Big Picture: Airborne to Battle

Year Published: 1952-10-01

Creator: National Archives and Records Administration

Format: 16mm/video file

Description: National Archives and Records Administration ARC Identifier 2569550 / Local Identifier 111-TV-280 Big Picture: Airborne to Battle DVD copied by Katie Filbert. Department of Defense. Department of the Army. Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations. U.S. Army Audiovisual Center. (ca. 1974 - 05/15/1984). This is the first program in Series X to be released. It is a story about the history and development of the airborne Army. An exciting and dramatic film presentation, "Airborne to Battle" shows how the existence of a well-trained airborne Army, capable of moving anywhere on the globe on short notice, is an important factor in deterring aggression. The nations that control the air will control the peace. "Airborne To Battle" begins with scenes of the first controlled flights which took men into the sky. As the airborne story unfolds, viewers will see the first of the daredevil barnstormers who jumped from fragile wings to thrill Sunday crowds after World War I. Signal Corps cameramen catch the first combat jump by men of the U.S. Army -- an aerial assault on Sicily in July 1943. Since those early days, great strides have been made in the airborne story -- from an idea to a big reality. This is a remarkably fine film presentation on the subject of flying infantrymen -- human bolts of thunder striking from the sky and ever-ready to defend our country at a moments notice.