Watch The Big Picture - Inland Waterways

Experience the American Journey through our country's visual heritage in this historical recording provided by the National Archives of the United States. From the U.S. Army's "The Big Picture" television series, 1950-1975. COMBAT INFANTRYMEN TAKE TO THE WATERWAYS IN ALASKA TO ACCOMPLISH MISSION -- This is a filmed documentary about a river in Alaska which can serve as a military highway during the summer.The operation as assigned to combat infantrymen was a simulated attack on an Aggressor-held bridge. The distance to be covered was 100 miles by river, bivouacing one night en route.THE BIG PICTURE Signal Corps camermen accompanied this small combat unit as it moved down this fast inland waterway on this most unusual training mission. On the screen, it looks like a kind of little flotilla deep in the heart of Alaska. There is danger at every turn and the camermen capture on film all of the navigation skill learned by these combat troops. Broken-field running through river obstacles requires alertness and navigating skill. One error in judgement and you can kiss the mission goodbye. And the trickiest thing about it is that rivers change from month to month. There can never be any certainty of what lies ahead. In Alaska during the summer months, the Army makes full use of navigable inland waterways--another forward step in strengthening our Arctic bulwark in the Free World's line of defense.

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