- 2 months ago
Victory in the Pacific is a classic World War II documentary that chronicles the final battles of the Pacific Theater. Featuring authentic wartime footage and powerful narration, the film captures the courage, sacrifice, and ultimate triumph of the Allied forces over Japan. A timeless historical record of the events that ended one of humanity’s darkest chapters.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00February 1942, Japanese objective.
00:30A president's order to leave.
00:56A soldier's promise to return.
01:00A soldier's hope.
01:02An appointment in Tokyo.
01:04May 5th, 1942.
01:34The enemy lands on Corregidor.
01:40General Jonathan Wainwright, defender of the rock.
01:43Skinny Wainwright's pen wrote deep into the American memory.
01:54From Marravenas on Bataan.
02:15The death march.
02:18The Japs moved on.
02:37Until Australia itself lay open to invasion.
02:55At his Melbourne headquarters, General MacArthur faced grim facts.
03:01Against nearly 3,000 Jap planes, he had barely 500.
03:06Against Jap millions, he had 11 poorly equipped divisions.
03:11Australians, Australians, Americans.
03:14Against him were thousands of miles of Jap-infested islands and Jap-controlled seas.
03:23Against him was time and space and power and preparation.
03:28Against him was an area that made the vast United States seem small.
03:34American industry and labor were converting from the non-essentials of peace to the necessities of war.
03:41Conversion was slow.
03:52Conversion was slow.
03:53And the European theater had first call.
03:56There was little to spare for the Pacific.
03:58Little to travel 10,000 miles from factory to foxhole.
04:04The longest supply line in the world, a supply line won and secured by naval victory in the Coral Sea, land victories at Guadalcanal in the Solomons.
04:34But the Japs were still on the move.
04:48March 2nd, 1943.
04:52A strong enemy convoy was crawling through the Bismarck Sea.
04:57General Kenney's 5th Air Force struck with every plane he could get off the ground.
05:04One, two, three!
05:21Score?
05:22Twenty-two shattered hulks, every enemy ship.
05:26A decisive aerial victory had been gained in a critical hour.
05:31The Jap had been stopped.
05:34This was the turning point.
05:36The job of fighting back to the Philippines and beyond to Japan
05:40required the closest teamwork of sea, land, and air forces.
05:45This brought together Douglas MacArthur and Chester Nimitz.
05:49Washington had a plan, two roads back to the Philippines,
05:53one from Hawaii along the string of coral fortresses,
05:56the Gilberts, Marshalls, Marianas, to Palau.
06:01This was the job for naval and army forces under Admiral Nimitz.
06:04Another, from Australia, would cut through the jungle of New Guinea,
06:09up the stairway of islands to Moratai.
06:12This was the job for the army and navy forces under the soldier
06:15who had made a promise to return.
06:30First, the air arm reached ahead.
06:54Second, amphibious assault.
06:57Hit them where they ain't.
06:58Up from Australia and across jungle-clad New Guinea,
07:11we learned amphibious warfare and used the sea lanes for surprise
07:16until we had cut off Jap-packed Rabaul and stood on the Admiralty's.
07:20By now, the Japs were dug in and ready at WIWAC.
07:28So we surprised Hollandia.
07:31WIWAC bypassed.
07:43Strategy.
07:45Surprise.
07:46Up the stairway of islands.
07:47Moratai.
07:57Moratai.
07:58The GIs of the Southwest Pacific were dug in and ready for the main event.
08:03To get here, they had left a lot of Japs behind them.
08:08Box score?
08:08152,000 dead.
08:12160,000 bypassed.
08:16This total of 312,000 Japs
08:19had cost us 13,000 dog tags
08:23nailed to white crosses.
08:25Meantime, the forces commanded by Admiral Nimitz in Hawaii
08:43faced a different kind of war.
08:45There were no places to hit them where they ain't.
08:48Every coral atoll we invaded
08:50would have to be taken Jap by Jap.
08:53ем crackers.
08:55We beaten it.
08:55Five- sociedade
08:57Let's go!
08:57We beat your consid
09:16up as silver.
09:17Westward through the Central Pacific.
09:27New names in American history.
09:31Tarawa in the Gilberts.
09:34Quadulane in the Marshalls.
09:37Saipan and Guam in the Marianas.
09:44Palau.
09:47Palau and Moratai.
09:51We had bridged the Pacific.
09:52In early October, 1944, a combat-loaded convoy from Pearl Harbor was on its way to strike
10:20the enemy stronghold at YAP.
10:25One afternoon, a top-secret code message broke radio silence.
10:31For three years, our expanding Navy and Air Forces had prowled the Pacific, cutting JAP
10:36supply lines, smashing airstrips, blasting garrisons, until JAP losses made possible a big change
10:44of plans.
10:45From Admiral Nimitz, instructions to change course.
10:57YAP invasion canceled.
10:59Rendezvous with task forces headed for a new objective.
11:03The Philippines.
11:03Now, guess this.
11:10These are the Philippines.
11:12Up at the top is Luzon, the most important island.
11:17Manila.
11:18Oregidor.
11:19The JAPs are expecting us here.
11:22Down at the bottom is Mindenau, another place the JAPs are expecting us.
11:28Got it?
11:29Okay.
11:31So we don't hit Luzon.
11:33We don't hit Mindenau.
11:36We hit here, right in the middle, at Lathie.
11:39Now, remember, don't get callous.
11:44They're the same kind of JAPs they've always been.
11:47Any questions?
11:49Questions?
11:51Sure.
11:52The silent kind.
11:59Yes, there are always questions.
12:01And the Lord said,
12:11I have surely seen the affliction of my people,
12:15and I have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters,
12:19and I am come down to deliver them
12:22out of that land unto a good land.
12:27An army is a collection of men,
12:29and a man is a collection of needs.
12:33One of these needs is prayer,
12:36and prayer is a form of remembering.
12:39Remember.
12:41Yeah.
12:43Back in those canvas hotels in the staging area,
12:47where two can live as cheap as 2,000.
12:50Yeah, I remember.
12:53I remember Joe getting all polished up to go nowhere.
12:57What a character.
13:02Funny how the unimportant things were important.
13:06Like the first beer you had in nine months.
13:10Like Tex in his accordion.
13:12And you remember packing,
13:20cutting down to just what you need,
13:21because what you take,
13:23you take on your back.
13:26And you remember the things you left behind.
13:29To the long prairie.
13:33All the things you wanted to say and couldn't.
13:37And when I die.
13:39And all the things you wanted to take
13:40and couldn't.
13:42Meet the western sky
13:48on the long prairie.
13:53The End
13:54The End
13:55The End
14:24I slipped by thinking, well, this is it. I'm on my way.
14:35We were all underway, and there wasn't much to do about it.
14:39Just sit around and wait for the Navy to take us to the Japs.
14:54It's funny how you remember all those things at a time like this.
15:02I'm on my way.
15:33October 20th, 1944.
15:39The men of MacArthur have returned.
15:42The End
15:48The End
15:53The End
15:58The End
16:28The Untried
16:31The Veteran
16:33The Eager
16:35The Superstitious
16:40The First to Land
16:46The First to Land
16:46Some The First to Fall
16:50Captured Jap Film
16:59The Enemy Waits
17:01General Yamashita
17:03General Yamashita, commanding
17:04The Jones
17:16The End
17:20The longer
17:20there is a
17:26The End
17:29Let's go.
17:59Let's go.
18:29Let's go.
18:59Let's go.
19:28Let's go.
19:58Let's go.
20:28Let's go.
20:40GHQ on a beachhead, directing the westward surge of battle.
20:43Let's go.
21:13Let's go.
21:15Let's go.
21:29While the G.I.s pressed forward, grabbing ground, suddenly a new threat developed.
21:34The jet fleet appeared, heading directly for both entrances to Lady Gulf, moving to blast
21:40loose our tow hold in the Philippines.
21:42There wasn't much ground troops, ground troops, ground troops could do about this threat from
21:50the rear.
21:50This was a job for the Navy.
21:52The first engagement was fought at night.
22:03On shore, on shore, everybody sweated it out, from G.I. to general.
22:16On shore, everybody sweated it out, from G.I. to general.
22:26Our heaviest artillery was turned around toward the sea, but against naval broadsides, they'd be like pistols against rifles.
22:40Next, our jeep carriers put the sting of death in the air east of Lady Gulf.
22:48Jap land-based fighters and bombers reinforced their sea strength.
22:55We'll be right back to the sea.
22:57The more beautifulывайтесь on the sea, the more beautiful settlers were definitely in the air eaves, and it's in the air.
23:00At� audibly, in the air, it's in the air.
23:01In our air, there must be a boat for the sea.
23:03In the air, there must be a boat for the sea, but against sailors in the air.
23:05There must be a boat for the sea, and the shore, and the air, but the sea.
23:06The more beautiful new Vikings, it's in the sea.
23:07In the air, there must be a boat for the sea, and the north to the sea.
23:08We'll be a boat for the sea.
23:09In the air!
23:10See you next week?
23:11In the air!
23:12No!
23:13In the air!
23:14T-R-S!
23:14Some of our flat tops, swallowed by flames,
23:31their planes still aloft, running out of gas.
23:36Ladies' captured strips were still unfinished, wet,
23:40but not as wet as the ocean.
23:44Meantime, east of Luzon, the third engagement.
24:14Floating wreckage and floating japs.
24:25We had won a naval battle.
24:27Battle won, beachhead secure.
24:38But to the infantry, it was just another day to keep pushing.
24:50The speed and dash of the first days are gone.
24:54You're not front page headlines anymore.
24:58And being dry is something you've forgotten.
25:01You'll march in mud.
25:08You'll eat in mud.
25:17You'll rest in mud.
25:20You sleep in mud.
25:35And as long as men remember war,
25:39they'll remember mud.
25:41When you're hit, guys take care of you.
25:57You're kept alive, if it's possible.
26:00This is the battle behind battle.
26:05Courage and medicine are the weapons.
26:08Sometimes, they're not enough.
26:11This is a cathedral.
26:28A large church in a small town.
26:32But this is only one church
26:34of one town,
26:36of one island.
26:37And there are thousands of islands
26:40where people like these
26:41are waiting.
26:43And on these other islands,
26:45life under the Japanese
26:47is hard.
26:53We knew what Jap domination meant.
26:57Gorillas had kept us informed.
26:58Their schools were closed.
27:21And their altars destroyed.
27:24Their freedom gone.
27:25Their harvest stolen.
27:40Death rate.
27:41American prisoners.
27:43Billibid.
27:43Increasing.
27:46American prisoners.
27:48Outside,
27:50graves for the dead.
27:52Inside,
27:53graves for the living.
27:55All of these people,
27:58Filipino and American,
28:01were waiting.
28:04General George Kenney's
28:05Far East Air Force
28:06was delivering bombs
28:07to Jap targets on Luzon.
28:09Anything worth hitting
28:11was hit.
28:12Manila Bay.
28:31Luzon.
28:33The core of Jap power
28:34in the Philippines.
28:40January 4th.
28:41The largest convoy
28:43in the history of the Pacific.
29:15January 9th, 1945.
29:18This is Lingayan Gulf, Luzon.
29:21Four divisions landing abreast.
29:27We had expected a very different kind of greeting than these cheering Filipinos,
29:32who told us the Japs had pulled back two days before.
29:45These are guerrillas.
29:49Don't let the clothes fool you.
29:51Men like these kept the war going in the Philippines long after the Japs said it was over.
29:56The Japs said it was over.
30:26The Japs said it was over.
30:56To protect the main thrust to Manila, we pushed our left flank deep into the mountains to the north.
31:02Some targets a ground soldier can't reach.
31:05Some targets a sky soldier can't see.
31:08So they worked together.
31:11Mountains would have to be bought with battles like these.
31:13I don't know if they're going to be doing okay.
31:16They're flying down there.
31:17They're doing okay.
31:19They're doing okay.
31:20They're flying too much.
31:34Too much from northwest.
31:37Too much from northwest to southeast.
31:40That is good.
31:43Now you're flying on the ball.
31:50Get your freedom.
31:51Get your freedom.
31:53Bombs.
31:54Bombs.
31:55Very nicely cleaned.
31:56They're in the target area.
32:01The tracing was effective.
32:02The C Company, a bar regiment, moving up this draw right down here.
32:07We're in a mission of attacking this ridge directly to our rear, which is about 2380 on the map.
32:15The C Company is moving through F Company's present position, located on this high ground back there.
32:22They're going to pass through F Company and attack up towards the same hill, 2380.
32:28Now can you give me a concentration on that hill?
32:31On 2380?
32:32Right.
32:32Yes, we have the 4.2 mortars, the 155, 105, and 75, all zeroed right on that hill.
32:39We can drop it right in there.
32:40Sam, I'd like a little 81 in there.
32:42I've got it.
32:44And get direct follow-up salt.
32:46We'll land right in there.
32:47Okay.
32:48Sam, I'd like a lot of light phosphorus in there.
32:50I want to mark it well for his artillery concentration and also for the screen for these troops to move on.
32:56Please, sir.
33:12Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
33:20It's slow going up a hillside.
33:29It's slow because you've got the hill against you along with the enemy on it.
33:41It's slow going up.
33:44Sometimes slower coming down.
33:45Meantime, the main force sped down the central plains.
33:52Back of enemy lines was an important human objective, Cabana Tuan, the prisoner of war camp.
33:59If we fail to reach these men, they'll be taken with the retreating Japs on another death march.
34:06Handpicked guerrillas and a company of rangers started on a rescue mission.
34:09Twenty-five miles behind enemy lines.
34:28The living ghosts of Bataan.
34:31A thousand days and nights ago, the death march began.
34:44These are the few who finished it.
34:47Today, they are free.
34:50Cabana Tuan was a grim reminder that Filipinos and Americans were waiting in Manila.
35:20The Edit Verfords...
35:20The Hawk Piano is no longer as a crime.
35:21Get out of the void.
35:22They have to visit the
35:40lak 이거는.
35:40It is the new king of the milky SIAN.
35:42The ISA-F came with you.
35:44Manila, now caught in a stranglehold of armies as new forces landed, and the human vice closed.
36:14G.I.'s were in the outskirts. Crawling under a ballpark fence is an old American custom.
36:27Resolve Stadium, a baseball diamond. No game today.
36:40G.I.s were in the outskirts.
36:45G.I.s were in the outskirts.
36:50G.I.s were in the outskirts.
36:55G.I.s were in the outskirts.
37:00G.I.s were in the outskirts.
37:05G.I.s were in the outskirts.
37:09Battle never stands still, from baseball park to business district.
37:14This is a new type of jungle for island hopping G.I.s.
37:18A jungle of broken buildings and smashed streets.
37:22G.I.s were in the outskirts.
37:27G.I.s.
37:29G.I.s.
37:33Yamashita had orders from Tokyo.
38:01Hold Vanilla or burn it.
38:31Manila!
38:33Manila!
38:34Manila!
38:36Manila!
38:38Manila!
38:39The Pearl of the Orient.
38:45Manila!
38:46The Pearl of the Orient.
38:52This innocent looking piece of paper translates as follows.
39:08Japanese field order of 13 February.
39:12All Filipinos found on the battlefield will be executed.
39:18Japanese field order obeyed.
39:33Between us and the walled city was the Passig River and Japs.
39:40The Pearl of the Orient.
39:57The Pearl of the Orient.
40:03Oh, my God.
40:33Oh, my God.
41:04Until they closed themselves behind the 14-foot-thick walls of Intramuros, a fortress within a city.
41:10Oh, my God.
41:12Oh, my God.
41:14Oh, my God.
41:19Oh, my God.
41:21Oh, my God.
41:22Oh, my God.
41:26Oh, my God.
41:28Oh, my God.
41:29Oh, my God.
41:33Oh, my God.
41:34Oh, my God.
41:35Oh, my God.
41:36Oh, my God.
41:38Oh, my God.
41:39Oh, my God.
41:40Oh, my God.
41:41Oh, my God.
41:43Oh, my God.
41:44Oh, my God.
41:45Oh, my God.
41:46Oh, my God.
41:47Oh, my God.
41:48Oh, my God.
41:49Oh, my God.
41:51Oh, my God.
41:52Oh.
41:53Oh, my God.
41:54Oh, my God.
41:56Oh, my God.
41:59Oh, my God.
42:00The jungle didn't stop these soldiers, neither did this wall.
42:25The back of the broken wall, broken Japs, and all around them, broken homes, homes thousands
42:43of miles away, but American homes, because the people who lived in them shared with us
42:49the American spirit.
42:52This is the payoff of battle, the silent reward.
43:29Take peace.
44:12And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people, and I have heard their cry
44:19by reason of their taskmasters, and I am come down to deliver them out of that land unto
44:26a good land.
44:28February 1945, American objective, Corregidor.
44:41Corregidor.
44:42The general had an appointment with the past.
44:48Corregidor.
44:49Corregidor.
44:50The name of a rock.
44:51But it's more than a name.
44:53The way Valley Forge and the Alamo are more than names.
44:55These men will be jumping into the middle of American history.
44:56Those that live will be saying in the years to come.
44:57I was there.
44:58I jumped on Corregidor.
44:59Corregidor.
45:00Corregidor.
45:01The name of a rock.
45:02Corregidor.
45:03The name of a rock.
45:04But it's more than a name.
45:05The way Valley Forge and the Alamo are more than names.
45:10These men will be jumping into the middle of American history.
45:15Wolverine.
45:16Those that live will be saying in the years to come.
45:19I was there.
45:21I jumped on Corregidor.
45:24Corregidor.
45:27Corregidor.
45:32Oh, my God.
46:02While C-47 still emptied their human cargoes, our low-flying fighters paved the landing
46:30beaches for water-borne G.I.s who had crossed over from Bataan.
46:34Twelve days after we had landed on the rock, Corregidor is again an American fortress.
46:55The End
47:00The End
47:05A soldier's promise had been kept.
47:34A soldier's hope could now be realized.
47:38On to Tokyo.
47:41While vast armies were being marshaled in the Philippines, the Marines won Iwo Jima.
47:46And Army, Navy, and Marine forces took Okinawa.
47:54Naval guns were knocking at Japan's coastline.
47:57And Saipan-based superports were pounding Japan's skyline.
48:06Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
48:18All this and MacArthur's impending invasion broke the enemy.
48:23The Red Sun of Japan had set.
48:27The might of a free people had come at last to triumph over the lords of war.
48:35The last beachhead.
49:00Japan.
49:00Japan.
49:00August 30th, 1945.
49:16At Sugi Airport.
49:18General of the Army, Douglas MacArthur.
49:20Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army Forces in the Pacific.
49:23Designated Allied Supreme Commander to accept the surrender of the Japanese.
49:31He was met by Lieutenant General Eichelberger, commanding the 8th Army.
49:35September 1st, 1945.
49:52On the battleship Missouri.
49:54Missouri.
49:54It is my earnest hope.
50:21And indeed, the hope of all mankind.
50:25That from this solemn occasion, a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past.
50:36A world founded upon faith and understanding.
50:40A world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish for freedom, tolerance, and justice.
50:53I now invite the representatives of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese government and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters to sign the instrument of surrender at the places indicated.
51:13The Supreme Commander.
51:42The Supreme Commander, for the Allied powers, will now sign on behalf of all the nations at war with Japan.
51:53Will General Wainwright and General Pressable step forward and accompany me while I sign?
51:59The Supreme Commander.
52:26The representatives of the United States of America will now sign.
52:56Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always.
53:08These proceedings are closed.
53:26To you, beloved Conrad, we made this solemn vow.
53:42The fight will go on.
53:48The fight will still go on.
53:56The fight will still go on.
54:11The fight will still go on.
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