taking this base,
34:16bypassing that,
34:17short steps at first,
34:19and as America's power grew,
34:21lengthening into giant strides.
34:23The world began to hear
34:25of strange places.
34:28Vinsha and Tarawa,
34:30Kwajalein and Etap,
34:33Biak and Saipat,
34:34Perilu and Morata.
34:36And as the pace increased,
34:38more familiar names
34:39would come back
34:40into the news.
34:41The Philippines
34:42and the islands
34:48of Japan itself.
34:49But the real story
34:54of the oceanic phase
34:55of the Pacific War
34:56cannot be told
34:57in maps and communiques.
35:00It can be told
35:00only in terms
35:01of human effort
35:02and human sacrifice.
35:09A task force
35:10can weigh anchor
35:11to sail against the enemy
35:12only because thousands
35:14of officers and men ashore
35:16have worked long months
35:18at the tremendous
35:19and exacting job
35:20of planning.
35:23Though an order
35:23only six words long
35:25may initiate
35:26an amphibious attack,
35:28not a gun will fire,
35:30not a plane will be airborne,
35:32not a marine
35:32will hit the beach
35:33until millions
35:34of other words
35:35have been written down.
35:37In crisp sentences,
35:39in codes,
35:40on charts and maps,
35:42in mathematical equations,
35:44in photographs and models,
35:46the attack is written
35:47as a play is written.
35:49Long before the actors
35:51take the stage,
35:52from battle fleets
35:53to chocolate bars,
35:55from the horsepower
35:56of a thousand planes
35:57to the tide tables
35:59of a once forgotten
36:00tropical island,
36:02no detail can be omitted.
36:04Yet all this planning
36:06is for one ultimate purpose,
36:08to put this man
36:11and his rifle
36:11ashore
36:12on a hostile beach.
36:17This is the eve
36:18of battle.
36:20This is the eve
36:21of Guadalcanal,
36:23of Tarawa,
36:24of Palau,
36:25Leyte,
36:26Iwo Jima,
36:28Okinawa.
36:28Beyond the horizon
36:47lies the enemy.
36:51The intricate mass
36:53of the attacking task force
36:54moves in for the kill.
36:56Each ship
36:58in its designated place,
37:00each man
37:01at his designated station,
37:03all at the designated time.
37:06H hour
37:06on D-Day.
37:08All hands
37:21at your mercy.
37:23All hands
37:24at your mercy.
37:25A hornet's nest has been stirred up.
37:46The Japanese torpedo bombers.
37:55The enemy is beaten off in the pre-dawn.
38:25The American carrier planes take off.
38:27At dawn, they are over their objective.
38:56An American plane is shot down.
39:15This is a Japanese ammunition ship.
39:22The battle wagons and cruisers have taken up stations close ashore.
39:33Some are the so-called ghost ships, salvaged from the mud of Pearl Harbor.
39:40Ships bearing the names of American states.
39:42Pennsylvania, Utah, West Virginia.
39:47Pennsylvania, Utah, West Virginia.
39:57They are paying off their debt.
39:58They are paying off their debt.
40:04The ship called King George V is paying off the debt of another called Prince of Wales.
40:11The ship called King George V is paying off the debt of another called Prince of Wales.
40:18Now it is the turn of the Marines and soldiers.
40:25From hard experience they know what lies ahead.
40:32The enemy has had years to fortify these islands.
40:39The enemy has had years to fortify these islands.
40:46Now it is the turn of the Marines and soldiers.
40:49From hard experience they know what lies ahead.
40:52The landing craft come under hot enemy fire.
41:17But Coast Guard and Navy coxswains keep them on course.
41:47On schedule, the first wave hits the beach.
42:07The first wave hits the beach.
42:37The Marines and soldiers have won a tiny strip of beach, a fingernail, no more.
42:47They must get over the hump, in from the beach.
42:50This is rugged.
43:07The fingernail has been expanded.
43:09It is now a solid beach.
43:11But the forward elements are pinned down by mortar and machine gun fire.
43:16The Japanese are reported gathering for a counterattack.
43:26The quickest way to break it up is from the air.
43:29The beach calls the carriers 50 miles offshore.
43:33But the carriers too have their hands full.
44:03I'morse.
44:05I'm wearing equipment.
44:09I have beachned mountains.
44:10I'm wearing equipment.
44:12Cove.
44:13I'm not clear tonight.
44:15Myhalimers and soldiers have been on Thursday morning.
44:17I'm not clean today.
44:18In retaliation messes all in of the snowpack.
44:21Over and over.
44:23The Southamaccdie just came in this OP想atta.
44:26Chap it up is a profound experience.
44:28Theaches let go to a cognog 구ил원.
44:30These ships fight with a tradition behind them.
44:39Most of them carry the names of ships famous in American naval history, Wasp, Ethics, Enterprise,
44:46and Bonhomme Richard.
45:00Some of the carriers are temporarily out of action, but the others can fulfill their
45:29obligations to the men ashore.
45:39At last, the air support is on its way.
45:55The End
46:05The End
46:15The End
46:27Now the attack can again inch forward.
46:45The Trolls are approaching the enemy's base.
46:47The End
46:49The End
46:50The End
46:51The End
46:52The End
46:53The End
46:54The End
46:55The End
46:56The End
46:57Patrols are approaching the enemy's main defense line.
47:11The trolls are approaching the enemy's main defense line.
47:18It would have to be pried out with tanks,
47:25with artillery,
47:30and a machine gun,
47:34and mortars,
47:41with hand grenades,
47:46and gasoline bombs,
47:53and finally, a foot soldier with a rifle and bayonet.
48:04A Japanese dynamite.
48:25Another Japanese refuses to stop.
48:29As usual, few of the enemies surrender.
48:33Their propagandists have made them believe that surrender means torture and death.
48:45On the beach, the seaborne community is moving in to stay.
48:50The operation can officially be considered a success.
48:54Up front, the wounded are coming back.
49:03Some will recover to fight again.
49:07Some will recover to fight again.
49:16Some will always bear the scars of battle.
49:21The
49:59By their sacrifice, they have won new airfields for allied air power, new anchorages for allied sea power, a new base 500 miles closer to Japan from which to launch further attacks against the enemy.
50:14Step by step, this has been the story of the advance to the gates of Japan.
50:29Step by step, this has been the price.
50:32Step by step, this has been the price.
51:02Step by step, this has been the price.
51:32Their strength, their treasure, their hearts.
51:37Then, and only then, will there be peace in the Pacific and over all the earth.
51:43For the sake of heaven, will there be peace in the Pacific and over all the earth.
51:56Step by step, this has been the price.
51:59Please do that.